Hi,

I've been using dreamweaver and fireworks to create a couple of websites. I've been advised to learn HTML to become a better designer. (as well as php and javascript)
I'm not sure exactly why I need to when I can do it all in dreamweaver.

Could anyone shed some light on this for me please. I want to learn more but need to know why

Thanks in advance

You know how with math in order to truly understand it you have to learn how to do it by hand first before you use a calculator....well HTML is the by hand and Dreamweaver is by calculator....

In other words just because you can make a website with Dreamweaver doesn’t mean you really know how to make a website....and you may be able to better optimize the site knowing html as well as making sites more cross platform and browser compatible.....

sometimes you may also find yourself having to fix a problem with out the use of a WYSIWYG editor and knowing HTML would be the only way.....

The most important part of why you should learn HTML is the simple fact that you will then begin to truly understand how a website works.....

hope this helps

In addition to what CasaPages said (which I found to be very well stated ), HTML & Dreamweaver are limited in what they can do on a website. PHP & MySQL give a website interactivity you simply can not get with HTML. Before you learn PHP & MySQL however you need a solid understanding of HTML in order to understand how they work together and to troubleshoot & optimize your PHP projects.

people respect designers who understand the underlying code and who can hand code. It wont take that long to learn html, or css for that matter

Might sound anal retentive, but i believe that people who use WYSIWYG are lazy, and lack the skill needed to create anything of imagination. Plus, you'll never advance past WYSIWYG (learning PHP, JavaScript, ASP, etc) unless you know how to out put information to users (HTML)

well for the past 3 years of my 5 as a webmaster i was totally wysiwyg....and now look at me im doing websites with hand coded html, hand coded css (not done very well but hey im only learning)

sometimes you may also find yourself having to fix a problem with out the use of a WYSIWYG editor and knowing HTML would be the only way.....

I'd have to agree to that. I was making a website, and naturally started using css to incorporate div alignment, and when I imported it into Dreamweaver, it didn't even look the same. The divs were at different places, and the text was all messed up. I found that I had to continue to hand code everything without the use of Dreamweaver. (which I rarely use anyways)

So, if you want something done right, WYSIWYG editors don't do the trick. It may look cooler than basic hand coding at first, but once you get it down, you can fly past all the editors. Couple that with the integration of other web langauges you've learned, and you got yourself alot to work with.

I first want to state that I'm not advocation not learning HTML, I too believe it is neccesary....

However, don't let anyone try to convince you that using a WYSIWYG editor like Dreamweaver is lazy or make you feel that you will never be able to get good jobs or that people will respect you more, etc, without it. I've worked in this industry for quite a while now and the biggest shock to me after moving from indipendent, online only, webmaster to webmaster type of work, to a large firm that produces hundreds of sites a month, was that they really don't want you hand coding. They want you to use the same tool everyone else uses and get the job done quick. They really don't care about compliance (which admittadly(sp?) I always complain about), they only care that you get the job done quick and according to the standards set forth by the company.

Thanks for all your comments, It's given me good enough reason to learn HTML. I've always needed a good enough reason to do something and couldn't quite see it.
It seems to me to be a way to fill in the gaps that wysiwyg editors leave out and backup any future use I might make of javascript, php etc.
I'm finding dreamweaver a little too easy in a way. NOTHING is that easy if you want to get serious about it right!

Thanks again, this forum is extremely useful