Though Frontpage is dated (the last release was in 2003) it is still a widely used piece of software.
It has enough attention in fact, that many new web designers ask:
‘Is Frontpage still a program that you should to learn?’
The short answer: no
WHY NOT LEARN FRONTPAGE
The major reasons are:
- Frontpage generates dated code that is not considered acceptable these days by most web designers.
- Frontpage has just been replaced by Microsoft’s new web design software: Expression. As such, Frontpage will not be updated and Frontpage users will be left in the dust.
- Most professional web designers use Dreamweaver - that means most web design companies use Dreameweaver.
Of the above reasons, I think the fact that Frontpage has essentially been discontinued, is reason enough to not get into it.
WHAT SHOULD A STUDENT OF WEB DESIGN LEARN THEN?
This really depends on where you see yourself going: if you plan on working for a web design firm, then you probably need to learn Dreamweaver.
If on the other hand, you are more or less working for yourself, then any web design software will probably do - or even none at all!
That brings me to my last point: learn to build web sites by hand.
BTW: there was a little chatter about MS Expression on the forum recently.
CIAO,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
www.killerphp.com
During the short time I tried to use Frontpage, I found that its tendency to change your code infuriating. You rewrite a bit of the html or ASP by hand, then move on to another part of the document in the GUI and FrontPage assumes you didn’t really mean to make that change, so it changes the code back to what it thinks is correct. It will do this even if it the code your wrote by hand is perfectly valid. After this experience I started using Dreamweaver and never looked back.
I would not consider someone a web designer if they have no grasp of the concepts that make up HTML/CSS. Often times there is a emphasis on the tools and not the concepts behind them. Its like teaching someone to paint, without an understanding of art.
Dreamweaver is a good tool, but its not a magic bullet. There is no button that will put in browser specific hacks for you. There are things that Dreamweaver can not and probably will never be able to do. The tool does not create the product, only assists in it.
Amen to that… but the bit about button hacks is to disagree with, you should not be using Hacks at all, dangerous in these days of IE7.
Stefan,
Because of experience, I have to disagree with you on this one. The simple fact that “it is still a widely used piece of software” means that designers should learn enough about what it does to the HTML (and how) in order to change it. Learn it from a Designer’s perspective and not a user’s perspective.
I am more of a Developer than Designer (yes, I do make the distinction) and I have seen so many sites from corporate clients still using FrontPage. Because I knew what and how FrontPage changed/added, most of the time, I was able to quickly rebuild the pages using the original source.
It doesn’t hurt to know FrontPage from this perspective. Surprisingly, this knowledge has been a definite plus for me with corporate clients. Why? Mainly because “corporate” usually equates to “legacy” or old code.
I do agree that Designers must learn to hand-code. Even if all you have is notepad, you should be able to get the HTML/CSS/JavaScript done.
My 2 cents!
Taurus
i think if they have a complete control over the code they must learn HTML, otherwise all the programmers that bring life to the page, go crazy with the bad code generated by dreamweaver. plz front page erase it from your machine.
If corporate clients need to update the site, they could be provided with a content management system so that they are only given access to the content areas of the site, so they won’t break the site code and programming.