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Ok, so I have been using dreamweaver for about the last 4 years but the latest version is having serious FTP problems on my computer that I can't seem to fix for the life of me.
Does anyone know of a good alternative? My main requirments in a program are built in FTP and good PHP color coding.
Thanks Guys
I know a couple of people that use NetObjects Fusion and they seem to like it. I think they have a free evaluation version.
Joe
Thanks young72 it looks promising but I can't seem to find a demo of it... I don't see how they can expect you to buy a $200 program without even seeing how it works first.
If you have the latest DW and like using it, why not use a separate program to ftp program then?. I use Dreamweaver everyday, but until the latest version have never used the ftp capabilities because I found it just too slow. I used and still do sometimes CuteFTP. I guess you don't have the synching function any longer, but I never found it a problem, I set up CuteFTP to sort by latest date, so it knew which files I had worked on and then uploaded those, works well.
I'm finding that ftp'ing with the latest DW release much better than previous versions :-)
Nadia
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Nvu - http://www.nvu.com/index.php is a wonderful free(I believe opensource). It has FTP capabilities, but I've never used them.
Life would be so much easier if we
could just look at the source code.
-Dave Olson
Seems like a nice program but it seems to have no PHP color formatting. I will dig around in the settings a bit more incase I missed something.Originally Posted by Shpook
Coda is absolutely a dream to use, that would be my first recommendation. (http://panic.com)
For a Wintel box, I'll second the earlier suggestion: stick with DW for the coding, since it's got great highlighting, tag completion, etc., and just get a separate FTP client. Filezilla is indisputably the killer FTP app for Windows machines, Transmit for Macs. Or, if you want to bail on DW even for coding, try Context.
Cheers,
Nathan
Smart FTP is an excellent FTP proggie and it's also completely free. Best I've ever used.
Smart FTP
You might like PSPad. I've never tried its ftp feature.
I also use Dreamweaver, but don't use its publishing features. I prefer to use a separate ftp program (LeechFTP in my case) where I control what is uplaoded to where, with visual confirmation, rather than relying on Dreamweaver to upload what it thinks needs to be.
Thanks for that link it looks like just what I have been looking for.
TextPad allows you to customise syntax colour coding for PHP etc etc (lots of downloads to allow you to do this). Plus used in conjunction with Filezilla, makes for a cheap alternative.
I use html-kit both for coding and FTP. It's great!
Linda Jenkinson
"Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean." ~Unknown
SmartFTP (Win) is the nicest FTP client I have used on any platform.
For coding on Win, I like the simplicity and elegance of Araneae - it does everything I generally need without any bloat I don't.
I actually prefer this combo to the big app feel of Dreamweaver and use it even though I have a fairly current version of Dreamweaver available to me.
FTP via dreamweaver is excellent in my opinion.
Selecting one file or a set of html files to upload and having DW offer the choice of including all the images and scripts required at no extra effort helps avoid oversights.
Make sure you have set up your site definitions properly. If you haven't gone through the site definition process, then you will have lots of problems, and need a basic ftp program like those described above. One host I use requires all files to be in a folder called www, inside the domain's own folder. Once that was sorted, it worked okay.
Dr John
www.kidneydialysis.org.uk
Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I will give them all a try.
Dr John, I have tried everything under the sun to get dreamweaver to work and while it does actually work it is ungodly slow. I am pretty well aquainted with servers and ftp and I am getting the feeling that dreamweaver just does not like my computer for some reason... It may be Windows Vista. I have even tried changing the FTP program that my server uses.
Vista is the spawn of the devil.It may be Windows Vista.
Vista is the spawn of the devil.
Ah, you sound like another satisfied MicroSoft customer. Do you care to elaborate? Have you tried it? However, this is off topic since MS's new improved regurgitation of Front Page is called Microsoft Expression. I guess "that's" another FTP program the OP could try.(I am being facetious!)
Linda Jenkinson
"Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean." ~Unknown
From what I've read, Expression is NOT a reguritation of FrontPage (aaargh sign of the beast!) but a serious attempt to do things the proper way. Unfortunately I went to download the beta version the day after it went live and so missed my chance. Reviewers are saying nicer things about it than they ever said about FP.
