Adobe GoLive Vs. Dreamweaver?? Want to do my own site.

**Risley** · May 30th, 2007, 11:30 PM

Hello all,
Been some time...

I'm a professional furnituremaker and I registered a domain name today that Yahoo small business will host and want to build my own website....a nice one. I would like a flash site with music, and all sorts of neat moving things. (can you tell I'm a real web pro?)The templates from Yahoo are booooooring. I went to www.frontpage2002.com and templatetuning.com. Pretty cool stuff but I just have no idea what will work if I buy a template or buy one of the Adobe software packages.

Any ideas or should I hire a pro? I've always received great advice and help here.

Thanks all.

**TrendyMartini** · May 30th, 2007, 11:44 PM

Hey Risley, as a web designer I can tell you that designing and building your own website can be a great experience, but a frustrating one if you're not familiar with the tools. I recommend Dreamweaver over GoLive.. however both require a basic understanding of html. If you're looking just to tweak a template, you can find some good ones at templatemonster.com for a reasonable price, however since you are looking for all the bells and whistles, i.e. flash,you may want talk to someone and get a quote. Since time is money, and yours is valuable, I'm sure - you might end up spending less having someone else do it.

What are you looking to do? How many pages? Would you want to sell product or just give a company profile?

**Risley** · May 31st, 2007, 11:06 AM

Hi Trendy,
Ah Boston...Grad. of BU myself. Built a few custom homes in Chestnut Hill, wished I lived in them.

I guess I am looking for a flash site?? Cool background music, fade in/out of pictures, etc.. I went to Templatemonster.com and viewed the Interior & Furniture flash templates. Thats exactly what I'm looking for but I'm a bit confused. If I buy one of these templates, I'm assuming I insert or overlay my text and pictures in place of what I'm seeing in the sample template?

Then, will these even work with my Yahoo site?

Thanks Trendy,

**TrendyMartini** · May 31st, 2007, 11:49 AM

Hey! Always nice to meet another Bostonian! ;-)

As far as it working with Yahoo hosting, I am not sure. Is it free hosting? If so, you may be limited in some respects. Can you post a link with the Yahoo Hosting specs?

You would need to edit the templates you download with the program it was designed for, i.e. Dreamweaver. So, you would need to be familiar with how the program itself works. I think your best bet, would be to download one of Templatemonster's free templates. Play with it and see if you're able to customize it as you would want to if you purchased one.

Their free templates are here: http://www.templatemonster.com/free-templates.php

**Risley** · May 31st, 2007, 12:05 PM

http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webho...tebuilding.php

Hi Trendy,
See if this link takes you where you need to be. I'll download a free template first. From what I'm understanding though if I want to buy a flash template I will need Dreamweaver, etc.. to work with it regardless?

**TrendyMartini** · May 31st, 2007, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by Risley

http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webho...tebuilding.php

Hi Trendy,
See if this link takes you where you need to be. I'll download a free template first. From what I'm understanding though if I want to buy a flash template I will need Dreamweaver, etc.. to work with it regardless?

Right, you will need the software (Dreamweaver, Flash) to edit the templates. It will all work with Yahoo, though. You would just FTP the files up and you would be good to go.

**Risley** · May 31st, 2007, 04:15 PM

Forgive my ignorance. I do not know what FTP means.

I did download a sample flash template. It was a zipped folder, naturally I unzipped it but all it contained were several files of photos, etc... I thought I would actually see a whole front page with a tool bar that I could mess around with.

If you get a chance here are the templates at template monster that intrigued me.
#11501
10801
7077 but unsure if I'm grooving the faster paced music
7738
6600

My site will be quite small starting off because I need many of my pieces to be professionally shot still. My text is ready and some pics. All I want at the moment is a home page, about me, and contact me for now.

Have a martini on Newbury for me

**TrendyMartini** · May 31st, 2007, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by Risley

Forgive my ignorance. I do not know what FTP means.

I did download a sample flash template. It was a zipped folder, naturally I unzipped it but all it contained were several files of photos, etc... I thought I would actually see a whole front page with a tool bar that I could mess around with.

