Customer Reviews

Macromedia Dreamweaver MX: Training from the Source

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The lessons are comprehensive. If you are not a beginner I don't think this book would be very helpful to you, as it includes no flashy stuff - just the basics. The book has a few minor mistakes - I'll gladly take the mistakes than wait another 2 months for most of the other DW MX books to be out. The included CD has everyhting you need to complete the lessons problem free.

It has taught me how to navigate through Dreamweaver with confidence. I know where mostly everything is, what it does, & how to use it. However, I am still having difficulty outside the perfect world of the pre-designed sites the book uses. That being said, this training method has proven itself to me & I have ordered Training from the Source Flash & Fireworks as well.

Since a lot of the content info on this book is still not widely available - I've jotted it down below:

Lesson 1 Dreamweavr MX Basics
Lesson 2 Working with Graphics
Lesson 3 Creating Links
Lesson 4 Elements of Page Design (Tables)
Lesson 5 Adding User Interactivity
Lesson 6 Managing Your Site

Lesson 7 Accessibility & Testing
Lesson 8 Using Libraries
Lesson 9 Using Templates
Lesson 10 Creating Frames
Lesson 11 Creating Forms
Lesson 12 Editing the Code
Lesson 13 Using Style Sheets
Lesson 14 Using Find & Replace
Lesson 15 Creating Layers
Lesson 16 Animating with Timelines
Lesson 17 Extending Dreamweaver
Appendix A Regular Expressions
Appendix B Macintosh Shortcuts
Appendix C Windows Shortcuts
Index

I purchased this book to assist my staff come to terms with Dreamweaver. I think it's an excellent beginning, and even picked up some helpful infomation for myself too.

I would highly recommend this book and would have given it 5 stars if it had a chapter on how to integrate with Fireworks.

This book is well written and and has lots of diagrams too.

Unlike other books I've had over the years, Dreamweaver MX Training from the Source allows you to engage at the point where you want to engage and do the lesson(s) you need. Other books mistakenly presume you've joined them at Lesson One.

Another feature that I like is that in each chapter there are sections of explanation, instruction, notes and tips. This means if for example you are "brushing up" on a particular topic, you don't have to read the whole chapter to get a sense of what is being said, the explanation section may be enough.

Like many of us, I have dozens of this type of book for all sorts of software applications and development tools. My prior HTML experience is light, and I have used FrontPage, but I would still classify myself as an HTML novice. With that said, I believe that this is the perfect book for beginners and novices of Dreamweaver MX.

After installing Studio MX for the 1st time, the first thing I did was crack open this book and get started. I am now in the middle of Lesson 9 (Templates), and have developed a solid understanding of the concepts covered to this point. Not only have I been completely satisfied with the book, but the MX version of Dreamweaver has been flawless so far - incredibly solid and intuitive. The examples do not bog you down with typing/developing too much - but they illustrate the concepts quickly and succinctly.

I am anxiously making my way through this book in order to start my small company's website! The book and software are highly recommended.

If you are looking for a book to help you to learn the basics of Dreamweaver MX, then you have found it in this one. The chapters and lessons are well-designed to teach the concepts.

Back when I got this book, I was already very experienced with web design and tools, but not with Dreamweaver. This book teaches both Dreamweaver and a lot of basic web design concepts. So, I was able to skim over some sections that were too basic and still gain familiarity with DW.

The time estimates for each chapter were a bit too generous. I finished one chapter 45 minutes faster than they had estimated. Others were closer to being accurate. It makes sense that the time estimates would be off by some amount, depending upon the level of the reader.

Some of the chapters have an "on your own" bonus exercise at the end where one can apply the skills they just covered to building a web page with no step-by-step instructions. That is where you will find out if you were paying attention in the earlier parts of the chapter. Don't skip these bonus lessons!

I needed a way to get up to speed with DW and this book did the trick. Dreamweaver simplifies a lot of tasks that I had been performing manually, so learning it has made me more efficient in my work. This book, and Dreamweaver, are great investments for people who desire to craft attractive web sites in less time. The return on investment was almost immediate for me.

The book pays for itself quickly.

"Dreamweaver MX: Training from the Source" is an excellent step-by-step *tutorial* that trains the reader on the basics of using DW MX. It is not a complete *reference* where you can find any in-depth discussions on different topics or even advanced web programming techniques. I do keep the tutorial for a reference on techniques, but check out "Dreamweaver MX: The Complete Reference" for more advanced treatment. Rather, the book shows the reader how to create tables, forms, CSS, and simple JavaScript with DW MX. Each chapter covers an individual feature of DW MX with step-by-step instructions and ample pictures to guide the reader. (Honestly, you really have to be brain-dead to get lost following the instructions.)

