Customer Reviews

Dreamweaver CS4 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent resource book. It is written for both the the beginner and the advanced user. I have read a wide variety of books on this subject, I have found this to be the easiest, best text.

I'm far from a Geek. I fall more into the geek wana-be category. This book has a wonderful balance of in-depth knowledge / how to and this is the basics of what you need to know.

That being the case of course I want my own web site. This is an excellent reference book on how to build your own web site using Dreamweaver CS4.

Why I find this book so helpful:
1. the instructions are clear
2. contains lots of 'screen shots' to illustrate exactly what they are talking about
3. well organized
4. easy to read and understand (explains jargon but typically in side boxes so I only have to reference the info when I need it)
5. does not assume I know everything yet does not treat me like a dummy either

I ordered this book for a class. I assumed that my instructor would reference it during class time, but he has not thus far (and we've passed mid-term). HOWEVER, because he seems more interested in design aspects and NOT application/technical aspects, THIS BOOK has been an invaluable resource. I have many books like this as it relates to the application itself -- I own the books but don't read them; this is the first time a publication has been easy enough for me digest. I am not a connoisseur of technical publications so I can't rate it in that regard, but I can say for someone who learns best when they SEE the steps, this book has helped me get over that hump in learning an application through using a written resource.

I got his book for a class last year. It is great!!
Love the way it is written, and there are plenty of pictures to provide visual detail to what is being talked about.

This is a great book for someone who is just getting stared with DW CS4!

Visual step-by-step guide on major tasks. Perfect manual for someone who already has a little bit of knowledge but just needs reminders or instructions on additional common tasks.

This book speaks of being a visual guide for beginners and intermediate users with the promise of learning Dreamweaver CS4 "the quick and easy way". For the little the book teaches there is a lot more effective verbiage than "visual". What convinced me to buy the book was the free access to the online edition of this book (thinking there would be video lessons and such), but all that is provided is 45 days access to the same book? If you really want visual, buy a good Dreamweaver reference book(most have as many or more illustrations as this book but cover much more) and go to [...] for tons of VISUAL tutorials. I am not saying you cannot learn the basics of Dreamweaver with this book, but it is nothing visually special or quick and easy.

very helpful! lots of good information inside. It's fairly long and the writers were not really reader friendly, so beware.

This book purports to be for beginners, and to be a "Visual QuickStart Guide," and I think it is neither. All goes pretty well during the very early sections, but the book is lacking in the one key trait of any good beginner's book: learning by examples. There are no exercise files, no "test site" that builds as you go - the reader is often given cursory instructions and then turned loose. For example, the Creating Custom Classes section reads, "To create a class:" in CSS, one clicks OK, the CSS rule definition dialog box appears, and the next step reads "When you've completed filling out the CSS Rule Definition dialog, click OK..." Filled it out with WHAT?!? We've been warned not use class selectors merely to change HTML text attributes, and yet no other CSS elements (ie divs, etc) have even been defined yet. In the CSS section, terms defining new terms are relied upon yet not defined - vocabulary is used with the assumption that the reader already knows (ie "pseudo-class selectors"). The "visual" part of the book's title is a stretch - what good is a visual about choosing between Divs and Spans nested in a section pertaining to applying CSS style rules to tags? It precedes by an entire chapter the section that explains what Divs even are. Did they say "we have to put this graphic somewhere" and choose on that basis? Spans are defined as "elements for inline use." Huh?!? Look up element, it doesn't appears in the index, look up inline - and inline styles aren't explained for another 80 pages. Missing Manual does a better job of building as you go and using practical examples. If beginners (such as my students) want a "Quick Start," spending hours researching terms elsewhere to understand what the authors intended to explain can really slow things down.

I like the format the authors used to present this book page by page step by step. It walks you through Dreamweaver to get familiar with the program. I like how you can use this book as a reference and how easy it is to read. I would have love to see more visually examples and not just basic steps but I guess the authors wanted to keep things at the beginner level....but good book nevertheless.


--CH--

This was the book that was required for a class I'm taking, but I would rather have used Adobe's Classroom in a Book. This book has no cd or online supported files - no examples you can work through. The biggest gap, in my opinion, is that there is no instruction on how to build your site's navigation. Not a book I'd recommend if you are a novice Dreamweaver user.