Recommened software

[Golden Synergy]

I am almost ready to sign up. What I would like to know is can I edit a template ( 3837) with out this recommended software? are there other less expensive ways do do this?
recommended software:
Adobe Photoshop 6+
Macromedia Flash MX+
HTML editors
Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004
FrontPage 2003+
.............................................

I do have;
Adobe Photoshop elements 7.0 , Open Office 3.1 and I also have NetObjects Fusion 10.0

Mark

[gwyneth]

There are almost a zillion ways to make/edit/generate html pages to use on your account.

Many are free.

You can use net objects fusion, too.

Or check out the tools in these threads:

Site studio/builder alternatives even novices can use

Tools for noobs

You can also use a number of open source (free) content management systems or blogs such as Wordpress.

[citawds]

Originally Posted by Golden Synergy

I would like to know if there are any freeware or cheaper alternatives to the recommended software that is shown with the template I might be using.

Adobe Photoshop 6+
Macromedia Flash MX+
HTML editors
Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004
FrontPage 2003+


I have Adobe Photo Elements 7 , kompozer, and net objects fusion 10.
Thanx for your suggestions

Mark

For most photo editing Photoshop Elements should be more than enough. There is a free alternative that does a pretty good job called "The GIMP", open source imagine editing software which also runs on the Windows platform.

For text editors there are several, I like and use Notepad++ (http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm) and Editplus (http://www.editplus.com/), both offer FTP access and tabbed windows so you can have multiple files open at the same time, both are for the windows platform.
I no longer use an IDE for web development but I do have Netojbects Fusion 7.0 really out of date but didn't really care for it much and I stopped using Frontpage with the Frontpage2000 version. You might want to go check out Aptana studio which I believe has an IDE for web development and a WYSIWYG editor (http://www.aptana.com/)

If you search the archives you will find several good suggestions on open source alternatives to Frontpage and Dreamweaver.

Steve

[citawds]

As a follow up to my previous post you can find "The GIMP" here:

http://www.gimp.org/



Steve

[Golden Synergy]

Thank you for your help

I just do not want to buy new expensive software if I do not need too.

Mark

[Hullabaloo]

Most (if not all) templates include a flash and non-flash version.

The template files include .psd files.
These are photoshop proprietary files. Elements should handle them ok.
(Gimp wont work with many of the templates. Gimp cannot handle the text and effects layers properly.)

You get a generic template in a folder called nonflash/html.
It will include a index.html file, etc...
The images you get are also generic. You will have to edit them to say/display what you want.
The psd files are images of the complete template. You will have to edit the tabs (for example) then save the edited region of the image as a jpg, replacing the generic tabs that are included in the html folders.

It sounds complicated but is pretty easy once you have it all in front of you.

If you want to use the flash version you will have to have a flash editor.
(Editing the flash files is not easy. It is a bit of a catch-22. If you are good enough to edit someone else's files properly, you wont need to edit someone else's files.)

You will need a text editor to change the text. You can use notepad or if you want a recommendation try PSPAd, it is free and works great.
http://www.pspad.com/en/

[gwyneth]

Hullabaloo, kudos on a great summary...in more than a dozen threads over the past three years, there's been a lot of useful info, but scattered, so hard to use for explaining the totality.

When I get Grease Monkey working with common topic text macros, you're going to get quoted...