NVu A Good Start for Scouters

With the death of Front Page, I have started searching for reasonable replacements for the average scouter. Scouting websites are usually designed by individual with a limited personal budget to invest.

Today, I downloaded and installed NuV (pronounced N-view). This software has been around for almost two years. The software has it's roots in Mozilla Composer. The website claims that this new product rivals MS Front Page and Adobe Dreamweaver. Here is what I found:

• The price is right $0.
• Versions are available for the Mac, Lynix and Windows systems.
• The installation was quick and easy from www.nvu.com. Without reading the documentation, I was able to connect to a test website. A novice will need to read the documentation.
  This software gives you WISIWIG with very clean code.
• Management of your website is very easy. I was able to add, edit and delete for the file window. The software uses an FTP connection.
• The table making functions are teriffic. These functions are as strong as FrontPage and in my humble opinion superior to Dreamweaver. Plus, the final code is much cleaner than either of these programs. I wish Microsoft would take note of this!!!
• Text & image editing were also more than adequate with a spell checker included.
  If you are starting with a template for your scouting unit, such as the ones you can find at escouting.net, then you can get your website up and operational very quickly with a very small learning curve.

A good evaluation includes the negatives:

• You cannot directly edit a css page.
• There are no extras with this software. Additional features such as a java button, a navigation component would be nice to have.
• Some features css were not well supported such as columns.
• You cannot place an image anywhere on the document. This is the bigest difficency of NVu.
• This version does not support PHP or ASP. This is the one area where NVu is significantly behind the commersial packages. In addition, the software changed hand coded software. I hope this will be fixed in the future. For more advanced webmasters, this is a very big negative.
• NVu 1.0 website development software is a good entry level website management software. As for the claim of rival for Dreamweaver, it is still premature. I look forward to the next version of this well designed software.
  

Summary of NVu 1.0
I will keep this on my system for future use. I will be using the table making functions of this program. I do recommend the software to scouters who are just starting out.

Over all I give this software a 7 out of 10.

This software is Open Source. It would be nice if one of the scouters out there could develop a scouting version!!!

--Happy Scouting

Microsoft Expression Web Designer

With FrontPage dead, many scouters who have been using FrontPage regularly, have been apprehensive about an upgrade path forward. Some of the Lynix hosting services have started dropping the FrontPage extensions. RELAX, you will be very pleased with Microsoft Expressions Web Designer. In just under an hour from the time I completed the download, I accessed and edited a Scouting unit website I created with FP. This software had a familuar feel, but is completely different. FrontPage users will not have any difficulty adapting to this product.

This new software is not a new face on the old FrontPage product. This software has a very professional feel and is still very intuitive of those of us who used FP. Expression Web Designer was built for Web 2.0 and the standards for today. A major plus for this products is that it does not let you insert poor coding practices. It has On-The-Fly validation for XHTML and CSS!!!

Many of the tools that we like in FP have returned without the use of FrontPage extensions. Thank you Microsoft!!!

It's very fast. Uses about 40 MB of RAM. It does not feel bloated. However, it's a 250
+ MB download because it is built on top of MS Office.

The cost of this new software is a realy big problem. Some vendors are indicating that current users can upgrade for about $100. That is good for those of us who already have FrontPage. The rumor mill has it that to buy this package new will be r ~$400. No matter how good the software this cost will eventually exclude it from most of the scouting units. I am afraid that the solution to reasonably priced software for the Scouter Webmaster is to be found else where.

--Happy Scouting

Software for Scouting Websites

About four years ago, I started the Boy Scout training course called Woodbadge. In order to complete the eighteen month course, I had to complete five projects. One of the projects (called ticket items), was to develop a guide for scouters to develop scouting unit websites. The ticket item resulted in a website escouting.net. I have been collecting and writing papers to help with the various topics of creating and publishing a scouting website. The site includes graphics, templates, guidance and other resources. The site is non-profit and it has become a passion.

I am now looking to expand the eScouting dot net site dramatically, more tools and information. I am looking for individuals to contribute to the site. I need individual who have designed scouting websites or individuals who would be willing to write about their experiences with various webiste design software.

If you are interested, or know someone who is please respond to this posting.

Happy Scouting