Bring Back Dreamweaver function into V8

[Epiclines]

Why Have you got rid of the best part of your product. The ability to take layouts out of actinic and in to dreamweaver and vise versa for simple modifications like moving images and txt around. It was so easy in v7 .AS A WEBDESIGNER I DIDNT NEED TO LEARN ALL THE CODING AS IM A DESIGNER NOT A PROGRAMMER.

[jont]

The best part was "removed" to encourage designers who use Dreamweaver on a daily basis to use their product.

[RuralWeb]

AS A WEBDESIGNER I DIDNT NEED TO LEARN ALL THE CODING AS IM A DESIGNER NOT A PROGRAMMER.

Exactly the point I raised in beta testing back in June. Like you say having to use html is like going back in time - very 90s. Most "designers" use a WYSIWYG design package and never use html.

As jont says the V7 functionality was removed because thats what "designers" said they wanted and the feedback Actinic got said that "designers" did not want to change the inner layout. I dont know who they talked to but who ever it was I presume they are very happy because they got exactly what they asked for. The rest of us however are not so happy as designing in V8 now takes a age - I find going back to a V7 a pleasure to work with.

[jont]

I hear Gola are breaking into the Nike sports footwear market by introducing clogs.

I trust they know what they are doing as their existing purchasers are so used to the idiosyncrasies over the years that clogs will be totally uncomfortable and existing clog wearers will be stumped by the fact Gola are shipping 2 right clogs only - research shows most peole are right-footed so the left foot doesn't really matter

[Epiclines]

Lets be frank the templates actinic provide are basic and verry 90s . Without using programs like dreamweaver to spice up the artwork actinic dont have a product that can be easy modified to look like the next new internet shopping site it will just look like all the rest. check out www.galleryh.co.uk i made it in v7 and now i dont have a clue how to make it in v8 . can someone from actinic tell me how v8 has progressed by removing functions that were there to aid us

[cdicken]

Thanks for your input.

I'm putting together a range of suggested improvements to the Dreamweaver integration this afternoon and I will include all this in my recommendations to the team.

[cdicken]

Dave with regards to your last point, I can see on your site you quote that the vast majority of the design work is done in the overall/outer/primary template, which you can still update in Dreamweaver. In fact, you can take a completely custom design and turn it into an Actinic layout with the click of a button - and then carry out all customisations using DW from then on.

I agree though that to re-arrange your product layouts you would need to edit the code in Actinic, rather than being able to tweak the template in Dreamweaver - and this is something I'm looking into at the moment.

[RuralWeb]

I'm putting together a range of suggested improvements

If you take the V7 template manager and build that into V8 then IMO you will have a world beating package.

[jont]

An "edit" button when clicked onto the desired layout to launch the default editor would be sensible

[RuralWeb]

An "edit" button

Yep - eaxactly as we all know and love in V7

[wjcampbe]

My one fear when v8 was being introduced was that the product would be more closely integrated with Dreamweaver, forcing me to use a crutch to do what I like being able to do with an agile mind and an understanding of the effects of the code I am writing.

I applaud the meld that encourages "designers" to learn some code.

Programmers rule KO?

[simon_y]

Just like to add my vote for better Dreamweaver integration.

Would also like to see a detailed 'recommended' workflow for using DW with Actinic in the advanced users guide.

No qualms about diving into the HTML/CSS, just want to get the job done quickly and cleanly. Having recently gone on a learning curve with Linux, Apache, MySQl, PHP & CSS I could do with a rest!

[pinbrook]

I have to admit I don't find it to much of a problem to hand code html in the inner layouts. As Bill says you just need to think abit more.

I'd like to see the UNDO button working within coding windows

[Epiclines]

I like being able to do with an agile mind and an understanding of the effects of the code I am writing.

Programmers rule KO?

OK THEN......


by working in programs like drameweaver you can visualy see the coding being created whilst you design and be creative. This helps you understand what coding is required to do what you want rather than the coding limiting you to what you have lernt in code.

This program should be a tool to aid creative thinking. Thats why designers make nice front ends whilst programers make the functionalty work. With out the two functions you might as well give up as nobody will visit your site.

If actinic dont intergrate with the defacto webdesign tools they will put themselves out of the running.

[cdicken]

If actinic dont intergrate with the defacto webdesign tools they will put themselves out of the running.

But we do. We have written an integration to allow you to completely manage your overall/outer layout(s) using Dreamweaver.

I do, however, totally appreciate the fact that this does not allow you to edit your product layouts etc. in Dreamweaver - and I have already said, we are looking at ways to address this at the moment.