[DesperateDelia]

Last year I set up a simple website for someone running a group. I used Dreamweaver, the site has 6 pages, table-based, text only, one graphics icon. It works fine and is nearly static. Someone else in the group wants to take the website over. He has an Apple Mac and some program I can't work with. I've told him to find a PC, learn something like Front Page and then he can take the HTML and run the site his way. I don't want to give him too much help, partly cos I'm very busy and partly cos he has been pretty unfriendly to me, in fact I think he's jealous. I'm no IT specialist, I had to teach myself Dreamweaver and I think if he wants to take the site over then he has to do some work too. What he wants if for me to give him my Dreamweaver software! So, can anyone tell me if I'm right about ways of building and running the site. Thanks!

[just "JR"]

Actually, only Notepad, Notepad++ or a plain text editor will be able to open a site designed in DW.
However, DW generates a very "dirty" code, based on its own templates: it is even difficult to understand the "plain" HTML of DW!
Writing "by hand" on a text editor, you will use clear definitions and comments, a good indenting and so on: any good programmer can follow you.
You would, for example, write
<input type=text name=first_name>
while with DW, you end up with:
<input type=text name=xyz345jfo>
that has absolutely no meaning. That is what makes it hard to maintain if you do not re-open with DW.

[James D]

Dreamweaver just saves standard HTML, so any other editing software worth its salt should be able to open it without problems.

If you have used templates in the design, then he will lose the ability to modify the master template and have all subsequent pages update, but this isn't a massive loss for a 6 page site.

[vinchenzison]

Hey, I wouldn't give him your Dreamweaver.
If he wants to get into building websites then he needs to do what the rest of us, including you, did, and learn HTML for a start. Doesn't take much of a google search to find HTML tutorials!
You don't actually need a program like frontpage or dreamweaver, you can do it all in notepad but I suppose for a novice it helps to also learn from FP/DW
All he would need is to ftp to the webspace and download all the files. He can then edit and upload them in whatever he likes.
If the webspace and domain belongs to you then you can either sell it to him or give him a copy of the files and tell him to find his own webspace.
Tell him to stop being lazy.
Heres a site that'll help