Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual
by David Sawyer McFarland
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Book Reviews of Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual
Book Review: FINALLY, SOMEONE GETS IT RIGHT - ALMOST (REVISED REVIEW)
Summary: 5 Stars
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I can't tell you how many books I've trudged through to "learn" innumerable new applications only to find out that the book or the tutorial CD has errors. I never knew if I was making the mistake, or if the book was wrong. It was incredibly frustrating to spend $50 on a book, only to find that it was useless because you couldn't depend on anything in the book but the page numbers.
FINALLY someone takes the time -- and has enough respect for his audience -- to get it right. I own 3 Dreamweaver CS3 books and this is, by far, the best, most comprehensive and most error-free. In fact, I haven't found a single error yet -- and, believe me, I've looked.
The great thing about this book is that all of the tutorials are online. So there's no CD to lose or scratch. You can download the tutorials as many times as you want, no password needed.
There are just enough tutorials in this book to give me the information I need, but not so many that it becomes a rote "how-to" book. There's real information here combined with real-world applications in the form of tutorials. I'm actually in the middle of one right now and I'm so impressed with this book, I just had to stop and write a review for it!
If you want to learn Dreamweaver CS3 -- and learn it RIGHT THE FIRST TIME -- buy this book. Or steal it. Just get it.
REVISED: After making my way through this book in its entirety, I did discover some fairly significant errors. McFarland does post some of the corrections on his website, but he also moved the website and it's a little difficult to find. All-in-all this is still the best of the books that are out there, but its star got a little tarneished the farther into the book I got.
Book Review: This Missing Manuals is a Winner
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading a few of the earlier glowing reviews here I felt comfortable purchasing the book. As a rank beginner and also while taking a class in web-page design at a local Adult school, I relied heavily on this book and actually able to stay ahead of many of my fellow students during the construction of each of our fantasy websites constructed for the class. Our instructor had previously viewed this book and thought the emphasis on CSS (cascade style sheets) would be too technical for his students. I disagree. I shared some of the book's CSS procedures with other students and found most to be impressed with how easy it was to integrate CSS into their own sites. I do agree that you have to wade through quite a bit of theory before getting into the meat of each chapter's project but it is written well with some welcome humor here and there and more importantly, very easy to read. The files needed to construct various websites are down-loadable and accompany the text allowing you to begin making a workable website early on. Great motivation to begin constructing a website. I suggested the purchase of this book to my fellow students, many have done so. You'll like the way the binding allows you to open to any page and it will stay open on that page until you turn it or a breeze does it for you. I think most if not all of the "Missing Manuals" books have this feature. It really helps to keep your place while working on one of the author's projects. It always helps to have some exposure to Dreamweaver whether by an acquaintance in the biz' or a beginning Adult class in web-page design as I did. With the help of this book though and following the author's expert advice you can put together a credible website your first time out, trust me. I did it!Book Review: 968 pages of help
Summary: 5 Stars
The Missing Manual series sports the tag line "The book that should have been in the box". Generally it's the truth and "Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual" is a shining example of what a tech manual should be.
It's huge: 968 pages, not counting the index.
It is thorough: the table of contents runs 14 pages and you can see that just about every subject a beginning to advanced intermediate website creator is included. (Note that I say website creator and not designer. This is not really a book intended for designers.)
McFarland is an excellent writer for this kind of book. His style is moderately spare. He keeps his sentences concise and direct, which is a boon in this kind of manual. Unlike some tech authors, he does not see himself as a comedian, and doesn't attempt intoducing lame humor.
Website creation isn't a single subject and, if it is covered in detail, it isn't necessarily simple. One needs to understand HTML, XHTML, CSS, HTTP and more. McFarland does an excellent job of introducing the reader to both website creation and Dreamweaver CS3.
Dreamweaver CS3 is a complex environment, which accounts for its being the most used creation tool by web professionals. But McFarland takes the reader by the hand and walks him through virtually every aspect of Dreamweaver CS3. Not every capabilitity is treated in great depth, but that is to be expected.
Overall, this is a fine example of what a technical manual should be. Exhaustive, but readable and highly informative. Its 968 pages may look daunting at the outset, but the reward is in leaving with a thorough explanation of what Dreamweaver CS3 can do - and being able to do it.
Jerry
Book Review: No Bull Instruction
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the second book I've studied by this author (the other is "CSS, The Missing Manual"). I've used Dreamweaver from the very first version, and as a Marketing Communications/Graphics/Web professional for more than 18 years, I'm no novice where web design and production is concerned. Now that web design has finally emerged from the table-dominated HTML world, it's great to have an instructional resource like this to aid the transition to CSS-based page layout.
Both of McFarland's books are excellent instructional manuals (and I seriously recommend that you buy both). They combine concise, easy-to-understand explanatory text and superb tutorials to present the material in a manner that only the dimmest bulb could fail to appreciate. I've read many intstructional texts over the years, and this is the most fully competent and effective manual I've yet encountered.
It helps if you have some experience with Dreamweaver, but even if you don't, this is the book you should buy. I can't imagine any other manual that could possibly give you a better -- and usefully functional -- overview than this one. Buy it and study it. If you do, all your web friends (pretenders) will be knocking on your door, asking you to share your expertise.
The "Missing Manual" series, at least as far as I've been exposed to it, is excellent. I just bought the Flash CS3 manual, and I will report on that shortly.
Book Review: Dreamweaver CS3 The Missing Manual
Summary: 5 Stars
I am in no way a computer expert. I was trained to be a teacher way before Windows even came out. The internet was nothing more than personal computers connected by modems way back then. So it has been rather daunting that my mid-life crisis involves a desire to create a website. Who am I to think I can pull this off??
Before I stated out, I checked out a bunch of website creation books from my local library. Several of the books made me feel like a real nincompoop who had no hope of ever understanding the inner workings of a website. Some of the books were so incredible boring, they were great for insomnia. The rest were better used as door stops. One book, however, was so good that I had to go out and buy my own copy.
Dreamweaver CS3, The Missing Manual is perfect for a person like me with very little knowledge of programing (DOS in the 80's) and a not a whole lot of time to learn something new. I love the humor that is intertwined with the material. It makes the book that much more enjoyable. I also love the way the author points out many things but cuts right to the chase and lets his reader know exactly what the important stuff is.
I have found that the website which accompanies this book is a perfect companion to the book. The downloads are quick and easy and the tutorials are easy and entertaining.
I highly recommend this book.