Frontpage 2003

[scottle]

I think it's time to retire FP2003. Any suggestions on replacements that are somewhat compatible to FP that isn't too difficult to learn?? Mambo?, Joomlia, etc?

[meetmydomains]

I like Dreamweaver myself... If you know of anyone in College, the suite can be had for a pretty cheap price on campus. I had my son get mine in what I thought was his bookstore...

[Duncan]

Get expression web. I just got it and I love it. It's the PRO-frontpage and way easier then trying to learn a new dreamweaver concept.

[scottle]

Thanks for your responses. I have been on vacation for 3 weeks & just trying to catch up.

[webd]

Originally Posted by scottle

I think it's time to retire FP2003. Any suggestions on replacements that are somewhat compatible to FP that isn't too difficult to learn?? Mambo?, Joomlia, etc?

FrontPage is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) HTML editor. Mambo and Joomla are CMSs (Content Management Systems).

I highly recommend going with content management systems over WYSIWYG editors.

If you are going to go with a WYSIWYG editor, Dreamweaver is OK.

For a CMS, try Drupal -- I think it's better than Mambo/Joomla, though the learning curve is a little steeper.

[typeins]

Dreamweaver is a good combination of power and easy to use interface.

[scottle]

Thanks for your responses. I have a lot of domain names that I just want to put a few content pages up & I can't spend a lot of time on them. Something better than "parking" where I can put some affiliate programs & PPC. Since I have over 100+ sites maintenance is an issue--------like changing weekly ads, etc. FP has coding errors from time to time that adds to time away from creative work so I need some program that is easy. I do have the dnforum guys working on some sites also to cut down on maintainance.

[webd]

Originally Posted by scottle

Since I have over 100+ sites maintenance is an issue--------like changing weekly ads, etc.

You could probably build a multi-site setup with Drupal. All content is easily managed from a database through a Web interface (like writing an email, typing the content into a textbox). The advertising/adsense modules inject advertising into your site. To upgrade all the sites, just upgrade one installation.

[Doc Com]

Joomla has more or less made Mambo obsolete.

I have used Joomla but a little steep learning curve.

I am in the process of learning Ruby on Rails, Drupal, WordPress, and Dreamweave (the entire CS3 Suite) but in no particular order. Most likely will do Dreamweaver as it will be similar to Microsoft FrontPage.

But here is the biggy...if you go with say something like Dreamweaver, you also want to learn something like Contribute 3, another MacroMedia (now Adobe product). This will allow you to log in from anywhere and work on and update your site. You can also set permissions to allow others to use it.

This is the primary reason I went with Joomla on a site redisign. I though I wanted a wiki but wiki syntax is another animal. Anywhere in the world I can log on from any computer and update my site.

I hear and see great things with Drupal and WordPress also so that is why I want to learn these as well.

That is also why I invented the 30 hour day, to make time to do all of these things.

Originally Posted by webd

For a CMS, try Drupal -- I think it's better than Mambo/Joomla, though the learning curve is a little steeper.

Have you used Joomla? From a point of view of never having been exposed to it and teaching myself, I thought it was pretty tough. But you think Drupal is tougher? Would like to know for comparison's sake and if I should even dare venture to the Drupal side.

[webd]

Originally Posted by Doc Com

...I am in the process of learning Ruby on Rails, Drupal, WordPress, and Dreamweave (the entire CS3 Suite) but in no particular order. Most likely will do Dreamweaver as it will be similar to Microsoft FrontPage.

Too many projects. Drop them and concentrate on becoming good at Drupal.

Originally Posted by Doc Com

But here is the biggy...if you go with say something like Dreamweaver, you also want to learn something like Contribute 3

I think that it's best to avoid Contribute. If you have multiple people working on a site and some don't use Contribute, things can get complicated. Dreamweaver and Contribute are not scalable like content management systems. A CMS will allow people who don't know HTML to edit the sites.

Originally Posted by Doc Com

Have you used Joomla? From a point of view of never having been exposed to it and teaching myself, I thought it was pretty tough. But you think Drupal is tougher? Would like to know for comparison's sake and if I should even dare venture to the Drupal side.

I used Joomla when it was still Mambo (and the beginning of Joomla) but dropped it for Drupal.

Ruby on Rails is much harder than Joomla.

Drupal can be confusing in the beginning, but then it will make sense.

Some of the things that make Drupal so powerful are:
* Content Construction Kit (CCK) -- Create your own content types without writing code
* Views -- Extract your content and display it in many different ways without writing code
* Content Template -- Further customize the display of your custom content types
* Pathauto -- Generate nice URLs based on just about any aspect of your content
* Taxonomy (Categories) -- Powerful system for categorizing/organizing your content
* Modules -- Huge user community with lots of useful modules

[tonyfloyd]

how does drupal compare to wordpress as far as easy to use?

[webd]

Originally Posted by tonyfloyd

how does drupal compare to wordpress as far as easy to use?

In the beginning Drupal can be a little confusing. After you build a few sites it becomes less complicated. You can do more with Drupal than with WordPress. Examples:
Mtv.co.uk
myonebaby.com
lime.com

[scottle]

Originally Posted by webd

In the beginning Drupal can be a little confusing. After you build a few sites it becomes less complicated. You can do more with Drupal than with WordPress. Examples:
Mtv.co.uk
myonebaby.com
lime.com

I looked at your lime.com site. Very professional. Did you create it yourself or do you work with others? How long did it take? How much time to maintain it?

I was interested in the "brain" video as my wife & I attended "brain lectures" by Drs Bert & Sally Russell on the cruise we took this August.

[webd]

Those sites aren't mine -- just examples of what people are doing with Drupal for social networking sites...