If you get a chance here are the templates at template monster that intrigued me.
#11501
10801
7077 but unsure if I'm grooving the faster paced music
7738
6600

My site will be quite small starting off because I need many of my pieces to be professionally shot still. My text is ready and some pics. All I want at the moment is a home page, about me, and contact me for now.

Have a martini on Newbury for me

Any FTP program would allow you to upload your website files directly onto the server (Yahoo hosting) so you can view them online.

As far as the templates, you will not be able to edit them without the programs they were made for. When you unzipped the template you saw the slices of pictures, probably .gifs, that would make up the webpage and are created in Fireworks or Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver opens .html files, and Photoshop or Fireworks opens .jpg, .png, etc.

Do you currently have those applications installed?

**Risley** · May 31st, 2007, 04:40 PM

I sure don't Trendy.

I just went to Adobe.com and took the dreamweaver tour. It's looking like I need a pro for this. I haven't the time to learn dreamweaver although it would be very gratifying to design my own page.

**TrendyMartini** · May 31st, 2007, 04:48 PM

If you were willing to do without the Flash effects, you could try free software that is similar to Dreamweaver like Nvu or like GIMP instead of Photoshop.

You could create a similar atmosphere without the Flash, and I'd be happy to help you attempt it. If you would like it done professionally, I could help there too. ;-)

**Risley** · May 31st, 2007, 05:19 PM

Where do we get started. I'm not in a big hurry. If you had a chance to view the few I liked at template monster that gives you a little idea of what I like. If you have other sources for templates or would just start from scratch let me know.

Here are a few sites (although I don't believe they are flash) that I like.

www.thosmoser.com
www.ethanallen.com
www.hermanmiller.com
www.cb2.com

I just want to set myself apart from the majority of furniture makers that historically have really poor sites.

What I consider poor sites:
www.waterfordfurniture.com
www.mcguirefamilyfurnituremakers.com
www.pinetreefurniture.com

**TrendyMartini** · May 31st, 2007, 05:45 PM

Yes, I did take a look at the templates you liked.. and I can see that you're drawn to semi-modern, clean lines and slightly minimalistic schemes. I liked most of them and think it would be very easy to get a similar look and feel for your site.

To start, download those programs that I mentioned earlier. Then, download SMARTFTP and install it. I'll show you how to connect to your host so you can view the files that we create online.

**Risley** · May 31st, 2007, 07:06 PM

Download Nvu and GIMP ?

I think SMARTFTP was available at Yahoo's small business site if I remember.

**TrendyMartini** · May 31st, 2007, 09:01 PM

Originally Posted by Risley

Download Nvu and GIMP ?

I think SMARTFTP was available at Yahoo's small business site if I remember.

Yes, you should have Nvu, Gimp and SmartFTP installed.

**sr71000** · May 31st, 2007, 09:42 PM

just a heads up trendy. I used smartftp recently for a few ftp transfers...that sucker gave me NOTHING but trouble....just to warn you. Corrupted my text files whether it was on binary, text, or auto. grr...on multiple computers from multiple internet connections.

**TrendyMartini** · May 31st, 2007, 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by sr71000

just a heads up trendy. I used smartftp recently for a few ftp transfers...that sucker gave me NOTHING but trouble....just to warn you. Corrupted my text files whether it was on binary, text, or auto. grr...on multiple computers from multiple internet connections.

That's interesting. I've been using it for years now and never had an issue that wasn't from something I did.. Thanks for the heads up. Have you ever used other freeware ftp apps, like cuteftp? Which do you prefer?

**quickoldcar** · May 31st, 2007, 11:22 PM

This FTP program should be easy enough to use to get the job done.

This is what I always use and trouble free.

http://www.ipswitch.com/products/ws_ftp/index.asp

If you really wanted to make a cool flash website then flash 8 is what your after.

There are multiple of easy tutorials online that are easy to follow.

Get your template,load it up. Then after your sites all up if ever get extra time you can always fiddle with making one yourself.