Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 Hands-On Training (Paperback)

by Garo Green (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

With its powerful combination of visual layout tools, application development features, and code editing support, Dreamweaver MX 2004 is sure to become the constant companion of many Web developers. Here to get you hands-on with it fast is the definitive project-based training on the topic from one of the master teachers at Linda.com training. Using a combination of project-based lessons, guided exercises, and QuickTime tutorials, veteran author Garo Green walks you through all the Dreamweaver MX 04 basics: navigating the new interface, creating and managing Web sites, and linking among pages. You'll learn about frames and forms, cascading style sheets, and Fireworks and Flash integration, and gobble up Garo¿s suggestions about best layout and typography practices. You'll also find extensive coverage of all of Dreamweaver's newest features: dynamic cross-browser validation, improved CSS support, built-in graphics editing, and more. Throughout, Garo shows you not just how to do something but why you¿re doing it and the results of your actions.

About the Author

Garo Green is the Director of Publications at lynda.com, where he manages the Hands-On-Training series. Garo has worked extensively in the development of custom curricula and courseware for software training, and he has more than 8 years of teaching experience in both hardware and software applications. He is known worldwide for his enthusiastic, approachable, and humanistic teaching style.

Garo is the author of several Hands-On-Training books and web design training CD-ROMs, including Learning Dreamweaver MX 2004, Learning Windows XP, and several others. He has also been a featured speaker at the Web99 and FlashForward conferences.

In his spare time, he can be found on his dirt bike testing the limits of gravity or at home healing from the inevitable dirt bike injury. He has also been known to sneak away, several times a day, to the local Starbucks for a double latte �to be honest it's usually a triple shot) with hazelnut. Of course, this might explain why he talks so fast!

Note About lynda.com/books and lynda.com

lynda.com/books is dedicated to helping designers and developers understand tools and design principles. lynda.com offers hands-on workshops, training seminars, conferences, on-site training, training videos, training CDs, and "expert tips" for design and development. To learn more about our training programs, books, and products, be sure to give our site a visit at http://www.lynda.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 720 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press (January 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 032120297X
• ISBN-13: 978-0321202970
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #406,931 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing., June 5, 2005

By	Douglas Millhoff (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Once upon a time, right around the turn of the century, I took a class in web design. The principle texts were from Lynda Weinman's Hands-On Training series, and I was generally pleased with the methodical nature of the instruction, and the insightful way it explained WHY you were doing what you were doing. Lynda's Dreamweaver 2 H.O.T. was no exception.
My work took me in a different direction, and six years later, I find myself pretty much retraining from scratch. Naturally, I chose the same book for retraining in Dreamweaver MX 2004. My first discovery was that the book was riddled with errors and oversights. There is an errata URL that itemizes a variety of errors and corrections, and none of those I discovered are listed there.
OK. So the book has a number of embarrasing, uncorrected mistakes and gaffes. Most appear to be carryovers from previous editions, suggesting the author and editors got sloppy and may not themselves have followed through the steps. In a classroom environment, where an instructor is handy to help you figure out the mistakes and what the author intended to say, it's still very educational to find and correct the mistakes yourself.
So, I completed the book, and keeping my marked-up copy as a reference, have the foundation I need to build a web site. But something was missing... Something about buttons... Imagemaps and hot spots! Way back when I learned Dreamweaver 2, the H.O.T. book covered those tricks. They're completely absent from this edition. And rollovers. This edition only skirts the subject.
What else has the author left out?
This book does a fine job of explaining what it does manage to get straight, but there are some glaring omissions, and if you're self-training, there are some mistakes that could leave you dead in your tracks trying to figure things out.

50 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cutesy and Wordy, February 17, 2004

By	Carl W "carl8262" (Lake Forest, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I should warn you up front that MX 2004 is the first version of Dreamweaver I've used, and this is the only book on Dreamweaver I've gone through. Veterans of Dreamweaver may have a different perspective on this book.

That said, the book isn't wearing well for me. I have so far worked through Chapter 7, and taken frequent peeks at the chapters to come. At first, I was impressed by the detailed and numerous screen shots, but then I began noticing all kinds of small discrepancies between the text and the screen shots.

Furthermore, I'm using the Mac version of the software. If you only read Chapter 1 in the bookstore, it looks as if Mac and Windows screen shots get about equal time. In point of fact, don't expect to see any Mac screen shots after Chapter 2, and some of the ones that are included are misleading and/or mislabeled. I realize that there must have been great time pressure to get this book out near the release date for the software, but it would have been nice to have a Mac user work through and proofread this book.

Finally, I find the writing style irritating. There are lots of smileys in the text, which make it seem much less professional to me, and the author tries to keep a conversational tone, but it often just seems too cute.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but not Great...., July 11, 2004

By	john zamran sahir (wichita, KS United States) - See all my reviews

This book is good if you are a beginner and dont know the software at all but...if you are looking for some advance learning this book is not for you.