It has been recommended as a challenger to DW in some reviews, apart from it not handling php/mysql but only asp, as you'd expect from MS.
Dr John
www.kidneydialysis.org.uk
If that is true, why is the code littered with junk like this:
Notice the bolded "FP". Guess what it stands for.<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
function FP_swapImg() {//v1.0
And notice in their site copy
The bold, again from me. Is standards-based sort of like "natural flavors and colors".A professional design tool to create modern, standards-based sites which deliver superior quality on the Web.
When will MicroSoft ever get it?
Moreover, the code is littered with unnecessary javascript and all the other proprietary crud that MicroSoft is famous for injecting into their products. IMO, it's a real shame that a multi-billion dollar company like MicroSoft can't come up with a program that does what it says. What is even standards based about all the proprietary code injected into a page?
Last edited by Shyflower; Jun 8, 2007 at 09:29.
Linda Jenkinson
"Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean." ~Unknown
When I found out it still creates all those rubbish _vti and _cnf folders and associated copies of files, I considered it basically the same product.....
Remember I said I haven't used Expression, but I read in a review you can switch off that FP _vti, _cnf stuff. I suspect it is an unfortunate backward compatibility thing that is set at default on rather than off. And I'm only reporting what I've read in a couple of reviews.
As with dreamweaver, I'd assume that javascript came from someone choosing to use a built in option for a special effect. The FP made bold by shyflower is the name of a function, remember They obviously didn't re-name it for expression - if the special effect requires automatically generated javascript, why change the generator. As with DW, you can code in code view, design view or display both views at once. So if you like hand coding, you'll not see any of those javascripts unless you deliberately ask for them. Just like in DW. I never use any of its automatic javascripts. So my DW code is not littered with MM_somename functions.
PS The reviews I've read made a similar comment about standards "based" rather than standards compliant. But they also said it was WAY better than that FP c$%& that is impossible for normal people to edit by hand. And c$%& doesn't stand for code...
Dr John
www.kidneydialysis.org.uk
Dr John, Take a look at this thread.Remember I said I haven't used Expression, but I read in a review you can switch off that FP _vti, _cnf stuff. I suspect it is an unfortunate backward compatibility thing that is set at default on rather than off. And I'm only reporting what I've read in a couple of reviews.
As with dreamweaver, I'd assume that javascript came from someone choosing to use a built in option for a special effect. The FP made bold by shyflower is the name of a function, remember They obviously didn't re-name it for expression - if the special effect requires automatically generated javascript, why change the generator. As with DW, you can code in code view, design view or display both views at once. So if you like hand coding, you'll not see any of those javascripts unless you deliberately ask for them. Just like in DW. I never use any of its automatic javascripts. So my DW code is not littered with MM_somename functions.
PS The reviews I've read made a similar comment about standards "based" rather than standards compliant. But they also said it was WAY better than that FP c$%& that is impossible for normal people to edit by hand. And c$%& doesn't stand for code...
This member didn't "choose" anything. The "magical" program did it all for her. (Ain't that special?) So instead of a good website, she ended up with a pile of trash.
(Her link is where I got the code excerpt)
Some designer or design team, felt that the program they developed didn't have to be excellent, didn't even have to be good -- just good enough for unsuspecting novices to lay down their cash.
If you knew how to write javascript, a stylesheet, or html markup, then you wouldn't need a wysiwyg program and you probably wouldn't invest in it. So the argument that you could turn off the junk that is put into the program just doesn't cut it. Most of those who buy the wysiwygs don't have clue as to what they can turn off and what they need to keep in. You have to know a little bit about coding to understand that.
As for the reviews now being way better than were the reviews for FP -- well the next step up from rotten is "better", but that doesn't make better "best", "good" or even worth while.
Linda Jenkinson
"Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean." ~Unknown
For nifty php coding on a windows machine you may want to try PHP designer 2007: http://www.mpsoftware.dk/
Although it's project / ftp integration is pretty crappy (read near non-existent) compared to DW. However it can be integrated with FileZilla easily or you could set up an ftp client auto update new files to the server every few minutes etc.
I've not used this, but if you're on a mac Coda looks pretty good and I believe it's got reasonable project / ftp integration:
http://www.panic.com/coda/
Hope these help.
Notepad for coding, and internet explorer for FTP :-p
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