Buh-Bye, Dreamweaver

Written by John Coonen

Friday, 03 April 2009 18:00

Buh-bye Dreamweaver
Long ago, before we decided to get into the business of hosting web training and business networking, we launched our first web design & development practice. That was in 1993.

We built websites - hundreds and hundreds of websites. After using a mix of straight code and Claris HomePage for a few years, we upgraded to a brand-new program, created by Macromedia, called Dreamweaver. It was fantastic. For years, we never looked back - until we learned about this new way of creating sites, using something called a "Content Management System," but I'll cover that in a minute. ;)

Buh-bye Claris. Hello Macromedia Dreamweaver.
Back in 1996, along came Dreamweaver, a far superior html editor to Claris HomePage. We bought several licenses, and it expanded our firm's ability to create and deliver highly advanced websites, quicker and easier.

While Dreamweaver still didn't give old-time print designers like yours truly the OCD-esque pixel-by-pixel contol over type and photos we had grown to love in the print world (I am still a recovering Quarkaholic), Dreamweaver was the best thing going for web publishing.

While Dreamweaver was better than Claris HomePage, it still did little to simplify the content management piece of the puzzle. In fact, it was more complex. Unfortunately, the technical complexity of Dreamweaver meant that we were still saddled with our clients' website updates and minor changes. While some firms enjoyed that aspect of being billable for every single needed update, that wasn't our style.

Sappy as it may sound, our goal was to empower our clientele to run their own web-based organization; not add more red tape and friction to the process. Our success was predicated on empowering their business first after all, not ours.

Yet, with Dreamweaver, every time our clients wanted to change the employee roster, update the calendar or fix a typo, they had to call us. We knew Dreamweaver, they didn't. And frankly, it was too difficult to train them in on Dreamweaver.

Whether it was a corporate client, small business, school district or non-profit, Dreamweaver was great at allowing us to create the static site; but it was not the long-term answer when it came to providing freedom for the end user - the one who was selling his or her vision, providing the details, engaging their audience and building those critical one-to-one relationships.

Enter CMS
In 1997, a little firm in Geneva, Illinois called Intersites first introduced me to the concept of "CMS." They used Dreamweaver too, but for their larger projects ($50,000-plus), they produced dynamic, database-driven websites with what they called a "Content Management System."

Back in 1997, I was fascinated with Intersites' CMS. It was a whole new way to create and manage sites. The benefits of "going CMS" were a slam-dunk.

First, I could hand the keys to the site over to my clients to drive their own site's inner workings, thereby unloading the ongoing maintenance and operation of the site and its content to the rightful owner. When they needed major design or development updates, we'd be there to help them evolve.

While I loved creating sites, I despised the fact that once the site was created, there wasn't anyone on the Client-side that had the knowledge (let alone the desire) to run Dreamweaver. Problem was, they weren't willing to pay our rates to do the day-to-day updates either.

Minor updates were a pain in the neck, and the client didn't much like paying our fees (even reduced fees) to change a small block of type. Billing in 10 minute increments is best saved for law firms. It tends to upset the client-firm chemistry that's badly needed in the marketing realm. They were stuck. So were we.

I was convinced that we needed to create sites on a web-based collaborative basis, rather that a PC-based individual basis. Just bring up the site online, enter a login and password, and up pops an administrator panel. Now, the Admin can assign users, grant them permissions to change their own little areas of the site, using a very simple web-based text editor. If they can use Microsoft Word, they could use this CMS.

Back in 1997, it took a bare minimum of $50,000 to create a site using CMS technology. The work was custom. The results were crude, but well worth the cost for those who could afford the technology. My hope then, over a decade ago, was that within a few short years, a revolution in the web design world would take place, as people witnessed the awesome power of content management.

Buh-bye, Dreamweaver. Hello Content Management System.
It took over ten years, which means it's been less of a revolution, and more of an evolution, but it's finally under way.

Today, all the features, benefits and capabilities of that vinatage 1997 $50,000 CMS have been exponentially surpassed. There are incredible proprietary solutions offered by companies as Day, Vignette, Interwoven and others. The real ahah moment can't be denied with the advent of several free, open source CMS solutions such Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, Alfresco, Plone, Typo3 and more. They're loaded with features. They're powerful. They're backed by strong user communities. And they're free.

Best of all, they kick ass.

That's my story of how we ultimately said "good bye" and "thanks" to Dreamweaver. While we still use it for minor brush-ups, it's long been replaced by the content management systems we now use to create and maintain our sites. Dreamweaver's still a winner in our book at creating static sites, but if you're looking for a kinder, simpler, more powerful and collaborative way to create, update and grow your site, a CMS is the answer you've been looking for.

Best of all, we're here to help you (and your clients, colleagues and friends) make the transition. Feel free to let us know whether you too had a curtain call with Dreamweaver! This article may be rather lengthy, but there's plenty of space left below for you to comment.

(Try adding that capability with Dreamweaver.)

;)