Inside Dreamweaver MX (Inside (New Riders)) [Paperback]

Laura Gutman (Author), Patty J. Ayers (Author), Donald S. Booth (Author)

Book Description

Series: Inside (New Riders) | Publication Date: August 16, 2002

Whether you are new to Dreamweaver or a seasoned professional, Inside Dreamweaver MX will help you use the new and powerful Dreamweaver MX to its fullest extent. Not just another rehash of the documentation, this completely revised and comprehensive book broadens your understanding through hands-on projects, tips, and techniques. These pages are your guide to:

Learning about all the new features Dreamweaver MX offers, such as a Tag Library Editor, customizable tools, pre-built Snippets, the Site Definition Wizard, cloaking, and more Using databases to create dynamic web pages with ASP, ASP.NET, ColdFusion, PHP and JSP Implementing the new accessibility options Extending your working environment with extensions Optimizing site and asset management Using behaviors to control layers Using Flash MX to build interactive web pages Using templates and libraries to simplify the design process Integrating Flash and Fireworks into Dreamweaver MX

Inside Dreamweaver MX's carefully designed exercises will demystify advanced techniques. Insightful interviews with industry leaders and enlightening deconstruction of a variety of web site elements will help you uncover common web design pitfalls and avoid them in your own work.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A must-have resource for serious web developers looking to explore the full power of Dreamweaver MX." -- Joe Marini, Speaker, Author, Senior Software Engineer, former Macromedia Dreamweaver team member

"Do not use this beautiful package primarily to design page layouts and tables! Dreamweaver has evolved;you should do the same." -- Alwyn Joy, contributor to Flash MX Magic

"New to Dreamweaver or have years of experience, this book will excite you with its authoritative chapters and in-depth discussions!" -- Chris Collinge, Bsc, Director, www.media-i.co.uk

From the Author

I¹m Laura Gutman, the lead author for Inside Dreamweaver MX. I¹ve been working with Dreamweaver since its beginning, and have been teaching web-and print-design for many years. In putting this book together, I¹ve drawn on all the input I¹ve received from my students over the years, as to what helps them learn and what doesn¹t. I hope a lot of that wisdom made it into the chapters that Patty, Don, and I wrote for you.I¹m also adding a special section related to Inside Dreamweaver MX, including some extra exercises and material that wouldn¹t fit in the book, and a special section on Databases for Newbies. Check it out! -Laura Gutman, lead author

With this book, we wanted to make sure that we gave a good description of all the features of Dreamweaver. This way, it can be used as a reference book, and second, we used real world examples of using Dreamweaver as a production tool. We also took the time to explain the 'why' behind the product and the technology so that users can have a better understanding of what is happening behind the scenes of Dreamweaver and the browsers. It also gives a good, basic introduction to the various dynamic server models, to help ease users into the new world of database driven websites. The book comes with a CD full of sample files so that you can follow along as you read, and see Dreamweaver in action. Hope you enjoy it! -Patty Ayers, Co-Author

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1344 pages
• Publisher: New Riders Press (August 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 073571181X
• ISBN-13: 978-0735711815
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,124,509 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Complete Beginner's Guide, November 30, 2002

By 

Clark Cooper (Sherman Oaks, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Inside Dreamweaver MX (Inside (New Riders)) (Paperback)

Although mainly written for the beginning Web design student, I found this book to be a fun review of my own roots in basic HTML and the Web, in general. Also, being new to Dreamweaver's way of doing things, I found the book to be a complete and thorough walk-through of Dreamweaver's every feature.

I enjoy books that take you step-by-step through the process of a thing. Inside Dreamweaver is a great example of that. Each chapter lays the groundwork for chapters to come. At the same time, each chapter (after introductory chapters are out of the way) gives repeated opportunity to learn and solidify skills by doing a fun example.

A fun example? Yeah! I had fun. At least one of the authors (maybe more) has a true flair for simple, yet attractive designs. I've been designing Websites and Web applications (in other programs) for 5 years and I enjoyed the "silent" review of simple design concepts presented-not in words-but in the "good" designs themselves.

I'm glad to see a book, like this instruct it's readers in correct practices. I meet allot of Webmasters who have "known" HTML for years, yet struggle with the "new" standards, such as XHTML 1.0. I scratch my head at this. Not much has changed! Only now the standards are enforced and deprecated code will fail. I've been a big believer in standards compliance since first reading "HTML 4.0 - No Experience Required (Sybex)". And now it's nice to see another book, "Inside Dreamweaver", perform the same service to it's readers by letting them know what is and is not recommended.

"Inside Dreamweaver" will instill confidence in the beginning student and provide reliable and accurate review of sound Web design principles for both the new and veteran Webmaster.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it!, October 13, 2002

By 

Christine Schroeder (Ocala, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inside Dreamweaver MX (Inside (New Riders)) (Paperback)

Seriously one of the most incredible reference books I've ever come across!
I chose to follow this book chapter by chapter as there is so much that's new in Dreamweaver MX, but I will keep it near as a reference manual for a long time.
Written in very accessible language, exercises interspersed with the text to break up the long lists of instructions, a CD full of the files that you need to complete the exercises, this book covers everything! Not only did it fully cover Dreamweaver and the upgrade to MX but integrating with Flash, Java, ASP, Coldfusion, Animating Layers... I really could go on for pages and pages here.
I recommend this book wholeheartedly, for anyone who wants to work with Dreamweaver MX, weather you're brand new to the program or upgrading or even just want to really understand all the options that DW gives you for building websites.
You're covered whether you like to code by hand or drag and drop or a little bit of both (I prefer a little bit of both).

Before I got this book, I would have considered myself a power user of Dreamweaver, but I really had no idea - especially with behaviors, extensions and CSS implementation. It's really incredible.
A great book that really gets inside a terrific program - I'm giving this book the highest rating!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE tech book that's a pleasure to read!, September 23, 2002

By 

Ming-Yeung Lu (San Francisco Bay Area, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Inside Dreamweaver MX (Inside (New Riders)) (Paperback)

This is my introduction to Dreamweaver and web design, so I am not one to comment on the technical aspects (that is, whether the book has the best technical advice). However, I have read and written enough, and have read quite a few pieces of technical writing (I have 2 other books on Dreamweaver), to know that in terms of quality of writing, this is a winner. The book is actually a pleasure to read! (I wonder if that has to do with the fact that 2 of the authors are women!?) I have finished the first part already and everything is organized logically and explained very clearly--unlike many of the tech stuff out there (including some in the Dummies series) which often leave you scratching your head. (I do notice some minor typos here and there--too bad because the writing is superb.)