Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual

By David Sawyer McFarland
First Edition  June 2007 
Pages: 1020
Series: The Missing Manuals
ISBN 10: 0-596-51043-8 | ISBN 13: 9780596510435
(Average of 2 Customer Reviews)

Book description

The fifth edition of this bestselling book by experienced web site trainer and author David McFarland, Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual helps both first-time and experienced web designers bring stunning, interactive web sites to life. With jargon-free language, clear descriptions, and welcome humor, this new edition addresses both beginners who need step-by-step guidance as well as long-time Dreamweaver users who need a handy reference to address the inner-workings of the program.
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Cover | Table of Contents | Colophon

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Featured customer reviews

The book you wished you’d found in the box with Adobe Dreamweaver CS3,  March 22 2008
Submitted by Iris Yoffa   [Respond | View]

Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual, is definitely the book you wished you’d found in the box with the installation disk for Adobe Dreamweaver CS3. Weighing in at 995 pages (including a 25 page index), The Missing Manual is the best resource book for learning and using this equally robust web development tool. The book is divided into 26 chapters and two appendices, organized into seven sections. The Table of Contents is quite detailed, listing the chapter headings and sub-heading, making it easy to locate a particular subject. This book is filled from beginning to end with very detailed step-by-step tutorials to help you learn how to use Dreamweaver to accomplish a wide variety of web development tasks. I consider Dreamweaver CS3 The Missing Manual a definite must-have bookshelf reference for anyone who wants to investigate and learn every nook and cranny of this extensive application.

Chapter 1 begins at the beginning and is geared to the new user. There is a tour of the interface followed by a thorough step-by-step ‘Test Drive’ tutorial. Starting with customizing the program preferences, the chapter continues with setting up a site, creating and saving a web page, adding text and images, and previewing your page in a browser. This first chapter touches on a lot of subject matter covered in greater detail in later chapters. Dreamweaver has a wealth of dialogs and wizards to help you create rather sophisticated web documents and they can be just as daunting as writing code. And, there are also extensions (extend the functionality of Dreamweaver), you can install to facilitate productivity. The Missing Manual really holds your hand, leading you through the process of learning to use the Dreamweaver tools. For those who want a little more, there are insets throughout the pages with the titles (in the title bar) of ‘Workaround Workshop’, ‘Up to Speed’, ‘Power Users’ Clinic’, ‘Frequently Asked Questions’, ‘Gem in the Rough’, and even ‘Easter Egg Hunt’.

To really take control of the web document creation process it’s important to understand and be able to work with the underlying code. Beginning in Chapter 8: Advanced CSS, the discussion moves to talking about the HTML elements, the building blocks of creating a web page. Terms such as ID and Descendant Selectors enter the tutorial discussion. Why would you care? Well, even when using Dreamweaver as a visual editor and the GUI (graphic user interface) to modify the appearance of say, a list item, you need to know what the

tag is and that it needs to be selected for styling. And then wee come to Chapter 10, Under the Hood: HTML. Here we learn about using the Code View. First there are Preferences settings suggested, one for targeting and fixing invalidly nested or unclosed tags, and another for targeting extra closing tags for removal. Dreamweaver provides some great tools for working with code such as code hints, code collapse, the tag inspector and tools for file comparison. This chapter will help ease you into working with code, if you are interested.

Adobe’s Spry Framework for Ajax is mentioned as a technique for creating navigation menus in Chapter 5 and as a method for validating form data in the Chapter that explains how to build forms. Spry is the current hot web technology and you’ll find the thorough explanations of Spry and Spry Widgets (an element made up of HTML, CSS and JavaScript), clear and understandable. Even if you don’t completely understand the technology, you’ll find the step-by-steps easy to follow. There are tutorials for adding Spry Widgets such as an accordion of collapsible panels and creating Spry Effects in the chapter that covers Dreamweaver Behaviors. If you’ve never been able to figure out how to use Dreamweaver’s behaviors, working through the information and tutorials in this chapter will help get you past that obstacle.

