Now that Muse is defunct, what is the future of Dreamweaver?

[PintoSixty]

Will Dreamweaver still remain in Adobe's arsenal, or will it bite the dust in the very near future?  I used Muse to create sites for several clients, and it looks like I'll be forced to migrate these sites into Dreamweaver for any future changes and maintenance.  If Dreamweaver is on the chopping block, though, it would sure be nice to know now so that I can plan accordingly.

[Nancy OShea]

The closest thing Dreamweaver has to a Muse Master Page is a proprietary DWT file or Template. Templates are used to create the layout and sitewide elements like header, footer and navigation. Then child pages are spawned from the DW Template to create individual site pages.

https://helpx.adobe.com/dreamweaver/using/dreamweaver-templates.html

[Peter_Nitras]

As a designer first and foremost with sufficient coding experience. I do think the only reason how Dreamweaver has a future is that they become a visual page builder tool for static websites (most preferably with some database linking for good measures).

Tools such as nice page or Webflow (both outstanding visual page builders) are dominating the market and Dreamweaver has become the tool that I simply do not bother to install. As mentioned I do have a technical background and know my way around html, js, css and more. But the joy of having visual page builders is just too good to be left alone.

At least this is how I feel about things.

[osgood_]

At least this is how I feel about things.

I still dont know of any program that can do exactly what lm thinking without having to tweak the code. For sure there are plenty of low end solutions which offer modules of coding that will get a slideshow, modal, navigation, form etc into your page and if youre happy with those then all is good.

Websites and apps are becoming more and more sophisticted these days, clients more demanding............those that need a real web developer, those that dont will use one of these low end solutions themselves as they require very little skill........theres no money left in low end work anymore, automation took that away. 

The game for those that now want a career in development has stepped up a bit to more complex app building and bespoke website building, not just building with blocks of default code, which anyone can do using the likes of Wix, Webflow, Square Space etc. The only financial winners are the companies supplying these low end solutions as they appeal to millions of amatuer users, a developer, if they use such workflows needs to sell as cheap as chips to compete for the low end client.

Automation, of course, will have and has had an impact on professional developers just as the digital camera had an impact for professional photographers, theres less work at the lower end of the market, so they need to up their game and offer something these automated solutions cant do out of the box. Its all about keeping one step ahead of the AI revolution anyone that doesnt is likely to find themselves redundant. The best way of keeping ahead in web development is learning to code.

[Nancy OShea]

Tools such as nice page or Webflow (both outstanding visual page builders) are dominating the market and Dreamweaver has become the tool that I simply do not bother to install.

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Although so-called "DIY site builders" are slick and convenient, they're mainly for people who don't mind a site that performs like 60 million other sites and who can totally commit to the platform's proprietary hosting, templates, widgets and ancillary service requirements.  Any chance for thinking 'outside the box' ends the moment they join that closed ecosystem. But on the other hand, they don't have any hard decisions to make because everything is pre-determined for them by whoever holds the puppet strings.  If the paradigm seems familiar, rightfully so.  It's the same one used by social media.  And who doesn't love social media, right? 😉  

Fortunately, the rest of us are not sheep.  We'd rather lead than merely follow.  What will you do, @Peter_Nitras, when your serious clients demand a custom PWA or mobile CMS for their business?  Do you really think Webflow or Nicepage can help you with that?  Think again, my friend.  Good luck!

https://wishlist.webflow.com/ideas/WEBFLOW-I-1422

[steward39]

Dreamweaver, like Flash (defunct) and Fireworks (available but ended life cycle years ago) were not original Adobe products. These three came from Adobe's purchase of Macromedia. Two are dead and one's on life support. On some of these threads, one poster keeps mentioning a web design product that runs 30 euros/month as an alternative. Muse was coming along, then support was inexplicably dropped. I think facts have to be faced here: all former Macromedia products, including Dreamweaver, are effectively defunct. I'm having a problem now that was supposedly solved in 2018, yet it keeps recurring. Muse was Adobe's foray into modern web design, and then they dropped development on it.

From my point of view as someone with 35 years in IT and who coded my first web pages in vi, Adobe is totally getting out of the web design environment - but is unsure if people will keep buying CC without both Photoshop (which rolls an update about every three weeks lately) and Dreamweaver. People might start going a la carte.

I suggest people look at the AppSumo site for new, up-and-coming web editors which are comparable but superior to Muse. AppSumo gets nice low one-time startup lifetime prices for new software, and I have two web editors from there (which are much more expensive now from the companies directly.) Adobe appears to be moving to graphics only... and with the rather inexpensive software for graphics out there, it may be a bad bet on their part.

[Nancy OShea]

My take on this is based on my perspective as a web developer since the 90's when the Internet was a new & exciting landscape and  small mom & pop shops could manage a website almost as well as the big guys.  Things were much, much simpler then.  But that all changed.

Flash forward to 2023, the Internet is a complicated quagmire of competing platforms, APIs, libraries and frameworks, so many In fact that one can scarcely name them all.  And the web itself has morphed into a complex and sometimes hostile environment due in no small part to malicious hackers & sophisticated bots that threaten data & personal information, every second of every day.  These threats are real, it's no joke.  And what amateurs DON'T KNOW about security puts everyone at risk -- the site owner, site visitors, paying customers and the web designer who blindly messes around in shark-infested waters.

The old days of static, desktop built websites are long gone.  They've been replaced by platform-driven Progressive Web Applications (PWAs) and online Content Management Systems (CMSs).

Muse was never extensible and thus couldn't keep up with the changing web.  OTOH, Dreamweaver is fundamentally usable as a coding tool but it's not receiving new features or technology improvements. For those who wish to keep using it, DW is being minimally maintained for the foreseeable future.

Adobe lost interest in consumer web software.  Their main focus is on Digital Assets Management (AEM), 2D and 3D design (AI, PS, Substance), digital document services (Acrobat).  That and the struggle to keep apps secure & compatible with new devices keeps their plate plenty full.

If you want an alternative to Muse or Dreamweaver, look at WordPress with Block Themes.  Unlike Classic PHP Themes, Block Themes are the future of web-based design & development. You can read more below.

• https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/how-to-guides/themes/block-theme-overview/
• https://css-tricks.com/a-deep-introduction-to-wordpress-block-themes/
• https://gitconnected.com/post/how-to-create-block-theme-patterns-in-wordpress-60-or-css-tricks-513dc...