Tarfumes.com - HomeSite 5.0

Manufacturer: Macromedia

Average Customer Rating:

Binding: CD-ROM
Brand: Macromedia
EAN: 0044431335560
Format: CD-ROM
Label: Macromedia
Manufacturer: Macromedia
Platform: Windows NT
Publisher: Macromedia
Studio: Macromedia

Editorial Reviews:

Formally owned by Allaire, Macromedia's HomeSite 5 is often referred to as the Web editor for hand coders. With this latest release, Macromedia proves that it is more than capable of providing this spectacular Web site editor with a very inviting new home.

If you've used HomeSite before, not much has changed regarding installation and startup. If you've never used the program before, you might want to either flip through the resourceful handbook or check out the long list of help references in the left-hand column. One topic that caught our eye was the "Learn HTML and CSS" feature, a rather in-depth tutorial for people who are just getting started with the language or who need a refresher course. These online courses take about a half-hour to complete.

For new users and old hands alike, HomeSite 5.0 offers some very compelling new features, including XHTML support. Macromedia has also worked hard to improve code validation for many languages, including HTML, JSP, CFML, and more. Checking your code for errors is as simple as hitting Shift and F6, a big improvement over the days of scrutinizing code and straining your eyes in search of missing "tr" and "td" tags. Another important improvement is the new Secondary Files tab, which lets you access multiple files at once, making it much easier and faster to incorporate remote files into your HomeSite project. In addition, Macromedia has included an Auto Backup feature, designed to save your work as often as you decide is necessary.

Macromedia's acquisition of HomeSite has also resulted in better integration with Fireworks and Dreamweaver, the company's signature Web design and development products. In addition, you can now edit files that are included within your code without having to open that file in a separate program.

The only pet peeve we have about HomeSite is this: HomeSite automatically inserts the proper end tag to correspond with whatever start tag you write. However, if you erase the start tag, HomeSite will not automatically erase the corresponding end tag, which often results in bad code. Not an earth-shattering flaw, but fixing it would be a small improvement to an otherwise outstanding product. --Gisele Toueg

Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: Homesite has been really great, will it survive.
Comment: For many who like writing HTML/XHTML code, Homesite holds a special place in the heart. It just feels so right and is addictive.

The tool can be extended, and the extensions use script which makes the development cycle dead easy.

Support from MacroMedia has not been good. Now Adobe is in the process of buying Macromodia (as on 2005-04-19) so who knows where it all goes. Saying that people who like this product still like it and prefer it. If it fits you don't need support. You just run it day after day and it works great.

(There are alternatives emerging after all these years but none quite do it yet. CSE and TopStyle are two that are coming along.)

For some it almost seems perfect, for WYSIWYG oriented people, it might be best not to even look at it.

Customer Rating:

Summary: "THE" Tool for Web Development
Comment: Homesite is widely recognized as "the" premier tool for coding HTML, client side, and server side code by hand. Adding it to your resume won't land you a job, but it will certainly boost your chances of getting an interview because it indicates that you are not a cheap, WYSIWYG junkie.

One of the things I like best about Homesite 5 is the adaptability it allows when coding in ASP.NET. I was able to find a plug-in, which when added to Homesite, recognized the .NET tags and colors them accordingly. There are similar plug-ins for just about every language out there.

If you are unfamiliar with HomeSite, are considering a purchase, but are not sure it's the right tool for you, here's a very brief description on how it works: This is not a drag-and-drop design tool that created the code for you. It is, in essence, a text editor on steroids. As you code BY HAND it will color the code for you, tell you when you've made errors, offer you a ton of help on knowing what tags mean, has a built in FTP client, helps you organize your work into projects, and a bunch of other functions I've never used.

Here's the main thing you need to know: If you're a HomeSite pro, then you are also a REAL developer.

To everyone who has whined about lack of support: What do you expect for less then $100? If you purchase a flagship product from Macromedia such as Dreamweaver, Studio MX, or Fireworks, you'll get all the support you'll need.

Also, I've been able to find PLENTY of FREE support from news groups and email lists that focus on web development. For every problem or question I've found someone who knows the solution. You can too!!!

Just a note: Amazon is behind the times. From the Macromedia website you can now purchase two versions ahead of what Amazon is offering.

Well worth the $99.00.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Good enough...
Comment: Great program but the fact that you can't lock the toolbar into place leads to major amounts of time wasted. Homesite kind of peaked at version 3 when it was run by Alaire.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Useful, but lack of support a problem
Comment: I must echo prior comments about poor support. I once submitted a question and the untimely response did not address my question. It was as if a harried support person whipped out an answer without really reading what I'd written.

HomeSite is still a very useful product for those who want to hand code. I would still be using it if it weren't for TopStyle Pro 3.10. TopStyle was created by the original author of HomeSite, Nick Bradbury. Though it is intended primarily for stylesheets, it serves my purposes just as well. (I'm not a pro, so there may be additional features in HomeSite that I don't miss in TopStyle). Moreover, Nick Bradbury and a cadre of volunteers provide excellent support. Take a look at bradsoft.com.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Not for the beginner.
Comment: I am unfamiliar with 4.5 but, to an extent, I can support the comments from the user from New Jersey. I was chosen by a nonprofit corporation to maintain their website. Macromedia support is nonexistent. The user forums are of no help to someone new to website design and maintenance. (The response to request I have made for assistance, has been a rote, cryptic referral to the user forum.) The manual provided by Macromedia is almost completely useless. If you already know HTML code well, your experince may be different. Following the suggestion from the NJ reviewer, I am picking up a used copy of Homesite 4.5 for Dummies and keeping my fingers crossed.

More Reviews