Dreamweaver is anything but dreamy
While, practicing what I have already learned about HTML and CSS gave me some understanding how Dreamweaver works, there was still a lot to figure out. If I wanted to take full advantage of the software there was more to be done. I used some tutorials again, those two to be precise, but felt like I am already running a bit behind with that project, so I chose specific segments to watch and opted out from going through their full content. It was particularly useful to know more about the interface of the programme, how to take advantage of it being quite intuitive and pointing out my mistakes. Most of all it introduced me to Bootstrap. I think this is the moment, when I feel confident enough about what I have already learned, to explore the idea of using Bootstrap and Java script in my website.
Despite the name the programme is anything but dreamy. It has a lot of features that can be really useful, but also can behave in a really unpredictable way, if you do not dedicate some time to learn how to properly use it. I had issues with duplicated sheets, with the programme creating links for me I did not understand, with constantly forgetting to save changes and then wondering why nothing is changing in my practice files. The split view was fun at first, but the more code you put, the more it is actually annoying because you get limited view of what you are doing. If you are not careful you might press some of the suggestions the programme gives you by mistake and then to wonder why everything changed. In other words - you need to pay a lot of attention at every step. On the other hand there are things I really liked. For example - when you are working on your CSS file elsewhere you can end up connecting the wrong element or no element as you wrote it wrong - not here, as Dreamweaver only gives you the options of elements that are in your source code. So far I am using it only on my exercise files and have not yet started the actual website, but getting to know the programme is something I expect to really help me in the process of completing this assignment. I already found that its Live View and Design View can be different from what a browser interprets from your code after. So, I will have to find a way around that in order to be able to see how my pages are actually looking. It is also too much at times, so many functions I probably will not use. But I am really glad I started with HTML and CSS leaning. As intuitive as Dreamweaver is, you might end up taking advantage of all the suggestion it makes and, if the end result is not a good one, your only option is to start from scratch. I am pretty sure that I will be able to spot my mistakes now, being aware how the programme language works. At this point I feel that I have done what I can to improve my technical abilities, and it is time to finally pay more attention to the concept of my website.
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