Recommended Open-Source Alternative to Dreamweaver CS3?

[allofus]

I have been using Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 and am rather familiar with it and overall like the programme, but it takes an eternity to sync with remote, those _notes files are a pain when using other ftp or ssh programs and I do not really want to shell out for cs4 because cs3 was expensive.

I tried coffee cup, but did not give myself enough time to familiarise myself with it.

Is it worth the time?

Do you use a different open-source / Freeware web/html editor that you recommend?

[cybrax]

Would suggest 'Bluefish' , or maybe even the latest version of 'OpenOffice' might be of some use to yourself. Perhaps not as fully featured as DW but for a freebie you cannot grumble.

[achilleasgr]

I started out with, and really like, Microsoft's Visual Web Developer 2008 (freeware). You'll find it at http://www.microsoft.com/express/download/ .
But it really looks like a good idea to try and fix those issues with Dreamweaver CS3 (I have never used it, but I can only imagine it is worthwhile).

Also, in case you haven't noticed, the upgrade price is cheaper for adobe products than it is to buy them new, for example $200 for dreamweaver:
http://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver/

[allofus]

Thanks,

I tried a CS4 demo, is essentially the same as CS3 but with updated wc3...

Dreamweaver is a good app, really it is, but honestly I do not use 99% of the features regularly, that said I would be lost without them. I don't think the upgrade is worth the fee really. CS3 works.

I have a copy of Microsoft Visual Express Edition.
I think i might give it some more time.

Eversoft First Page was a nice app too, but Dreamweaver is what I settled with and I think now I have this familiarity that I only want to prize myself away from for the right reasons.

I don't really want to spend a couple of weeks getting used to a new program only to find it is garbage.

I am no immediate rush because cs3 is still working out for me, maybe I will get a few more replies to this thread that will help me make a decision later on.

Thanks for your advice guys.

MattG

[jtwhite]

I really like Notepad ++ (http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net). It's wonderful.

[galaxyAbstractor]

I heard http://net2.com/nvu/ is good, but I have never tried it.

IMO, you should stay away from notepad++, as you can't always copy/paste code snippets from the web into it, as it saves the formatting and messes up the code.

Or just continue using dreamweaver, but upload the files with filezilla etc instead.

[ichwar]

nvu is not too good at all. Kompozer is ok. I would recommend using notepad++ though. I've never had any problems with it.

[jtwhite]

I heard http://net2.com/nvu/ is good, but I have never tried it.

IMO, you should stay away from notepad++, as you can't always copy/paste code snippets from the web into it, as it saves the formatting and messes up the code.

Or just continue using dreamweaver, but upload the files with filezilla etc instead.

I've never had any problems with Notepad ++, and I think it's a great idea to just use FileZilla instead of uploading with Dreamweaver.

nvu is not too good at all. Kompozer is ok. I would recommend using notepad++ though. I've never had any problems with it.

Same here

[Twinkie]

Netbeans with PHP and server plugins can work better than Notepad++, and it has built in FTP.

[jtwhite]

Eclipse can also be like Netbeans.