Dreamweaver + InDesign or QuarkXpress

Question

I am editor of a website that specialises in boating news.
For years, the focus has been on providing news, rather than having
a “pretty” site, and we have done that by using php
scripts (first Mambo & then custom written) for the news
services and Net Fusion for the core website.
The increasing availability of ever faster download speed has
made us rethink our strategy and, last month, we decided to revamp
the entire site – with a uniform design – and introduce
a print style monthly magazine that could be downloaded in pdf. I
then started looking around for suitable software to achieve this.
Being one of those people who likes/needs to learn by doing
something productive, rather than following tutorials, I have
tended to shy away from Adobe, which seems to have its own language
(like “print to distiller”, instead of “export as
pdf”!) and thus be difficult to learn. Also, having once
worked in print media, I knew about Quark, so that is where I went
and, at first, I was delighted – within two days, I had the
beginnings of a half decent looking website and several pages of a
professional looking magazine. Then came the big snag!!
I uploaded a rough mock up of one news index page, to the
server, and asked the people that do our php scripts to get the
script to upload to this new page – as well as the current
one – so we could iron out any bugs and then do a smooth
transition, with just a name change.
You can see an example here
http://www.bymnews.com/quarknews/ind.jpg
of what the page should look like, except that it is cut off and
the central part will contain 100 (may change that to 50)
hyperlinked headlines delivered by the php script we are currently
using, with another template.
The problem is that when the 50 headlines are inserted in the
middle, the whole page gets corrupted, with objects moving and all
text changing to times new roman and black, or even vanishing, as
you can see here:
http://www.bymnews.com/quarknews/ind.jpg
This problem occurs regardless of whether the headlines are
delivered by the php script, or - as in the above example - just
pasted in. It also happens, whether they are inserted into a table
(as example), or just a text box. If only a few headlines are
inserted the problem doesn't happen.
Our script people said this was because “the layout you
have created (ie Quark has created) contains divs instead of
tables.” So, I posted on the Quark forum and have had no
reply. In fact, according to the server logs, only two people have
looked at the link!
This leaves me with a dilemma, do I buy Quark – which I
find easy to use – at the end of the 30 day trial, and hope
the paid support can solve my problem, or do I start again with
Dreamweaver and InDesign. I need your input to help me make that
decision.
Whatever I get has to be something I can use, without knowing
anything other than the basics of HTML. Secondly, it can’t be
something that would take months to learn (I have daily stuff to do
and have been working 18 hours a day to fit in developing the new
site, so can’t drop everything to follow a training course).
So, please answer some questions. (1) Will I have this same
prob in dreamweaver as I do in Quark? (2) Given that I learned
Quark basics – web and print – in a couple of days, how
long to reach the same stage with DW & ID (3) Given the lack of
response on Quark forum, do you think it will be there much longer?

Answer 1

> Adobe, which seems to have its own language (like ?print
to distiller?,
> instead
> of ?export as pdf?!) and thus be difficult to learn.
For the record, those are two different tasks. Hence, the
need for different
labels.
> Also, having once worked
> in print media, I knew about Quark, so that is where I
went and, at first,
> I
> was delighted ? within two days, I had the beginnings of
a half decent
> looking
> website and several pages of a professional looking
magazine. Then came
> the big
> snag!!
Anyone that has dealt with Quark (the company) will likely
always prefer
In-Design. ;o)
> Our script people said this was because ?the layout you
have created (ie
> Quark
> has created) contains divs instead of tables.? So, I
posted on the Quark
> forum
> and have had no reply. In fact, according to the server
logs, only two
> people
> have looked at the link!
Wait...you are exporting your XPress file as HTML? That's
likely not a good
idea. In fact, you shouldn't be using page layout software to
create web
sites.
What you should be doing is taking your arcticle and send a
copy to Xpress,
and another copy to your web site. You probably don't want
your content
going through Xpress THEN to the web site. That's only going
to cause
headaches.
> This leaves me with a dilemma, do I buy Quark ? which I
find easy to use ?
> at
> the end of the 30 day trial, and hope the paid support
can solve my
> problem
These days, I wouldn't put much faith in any paid support
from any large
software company solving your problems.
> do I start again with Dreamweaver and InDesign. I need
your input to help
> me
> make that decision.
I would suggest that:
- you get a content management system to handle the web site
- you establish a workflow process that single sources the
articles.
a common workflow would be:
Write article in MS Word (properly formatted using Word's
structured
styles). Then send a copy to your DTP software, and a copy to
your CMS.
> So, please answer some questions. (1) Will I have this
same prob in
> dreamweaver as I do in Quark?
No. XPress is a DTP application. DW is an HTML editor.
> (2) Given that I learned Quark basics ? web and
> print ? in a couple of days, how long to reach the same
stage with DW & ID
> (3)
Ignore XPress's web features. They are useless.
Learning DW really means learning HTML, so you'll have to
want to do that.
Again, I think the better investment would be getting a
content management
system up and running on the server.
> Given the lack of response on Quark forum, do you think
it will be there
> much
> longer?
Quark has always been a bit of a PITA company to deal with.
-Darrel