Chapter 20: Spry Tools

In this chapter, the use of spry tools in order to create a more interactive web page was covered. Dreamweaver has a spry group on the insert bar that allows you to work with spry data, forms and layouts. In order to really benefit from this, the designer should have a mature understanding of xml in order to set up the xml data sets for use.

This feature helps in enabling the creation of more interactive sites; however, the site that is needed by Eve for the tattoo site will be much more static in nature.

Chapter 19: Media Objects

In this chapter the essentials for inserting media objects in Dreamweaver were covered. Inserting sound links, embedding multimedia files, and inserting flash content were all covered. The main issues to worry about are whether or not the users have the plug-ins necessary to view the content you load.

This is good stuff, but will not be relevant to the site for the tattoo shop.

Chapter 18: Accessibility

This chapter went over some simple steps and guidelines that can be followed in order to ensure sites created are accessible to users. Overall, the main takeaway was to include relevant long descriptions and appropriate , entries as this is what screen-reading programs will go through. Also, in Dreamweaver the "summary:" section in the table dialog box provides a place to give a thorough description of the table contents that will only be read by screen-reading programs.

Chapter 17: Automating Tasks

This chapter introduced some of the automation features within Dreamweaver. One useful feature covered was the History Panel which allows you to select certain actions or sets of actions and have them performed on new sets of data. For instance, if you took the following three steps:

1. Selected text
2. Right aligned text
3. Bolded text

You could then, using the history panel, select the three steps that were performed, and have them performed elsewhere--say, in the next text section. Thus this tool allows the user to quickly replicate simple and repetitive tasks in order to save time.

Another feature covered in the chapter was how to use find and replace. It works very similarly to the find and replace functions in MS word, but differs in that you can select what type of text you want to search, source code, tags, etc.

Chapter 16: Templates

This chapter went through how to create templates in Dreamweaver. It helps to allow you to create a design from which to work from in order to ensure that all pages have the same formatting. If you want to make a change to the formatting, you only need to change the template and have it apply changes to all pages. Creating library items was also covered in the chapter. Library items let you store certain data pieces (such as copyright information) that you may use throughout the site and store them in a library. This way, you can update the library item without having to find all instances of that particular data (every instance of a copyright) and the changes are automatic throughout the website. The features in this chapter would be particularly useful in designing and maintaining a large and complex website.

Chapter 15: Editing Images

This chapter introduced how to edit image files in Photoshop and Fireworks. It didnt go into how to use them, but instead, covered how to open the images there and to use original files and to copy and paste images in Dreamweaver. The best part of this is the interoperability between the different programs--it makes it very easy to edit your images. Now, I need to go learn how to use Photoshop!

Chapter 14: Behaviors

This chapter covered the basics of applying behaviors in Dreamweaver. The behavior panel on the side makes it easy to apply a behavior to an element on the page and allows you to easily select the action for the behavior to be performed. Unfortunately, the list of behaviors is not fully comprehensive. Also, there is a behavior for validation but it gave you limited options: requried/notrequired, number, emailaddress, number in a range...etc. However, it doesn't have a "custom" field where you can apply custom behaviors...like, a SSN or phone. So, I guess you have to go into the code view to apply those.

Update on Progress...

I have pretty much caught up with my lessons but am behind on the blogs...so, will be updating those this week.

This weekend, I emailed Eve to start gathering the requirements for her site. Hopefully, she will be able to get those to me this week so that I can be putting together a site map and initial design for her to look over and provide feedback on.

All in all things are fairly close to on time and I hope to start diving into the design of her site next week!

Chapter 13: Forms

This chapter introduces how to work with forms in Dreamweaver. Really it is just a matter of learning which buttons do what. If you are working with forms, you select the form tab on the insert bar to have all of the form options available. From there, there are buttons to add a form, a button, an input text box, and all the other form and table options.

Pulling information from the forms to the server (what forms are all about) is beyond the scope of the book and is not covered. Luckily I already know the basics of that and could add the code in the code view and for the website I will be creating for Eve's tattoo shop, this will not be necessary.

Chapter 12: XHTML

This chapter was pretty much just a review for me. The main things that were new were Dreamweaver's Code Toolbar that is available in Code View. The toolbar allows you to collapse the code and helps you sort through certain sections if you want to find something to edit or work on without all the clutter. Also, the code view has options where you can set color coding and such in the code to make it easier to read.

