The Development Process
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HTML or CMS?

HTML or CMS?

It is important to choose the right technology for your website, but with all the available options, it can be a confusing choice. Small Dog Solutions builds two types of websites: HTML-based Dreamweaver sites, and PHP-based Joomla 1.5 Content Management Systems (CMS). There are pros and cons to each type of technology; the best way to choose is to determine the main function of your planned website.

What is the difference between a Dreamweaver (HTML) site and a Joomla CMS?

Adobe Dreamweaver is the standard visual code editor for HTML coded websites. Each page is built separately and uploaded via FTP to the server. Dreamweaver has built-in PHP, Flash, and javascript capability. Dreamweaver sites can be hosted on any server.
A Joomla Content Management System is server-side software that to keeps track of every piece of content on your website using a database rather than separate pages. All sorts of functions can be added via plugins, which are small add-on programs that contribute more capabilities. Joomla sites can be hosted on servers featuring PHP capability.

Dreamweaver or Joomla?
To determine what technology would work best for you, determine the main purpose of your website. The following questions may help:

Is the purpose of your site more visual or text-based?
If you are looking for a "brochure" site, something with a lot of creative flow and visual appeal, Dreamweaver provides for the highest degree of creativity. This is because Dreamweaver pages are hand built, whereas Joomla pages must conform to a set template. While Joomla pages can certainly look nice, they are typically far more linear and text-based than Dreamweaver pages.
How often will your update your site? Will you have multiple site editors?
If your website is largely text-based (such as a news source) a Joomla website is the correct choice for you. CMS was developed for news pages such as CNN, powering a dynamic database that manages large amounts of text contributed by multiple parties. This is where a CMS really shines as it provides a visual, user-friendly interface (much like a word processing program). Contributors can log on to the internet to make basic changes from any computer without software. If you plan on making daily or weekly updates, a CMS may be the way to go.

Dreamweaver can also manage large amounts of text - the difference is in the ease of updating. With Dreamweaver, you must make edits using a computer that runs Dreamweaver or Contribute (or any other HTML editor if you know code). This allows you to access your local files, make changes, and upload the changes to the server via FTP. While mastering this is not difficult, it is a bit more restrictive than a CMS.

With the introduction of Dreamweaver CS4, Adobe now offers InContext Editing, an online service that allows you to edit your website online without using Dreamweaver. This frees the user to use any computer, much like a CMS. The fees for InContext Editing have yet to be determined. Learn more
Ease of Maintenance
It is important to remember that maintaining any website application will involve a rather sharp initial learning curve. There is simply no way around this. Small Dog Solutions trains clients to maintain their sites using both Dreamweaver and Joomla, and we find that the learning curve is roughly equal between technologies. Sometimes the cheapest and easiest choice for nonprofits and small businesses is to outsource maintenance, though this is certainly not always the case. Also keep in mind that the more complex the design, the more complex the maintenance.

Besides the two hours of training provided by Small Dog Solutions, there are many great books and resources that can help you learn Dreamweaver and Joomla. In Missoula, we are lucky to have the MCPS Adult Education Division at the Dickinson Lifelong Learning Center, which often offers excellent instruction on Dreamweaver. It can also be helpful to use the Help section provided by each type of technology.