Customer Reviews

Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 Classroom in a Book

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The CS4 Classroom in a book sucked eggs. I would hand it out as a parting gift to my students.

This CS5 version has been completely re-written. I will actually use this book when I teach my Dreamweaver classes from now on. I'm an Adobe Certified Instructor. The lessons in this book cover all the basics beginners need to know. It covers lots of basic questions about HTML and CSS. There are better books out there for intermediate users, but for someone just getting started with no clue about HTML, CSS and Dreamweaver, I highly recommend this book.

This book is just 'okay' for Dreamweaver. Keep in mind the book is not necessarily for web building novices. If you already are familiar with the process of building a website, but new to Dreamweaver, then this book covers the basics for you. The examples used in the book are mediocre at best and the beef I have with it is that it forgoes explanations and just gives you instructions to do this or do that. Why something is done in a certain way is mostly missing.

I agree with another reviewer who said there were errors in the book. You'll find them mostly in the later chapters, however, I don't have much issues with those. By the time you get to those, you should have enough of a knowledge to correct them by yourself.

Bottom line is, I am neither overly satisfied nor disappointed in this book. But, for those who want something comprehensive, there are definitely better choices out there.

This book works out well, but Chapter 14: Working with Online Data doesn't work. The sample finished file doesn't display the tables correctly, and when you're finished, yours won't either!

I bought this book and Flash-CIB from Adobe and while the Flash book was error free, this book was not! Two totally different directions in each book. If I could do it again, I'd try another DW book before getting this one! Lesson 14 is a disaster!

Book Errors:

1. A bunch of typos - including a section that starts off explaining how important being precise is in coding and then they make a typo in the coding themselves 3 steps later!!! And alot of the typos are in the coding (That alone should be a warning sign!!) And there's even a section that repeats the same sentence twice back to back.

2. Wrong URLs - towards the second half of the book, the book gives several URLs for more reference - about 80% of them did NOT work! So you're left in the dark.

3. Wrong images - some images dont match what is being said or seen on screen

4. Lesson 14 is totally screwed up in several ways - they should have titled it "Hey rookie - troubleshoot this section on your own!" -- the kicker is that its not a troubleshooting section, its about working with online data. Even the final sample preview page on the disk was wrong!!! Good Luck!

Some other problems I had with this book

-- You set up a styled list, delete it several chapters later, do it again a different style, delete that version chapters later, and create a new style of list - so you spend about a 1/4 of the book working on how to make a list look 3 different ways! Waste of time! Would have preferred to learn a better trick!

-- And a better trick would have been spending a chapter on setting up a local testing server instead of saying over and over and over that you'd need another book for that, or go to a link that doesn't work, or repeating how to figure it out on your own! between all that and the 3 different list styles, they could have used 20 pages to explain that better...it wasn't that much anyway! And you can't do Lesson 15 without it so I don't know why they just didn't explain it better. It's frustrating to figure out on your own...they assume you know what you're doing, ignore it, come back to it...its a mess! (Thats also part of Lesson 14)

-- The writing style is very different from the Flash version. For example, this book explains what Step 6 is about at the end of Step 5. I would think an explanation of what Step 6 is, would be at the beginning of Step 6, NOT Step 5. This can be annoying when you're trying to redo a step - you have to go back for reference. It may not sound like a big deal, but when you're trying to learn this on top of all the other errors it just builds up.

Anything positive? -- Considering this book is from Adobe, seeing all these mistakes and typos and errors and steps that lead you no where is very frustrating and disappointing. I wonder if this book actually had a final look over before being printed - if it did the copy editor should be fired! Book also seems rushed and jumpy and could have used another month of work before being published. Either that or they just didn't care about triple checking stuff which is probably worse.

I'm about to start putting what I learned in this book to build a site. Luckily I made several notes and corrections as I went in case I have to refer back to the book. Did i learn my way around DW - i guess, but any other book will do the same, except this one does it with mistakes and frustration.

Try another book!!!!!

Sidenote: The Adobe Flash book is good and error free - but a lil disappointing since most of the lesson work was already done and all you work on is an element or two.

I bought the Kindle version. I was so excited! then I started with the first lesson and realized I needed the DVD that was supposed to be included with the actual book! This sucks!!! :( I have no idea how to get the DVD now.

very VERY disappointed!!

In theory, I'm a fan of the Adobe Classroom in a Book series. I used the CS4 books (all of them), and while there were a few errors here and there, overall it was a pleasant experience.

I wish I could say the same for Dreamweaver CS5 Classroom in a Book.

Things were good until Chapter 14, then the whole process just fell apart. I wasted probably four hours trying to realize what I was doing wrong, and then I went online and saw similar issues with other users. There are similar problems with the remaining chapters (15 - 17).

It's too late to get my money back, since I've had it a couple of months and marked up the text extensively. The first thirteen chapters are pretty helpful, but I cannot recommend the book because of errors in the last few chapters. I would look elsewhere for an introduction to Dreamweaver CS5.

A top pick is an official training workbook from Adobe Systems, DREAMWEAVER CS5 CLASSROOM IN A BOOK. It offers a complete course on Adobe Dreamweaver CS5, offering 17 lessons covering all the basics of the program. Owners of Dreamweaver CS5 will find this packed with tutorials.

I think this is a great book for beginner using Dreamweaver. It's doesn't go into much detail on certain topics like CSS but it will get your feet wet. Chapters are short and to the point, if you don't have much time to spend and you're new in using this product, I think is a good place to start. The book is full of Color pictures and step by step instruction; it has really helped me using this application.

I am writing a general review for the 4 CS5 books I currently own .
These Books are a fantastic alternative to traditional classroom instruction.
The lesson plans are easy to follow and for the most part very well layed out and take about 2 hours per chapter to complete.
For the beginner they provide a step by step plan building upon the previouse lesson.
I travel constantly and these books make learning on the go great no internet connection required.
For those of you that are self taught or have need a refresher course they are a fantastic reference.
For a total learning experience I recommend supplementing these books with Adobe help and Adobe TV
I recommend these tutorials to everyone.

In keeping with the Classroom in a Book series tradition, this book is rife with errors and has hidden the errata area (if it exists at all).

The good news is IF you are fairly HTML and Dreamweaver conversant (so why are you buying this book?) the book offers some good insights and talks to you like you're not a complete buffoon.