Why use a website building tool

[pdurban3]

I'm a new chum, getting ready to jump into e-business. I've learned the basics of html from an online course. In it, we were warned not to use website building tools for the following reasons:

• If you rely on a Web development tool to write your HTML for you, you only know as much about HTML as your tool does. When new features and versions of the HTML language come out, you won't be able to use them without upgrading your tool.
• If something on your page breaks and your tool can't fix it, you won't be able fix it either. Sometimes tools do strange things and produce strange HTML code. If you don't know HTML, you won't be able to change the tool's output and fix your Web page.
• Web development tools often write HTML that works better in one browser than in another, or that looks great when you preview it in the development application, but not in a real-life browser. That's not good if you want to reach a wide audience. In most cases, you want your HTML to be browser-agnostic, which means that you want to use standard HTML.
• HTML is really easy to learn. You're not learning a programming language, you're learning a markup language, and the two are very different. HTML is intuitive and you'll find that it makes sense almost immediately. As a bonus, what you learn about HTML will help you learn other markup languages -- like XML -- later on.

So now, I'm a bit confused. Any feedback would be appreciated.

[fun-colorado-family-hikes]

Re: Why use a website building tool

I know a little HTML also. But I don't want a BASIC website, I want one that looks professional. People who know a little html can build sites that look like they know a little.

Look at my website...do you know how long it would take before I was proficient in HTML to build one like this?

Answer: forever

http://www.fun-colorado-family-hikes.com

[Brad]

Re: Why use a website building tool

I agree, learning to code HTML by hand is the way to go...I can do it very
well. But it took me close to a year to learn. Most people do not have the
time nor the desire to do this. Thats why tools like BlueVoda, Dreamwaver,
Frontpage, etc... are so popular and will continue to be poplular for many
years to come, or until HTML is a mandatory course in high school or something.

But even if you do know HTML and you can code by hand, it takes 3-4 times
longer to accomplish the same task as it would if you where using one of the
above mentioned softwares....

The finale of this argument is.....

Life is too short! Download BlueVoda Today!

[pet121]

Re: Why use a website building tool

HtML is a very forgiving programming language and with respect to other languages very primitive. But most sites are built using HTML because its easy to learn and search engines like it.

Running into the snags you mention I find remote. I beleive in the gallies of BlueVoda you can edit your HTMl. Currently there is alot of chunk code HTML still provides. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Perhaps a more percise language like C, Unix, Linux, Cryptic, dos ect... these I would be more concerned with. pet121

[Watdaflip]

Re: Why use a website building tool

Its depends largly on the program you use. Using a WYSIWYG program to learn isn't going to help much at all, unless you study the source code for every features it has to learn how it works, but using a combinations of a program and tutorials, atleast for me I found it extremly easy to learn. October of last year I started to learn html, by using tutorials on w3schools.com, and using the coding side of dreamweaver mx, I had it down rather quickly. Its always good to learn the hard way, but shortcuts have been known to work

[pdurban3]

Re: Why use a website building tool

Thanks guys, you've convinced me. I only started using the pc 1 year ago, and am leary of taking the "easy way out" in anything.

The path of least resistance only leads downhill.