I would recommend that prospective readers have some exposure and experience with HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. The book focuses on how to create and add web features via DW MX. In my opinion, the ideal reader will be one already familiar with some web programming techniques and design but want to know how to actually use DW MX to create their sites. Highly recommended.

I must admit when I first opened this book (even though I still decided to keep it anyway), I found the amount of text and steps in each chapter rather daunting -- so I became a little impatient, set the book aside for 6 months and avoided using Dreamweaver MX altogether. Since I primarily do web design as a hobby, I wondered if I was getting in over my head with version MX.

Recently, I've been asked to redesign our company's website and decided it would be a good time to finally dive in and learn MX (I have used Dreamweaver 3 exclusively since 1999 and never upgraded to version 4). So far, I have found this book to be very helpful and have gone though most of the lessons in 3 days!!

I picked up lots of great tips and new ways to use the software that I did not originally anticipate. The chapter on Cascading Style Sheets was especially informative and clear, and I no longer feel intimidated about using them in a website (and now feel silly that I never did...).

Overall, the book is an excellent resource if you have the patience to read LOTS of copy, but all the essential features of the software are thoroughly covered. The book provided a solid foundation for learning the basics and I found it to be a good review. The chapters could have used a few more illustrations, but were packed with lots of substance.

Is this book for advanced users? Probably not -- but for the rest of us, it's a useful guide to MX.

The "Training from the Source" book is a pretty solid coverage for a beginner. I was looking for a textbook to adopt for a beginning course at a community college and this one was chosen. Others will probably be better a few months from now (Like "Dreamweaver MX Hands-on Training" for example) but my class couldn't wait. If you can't either, this is a good way to get started. It isn't error free nor is it the most gentle introduction I've ever seen, but it does a credible job of covering a wide range of topics in a tutorial based style that works well for beginners or those that are moving from another product. I might question the ordering of topics a little -- for an absolute beginner, its coverage of tables in lesson 4 followed by behaviors in lesson 5 is a little earlier than I would have wanted -- frames and forms for example aren't introduced until lessons 10 and 11. But again, it is the best I've seen currently due to many publishers taking their sweet time to get things right (presumably).

FYI: at the beginning of each tutorial lesson there is an estimate of the time it will take you to complete it. Their estimates are very optimistic at best. If it says 1 hour, it is more likely 1 1/2 to 2 hours, and I'm not a beginner.

By the way, regarding the files on the CD which someone earlier mentioned -- it is just the typical Windows behavior and is easily resolved using Windows Explorer or My Computer or even Dreamweaver MX itself. The CD's files themselves are perfectly fine and not to worry.

I have minimal web design experience. Since Dreamweaver is supposed to be a pro level editor, I was a bit inundated when I first installed the program. I just wasn't sure of where to start using it.

I hesitantly picked up this book, half expecting overbearing and tedious examples. If you are 'green' like me, you know what I mean. You spend four hours reading one chapter over and over to figure out where your mistakes are because the text is so lifeless and boring, you miss whole parts of the book.

Was I ever wrong! This book acts as an easy, intuitive guide to those new to web development using Dreamweaver. The chapters are well organized with easy-to-follow directions for completing the tutorials.

As you work your way through the chapters you begin to fully appreciate what Dreamweaver is and can do for you. This book is great for students and curiosity seekers like me. Advanced users will find the book fairly simplistic and usable as an occaisional reference book, if even that. But for people new to web-development and Dreamweaver, this book will make an excellent spring board to unleashing your creative endeavors using Dreamweaver.

"Macromedia Dreamweaver MX: Training from the Source" may not be a perfect book, but it is a perfect alternative to Joyce Evans' "Dreamweaver MX: Complete Course". This book gave an in-depth analysis of the Application suite, without providing any unnecessary detail. Both beginners and intermediate learners would appreciate its methodology. However, advanced learners need not waste time or money on it.
Its style is a combination of 'step-by-step' and illustrative analysis. It is very straightforward. Thus, I would confidently recommend it for anybody who is trying to cut his or her teeth in the 'Dreamweaver MX' software.

I had a little HTML knowledge when I bought and installed Dreamweaver MX, but no web design experience. I was afraid to even open it! I bought this book because it was recommended for beginners. It starts by holding your hand and walking you through the workspace explaining all the tool bars and panels and how they're docked. I laugh now at, "Rest the pointer over a button to see it's name", but I wasn't laughing when I started the book.

Training From The Source guides you through creating a web site about light houses called "Lights of the Coast". Although I never want to see another light house after completing the lessons, it was an excellent way of applying what I was learning. I also liked the list of "What You Will Learn" at the start of each chapter, and "What You Have Learned" at the end of each chapter, to keep me on track. The illustrations are numerous and just what I needed back when I was afraid to touch anything.

There is a huge amount of information throughout the book I previously knew nothing about. Reading and working through it saved me from a lot of headaches when I set off on my own. Good book!