While a 995 page tech book is not usually a cover to cover read, you should be sure to refer to Chapter 16: Testing Your Site, before going public with your creation. It’s a relatively short chapter with a checklist and the usual info on Dreamweaver tools for checking the site performance and detecting errors on your pages. The next chapter addresses getting your site onto the Internet. Section 5 is about how to really get the most out of using Dreamweaver. The chapters cover the topics of snippets, libraries, templates, automation and customizing the application. Section 6 is titled Dynamic Dreamweaver and has extremely good tutorials on using a variety of server side technologies. You’ll even be stepped through setting up a free testing server on your computer, XAMP for Windows and MAMP for MacOSX. The last section contains two appendices. The first gives details about a variety of help resources including the Dreamweaver Help System, the Adobe site, Forums, the DMX Zone, and paid support. The second appendix is a detailing of every Dreamweaver menu.

Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual,  October 23 2007
Submitted by Bob Wood   [Respond | View]

Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual
David Sawyer McFarland
Pogue Press - O’Reilly Publishing
$44.99

All right I admit it, I have been known to resist change. But it appears that Dreamweaver is rising higher and higher in the sky as the star called Adobe GoLive nears the western horizon. As one who derives at least some income from web site design and maintenance I understand the need to start the process of migrating to the new mainstream product. The question then becomes, "What do I use to help me ascend the learning curve?" Time and budget constraints preclude formal classes, workshops or personal trainers.

Enter "Dreamweaver CS3" from the highly acclaimed "Missing Manual" series. The O'Reilly Publishing catalog page for this book <http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596510435/> provides a good taste of what one will find in this 1000+ page tome. For example the table of contents page provides a glimpse into each chapter. The Missing Manuals have long been a regular part of my computer reference library. Helping me, time and again answer not only my own questions but those of my clients as well.

Mr. McFarland presents the material in a well organized, clearly written, easy to understand format. The illustrations are a mixed bag of PC and Mac screen shots so no one feels excluded or exclusive. But for me the most valuable parts of the book are the lessons. These lessons are stored on a related web site not on a CD stuck in the back of the book. This virtual CD can't get lost, bent, scratched or broken. It can also be easily updated if an error is detected. What a great and simple idea! That being said it is the lessons themselves that teach me the most about Dreamweaver. Common scenarios are played out in a way that allow me to apply much of what I already know to the Dreamweaver experience. I find myself virtually slapping my virtual forehead and saying, "Oh, that's how you do that! It is starting to make sense now." Furthermore, the lessons gave me new insights into basics (CSS for example) that I didn't understand previously and have been able to apply when using my old software of choice.

This book is an excellent self tutoring guide opening much of the common, real world web design experience to the Dreamweaver novice. It is what I need at this time. The only way that I could fault the work is, I wish it were a little more "Reference Manual" to go along with the valuable textbook. There have been times where I wanted to know how to do something in Dreamweaver that is comfortable for me in GoLive and I am unable to find the Missing Manual reference. Perhaps I am looking for expanded indexes or additional Appendixes. Maybe I want David Sawyer McFarland to be sitting next to me when I have a question. Perhaps this is expecting too much for my $45. Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual will find a spot close at hand on my reference shelf even if it is not constantly on the desk absorbing spilled coffee and dispensing answers to every question.

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Media reviews

"David McFarland has written a comprehensive how-to and reference manual that not only has value as a 'read-a-chapter and experiment' book, but will function as an invaluable reference tool as Dreamweaver users get further into site development...I fully expect to be referring to this book on a regular basis, so it will be in the book case right beside my computer. It is an excellent reference work for web developers of any skill level as well as for libraries interested in providing highly useful resources to tech-savvy patrons."
-- John R. Clark, TCM Reviews

"One of the beauties of the Missing Manuals is that there is always something new to discover and the research is quite thorough...I kept finding snippets of information, in the way of Tips or Notes, that would give just that bit extra."
-- Graham K. Rogers, Bangkok Post

"What I like about this book is that it takes its time and goes from step a to step z with out rushing. If you work through the lessons, you will find yourself really picking up a lot of information and insight into web development. As promised, Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual is engaging, clearly written, and sometimes funny. If you want to learn Dreamweaver and you don't want the pain of learning it on your own, then Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual is a must have."
-- T. Michael Testi, Blogcritics Magazine

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"One of the beauties of the Missing Manuals is that there is always something new to discover and the research is quite thorough...I kept finding snippets of information, in the way of Tips or Notes, that would give just that bit extra."
--Graham K. Rogers, Bangkok Post