Dreamweaver 4 Magic - Softcover

Al Sparber; Craig Foster; Murray Summers; Linda Rathgeber

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0735710465 ISBN 13: 9780735710467

Publisher: New Riders Pub, 2001

Synopsis

This book answers many of the top advanced-level questions posted on the Dreamweaver Newsgroup through a series of 30 projects. Projects are grouped into design issues for easy reference. Each project will be from 3 to 10 pages in length and be designed in a 2-column format with step-by-step instructions on the left and corresponding graphics (or code) on the right. In addition, sidebars will be used to provide additional tips and tricks. Any effect, technique, or tip can easily be customized to fit a reader's own design needs.

About this title

Review:

Many designers have "pop-up menu" envy over all the sleek variations that can be found on the Web. Al Sparber and the crew at Projectseven.com are well known for their tutorials and Dreamweaver extensions that help designers create state-of-the-art effects. This book shares some of their work, particularly the latest in cool menu designs.

It's like a gift-bag of Project Seven's best offerings with step-by-step tutorials detailing how things work. For example, the authors show how to use cascading style sheets (CSS) and cookies to make user-controlled visual themes, how to build Dynamic HTML (DHTML) drop-down and fly-out menus, and even how to make menus that collapse and expand or have a tree functionality similar to that found on Windows or Mac operating systems. These aren't just eye-candy tricks either; they're also the sorts of interfaces that Web site visitors will intuitively understand. Other practical lessons show readers how to save bandwidth by using CSS to make an imageless navigation system or how to make a clickable DHTML tabbed interface. Also, the authors do not neglect compatibility issues. The book's not about showing off--these are practical methods that also give a site a fresh look.

The project files are all included on the CD-ROM, along with finished results. The real deal is found in the custom Dreamweaver extensions, creating with just a click content that would otherwise require a lot of valuable time to write in JavaScript.

Although readers should have experience with Dreamweaver, the book is written in a clear manner that outlines carefully what will be accomplished at each stage and why you might want to carry out any given task in a certain way. Since the tutorials all rely on the custom extensions, readers do have to follow along faithfully. In essence, this is a cookbook-style manual, using some prepackaged ingredients, and with each recipe producing the desired meal. Each chapter ends by explaining how readers can modify the results with their own design flavorings. --Angelynn Grant

About the Author:

Al Sparber is a founding partner of Project VII, a leading Web development resource site that attracts thousands of visitors daily. Al and the PVII team are reputed for being one step ahead of the leading edge and have authored some of the most exciting Dreamweaver Extensions to be found. PVII's latest claim to fame, the Dreamweaver Design Pack, is the brainchild of Al and partner Gerry Jacobsen. Design Packs are powerful site development tools that have acquired a cult-like following.

Al grew up in the New York City area, lived for baseball, and frequented every disco within a 50-mile radius of the "Apple". He served oxymoronically (his own word) in the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps, and even achieved a Sociology degree, which has served as a dust magnet for nearly a score. Before he found the Web, he was the CEO of a food distribution company in Ohio.

Al lives with his lovely wife Carol, whom he loves madly (his word), and together they have issued several outstanding offspring. Al and Carol love to play tennis and enjoy gourmet foods, art, music, and other highly cultural things.

You can contact Al via e-mail: asparber@projectseven.com or on the pviiwebdev newsgroup: news://forums.projectseven.com/pviiwebdev

Craig Foster is currently employed as a Web applications designer, desktop publisher, graphics artist, and contractor for the U.S. Navy on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. A Macromedia tech support Evangelist for over two years, Craig has been helping Web design colleagues learn to use Macromedia Dreamweaver by creating a FAQ of questions posted on the Macromedia Dreamweaver newsgroup at http://cauzway.net/dreamweaver/. Craig also created the Dreamweaver News and Information site, which you can reach at http://dwnews.owlnet.net.

Craig says that thousands of Web designers are looking for employment, and only a fraction of them will find Web design employment opportunities. Because of that, he has developed a Cauzway (http://cauzway.net/), which brings together Web designers and employers.

Craig also uses his knowledge of the Web on a personal level. His middle child, a thirteen-year-old, is deaf, and Craig, along with other local parents of deaf children, formed the DELMARVA Society for Deaf Children non-profit organization of which he is the secretary and Webmaster. The Web site for that organization is http://cauzway.net/dsdc/.

Gerry Jacobsen started his career with a BS in finance from Mercy College, NY, and gradually migrated to specializing in developing operational and management software for the Food Industry. In the mid '80s, Gerry developed Unix-based warehouse management systems employing fully integrated online bar code scanning technology. After spending 15 years as a Vice President and MIS Director for a major meat-processing company, Gerry, together with Al Sparber, formed Project VII Development.

Gerry is the programming genius behind Project VII and is a perfect complement to Al's design-side talents. Their Design Packs reveal their talents, enhanced even more by many years of experience in providing first-class support and user documentation. Together, they make a formidable Web-dev team with an uncanny sense for what the market needs...and wants!

When he's not developing new code or surfing the Web, Gerry enjoys spending time at home with his wife Diane, and their two children, Chris and Mat. For recreation, Gerry spends a lot of his time playing guitar and tennis and tinkering with his stereo. You can contact Gerry at http://www.projectseven.com. Linda S. Rathgeber is a former editor and layout and graphic artist for the Holistic Resource Magazine, and a contributor to such diverse publications as Woman's World and Dream Quarterly International. Since turning freelance, her work has been featured by independent film company King Pictures, in book ads for author Bill Stott, on the Fireworks 4 CD-ROM, and on the companion CD-ROM of Joseph W. Lowery's Fireworks 3 Bible. Linda is also the creative director of OzTex Alliance.

When not telecommuting with her Australian partner, David C. Nicholls, she can be found in the role of Macromedia Evangelist, coaching newcomers to Macromedia's Fireworks program. She lives in Austin, Texas (Yeeehaw!) with a pet monitor named Missy and a couple of Dell PCs. She can be reached at http://www.playingwithfire.com.

Murray Summers is a Biochemist by training but has spent the last 20 years working in the computer industry. He has served in both a sales and marketing role in this area, and is a long-time user of computers in science and business. Murray's first real exposure to the Internet came in 1987 when the world of email and telecommunications came into sharp business focus for him. Since then, he has participated in the development of the Internet as a commercial vehicle with gusto.

In 1998, Murray started his own Web site production company, Great Web Sights, and has become proficient with the use of Dreamweaver and UltraDev as a development environment in that endeavor. He also participates frequently in the sponsored Usenet forum for Dreamweaver and other products as a Macromedia Evangelist.

Murray and his wife Suzanne share a house in rural Philadelphia with their 11-year-old daughter Carly, a Golden Retriever (Sugar), an Eski-poo (Cookie), a goldfish (Smoochie), and lots of birds outside. Suzanne and Carly can frequently be seen on nearby ski slopes during the winter months, mostly looking down at Murray, buried in large mounds of snow. Murray's Web site can be found at http://www.great-web-sights.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: New Riders Pub
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0735710465
• ISBN 13: 9780735710467
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 303