Web design workflow?
September 1, 2006 8:03 AM Subscribe
Web design workflow with Dreamweaver, specifically - templates.
I am mostly self-taught at web design, and I have several small sites that I create and maintain. I have read Zeldman, I can hand code fairly well, but I prefer to use Dreamweaver for the interface and templates feature. I realize I could use includes in lieu of templates, but I like to keep things simple XHTML if possible.
Here's my problem - my workflow is kind of screwy, and it seems that some features of Dreamweaver make other features unusable. Specifically, I can't make full use of the "get" and "put" functions of the files palette, because I am working with files with template markup, which I must export without markup before uploading. So I finish whatever changes, save the marked-up files, export the files without markup to a separate "Final" folder, then use a separate FTP program to upload the exported-without-markup files.
Can anyone recommend a better workflow? Is there a way to make all FTP'd files automatically strip off the template markup?
Related question: Does anyone have a link for a site that describes a complete, simple web design workflow from start to finish (with or without Dreamweaver)?
I am mostly self-taught at web design, and I have several small sites that I create and maintain. I have read Zeldman, I can hand code fairly well, but I prefer to use Dreamweaver for the interface and templates feature. I realize I could use includes in lieu of templates, but I like to keep things simple XHTML if possible.
Here's my problem - my workflow is kind of screwy, and it seems that some features of Dreamweaver make other features unusable. Specifically, I can't make full use of the "get" and "put" functions of the files palette, because I am working with files with template markup, which I must export without markup before uploading. So I finish whatever changes, save the marked-up files, export the files without markup to a separate "Final" folder, then use a separate FTP program to upload the exported-without-markup files.
Can anyone recommend a better workflow? Is there a way to make all FTP'd files automatically strip off the template markup?
Related question: Does anyone have a link for a site that describes a complete, simple web design workflow from start to finish (with or without Dreamweaver)?
Why are you bothering stripping out the template markup? It's just comments in the HTML.
If you didn't strip template markup, you could use Dreamweaver's nice FTP functions as they're meant to be used. It would mean if users viewed your source, they'd be able to tell you used Dreamweaver, but that's not a big deal is it?
posted by matthewr at 8:20 AM on September 1, 2006
If you didn't strip template markup, you could use Dreamweaver's nice FTP functions as they're meant to be used. It would mean if users viewed your source, they'd be able to tell you used Dreamweaver, but that's not a big deal is it?
posted by matthewr at 8:20 AM on September 1, 2006
You could check the Dreamweaver Exchange to see if there's an extension that will remove the comments.
Adobe's Dreamweaver workflow for creating websites and The Workflow for Dynamic Page Design.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:07 AM on September 1, 2006
Adobe's Dreamweaver workflow for creating websites and The Workflow for Dynamic Page Design.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:07 AM on September 1, 2006
Response by poster: kirkaracha, Thanks!
matthewr, because I care about the code I write, and I don't want to publish any bloated, ugly html code. This would double the filesize of some of my pages.
SirStan, thanks, I will look in to PHP templating.
posted by bradn at 11:14 AM on September 1, 2006
matthewr, because I care about the code I write, and I don't want to publish any bloated, ugly html code. This would double the filesize of some of my pages.
SirStan, thanks, I will look in to PHP templating.
posted by bradn at 11:14 AM on September 1, 2006
Dreamweaver handles PHP and server-side includes (which are usually better than Dreamweaver's Library items). You can use includes in Dreamweaver templates to reduce the file size. I do this on several Dreamweaver-based sites. I'm saving enough with my HTML and CSS code to not worry about Dreamweaver's comments. If you have any images on your site, they're likely to be bigger than all of the comment code.
This archived forum thread suggests a workaround: set up two Dreamweaver site definitions, with separate local site folders. One site definition has your working files, and the other site has your FTP connection to your remote site. Do Export Without Markup from the working site into the site with the FTP connection. It'd be redundant, but you could use Dreamweaver to FTP.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:50 AM on September 1, 2006
This archived forum thread suggests a workaround: set up two Dreamweaver site definitions, with separate local site folders. One site definition has your working files, and the other site has your FTP connection to your remote site. Do Export Without Markup from the working site into the site with the FTP connection. It'd be redundant, but you could use Dreamweaver to FTP.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:50 AM on September 1, 2006
I don't even get what you're doing.
Is this right? You're using Dreamweaver's templating system to create HTML, but you object so much to the comments it leaves in the source (the notations like <!-- BEGIN EDITABLE WHATEVER -->) that you feel you "must" strip them from the files before they go live?
If you hate them so much, you could have a little one-liner/utility which removes them written in any number of languages. Lots of people here can write that for you. But, can't you just let it go? Or have I misunderstood what's going on?
Can you give an instance of Dreamweaver markup which "doubles the size" of a page? I can't imagine how that can be so.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 4:04 PM on September 1, 2006
Is this right? You're using Dreamweaver's templating system to create HTML, but you object so much to the comments it leaves in the source (the notations like <!-- BEGIN EDITABLE WHATEVER -->) that you feel you "must" strip them from the files before they go live?
If you hate them so much, you could have a little one-liner/utility which removes them written in any number of languages. Lots of people here can write that for you. But, can't you just let it go? Or have I misunderstood what's going on?
Can you give an instance of Dreamweaver markup which "doubles the size" of a page? I can't imagine how that can be so.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 4:04 PM on September 1, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by SirStan at 8:09 AM on September 1, 2006