whats the difference ?

[Trez]

I have had the trial version of publisher for a while and have been using it
to create a website.

So before I purchased it thought I would ask a few questions (see ' whats
the difference ? at Discussions in Expression Web). A few answers I got are
below.



Do you want a website that you cannot maintain? Then use Publisher.

--
Murray
--------------
MVP FrontPage


would not use it to create websites. While it can do it, it creates
bloated pages.


Publisher is for desktop publishing (print media) it "can" produce simple
"websites" really simple...really funky code that's impossible to edit
effectively and impossible to convert to conventional html...so you will be
wasting your time using Publisher if you intend anything but a few page
website with proprietary code designed primarily for Internet Explorer.


So is this correct information ? If so the 90 odd pages I have wasted my
time on need to be transfered to another authorizing tool. Is there a quick
way to do this.


Thanks
T.

 

[DavidF]

If you are building a website that has 90+ pages, you should probably switch
to a different program. Publisher is a DTP that has limited website building
capability and is appropriate for small simple static sites. The larger the
site, the more difficulty you will have managing it with Publisher.

I would disagree with some of the statements made. Murray is incorrect in
his assertion that you cannot maintain a Publisher built website. Publisher
does have more code bloat than most programs, but that does not mean you
can't get fairly fast loading pages, and with the huge capacity of most
hosting programs now the physical size of the html files are not as
important as it used to be. Rob's statement is closest to accurate, and ties
into what Murray was probably trying to say. Publisher is not a code
editor...you edit your pages by going back to the original Publisher doc,
making your changes, and creating new html....you don't edit the html code
directly. Also as Rob implied, the code generated by Publisher is more for
IE than other browsers, and thus you will have cross browser
challenges....especially if you don't keep it simple.

Reference: Using Publisher for web sites:
http://msmvps.com/blogs/dbartosik/articles/80566.aspx

Bottom line is no serious web designer would choose Publisher to build
websites, but it all depends on what your goals and expectations are. If you
want a simple static site, and don't want to buy and learn additional
software, it can be a good choice. But as I said originally, if you are
building a 90+ page site, you will certainly be better off in the long run
if you switch now.

Sorry, no, you can't simply import the code from a Publisher website into
Expression or the others. The code is too different. You will have to
rebuild, but at least you have an idea of how you want to layout your pages,
and all the images and such are ready. That is one of the biggest, most time
intensive parts of designing and building any website.

DavidF

 

[Rob Giordano \(Crash\)]

No...there's no quick way to convert.

But you may be able to drag/drop some design elements from publisher into EW
or FP...but NOT any VML graphics (textboxes/lines/autoshapes etc) - and text
would have to be cleaned up too.




|I have had the trial version of publisher for a while and have been using
it
| to create a website.
|
| So before I purchased it thought I would ask a few questions (see ' whats
| the difference ? at Discussions in Expression Web). A few answers I got
are
| below.
|
|
|
| Do you want a website that you cannot maintain? Then use Publisher.
|
| --
| Murray
| --------------
| MVP FrontPage
|
|
| would not use it to create websites. While it can do it, it creates
| bloated pages.
|
|
| Publisher is for desktop publishing (print media) it "can" produce simple
| "websites" really simple...really funky code that's impossible to edit
| effectively and impossible to convert to conventional html...so you will
be
| wasting your time using Publisher if you intend anything but a few page
| website with proprietary code designed primarily for Internet Explorer.
|
|
| So is this correct information ? If so the 90 odd pages I have wasted my
| time on need to be transfered to another authorizing tool. Is there a
quick
| way to do this.
|
|
| Thanks
| T.
|
|
|

 

[Mike Koewler]

Trez,

You might want to give Serif WebPlus a try. Okay, you have to buy it,
but it comes with a 30-day money back guarantee.

A couple of reasons why:

It's cheap!
It's WYSIWYG.

But more importantly - you can import your current pages into WP. It
doesn't do it perfectly, but a lot of the basics will import perfectly.
You can also Cut/Paste from your Pub file to a WP file, making
rebuilding a large site easier.

Mike

 

[Trez]

Hi
I have had a quick look at serif but cannot see mention of CSS or XHTLM
Does it have these facilities ?
How does it compare with Web easy Professional express ?

T.

 

[DavidF]

Trez,

You should remember that Google is your friend. Here is just one of the
reviews I found on the first page:
"Verdict: Easy: yes. Professional: no. Setting up a website may be simple,
but customization is much more tricky."
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/56456/vcom-web-easy-professional-5.html

This is a step backward from Publisher, not forward. Why would you want to
go to a template driven program that doesn't allow for customization? Here
is another link:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,64314-order,1-page,1/description.html

Consider NVU if you don't want to spend the money.

DavidF

 

[Mike Koewler]

Trez,

WP uses CSS. Normally it generates its own, but you can alter it. I
don't believe it supports XHTML so if you are planning on designing
pages to be viewed on a mobile phone or other handheld devices, it
probably is not going to be your cup of tea.

No offense intended, but if you are looking for a program driven
entirely by templates and supplied artwork, then you don't need a
program to design a web page - just assemble one. Your pages will look
as desired, like a cookie-cutter product where anyone's name, address
and phone number can be inserted. WP does have templates you can use and
change, as well as some clipart, but again, it's going to look generic.

Mike