Customer Reviews

Dreamweaver 8: The Missing Manual

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

ORIGINAL REVIEW (Apr. 27, 2006): "Heavy on details, and just plain heavy!" -- This is a really heavy book, and it's loaded with great examples, explanations, and illustrations. Unlike most Dreamweaver books, which stick either to basic, static web design or to advanced, dynamic pages, this book runs the gamut, not skimping on either (but certainly concentrating on the former). The chapters are organized logically, the chunks are reasonably small, and many of the chapters end with a very illustrative hands-on example to demonstrate the topics covered. Supplemented with on-line materials only available to owners of the book (for example, five chapters on PHP and SQL), the book covers almost everything, although a couple of topics (animation and frames) are available only as freely downloadable chapters from the prior (2004) edition of the book.

The style is less formal than many other books, but the material is covered in depth and accurately, for the most part. Like almost every technical book, the book's first printing does contain a reasonable number of minor errors, so be sure to refer to the author's website and take note of the errata before digging in. The book is printed in black and white with no color plates, but this does not affect its usability at all.

Despite the book's title, this really isn't a "manual" for Dreamweaver -- it's more of a primer. If you're an advanced user looking for a reference volume to provide a quick reference into every picayune detail of Dreamweaver, this isn't your book. This also isn't your book if you're looking for anything other than a first-pass introduction to ASP, PHP, or one of the other server models. But if you're a novice to HTML or a seasoned web designer making the jump from manual coding to the advanced WYSIWYG features of Dreamweaver and need a gentle immersion into the broad power of Dreamweaver 8, this is a great book to use.

For this reason, this is easily my favorite Dreamweaver book.

ADDENDUM (10 Sept. 2006): "Where did the support go?" -- The errata page for the book has not been updated since June. There are more than a few reported errors still outstanding that have not been added to the errata list; I know because I submitted them myself through the O'Reilly website. It appears that support for this title has ended -- or at least that it has been put on the back-burner -- despite Dreamweaver 8 still being the current version. That's particularly disappointing because it's so un-O'Reilly to let mistakes go like this.

Because of the lack of ongoing support, and because I have since discovered some better Dreamweaver books (see my other reviews), I would drop my rating of this book from 5 stars to 4.

ADDENDUM (5 Oct. 2006): The errata page has, finally, been updated. According to the email I received from the publisher, O'Reilly had some issues migrating its errata-tracking system to a new server this summer, causing the long delay. These issues are now resolved, and the errata are appearing regularly again.

Dreamweaver is a complete Web site production and management tool that works with Web technologies like HTML, XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This book provides great insight into using this tool. Along with basic instruction it also has tips I haven't found anywhere else. As you read the book's chapters, there are a number of living examples--step-by-step tutorials that you can build yourself, using raw materials like graphics and half-completed Web pages that you can download from from the web. Simply reading these step-by-step lessons might not gain you much. However, if you take the time to work through the examples at the computer, you'll discover that these tutorials give you unprecedented insight into the way professional designers build Web pages. Also in this book's lessons are the URLs of the finished pages so that you can compare your Dreamweaver work with the final result. In other words, you won't just see pictures of Dreamweaver's output in the pages of the book. You can also find the actual working Web pages on the Internet.

Part One, Building a Web Page, explores Dreamweaver's interface and goes through the basic steps of building a Web page. It explains how to add text and format it, how to link from one page to another, and how to spice up your designs with graphics.

Part Two, Building a Better Web Page, goes deeper into Dreamweaver and explains how to gain greater control of the design of a Web page. It shows how to use more advanced features, such as tables, layers, and Cascading Style Sheets. In addition, there's get step-by-step instructions for creating advanced page layouts, as well as on how to view and work with the underlying HTML code of a page.

Part Three, Bringing Your Pages to Life, discusses adding interactivity to your site. From using forms to collect information from your site's visitors to adding complex JavaScript programs, this section guides the reader through adding animation, multimedia, and other interactive effects with ease.

Part Four, Building a Web Site, covers the big picture including managing the pages and files in a Web site, testing links and pages, and moving a site onto a Web server connected to the Internet. This section also covers features that let you work with a team of Web developers.

Part Five, Dreamweaver Power, shows how to take full advantage of such time-saving features as Libraries, Templates, and History panel automation. It also covers Dreamweaver's Extension Manager, a program that can add hundreds of new free and commercial features to the program.

