Is there a layout designer for a site?

[sazebac]

I'm looking for a good program (not word) to help me visualize my web site. In other words, something where I can use small boxes to represent my web pages and connect the boxes with arrows. I have Dreamweaver MX and Frontpage 2000, either is these have something like that? Thanks

 

[EdwardMartinIII]

I would use construction paper.

Different-colored Post-Its work, too, but better are 3x5 cards. If you can't get different colors, then get different colored markers and make marks along the top for grouping.

Imagine the Website Design Police: "Please step away from the computer, sir..."

I know you suggested against Word, but the fact is, I use Word's drawing program to make all sorts of diagrams -- it's really cool!

But when designing a site, I always start with paper, crayons, etc.

Cheers,


Edward

"Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!" -- inventor of the cat door

 

[WizyWyg]

I use power point too.
Or make it in Adobe Photoshop.

 

[EdwardMartinIII]

Yeah, those work, too (although I have a philosophical thing against PowerPoint ).

Whatever method you use, you will probably serve yourself well by keeping away from any HTML development tools until you know how many pages you want, how they'll be linked, and what content you want on each one.

The guys at

http://www.websitesthatsuck.com/

once mentioned that they use Photoshop to rough up a page design quickly.

But that's page design.

You're talking about site design, which is not the same thing. Site design is planning how your data gets to the user in the way that makes it easiest for the user. A crappy page design can still serve you well on a well-designed site, because the site serves the purpose. A brilliantly designed page on a crappy site doesn't help anyone because there's this retarded disconnect between the User and what they want.

I'm way too philosophical about this, aren't I?

Cheers,


Edward

"Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!" -- inventor of the cat door

 

[Genimuse]

I use Visio for such design, which works quite well.

Office also comes with a tool (that you have to load from the CD) for creating company org charts (primarily) but that would work just fine for site design, and if you already own office then you already own it. It's called something like "OrgChart," but that's not right.

 

[DeZiner]

Frontpage has the Navigation tab.

DeZiner
Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that amateurs built the Ark.
Professionals built the Titanic

 

[jemminger]

dreamweaver should have a site map tool to graphically represent your site...

=========================================================
try { succeed(); } catch(E) { tryAgain(); }
-jeff

http://www.jeffemminger.com

 

[xutopia]

a big huge whiteboard does it for me.

Gary

http://www.xutopia.com

Haran
********************************

 

[Genimuse]

A tool that represents your site -- like Dreamweaver's and FrontPage -- is a very different thing from a tool for designing the information architecture of the site before you create even the first page.

I use a tool like Visio because I always present the infoarch and general navigation concept to my clients long before the first HTML tag is written (I usually do brainstorm it out on a whiteboard first, mind you). As Edward Martin III stated, the site design (aka information architecture) is much more important than the way the page looks (as long as the page is functional). In my opinion.

 

[Genimuse]

I ran across a pretty cool site infoarch tool the other day but couldn't remember the name of it for this thread, but searching I found it.

It's called Denim, and is free of charge, developed by some folks at Berkeley. It allows you to literally sketch out the site (a tablet PC would be ideal for it, but a mouse works fine) and then draw in the links, and then navigate the sketches. Quite slick:

http://guir.berkeley.edu/projects/denim/

 

[jimoblak]

I use treepad, a windows/linux freeware that is basically notepad with articles nodes organized in a tree structure. While the freeware version does not do any kind of linking between nodes [ex: 'connecting the boxes with arrows'], it is a nice app to design structure.

treepad.com


- - picklefish - -

 

[EdwardMartinIII]

I laugh so hard it makes me cry.

No wait, that's someone putting onion juice in my eyedrops.

The basic design and architecture of a site requires four simple tools: something that can draw boxes, something that can draw arrows, and something that can notate.

Oh, I did mention a fourth thing, didn't I? A clear head.

One architect builds a cathedral using five hundred bricklayers. The architect who worries too much about the technique of laying brick and the bricklayer who spends too much time second-guessing the architect are both a discredit to their professions.

Be an architect. Design the site. Then switch hats to be a bricklayer and make the design happen.

And every while, watch a John Carpenter film. Just because you should.

Cheers,


Edward

"Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!" -- inventor of the cat door

 

[Pixelchik]

I like those dry erase boards that also print what's on the board before you erase. A little pricy, but in lieu of that, again the plain old dry erase board (or a few of them, they're cheap) I find myself erasing and erasing. It's also easy if you are working with another person(s) on the site design.

 

[sazebac]

Thanks for all the help. I wasn't able to use FP's navigation tool because I was not able to change the text on the boxes. I've just being using Word, not as bad as I had first thought after I was able to turn off some options. Still has a random annoying outline of box on my document that seems to serve no purpose and I can't get rid of, but it's doing the job.
What I would like to use is Visio, but not ready to spend the money for it yet. Visio seems to be the best tool for laying out the architecture.
Now for the Merchant Account and Payment Gateway and shopping cart software. Whew..... Back to the lab again.

 

[dwarfthrower]

Coloured pencils & paper... a little 'old-school' I know, but cheap and easy to work with.

 

[EdwardMartinIII]

Ah, I see the problem, here. The perception "cost = value = usefulness" is assumed, but fundamentally flawed.

Cheers,


Edward

"Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!" -- inventor of the cat door