Book Reviews by d.a.w. DESIGN
Dreamweaver MX 2004 Accelerated
By Youngjin.com, Sybex
REVIEW
This book has a very good layout plus the print quality is exceptional. The screen shots are very legible; pages are not overcrowded, at the same time the information precise. A CD comes with the book, filled with all the source files you need to complete the exercises.This book is for beginner to professionals. Very easy to follow exercises. As with all Accelerate books there are handy tips & notes scattered through the book.
Chapter 1 covers installing Dreamweaver MX 2004 & downloading extensions.Very handy for a beginner.
Chapter 2 covers Basic Techniques.All the tool menu bars etc.Making a site map.Producing different layouts with tables.Creating rollover effects.Using a table to make a calendar.
Chapter 3 covers Formatting Web pages with style sheets.Creating rollover effects in tables.Creating unique scroll bars.
Chapter 4 using frames.Design a link page using frames. Using inline frames (this will make a lot of people happy).Also shows you how to add Looping background music.
Chapter 5 all about forms.Jump menus.Database pages.Login pages. Also goes through installing Apache, MYSQL and PHP.
Chapter 6 covers all layers. Nested layers.Creating a floating menu. Adding a flash barrier with an invisible background.Using click layers.Adding moveable layers.
Chapter 7 covers Behaviors.Creating pop-up labels for an image.Creating for thumb nail images. Swap images.Using the change properties behavior.
Chapter 8 covers the assets panel.Using / creating templates. Using style sheets.Using the replace command to update links.
Chapter 9 covers Multimedia elements.Inserting a Real Video file.Inserting a movie as an Active X object.Using flash elements to make a slide show.
Chapter 10 covers Dreamweaver & Fireworks.Slicing images. Pop-up menus in Fireworks. Creating a photo gallery.
Some of the exercises involve you downloading extensions from the Macromedia site. The book does give you the extensio file name, BUT two came up with no results found, which are creating a floating menu (chapter 6) and inserting a real video file (chapter 9). So you may have trouble doing these.It would have been much better if the extensions where on the CD.
Conclusion: Source files on the CD along with the easy to follow exercises allows you to LEARN DREAMWEAVE the easier way. A must book for the beginner as well as the intermediate to advanced. Layout graphics and printing are exceptionally presented. The book content along with CD full of source files are remarkable. Learning by reading is very important but equally important is learning by doing, which this book demonstrates.
The book sells for $29.99 in the US.
Marks: 