Part Six, Dynamic Dreamweaver, presents a gentle introduction to the often confusing and complex world of database-driven Web sites. It discusses how to build a dynamic Web site; how to connect Dreamweaver to a database; and how to use Dreamweaver to build pages that can display database information as well as add, edit, and delete database records. The last chapter of this section covers Dreamweaver 8's powerful new XSLT tools for converting XML files (including RSS feeds) into browser-ready Web designs.

At the end of the book, two appendixes provide a list of Internet resources for additional Web design help and a menu-by-menu explanation of Dreamweaver 8. I highly recommend this addition to the Missing Manual series for anyone interested in using and thoroughly understanding the latest version of Dreamweaver. The following is the detailed table of contents:

Part I: Building a Web Page
Chapter 1. Dreamweaver 8 Guided Tour
Chapter 2. Adding Text to Your Web Pages
Chapter 3. Text Formatting
Chapter 4. Links
Chapter 5. Images
Part II: Building a Better Web Page
Chapter 7. Page Layout 101
Chapter 8. Advanced Page Layout
Chapter 9. Under the Hood: HTML
Part III: Bringing Your Pages to Life
Chapter 10. Forms
Chapter 11. Dreamweaver Behaviors
Chapter 12. Flash, Shockwave, and Other Multimedia
Part IV: Building a Web Site
Chapter 13. Introducing Site Management
Chapter 14. Testing Your Site
Chapter 15. Moving Your Site to the Internet
Part V: Dreamweaver Power
Chapter 16. Snippets and Libraries
Chapter 17. Templates
Chapter 18. Automating Dreamweaver
Chapter 19. Customizing Dreamweaver
Part VI: Dynamic Dreamweaver
Chapter 20. Getting Started with Dynamic Web Sites
Chapter 21. Adding Dynamic Data to Your Pages
Chapter 22. Web Pages that Manipulate Database Records
Chapter 23. Advanced Dynamic Site Features
Chapter 24. XML and XSLT
Part VII: Appendixes
Appendix A. Getting Help
Appendix B. Dreamweaver 8, Menu by Menu

With over 900 pages of "Missing Manual" goodness, 'Dreamweaver 8: The Missing Manual' just might be the finest book of this series. For the retail price of $44.95, it's incredible that this much information could be contained within. I have written lots of reviews on the line by David Pogue, and I am continually impressed at how well these books are written and laid out. David Sawyer McFarland puts his heart and soul into this book and boy does it show!

From the basics of getting your web site up and running with Dreamweaver to a discussion on CSS to a discussion on page layout to adding dynamic content, this book will take someone who has never made a web page before to becoming a superuser in no time.

If you need to create a web site at your work or you are delving into the world of producing a personal web site, you cannot go wrong if you want to use Dreamweaver to develop your spot on the web. Dreamweaver has been the web development tool of choice for many, many years, and it's no surprise. Version 8 of the popular tool only improves upon everything else that used to be good before and this truly is the manual that SHOULD have been in the box!!

***** HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMENDATION

I admit, I am a techno-junkie. As a technical writer and web designer I buy all the latest software and try and keep up with all the latest languages and hardware to support my techno-habits. Whenever I purchase new software I also purchase 3-4 books on the subject as I am mostly self-taught when it comes to trying the latest things. I use Dreamweaver moderately for work and the last source of training I used was for version 4. I also took a Dreamweaver MX course at a local community college to get up to speed quickly on the newest features Dreamweaver had to offer, the course pretty much taught me what I already knew. To be fair I understand the ciriculum is pretty much pre-determined but I needed more than the basics or what I could easliy find in the help system.
After attending a seminar by David McFarland, I did what I usually do and ran out to purchase his book on Dreamweaver 8 as many of the Dreamweaver 8 books had yet to have hit the shelves. To my surprise this time I would not need 3-4 books in order to fully utilize all Dreamweaver has to offer. This book was so clear, concise, and downright READABLE, I found tips and techniques I had never used before, nor read about in any of the other manuals or bibles.
By the first chapter I had already resolved an issue I could find no information on anywhere else. I passed this book around at work and we now have 4 copies. Each of my co-workers have thanked me profusely for suggesting the book and use it frequently when working with Dreamweaver.
Beginners will be walked through every detail of Dreamweavers interface and be up to speed and desiging quickly and efficiently in no time. Advanced user will also benefit in learning new features, tips, tricks and techniques and gain an in-depth knowledge of all that Dreamweaver has to offer.
Mr. McFarland is obviously highly knowledgeable in his subject and such a pleasure to read that as you go through the contents of the book I can only describe it as having your own personal tutor standing beside your desk advising you each step of the way. I have not run into a question or issue yet that could not be solved by referencing the Missing Manual.
I strongly encourage all users, beginner and advanced alike to purchase this book. If you have a question about Dreamweaver, it's in there.

