Dreamweaver MX 2004: The Missing Manual (Paperback)

by David Sawyer McFarland (Author)
Key Phrases: server behaviors, layout table, page properties, Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Cascading Style Sheets (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Macromedia's Dreamweaver MX 2004 is the leading software tool for the creation of Web sites and other HTML interfaces. It's remarkably capable, able to deal intelligently with everything from fonts and images to JavaScript for client-side data validation and embedded Java applets. In most cases, Dreamweaver will save you time over hand-coding--and yield better-looking pages to boot. The program's learning curve, though, isn't trivial. That's why Dreamweaver MX 2004: The Missing Manual is worth having on hand as you learn to use Dreamweaver, and worth keeping within reach as you tackle increasingly difficult Web development work.

David McFarland wrote this book, but the influence of esteemed series editor David Pogue is obvious in the careful coverage of features and frequent touches of humor (books about applications can be whangingly dull; the books in Pogue's Missing Manual series consistently manage to avoid this problem while maintaining comprehensiveness). The two men treat Dreamweaver's numerous features (and the even more numerous ways of putting them to use) cleverly, with a combination of procedures and side information that clarifies many oddball situations as well as straightforward conditions. --David Wall

Topics covered: How to create HTML (XHTML and CSS, strictly speaking) documents using Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004. In addition to the basic stuff (text, images, links, and frames), the book shows you how to build forms for data submission and embed Flash movies and Java applets. There's also a lot of helpful emphasis on Dreamweaver's productivity features, like snippet libraries and file transfer utilities. A special section shows you how to do some server-side work with databases.

Product Description
Macromedia's Dreamweaver MX 2004 offers a rich environment for building professional web sites, with drag-and-drop simplicity, clean HTML code, and dynamic database-driven web site creation tools. It comes with everything except perhaps the most important feature of all: a printed manual. Enter Dreamweaver MX 2004: The Missing Manual, the book that enables both first-time and experienced web designers to bring stunning, interactive web sites to life. What sets this new edition apart is the crystal-clear writing, welcome humor, and exclusive features like these:

• Live examples. With a step-by-step annotated tutorial, readers follow the construction of a state-of-the-art commercial web site, complete with Flash buttons, Cascading Style Sheets, and dynamic databases.
• Tricks of the trade. The book is bursting with undocumented workarounds and shortcuts.
• Design guidance. Readers can create any modern web feature, including forms, animations, pop-up windows, and more. This book lets you know which browsers, situations, and audiences are appropriate for each.

With over 500 illustrations, a handcrafted index, and the clarity of thought that has made bestsellers of every Missing Manual to date, this edition is the ultimate atlas for Dreamweaver MX 2004.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 800 pages
• Publisher: Pogue Press; 3rd edition (December 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596006314
• ISBN-13: 978-0596006310
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.1 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #224,529 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

108 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for DW newbies or switchers from other web programs, May 22, 2004

By	Alan E. Cook "Kingsley Press" (Shoals, IN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've been designing web sites for a number of years now and my program of choice was Adobe GoLive. However, I recently decided to switch to Dreamweaver MX 2004 because I wanted to take advantage of the program's advanced CSS and CSS-P capabilities. But I waited to make the switch until I knew this "Missing Manual" was available. I'd heard it was going to be released, and because I already own some other "Missing" titles, I instinctively knew this would be the book to get.

I wasn't disappointed. This book is EXCELLENT, both for newcomers to web design with Dreamweaver, but also for "switchers" like myself, who have experience with web design, but not with Dreamweaver. The book takes a step by step approach.

Some of Dreamweaver's features overlap with GoLive's, and some are common to all visual web editors; but that doesn't matter. You'll still enjoy reading this book, and you'll pick up lots of useful tips along the way.

The tutorials are PRICELESS. You simply download the files from the book's web site, and work through them, step by step, with the author holding your hand all the way. I really like the approach: learn the features, then learn to use them in a tutorial.

One very small caveat is that if you are looking for EXTENSIVE coverage on CSS layouts (without tables), you won't find it here. Yes, there is a chapter on how to lay out pages with nothing but CSS positioning, and there is a tutorial, which are a wonderful start to the subject. But you'll need something like "Eric Meyer on CSS" in order to take your CSS layout skills to the max.

This book easily deserves the 5 stars I gave it.

75 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dreamweaver MX 2004 Manual Is Found Here, April 2, 2004

By	Meryl K. Evans "Content Maven behind meryl.net" (Plano, TX) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The slogan of the Missing Manual series is "The book that should have been in the box" and Dreamweaver MX 2004: The Missing Manual lives up to the series' reputation. Macromedia wouldn't want to ship this book with the software because it's a doorstop at 800 pages. Imagine what it would do to the packaging and the pricing of the already expensive software.

One itsy bitsy negative, but this book is not the only one avoiding it. Dreamweaver's help file doesn't cover it and neither does the forum on Macromedia's Web site. There is a feature called download stats listing the size of the file and the time it would take to download it. At what speed? 56k? T1? What? I would assume 56k, but assumptions are not reliable.

At 800 pages, you can expect all the features to be covered through step-by-step instructions, notes, and screen shots. The hard core stuff like building dynamic Web pages, working with databases, and using server programming within Dreamweaver are all there for those ready for a challenge.

McFarland goes the extra mile to note differences between computer systems (Mac vs. PCs) and browsers (compatibility). Looking at the table of contents is proof of the book's completeness and all I need to do is attest to its readability. First timers to creating a Web site or to Dreamweaver as well as owners of earlier versions will gain plenty of knowledge from this one.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The seeming impossible made easy., April 1, 2005

By	J. Franck (Madison, WI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Trying to figure out how to work my Captain Video decoder ring is as close to programming as I'd ever gotten. (Dates me, I know.) So I figured I was relegated to "The Cosmically Clueless Fool's Guide to Dreamweaver MX". Until I found out about this "Missing Manual" series. Since most software manuals seem to be written by idiot savants for whom English is only marginally considered to be a functional language, I was amazed when I started with this thing. It is totally engaging, terrifically well written, very easy to follow, as logical as Spock, and comprehensive without descending into the anesthetizing world of Geekdom. In a word, it is... fun! It seems that every nuance of DWMX is touched on with patience, a total concern for reader understanding, and quite frequently with humor. The tutorials are excellent - everything laid out carefully and clearly step-by-step. I cannot imagine a manual of such breadth being more user-friendly for the rank amateur as well as for the, well.... rank professional. A total delight! My advice to anyone contemplating Dreamweaver or this manual - don't be intimidated. This is a manual written and designed the way manuals should be. Kudos to Mr. McFarland and Pogue!