Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 Unleashed - Softcover

Ruvalcaba, Zak

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0672327600 ISBN 13: 9780672327605

Publisher: Sams, 2005

Synopsis

Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 Unleashed is your complete reference guide to developing dynamic, data-driven web sites and applications with Dreamweaver 8. Based on the newest version of Dreamweaver, you will find comprehensive and up-to-date instruction on developing complex applications, as well as how to collect information from users, personalize their online experience, and use a variety of built-in site management tools to create the ultimate web site experience. With Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 Unleashed, you will learn how to fully exploit Dreamweaver 8 by working with frames and framesets, layers, incorporating multimedia and animation, and adding dynamic elements such as a shopping cart.

About this title

About the Author

Zak Ruvalcaba is the founder and president of Module Media, a media development and training firm in San Diego. He teaches and gives design lectures on various technologies and tools, including Dreamweaver, Flash, and ASP.NET, for the San Diego Community College District.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

Eight years ago when I used Dreamweaver 1.0 for the first time, I was amazed at how far ahead of its time it was. The ability to create JavaScript Behaviors, layers/DIVs, styles, and pin-point accurate designs truly amazed me. I was a skeptic when it came to WYSIWYG editors and preferred Notepad whenever possible. Dreamweaver changed that in me, and made me look at web development in a whole new light.

Dreamweaver has become the industry's leading web development environment, far surpassing any other. Still, many consider Dreamweaver a simple visual editor that accomplishes little but aide in the development of static web pages. The mindset is that visual editors lack the true complexity that it takes to create rich and powerful web applications that encompass client-side technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript while leveraging server-side technologies like ASP, ASP.NET, PHP, and ColdFusion. Dreamweaver obliterates the stigma by captivating the developer in a vast, intuitive, and feature-rich environment.

If you've picked up this book, chances are you're interested in the world of web design and development and, more specifically, how Dreamweaver 8 can help you succeed in these endeavors. Whether you're a seasoned developer, a print designer looking to expand your base of knowledge to the web, or a home user who simply aims at creating a family website, Dreamweaver offers the features and flexibility to get you on your way quickly and effortlessly. This book aims at introducing you to the many features available through Dreamweaver.

What's Inside, Part by Part

Part I, "Getting Up to Speed with Dreamweaver 8": Starting off gently, this part introduces you to Dreamweaver 8. Moving from Chapter 1, "Introducing Dreamweaver," to Chapter 5, "Defining Preferences," you'll learn about the many panels, inspectors, windows, and more that Dreamweaver exposes. You'll also learn about defining and managing a site, building a simple web page, and finally, defining Dreamweaver preferences for customizing how you work with Dreamweaver.

Part II, "Static Web Page Development": Generally considered the heart of the book, this part covers topics relating to static web page development. You'll learn about web page structuring using tables, advanced page formatting using style sheets, how to work with frames and framesets, how to design forms with form elements, how to incorporate behaviors into your web pages, and finally how to design pin-point accurate web pages using DIVs.

Part III, "Team Collaboration and Task Automation": While most consider Dreamweaver a great tool for building web pages, the truth is Dreamweaver exposes many tools for working with web pages within teams. In this part you'll learn about the many aspects included in Dreamweaver that facilitate the collaborative process such as file check in and check out, design notes, integration with Contribute, and more. You'll also learn about the many components built into Dreamweaver for enhancing the workflow process such as templates, library items, and more.

Part IV, "Incorporating Multimedia and Animation": Developers and designers who are building media-rich sites should concentrate on this part. The chapters in this part of the book covers DHTML, Flash and Fireworks integration, as well as video and audio.

Part V, "Dynamic Web Page Development": The chapters in this part begin to prepare you for working with dynamic web pages. As you'll see, the chapters in this part cover an introduction to web applications, server-side technologies, databases, and the language used to extract, insert, delete, and update data within databases: SQL.

Part VI, "Creating Database-Driven Pages": With an introduction to web applications and the many components that make up web applications under your belt, you're ready to move onto building dynamic web pages. As you'll see, the chapters exposed within this part walk you through retrieving data from, inserting data into, deleting data from, and updating data within databases. You'll also learn how to build search functionality, integrate shopping cart technologies, secure your web pages, and work with XML web services.

Part VII, "Appendixes and Bonus Content on the Website": This part consists of an Appendix covering Dreamweaver 8's XML/XSLT capabilities. Detailed appendixes on accessibility and extensibility are included on the book's website.

What's Inside, Chapter by Chapter

Chapter 1, "Introducing Dreamweaver," introduces you to what's new in Dreamweaver 8. Topics like Background File Transfer, Zooming capabilities, Code Toolbar, File Compare integration, and more are covered within this chapter.

Chapter 2, "The Dreamweaver Interface," covers the Dreamweaver interface: document views, toolbars, inspectors, panels, and status bars. By the end of the chapter, you should feel fairly comfortable with the Dreamweaver 8 development environment.

Chapter 3, "Building a Web Page," covers the essentials of building a web page within Dreamweaver. By the end of this chapter you'll understand how to use page properties, HTML elements, and graphics to create your first web page in Dreamweaver.

Chapter 4, "Dreamweaver Site Management," covers site management, including defining a site, file check in and check out, working with site maps, and defining a local and remote folders.

Chapter 5, "Defining Preferences," covers every customizable feature for improving how you work with Dreamweaver. Everything from customizing code coloring to setting keyboard shortcuts is outlined in this chapter.

Chapter 6, "Web Page Structuring Using Tables," covers traditional methods for structuring web pages using tables. In this chapter you'll learn about tables, rows, columns, nested tables, and more.

Chapter 7, "Advanced Page Formatting Using Style Sheets," covers the different types of style sheets, how to apply them, and the different properties for text, backgrounds, borders, lists, positioning, and more.

Chapter 8, "Working with Frames and Framesets," covers frames and framesets, including advantages and disadvantages to using them and why.

Chapter 9, "Working with HTML Forms," covers HTML forms, which are the front-ends to web applications. Whether you're using eBay, E*TRADE, or AutoBytel, HTML Forms facilitate the data collection from the user. In this chapter we'll discuss the various types of form elements used within forms.

Chapter 10, "Using Dreamweaver Behaviors," covers every aspect of Dreamweaver's JavaScript Behaviors. In this chapter you'll learn the basics of JavaScript including events, actions, and more.

Chapter 11, "Layers in Dreamweaver," defines layers, the cornerstones for pin-point accurate positioning of elements in Dreamweaver. Ever wonder how to make a web page look like a printed brochure? Layers are your answer.

Chapter 12, "Building Dreamweaver Websites within Teams," covers every feature within Dreamweaver that facilitates integration and collaboration within teams. Topics such as file check in and check out, file column sharing, design notes, and more are covered in this chapter.

Chapter 13, "Website Content Management Using Contribute," covers integration with Macromedia's content management and sharing program, Contribute. In this chapter you'll learn about users and roles, applying user settings, and even editing web page content using Contribute.

Chapter 14, "Workflow Enhancement," covers every potentially overlooked feature within Dreamweaver that may help you do your job faster and more efficiently. Features like the Results panel, Find and Replace, the Assets panel, and more are covered here.

Chapter 15, "Working with Templates," covers Dreamweaver templates in depth. A good understanding of templates and the wo...

Edition details

• Publisher: Sams
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0672327600
• ISBN 13: 9780672327605
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 1020