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Hi hoping someone could help me out. Just getting into the whole rookie web design world, if someone sold me a website and transferred it to my hosting account can I work on the files directly through the hosting panel or do I have to copy the files to my computer, work on them, and then upload them to the server?
If the host gives you some kind of online file editor, then you can use that. But not every host has such a thing.
Plus you run the risk of losing the only copy of the website you have if you mess something up editing the files. I'd recommend at least downloading them once and making a copy separate from the one you work on.
As Dan said, you should at least have a copy on the hard drive of your own computer. Not many hosts offer an online editor, but, there are some out there that allow live editing. Dreamweaver does, and if your going to be doing web design for a serious hobby or living, I suggest you invest in that. When I design sites I like how it shows you what your source code looks like. You will still have to have at least a basic knowledge of HTML/CSS to use it. But, it has an auto fill option to it. If you are typing code into the code window, it will show you the options to go with it in alphabetical order. Such as you typeit will pop up with a list of things that go with it, you type the first letter of what goes next, such as h for href, and it will go right to the h's. I love it. It can make projects much faster, but, it could lead to laziness if your not careful.Code:<a
Dreamweaver is expensive though, I know there are a couple of open source online file editor's, I just can't think of them right off the top of my head.
Remember, always keep backups of your site no matter if your host says they do or not. I keep at least 3 copies plus a hard copy on a disk of all my sites and their Databases. Same thing with my personal and work computers.
Those hosts that do offer an online editor are offering those editors that lie in the botton 5% of editors - almost every web editor that you can get that runs on your own computer will be better and most will be millions of times better.
Most people who try out the online editors are posting questions in forums a few weeks later asking how to do more advanced things that their chosen editor can't do (or if it can no one knows how because everyone wanting something that advanced has downloaded an editor to their own computer and uses that instead).
Heck, a lot of web hosts do offern an online site builder. But, it is usually horrible bloated code. Things like RVSitebuilder, Click Be!, and Parallels Sitebuilder, the sitebuilders they offer through their hosting. Not advisable if you are going to be doing web designs for money though. Great for a fast site publishing, for a place holder or something.
If you're going to bother learning how to use and work around a web based website builder, perhaps you might as well start using a CMS (joomla/drupal/wordpress etc), learn the basics of HTML, and edit a template to make it fit your needs. You might not even feel the need to do the editing part. With the numerous free templates that can be found for these CMSes, one is bound to catch your eyes and fit your needs.
Whatever road you choose, Dan gave you a great advice. Always have a backup of your important data.
I think that you need to value that on your own. If web desing is very important for you (That IS important) you'd better not save money on it
it's better to download it on your computer and work there,so you can have a backup anytime
The best option would be to copy the backup to your PC, make the changes and then upload it using FTP softwares like CuteFTP or Frontpage Software.
MS Frontpage is horribly obsolete. They have stopped supporting it. CuteFTP is decent. I personally use Filezilla. If you decide to get Dreamweaver, they have a built in FTP program in it, however, I don't use it so I don't know how good it is.
Filezilla is free :)
Frontpage was replaced in Microsoft's product lineup with Expression Web 2. They're competing head on with Dreamweaver now and priced it about $120 less.
Since you are just a beginner, I suggest to take a backup to your computer and use any freeware [ Compozer is a good one ] editor to edit them as you want. Even it has a built in ftp client too.
If plan to design and sell sites in the future, i'd recommend to use dreamweaver (use code mode) and photoshop for all your design works. Don't forget to backup files before making any major changes.
Just noting that it's spelled Kompozer, so that the OP can search for it using a search engine and find it easily.Quote:
[ Compozer is a good one ]
1 tip from me make sure there aren't hidden pay checks you've got to pay without that you knew it before
That editor has actually undergone a couple of name changes.Quote:
Originally Posted by ldcdc
It was originally called Composer, then NVU, and now Kompozer. With each name change a new group have taken over development of the open source code and so browsers under all three names are available and work similarly but with the more recent names having slightly more advanced features.
Learn something new everyday. :)Quote:
It was originally called Composer
That is correct as something new appears everyday and that is needed to be learned.Quote:
Originally Posted by ldcdc
Good tools or services do cost money and if you are looking to be professional better to spend some money (invest in further project)
That is my opinion
That was me last summer when I was learning how to do it all inside of my host's Editor. Fortunately, it was just basic html and my buddy was able to help me fix it quickly.Quote:
Originally Posted by felgall
Thanks for all the advice everybody, alot of good information! Looks like I'm going to go with Dreamweaver's built in FTP feature for now.
Dreamweaver is really a great program, you should be pleased with the integration abilities.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolf597
Does anyone have any experience with the FTP built into Dreamweaver? It refuses to connect to my webhost and I'm fairly certain I have the login information set up correctly.
Dan mentioned expression web 2 in an earlier post, competing with dreamweaver. How do they compare. I'm thinking of getting ex. web 2 because of the price difference. It also works with php sites.
Thanks,
John
johnwen,
With Expression Web you can create CSS-based, standards-based web sites easily that work better across different browsers, simplifying deployment and maintenance. The tool also can validate your site with compatibility and accessibility reports.
With Expression Web you can generate modern CSS layouts with state-of-the-art surface design tools that allow you to directly manipulate positioning, sizing, margins and padding. A CSS rendering engine gives you control over design decisions on the fly. You can test CSS styles on the page with drag-and-drop style management, and migrate them to a central repository for increased ease of maintenance and control.
Expression Web also allows you to build and format views of standard XML data using drag-and-drop tools for quick visualization and XML data can be retrieved and presented via live RSS feeds.
Expression Web allows you to take advantage of the power of ASP Dot NET to transform your web sites into dynamic, interactive Web applications. Inserting and configuring ASP Dot NET controls is easy with the controls toolbox, properties grid, and on-control action menus. You can even use ASP Dot NET Master Pages to make web site-wide changes quickly.
Hope this info. helps you.
Thanks for the help Doug :)
John