A. Where to Learn More
Once you’ve worked through this book, you should be well on your way to creating great Web pages with Dreamweaver. But Dreamweaver is such a broad and deep program that there is plenty more to learn about it and about building Web sites in general.
In this appendix, we’ll point to several of the most helpful Dreamweaver-oriented Web sites, other sites where you can learn more about building standards-compliant Web sites, and even mention a few other books that will help you deepen your knowledge of not just Dreamweaver, but also of Web design and JavaScript.
As usual with products that can be found on the Internet, Web sites come, go, and change addresses with alarming regularity. The sites listed here were in existence when this book went to press (May 2007) and may be available when you check them out, or they may not. We are just reporting the URLs; we have no control over them. If you find a link that has become stale, we would appreciate it if you would drop a note to [email protected] so that we can update the next edition of the book.
Web Sites
Almost as soon as Dreamweaver came upon the scene, people began gathering online to discuss the program and to help each other use it. There are several Dreamweaver community sites, informational sites, places where you can purchase premade Dreamweaver templates, and sites from developers who have created new Dreamweaver extensions. This list is by no means comprehensive, but it does include sites that we have found to be helpful.
Of course, Adobe has a variety of online support options as well. We’ll also try to keep the list of links updated at this book’s companion Web site, www.dreamweaverbook.com.
Dreamweaver Documentation
http://www.adobe.com/support/documentation/en/dreamweaver/
This should be your first stop when looking for answers to a Dreamweaver question (after this book, of course!). This site allows you to search Dreamweaver’s LiveDocs (online manual) and the Product Support Knowledge Base (Figure A.1).
Figure A.1. You can find the latest version of the Dreamweaver manuals, and search the Knowledge Base, at the Adobe Dreamweaver Documentation site.
Dreamweaver Exchange
http://www.adobe.com/exchange
This is the place to go when you’re looking for Dreamweaver add-ons and extensions. At press time, there were more than a thousand items for download (Figure A.2).
Figure A.2. Dreamweaver Exchange should be your first stop when you are looking for a Dreamweaver extension.
Dreamweaver Weblogs
Once you go to the URL above, click the link for the Dreamweaver category. This is an aggregator site that lists posts from many people’s Dreamweaver-related weblogs (Figure A.3). It’s a great way to keep up with the Dreamweaver community.
Figure A.3. Adobe’s weblog aggregator brings together interesting blog posts about Dreamweaver from all over the Web in one place.
Dreamweaver Developer Center
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/dreamweaver
This site has tutorials and sample files focused on the new features of Dreamweaver CS3, and articles that will help you better use Dreamweaver to build your sites.
Project Seven
http://www.projectseven.com
Project Seven is one of the premier developers of Dreamweaver extensions and page templates (Figure A.4). Their Pop Menu Magic extension helps you build extensive pop-up navigation menus for your site with almost no effort. And their Page Packs are collections of great-looking page layouts with an interface that lets you easily add those pages to your site.
Figure A.4. Project Seven makes a variety of great Dreamweaver extensions, including ways to make customizable pop-up menus and automatic slide shows.
Besides the paid products, the Project Seven site also contains many tutorials covering CSS, images, navigation, and more.
Community MX
Tons of constantly updated content, page templates, tutorials, and extensions are available on a subscription basis at Community MX (Figure A.5). Subscribers get the content at no extra charge; non-subscribers can purchase items à la carte; everyone can sign up for a free trial. The site also has support forums for subscribers, where the site partners guarantee a timely, useful response.
Figure A.5. Community MX provides a large number of articles and tutorials for its subscribers.
A List Apart
http://alistapart.com
A List Apart is not Dreamweaver-specific, but it’s essential reading nonetheless. This Web magazine has been around since 1998, and it’s still an invaluable resource for people who make Web sites (Figure A.6). You’ll find great, well-written articles on virtually all aspects of building sites. Now, go check it out.
Figure A.6. If you’re serious about staying on the bleeding edge of Web development and running a Web-based business, you should be reading the Web magazine A List Apart.
Other Online Resources
You can find interesting and useful help with Dreamweaver and more about building Web sites if you look beyond just Web sites.
