To Code or Not To Code? Is Dreamweaver the Best Option For You?

Thinking about building a website but your coding skills aren’t top notch? The tutorials on Dreamweaver Made Simple are brilliant for learning how to code but there are other ways to build a site. Two other ways you could think about are using Joomla and Wordpress. Once installed onto your web server you can use their in built admin sections to upload content to your site. Learning how to code is a tricky process especially if it’s your first language. Fully understanding theory such as syntax isn’t easy. Joomla and Wordpress should be well considered if you don’t think you’re ready to build your first website.

So as discussed Joomla and Wordpress are content management systems (CMS). Wordpress is a blogging CMS and has several benefits from pure coding. There is a tonne of free customizable themes you can assign to your site very swiftly. You can add widgets such as a twitter feed or list of post tags with just a button click. Wordpress isn’t the only CMS choice, Joomla is also a viable option, particularly if you’re looking to do more than just blog. It’s designed to handle more than just blog posts and you can make more advanced additions than just widgets such as adding ecommerce systems and communication tools.

So with all these pros you’ve got to be thinking why use Dreamweaver at all? Do these online tools have drawbacks? The most important one is that they don’t leave much room for creativity and originality. The ability to shape your website in anyway you want to can only be taken advantage of when coding from scratch. In addition if you want to create something very simple then you might not even require all the extra functionality that Joomla and Wordpress supply. Some templates are easily recognized and if the site is for a company then brand recognition needs to be considered. A organization’s credibility could be compromised. Personal use on the otherhand is not so much of an issue.

So lets think about your knowledge of code and what the best option is for you. You should think about exactly what your trying to make. Wordpress is the top choice for a personal blog. Joomla is great for company sites but you need to think about the site’s complexity. If it’s simply conveying content (text, images, etc.) then Dreamweaver might be the way forward. With a little bit of knowledge of coding you can put together something unique quite speedily. However if your website requires something as complex as an ecommerce system then you’re going to need some serious knowledge of many different types of coding. Anything where people’s money is involved is tough stuff and if done improperly could put your site at risk from hacking or even break laws. If Joomla provides ready-made tried and tested code then it will no doubt be the better option.

Knowing your limits is essential when deciding how to go about your project. Look at the things you’ve made previous to this project to get a good idea of what you can do. There are great benefits to coding from scratch but it can be time consuming and difficult. Research into all your options will help no end in building the perfect site for you.