Customer Reviews

Adobe GoLive CS2 Classroom in a Book

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I want to address an issue that I have heard from many who have used this book. THIS IS NOT A GUIDE TO WEB DESIGN AND HTML! This book assumes that you understand the fundamentals of HTML and basic web design. This book teaches you how to use the features in GoLive, which are just easy buttons for basic HTML and CSS coding. If you want to learn how to make web pages, you will need to also buy a book on HTML, and probably CSS. Once you know these fundamentals, GoLive is a GREAT tool to use to make them all come together. This book explains nearly every tool in GoLive and briefly explains their partner HTML coding. This book teaches you all the neat features that GoLive has that will easily create complicated HTML codes.

Buying this book and expecting it to make you a master web designer would be like reading the instructions to bicycle and expecting to win the Tour de France.

It is an unfortunate fact that Adobe's own documentation of its programs is BY FAR inferior to that written by outside experts. This is not a big problem with programs with a wide user base (such as Photoshop) which has countless excellent books written about it. It is a problem, though, with programs, like Go Live, which have a limited user base. This is not a reference book or a manual, it is a set of lessons that may (or may not) address your area of interest.
This book is, unfortunately, the only book available on the program and it is, to put it charitably, short of adequate. You pretty much have to buy it since its the only game in town, but it doesn't really give you an understanding of the program so you can venture outside of the areas they have chosen to explain.
Speaking for myself, I found it useless (for my particular needs). I am an advanced Photoshop user, an intermediate In Design user, an illustrator dabbler but none of that Adobe experience was any help at all. My only web site building experience came from Microsoft Front Page (now discontinued) and I wanted to be able to migrate my existing (and very basic) website to Go Live (which I already own as part of the Suite) and edit it and update it from there. I have very limited HTML knowledge and Front Page was ideal for my needs. Go Live is, obviously, way above my skills and this book doesn't help me understand it any better.
For my purposes, it rates 0 stars, but I gave it 3 assuming that someone who does have the necessary HTML, CSS, etc. knowledge might find some of the lessons interesting.

Kind of tedious but effective, this book gets you working on a weird sample web site at first ("Virtech U. The School of the Future", or something) in a series of lessons that take seem to drag on and on and get you itching to work on your bands web site. But it really does give you a good idea of how the tools, windows and palettes work. It's definitely better than a "for dummies" book (not as dumb), but it's still pretty easy to wrap your mind around. Out of all the books I've been through for CS2, this one is by far the most comprehensive, and I'd recommend the Adobe books over any others. Very solid and accurate information, straight from the source. Thank You.

This book really is set up like a classroom. You learn to use Adobe GoLive CS2 by putting together a web site. All of the graphics and site content is included on the CD which accompanies the book, and you use that to build the web site. Each step of the process teaches you something new about Adobe GoLive. By the end of the book, you should have a good, basic understanding of how to use the program effectively.

I highly recommend this book. It's really is like having an instructor teach you step by step how to use Adobe GoLive CS2. It's a quick and painless way to get up to speed with a very powerful program.

I know HTML and even some CSS, I just needed to know how to bring it all together in GoLive. This book gave me exactly what I needed. This book would not be a good choice on its own if you did not have some basic web knowledge. If you have little or no web experience I would suggest getting one of the basic html visual quickstart guides from Peachpit press and then venturing into this book.

Since there are so few books on GoLive CS2, or any verions for that matter, I would say that right now this is the best book you can buy on the subject. No errors that I found and everything seems to be covered well.

So I decided to build a website using GoLive CS2, since I am fairly seasoned at many other Adobe programs and figured it would be easy to learn and compatible with programs I already knew well. I bought this book to help me figure it out, and after reading and doing the lessons twice I still can't figure it out. Either the software is horrible or the book simply cannot explain its way out of a wet paper bag. I am inclined to believe the latter, as I have found that I can figure out how to use GoLive but only through time and labor intensive trial-and-error. The whole process of building a website has become excruciating, to say the least. I would quit and go get Dreamweaver but, sadly, I stubbornly refuse to believe that Adobe built a bad program. I simply think it is very confusing to learn and without good advice could very well be impossible to use. Whoever wrote this book obviously catered to the "Helvetica text and pre-formatted clip art" web crowd and felt that no one who knew exactly what they wanted would ever try to use this program. Two thumbs down on all counts.

I read through the first chapter, glanced at the others, started on the project in chapter one, then realized something. I use golive because I find the numbered column on the left side extremely useful. I'll bet this software if used to it's full capacity would be excellent in a production environment where you have several websites to build in a very short time. I don't have that affliction.
I also noticed, after dragging and dropping the component parts for the web page, INLINE STYLES IN THE CODE! WHAT? WHY?
I've spent too many years trying to understand what goes on under the hood of a web site and it's pages. GoLive seems to be more of a burden than a help!
Truly, if you know how to write good algorithms, understand css,PHP, javascript, and MySQL, and can organize your files into a folder structure that makes sense to you, why not do it that way?
I'm just saying...

PS: Adobe just announced that it will no longer support GoLive.

Excellent as I was able to use only the sections needed to set up my own site. Very helpful.

This is the best manual, yet. Much better than previous versions. It is error free. I found that all the misakes I made in learning the tool placement were my poor eyesight and understanding. All examples are to the point and you are given excellent opportunity on how to do work on your own. Like in extra credit. This is an essential book in learning GoLive. Take your time, do a chapter at a time. I would not be without it.