Dreamweaver Newsgroup
http://groups.google.com/group/macromedia.dreamweaver
Adobe (under the old Macromedia name) has a lively newsgroup for Dreamweaver users that gets many messages every day. You can use a Web browser to view the newsgroup, but you’ll get a better experience with a Usenet newsreader program. Good ones are Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express on Windows, or Microsoft Entourage or Panic Software’s Unison on the Mac. If you prefer to use a newsreader program, you can access the newsgroup with this URL: news://forums.macromedia.com/macromedia.dreamweaver
Wise-Women Mailing List
http://www.wise-women.org
Wise-Women is an online community with a Web site and an email discussion list (Figure A.7). The purpose of the list is to provide women on the Web with a supportive atmosphere to deal with issues of Web development, design and consulting. Wise-Women was founded in 1999 by one of the authors of this book (Dori) and is going strong today. You’ll find lots of useful information on the mailing list about using Dreamweaver, among many other subjects. And in case you’re wondering, the community is not just for women only.
Figure A.7. The Wise-Women online community offers support and help for women and men alike.
Lynda.com Online Training Library
If you’re more of a visual learner, Lynda.com offers an excellent series of video training programs that cover Dreamweaver and the rest of the Adobe product line, as well as many other software packages (Figure A.8). You can purchase these training programs as CD-ROMs that you can view on your computer, or you can access the videos over the Internet through their Online Training Library, for which you’ll need to purchase a subscription. Tom produced Contribute 3 Essential Training for Lynda.com, and Dori produced JavaScript Essential Training.
Figure A.8. The Lynda.com Online Training Library offers many hours of video training on Dreamweaver.
Other Dreamweaver Books
Though the authors would naturally like to think that the book you’ve got in your hands is all you’ll ever need to become a Dreamweaver expert, we recognize that you might just want a bit more information after you’ve completely devoured this book. There are approximately a million different Dreamweaver books on the market; here are some of the books we think are the best.
Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 with ASP, ColdFusion, and PHP: Training from the Source
Written by Jeffrey Bardzell and Bob Flynn and published by Adobe Press, this book covers many of the aspects of Dreamweaver that aren’t covered in the book you have in your hands. You’ll find information on working with servers, setting up database connections, using SQL, and building database-backed Web sites with dynamic pages.
Dreamweaver CS3 Bible
Joseph Lowery is well known in the Dreamweaver community, and this massive Dreamweaver reference, published by Wiley, shows why. At a whopping 1,200 pages, we think this is perhaps the best comprehensive Dreamweaver reference book available.
Mastering CSS with Dreamweaver CS3
Our book has three chapters on CSS, and we’ve still only barely scratched the surface of the topic. The authors of this book, Stephanie Sullivan and Greg Rewis, are two of the best-qualified people to get you to the next level.
Web Design and JavaScript Books
After our last edition of this book, we got email from readers asking for our suggestions for books about JavaScript and Web design. There are too many books to count about these subjects, so here are some of our favorites.
JavaScript & Ajax for the Web, Sixth Edition: Visual QuickStart Guide
Written by Tom Negrino and Dori Smith (hey, that’s us!), this best-selling JavaScript book is a great introduction to the JavaScript language. When you want to find out more about using JavaScript than you can achieve by using Dreamweaver’s behaviors and Spry widgets, our book is a good start.
Stylin’ with CSS: A Designer’s Guide
This book by Charles Wyke-Smith, published by New Riders, teaches you how to use CSS to style text and create page layouts, as well as create user interface components. It makes good use of case studies to not just tell you how things are done, but why you should do them that way, all delivered in an easy-to-understand style.
Designing with Web Standards, Second Edition
Jeffrey Zeldman was one of the earliest and strongest voices evangelizing Web standards, and this book for designers explains the gospel to designers in familiar terms that they understand. This book is best for readers who are already familiar with using CSS to build Web sites. It’s another book from New Riders.
Transcending CSS: The Fine Art of Web Design
This is another beyond-the-basics book, written by Andy Clarke and Molly E. Holzschlag. Both authors have been involved with Web standards for many years (they and Zeldman have been long-time participants in the Web Standards Project, www.webstandards.org), and they bring that cross-platform, cross-browser sensibility to the problem of designing Web sites. This is a book for designers who want to learn how to use CSS to create beautiful sites with exceptional design.