I’ve built a few sites using HTML / CSS and dabbled with PHP.
Dreamweaver CS4 in code view is what I’m used to, but I want to continue and get into more responsive sites and wonder if something like Bootstrap would be better.
Hopefully in the future I can find some work in the field, so I’d really like to learn something widely recognised.
Any suggestions?
Virtually every website I’ve built has used PHP, so to me, an editor with a debugger is indispensable. Not having a debugger is a deal-breaker not matter what else the editor does. My favor editor was Notepad++ with the XDebug plugin. Unfortunately, the plugin is no longer maintained, and it got less and less stable with each new release of Notepad++, so I finally had to say goodbye to those two.
Now I use Codelobster, which doesn’t debug as flexibly as the Notepad++ plugin did, but it’s the best free, non-Java editor I’ve found (that has a debugger built in). If you don’t mind Java apps, there’s Netbeans, which as a debugger and a whole lot of project-oriented features.
I’ve never liked site builders that feature drag-and-drop components. Like WYSIWG editors, they hide the code and you don’t know what’s going on under the hood.
I do like some Content Management Systems (CMS), like WordPress, but my favorite, especially for smallish sites, is Wolf CMS. It’s like a page-stamping machine. You set up the template, as complex or as simple as you want it, and you enter the content separately. Unlike WordPress, it doesn’t impose a blog orientation you have to escape from with plugins. Unlike WordPress, it’s also very lightweight, which is why it’s especially good for smallish sites.
You mentioned Bootstrap. Bootstrap is a framework that includes tools, templates, etc. for HTML, CSS, and Javascript (not PHP, as far as I know). By all means, download it and check it out, but whether or not you should use it depends on where on the spectrum between beginner and expert you think you are. It’s better to learn the hard way first, and to then make life easier for yourself with a framework.
Making sites reasonably responsive isn’t hard. It consists mainly of making sure the site adjusts itself for viewports of varying width. Pure HTML has done that since the start. It was only when designers started imposing printed-page-style design on websites that rigidity crept in. Still, the most strictly responsive sites even scale graphics down to size dynamically.
The only framework I’ve used is Codeigniter, but that’s a PHP framework, and all the HTML and CSS is left up to you.
Well, that’s my two cents. 
The “hacked” Demo page isn’t very reassuring
this one
Bootstrap is a frontend framework and isn’t an editor or a site builder. It’s a set of CSS and JS components you can put together to quickly build a site. Some others are Foundation, Gumby, Ink, PureCSS, etc.
That said, Dreamweaver is terrible.
SublimeText3 is my favorite editor for general purpose languages. I tried using Atom for a while and just wasn’t impressed. It felt like a Sublime clone, but slower and not as feature rich. But Atom is free for commercial use, Sublime is only free for Personal use.
IntelliJ is my favorite IDE. It’s a Java IDE and the main Jetbrains IDE. All other Jetbrains Products are just plugins for it. Like PHPStorm or WebStorm, which are considered to be top of the class when it comes to IDEs.
I don’t think that really counts. Opensourcecms.com is a great site. It features a whole bunch of open source applications, not just CMSs. To give people a true feel for the application, their demo pages include full access to the admin area. Of course, as a logged in admin, you can destroy your own site. There’s no way a CMS or any application can be secure against that.
I primarily work with PHP therefore my editor of choice is PHPStorm. Best editor I have ever used by far. JetBrains kicks it out of the park with their software. Eclipse, Netbeans, etc are for the birds…
agree with that but sadly PHPStorm isn’t free ($99 for individual license)
if u want free and powerful editor i’d recommend NetBeans
Notepad++ isn’t best choice for beginners, because it doesn’t have code completion.
Code completion is a feature that can save a lot of your time.
That’s… just plain not a true statement 
- Wordpress imposes no such thing.
Bootstrap is a frontend framework and isn’t an editor or a site builder.
Yeah, so if those sorts of tools are the discussion topic, cool, but as @mawburn says, it’s not a site builder or editor of any kind.
I personally use ST3 for editing both HTML and PHP. I’m not a big fan of any of the full fledged IDEs. PHPstorm wasn’t bad when I tried it, and of course NetBeans is a good standby.
Not a big fan of Dreamweaver either. Never have been.
Code completion is a feature that can save a lot of your time.
This depends largely on the beginner you’re talking about specifically. If the person is like me, code completion will be a nightmare to their learning process. Now there are tons of cases where I depend on my editor to do some things for me to save time. Then I would’ve gotten in trouble with it more than it was worth, imo. But everyone learns differently, for sure.
Well $100 a month is well worth it. If someone can’t afford that they aren’t a professional developer anyway.
That’s irrationally harsh. Most people who work, aren’t working for themselves. I don’t control my department’s budget.
It just so happens that if I asked for it, my boss would assume it vital to my success and hand me a card 
but many people don’t have that luxury.
Such a blanket statement is absurd.
Than A.You’re not making strong enough of a case B. The company you work for isn’t very well off or C. You’re boss/company are just a bunch of aholes. Small price to pay for the increased level of efficiency that will save time in the long run. This is especially true when managing large projects because Eclipse and Netbeans are notorious for freezing and becoming slow as anything with large code cases and/or multiple projects. In the past I wouldn’t typically say there is one editor to rule them all but when it comes to PHP PHPStorm is definitely it. The number of integrations it was for modern tasks and workflow is unsurpassed offering a lot of time saving in the end if you’re willing to submit to it.
A) If you don’t know by know that there are times when there can’t be a strong enough case (see your point C.) then you’ve not been in the real world enough. However, point C indicates that you understand that. Point B is… irrelevant. Your employer’s affluence has zero to do with your own professionalism.
Your points still don’t make the programmer in question “not professional” - thus, your original statement is still inaccurate.
This is especially true when managing large projects because Eclipse and Netbeans are notorious for freezing and becoming slow as anything with large code cases and/or multiple projects. In the past I wouldn’t typically say there is one editor to rule them all but when it comes to PHP PHPStorm is definitely it. The number of integrations it was for modern tasks and workflow is unsurpassed offering a lot of time saving in the end if you’re willing to submit to it.
That’s probably true; I don’t have extensive enough experience with PHPStorm to confirm, but I enjoyed it when I used it. I’m sure you’re right about that
Fair enough I work with several people who still use Eclipse. It goes without saying though PHPStorm is the better IDE. I’ve noticed most people stuck on older IDEs are just afraid of change and stuck in their old ways. Which is ironic given the industry we are in.
Too true. Sometimes “tech people” are the worst about getting mired down in “how things always have been”
You obviously don’t work in corporate world. IntelliJ is $400 and it usually goes something like this:
“Oh you need a program for $400? Let’s see if it’s in the budget. We just spent $1mil on our 3yr IBM server upgrade. Eclipse is still free, right?”
I’ve written enough accounting programs to realize that s*** makes no logical sense at all.
I do.
Yeah, I know its more money. Still worth it my opinion. Though I can understand how the ties might not think so. I guess I’m fortunate enough to work at a company that tends to cater to developer needs when it comes to software and what not.
Lol - well, I’m more confused than ever.
It looks as though I should definitely be dropping Dreamweaver and creating my sites using PHP instead.
As for what tool I should be using is still undecided.