There's no shortage of Dreamweaver super-users who want to pass on their expertise. Only a very few have the teaching and writing skills to create documentation that really makes sense.
David McFarland is a master of Dreamweaver, and he's also an exceptional teacher. His writing is crystal clear, easy to follow and makes so much sense I have been known to slap my head and say "d'oh."
My copy of his MX2004 manual is dog-earred and worn. The new edition for Dreamweaver 8 is bigger and even better. It has great material for beginners and is also an excellent reference for more experienced users. And don't forget to take advantage of the online supplemental material he provides on his website.
I highly recommend this book.

The Missing Manual is a great book for beginners wanting to know how to get started with building websites with Dreamweaver 8. The manual is very well structured taking you through key elements and connecting you with their usage in CSS. It's very straight forward, easy to understand, and has great tutorials that gets you working with the software instead of just reading text. In less than 30 days I finished creating my first website for a local company. A 13 page site with navagation bars, links, and images. The Missing Manual was the tool I needed to learn Dreamweaver 8. I highly recommend this manual!

I have never developed a website, nor know anything about HTML. I bought Dreamweaver. Although my website design is not overly complex (nor is it simple), I had many questions that I could not answer within the help system of Dreamweaver. I was in trouble. I bought this book. This book had all of the answers that I needed. The writing style is lighthearted enough to raise a smile now and then, but does not waste the reader's time. The descriptions are complete with copious illustrations and germane examples. Now I have a clean design based on templates and CSS that does the job and is easy to maintain.

I very seldom take the time to write reviews, and usually do so to warn people away from an awful book. This is the exception; I loved this book.

To give some perspective to my review, I am a professional programmer but a complete "newbie" to web design and development. I've taken on the task of creating and maintaining a web site for a local summer swim team. I needed help and I needed it quickly.

My first stop was "Macromeda Dreamweaver 8" by Short and Green. This is a good book for beginners to get their feet wet with Dreamweaver 8. However, after doing all the exercises, I did not get the feeling that I actually could design a nice web page and knew for sure that I couldn't create a form with a working submit button.

Then I bought this book, "Dreamweaver 8 The Missing Manual". The first few chapters cover the basic building blocks of using text, images and links. The next section deals with how to design a web page; first using tables and then using CSS. Other sections of the book deal with forms and how to set up Dreamweaver to manage your remote site and a testing site. (I find it much easier to let Dreamweaver figure out what files are out of date rather than use a stand-alone FTP program.) The last section of the book deals with dynamic web pages and was the answer to my quest for a functioning "submit" button on my web forms. This section is what sealed the 5-star rating for me. The book's tutorials use the ASP server model, but you can download equivalent tutorials for PHP/MySQL from the author's web site. I found all the tutorials to work (and I did almost every single one), but do check the author's errata page.

For you programmers out there who are getting into the web, this book mostly stays with the Dreamweaver wizards and does not delve into code view (probably a good thing for the non-programmers). If you are into coding and PHP, a good next step is "PHP for Dreamweaver 8", by David Powers. The Powers book covers a lot of the same dynamic web ground as "The Missing Manual", but is not afraid to dive into code view.

All in all, I was very happy with "Dreamweaver 8 The Missing Manual". It's a big book packed with information, but easy to read. Based on what I've learned, I was able to create a decently attractive web site, some very useful forms and private areas for team administrators and coaches.

I read the reviews on David's earlier book on DW MX 2004 and decided to buy his book as I recently upgraded to DW 8. I've used DW for years and love the program and while I would not consider myself to be an expert, I have used the program extensively. I started from Chp 1 expecting to already know most of what he said but I soon found myself learning new ways of doing things and possiblities that I didn't know about. In CSS chp, David not only tells me HOW to use the tools but is giving me new ideas of WHAT to use it for. You could say I was very happy with the book - and you'd be right. Highly recommended from this Dreamweaver lover.

The Missing Manual for Dreamweaver is a must-have book for learning the many great features of the site-building software, as well as for keeping it on your desk as a grab-it-now reference reminder.

It is the greatest substitute for the manual that didn't come in the box, period. Tutorials, workarounds, explanations, advice ... what more could you ask for on the road to publishing your own site?

Maybe it's just me, but the online help for DW8 is only OK for when you're sitting in front of the screen. If you're looking to read a bit before snoozing, (or while relaxing and dreaming up your ideas) this is definitely the book to flip through. Five stars ... because there ain't anything higher to rate it with.