Offline website development vs online

[noiwontfixyourpc]

Hello all,

I've been considering starting a (At first) part time website design company for a while. I have programmed in html, php & SQL (And assembler / C / Siemens PLC) for years so the technical side is no sweat, (I'm a techie, day job is in electronics).

I have built websites in the past using notepad++ etc, but I'm tired of handcoding, especially when time is now money.

So I'm looking for a RAD way of building websites, with as little hand coding as possible. I'm not afraid of coding, I program PLC's daily, but I'm in this for the money, not for the love of coding.

As I see it, Dreamweaver looks like the best option. I want templates I can just 'fill in' with the customers content.

My question is: Is Dreamweaver still the best way of making a clients site, or is the CMS joomla / drupal way of doing things far better these days. (I assume wordpress is more for blogs).

[g1smd]

Write your own PHP/mySQL CMS so it does exactly what you want. Avoid the design mistakes built in to Wordpress, Joomla, Zencart et al.

Set up a password protected dev or test subdomain or install XAMPP or similar on a laptop or desktop PC for testing.

[Habtom]

As I see it, Dreamweaver looks like the best option. I want templates I can just 'fill in' with the customers content.

Doesn't the client have anything to say about what he/she wants? Every blog/CMS has their own pros and cons - and I doubt you can find one-size-fits-all kind of application for all of your clients.

Something I don't understand is why do people compare Dreamwaver with CMS apps like wordpress, joomla etc. I've used notepad++ for many years, and I take Dreamwaver and notepad++ as just programming/design tools.

[incrediBILL]

As I see it, Dreamweaver looks like the best option. I want templates I can just 'fill in' with the customers content.

Well DreamWeaver is fine for typing in content, but I wouldn't use their suck templates.

Think about your client's needs, think about mobile, DW doesn't.

Find a nice HTML 5 template with a liquid layout that scales from very wide and degrades gracefully to tablets and smartphones. If customers can get a one-size-fits-all solution, like my latest site has, they'll LOVE it and you'll rock out the clients quickly and easily.

To do what you want to do, you need to work smart, not hard, and offer a major advantage, which I've just given you.

Look online and you'll find several HTML 5 scalable liquid layouts, pick one and adapt it to your needs.

[noiwontfixyourpc]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I like the liquid layout idea and using html5. If this makes coding more productive then all the better.

As for what the client wants, well I'm looking to target a specific type of client, one that is basically afraid of computers, oldies and non techies. I'll be there to translate their needs onto the screen. They have no idea about social networking, twitter etc, so I'll know whats good for them because they won't have a clue.

I'm not looking to be a professional web developer, just targeting a specific niche offering a simple and effective web solution.