Tuesday 8 October 2013

Dreamweaver CC review - my thoughts on Adobe's new offering

As I used to create websites years ago, I decided to get back into it as people keep asking me to design a website for them. I, being a bit rusty, politely decline as it's been awhile! But being a hands on sorta guy, I was attracted to the idea of creating my own websites knowing full well I have total control over them.

Anyway, I've now got back into learning the markup (or code in layman's terms) and am starting to see some decent results. A friend mentioned that she uses a tool called Dreamweaver CC, and she was adamant that this software saved here time in getting her work done (she's a freelance designer btw).

So I'd thought I would give Dreamweaver a whirl & take advantage of Adobe's 30-day free trial, which, btw, is the full version that you're able to save projects.

When I first opened the software, I was taken back by the layout. But I stumbled across a decent Dreamweaver CC manual (written by Janine Warner).

So with the manual in hand, I've been familiarizing myself with this piece of kit and have been quite impressed!

One feature that struck me was using fluid grid width layouts with media queries to target devices, i.e. mobile phones, tablets, and desktops, and then display a site that renders correctly on said device. So I went ahead, without any issues, designed a single column site for both the mobile & tablet, and two columns for the desktop. The whole process was fairly easy (especially with the manual), and wasn't bad for my first attempt!

The only downside to this version is that you now have to pay a subscription to use this software. I think it's about  $25 per month for a annual commitment, and slightly more for a per month basis. But I suppose if you design websites for clients, then it should more than pay for itself - although paying Adobe for, possibly, years and not own it is a bit rough!


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