Dreamweaver MX Dreams
Man! I downloaded the trial of Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 and it's freakin' cool as hell. You can design with XHTML and CSS standards, incorporate Fireworks graphics, use it with JSP and hundred bullet items more. It's a *fantastic* application.
I'm feeling the need for a redesign. Both on this site and on Mobi. Now that CSSZenGarden-quality sites are becoming more common (thanks to Web Standards - yes I'm a Zeldman disciple wannabe) I'm running into more and more weblogs that just make you stop and go "ooooh" before you continue reading. Case in point is Ryan Gantz's blog. He just left me a message in my comments and when I clicked over to his site, I thought "niiiice". That's what I want when people come to this site (especially potential employers. ;-) ).
I really need to make the effort to learn how to use Dreamweaver at a capable level so I could better do this sort of thing more efficiently. But it's a massive app! It's not just a design tool, it's like an XHTML IDE. I mean, I could do a design by hand - I "know" the technology of XHTML and CSS pretty well, but I really think that something like Dreamweaver could really help - both with the designing stages, and the final testing/refinement stage. Is this right? Are you a CSS Zenner? Am I smoking crack or is Dreamweaver as cool a tool as it seems?
Toooo much cool tech to play with, too little time. This is worth some effort though... The greatest thing in the world is good design plus good tech - think iPod and Powerbook as examples. Nothing captures the imagination like technology and nothing captures the soul like design. That's the sort of sweet spot I'd like to aim for...
-Russ