Web design & hosting forum: What's the secret to using Dreamweaver?

It's also true that I only need a sledgehammer to build a boat out of a tree, but I'd rather sail in style.

Well, I've been reading through the books, and while it isn't clicking, I'm following the steps and trying it.

I guess it's like swimming - it will all make more sense once I get in the water.

I'll post an update in a few days. Maybe even a link to the new site...

Thanks for the input Andrea!

-Woody

I use Word.

I type the information, save it as a html document.
Then I open the html document copy and paste the code to my website.

It's cheating, but it works.



Hope this helps.


Rick

I tried that once upon a time. Found that Word tries to put every Microsoft proprietary piece of web code in there, too.

I performed an experiment. Created a page with Word. The resulting html page contained 60K bytes. Then I ran this html page through Dreamweaver's ''Clean-up Word HTML'' option. The result was a 19K html page which displayed perfectly, using only standard html (no xml or other wasted code).

This is very significant for your website visitors in much quicker display of pages, not to mention the reduction in your website's bandwidth usage.

Because of this, and the other advertised features of Dreamweaver, I purchased Dreamweaver. It's worth it to me, and I find it relatively easy to use. I develop webpages professionally, so the expense appears justified. Dreamweaver can be set to either take advantage of the latest and greatest in xtml and xml, or to use a more simple, basic set of html.

When developing for my customers, I take into consideration who I'm developing for. If it's a company which already has, or expresses a desire to invest $400 or so in Dreamweaver, I use xhtml and the other expanded abilities of DW. But if developing for a small company which just wants to have a site created and then take over maintenance of it, I use the more basic commands of DW, which are more compatible with more affordable HTML editors. The more affordable, feature-rich HTML editor I've been recommending lately is CoffeeCup ($49). Does a good job, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg, which is what most small business owners like to hear. Especially if they need multiple copies of the editor for multiple web authors!

As for an ''ease of learning and use'' comparison between DW and CoffeeCup, there shouldn't be much of a difference for those who just want to create basic pages quickly. You'll need to invest some time to struggle through and learn some new things. Should take an average person maybe a week or two of spending four hours a day to become adequately proficient, but you'll always be bumping into walls and learning new things as you go forward (and that's a good thing).

One big plus I've found with DW is it's ability to properly maintain your links. Let's say you have a certain page that you want to rename or replace with a page of another name for some reason. And this page is linked to by 7 other pages in your site. While renaming the page, DW will ask you if you'd like the links in the 7 other pages to be changed to maintain the links, and will make the changes in all 7 pages immediately, behind the scenes. This is a huge timesaver!

You can also find/replace at the document, folder, or site level. Changes all instances of a given text string to another. Very handy!

So yes, there are features in DW which are worth their weight in gold... to the appropriate users. Someone with a small website with a handful of pages is probably better served by CoffeeCup or other more affordable product.

And on a related note, my customers all receive the recommendation that they avoid using FrontPage. Frontpage uses proprietary (surprise!) code - even requiring it on the webserver (they call it Frontpage extensions). If you use anything other than FrontPage to upload your pages, the FTP session can corrupt the server-side extensions and bring your site down. Or so I've read time and time again, even in Microsoft's literature. Please educate me if this is no longer true. So, purchasing one copy of Frontpage ($140?) for use in the office and 5 copies of CoffeeCup (at $49 per copy) for use at home by website contributors is just asking for trouble.

is like using a duck to create a steel bridge

If you read my original message, you will find that I purchased Macromedia Dreamweaver 8, which is a WYSIWYG web design environment. It's very versatile, providing me with the ability to not only design simple html-based web pages but also more complex web sites with database technologies including php, asp, jsp, etc. that allow me to create login pages, offer online ads, conduct transactions, the whole works. It's great, or it will be once I learn how to use it.

That's the point of this thread ~ I am asking the cnet community of folks for insight as to the best methods and resources for learning to use Dreamweaver.

Thanks for the advice.

-Woody

I don't think you have anything to feel sorry about. You posted a helpful message, my friend.

Keep them coming!

-Woody

Dreamweaver handles images really well. A tip is to use fireworks/photoshop to create gifs, and use dreamweavers built in funtion to insert the images. Also, try using tables and changing the border thickness to 0.

Hope this helps

HI.
Im a new at building websites. I found out its easyer to use notepad and freeware like NVU and Amaya.

What a learning curve this Dream program has, it seems like its better to learn the code from the start.

The best tutorials to learn from.

Google. W3schools and W3.

I think Dreamweaver is a waste of money unless you have a large web site to manage.

It sounds like you may be a book junkie like me! I have the same habit of buying books that look like they have something I could learn/use, then letting them sit on a shelf unopened.

I have been teaching a webmastering class at the high school level for several years, and what I find works best is to learn some of the basic HTML code before diving into Dreamweaver. It's not that it is absolutely required to learn code, but there are many times that Dreamweaver won't let you do something or there is something you can't seem to change in Dreamweaver. At those times, you can go into the code and fix the problem (most of the time).

A couple of websites with good tutorials for learning HTML are http://www.htmldog.com/guides/htmlbeginner/ and http://www.w3schools.com/default.asp.

After a quick survey of HTML, just go to Dreamweaver and jump in. That is often the best way to learn new software -- try something and see what happens.

I was faced with the same problem, I had bought Dreamwaver and was not able to really understand it. My best solution was go to school. Many Community Colleges and Adult Education programs run by local school districts teach Web Development at little or no cost.

I feel your pain - Dreamweaver books are difficult (boring) to gut your way through...

I learned about Lynda.com through a web-designer friend. They've got online classes available via subscription (per month or per year - very convenient if you have a high-speed internet connection)

They also have DVD's, which I've purchased, and found to be VERY VERY helpful - it's easy to rewind the lessons, and being a visual learner, it's sped my learning efficiency. Better yet, the Dreamweaver DVD for MX is $149.95 for 9.5 hours of instruction.

I also bought the H.O.T. (hands-on training) book from Lynda.com, and the curriculum is EXACTLY the same, but the instructor adds some humorous touches and insights that aren't in the book.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! Check it out at http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modPage.asp?ID=72

Thanks for the suggestions, and the offer for personal assistance. I have been exploring some of the tutorials available on the Internet, and I will purchase a DVD tutorial after my next paycheck. I am finding the books are best as reference material, but a video will help bring me up to speed most quickly without spending a lot of money on classes.

Thanks again, and keep those valuable posts coming. I'm certain that everyone who reads this forum discussion is gaining insight on their questions.

-Woody

tripod got me in the face of making websites and gave me a kind of an idea of what its like! its a website that lets u build ur website online.. 4 free seriously i'm not rich so i wouldnt be lying! and also before u make a purchase of a software, try downloading a trial version first!! anyways here's the site.


www.tripod.com

and heres a website that i made! its pretty lousy, i didnt put much thoughts to it! hope it helps u. if any questions tengo152005@yahoo.com

At this point, Dreamweaver is more for creating (commercial) sites than web PAGE design.