Chapter 11: Adding Rollover Images

Chapter 11 got into how to create rollover images which will come in handy in creating easily navigated pages. A neat feature of Dreamweaver is the ability to create an entire navigation bar in one menu and then copy and paste it to various pages. Inserting Flash Buttons was introduced but, in order to really get anything from this, i would need to learn Flash better. Something else that was kind of cool was the ability to create and manage disjointed rollovers using the Windows>Behaviors panel. By selecting Swap Image behavior, you can set and edit "hintimage"s and add descriptions of the page linked to the image that the user is rolling over.

I definitely want to use rollovers and hints with the page I create for Eve's tattoo site. They are very handy for making navigation easy for the user.

Chapter 10: Designing for Devices

This chapter gave a VERY brief rundown of some of Dreamweaver's device capabilities. Mainly, it shows how to open your site in Adobe Device Central in order to get a preview of how it will be viewed from various devices such as cellphones and PDAs. Also covered were how to create CSS rules for devices. For instance, it shows how to take out sidebars and headers for print using CSS. While I dont know how often I will need to use this stuff, it is good to know since handhelds are becoming more and more commonplace.

Chapter 9: Using Layout Tools

This is what Dreamweaver is all about! The best thing is being able to use a tracing image for your design. This allows you to design the way you want your page to look, and then use it in Dreamweaver in the background to actually create your page over it. So, you can just insert an image file that you created in another program and use that. Very handy.

This chapter also went through how to use Ap div tags for design as well as the table layout view. Another nifty Dreamweaver feature is being able to set guides that you can snap your div tags to.

Chapters 6, 7, 8: CSS, Fonts and Tables--oh my!

These chapters are starting to get into the "nitty gritty" stuff--getting more detailed and specific.

Chapter 6 was CSS and was a good illustration of different ways to apply CSS using Dreamweaver. Important rule of thumb: don't use the property inspector to edit your pages, then you will have to duplicate your work on each page b/c the CSS will be inline. Instead use the CSS styles panel to create new CSS rules and then you will be able to reapply those rules to all pages!

Chapter 7 covered typography, and showed various ways to edit fonts and create font lists. Again, using CSS was emphasized.

Chapter 8 gave an introduction to tables, which was pretty much a review. I was hoping that Dreamweaver would give an easier way to round corners, but unfortunately, you still have to create image files to do this....:(

I am a little bit behind, because these chapters were lengthier than the earlier ones, but I should be able to catch up this weekend!!

Chapters 3, 4, and 5: A Brief Rundown

Last week I worked through Chapters 3, 4, and 5. I decided to go ahead and give a brief synopsis before continuing on to the next 3 chapters. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Site Management
Some things covered in this chapter were how to define a site, manage files and folders, and create site maps using Dreamweaver. An important detail to managing files is that you should ALWAYS do it in Dreamweaver in order to avoid having to repair the links on each of your pages. If you utilize the Files panel in Dreamweaver, it will automatically change any related links for you--very handy. Site map view was reviewed, but the design of sites was not really gone into.

Chapter 4: Basics
In this chapter Dreamweaver basics were covered: everything from creating new documents, to inserting images and links. A handy thing about Dreamweaver is that you can insert an image by selecting it from the Files panel and simply dragging it to where you want it. Also, when you want to create a link, you can utilize the Browse button to find the file you want to link to.

Chapter 5: Linking
This chapter showed the many ways of linking in Dreamweaver. Essentially there are several ways to perform the same operation. In order to specify the location for a link you can:

1. type it in
2. Browse for it
3. use "point to file" button

They all do the same thing. Also, inputing an email link was covered.

Schedule for the Semester

This week I made a schedule for the semester. It lays out a plan to complete the Dreamweaver Training guide with a few weeks at the end to create the site for the tattoo shop. The schedule is set so far like this:

Week	Reading/Content	Due
Feb 4-8	Chapter 3: Managing Sites/Site Maps	Initial Site Map
	Chapter 4: Dreamweaver Basics
	Chapter 5: Linking
Feb 11-15	Chapter 6: CSS
	Chapter 7: Typography
	Chapter 8: Tables
Feb 18-22	Chapter 9: Layout Tools
	Chapter 10: Devices (?)
	Chapter 11: Rollover Images
Feb 23-29	Chapter 12: XHTML
	Chapter 13: Forms
	Chapter 14: Behaviors
Mar 3-7	Chapter 15: Images
	Chapter 16: Templates (?)
	Chapter 17: Automating (?)
Mar 10-14	SPRING BREAK (no computer access)
Mar 17-21	Chapter 18: Accessibility (?)
	Chapter 19: Media Objects
	Chapter 20: Spry Tools (?)
Mar 24-28	Chapter 21: Deploying Site
Mar 31- Apr 4	Special Topics
Apr 7-11	Special Topics
Apr 14-18	Special Topics
April 21-25	Special Topics
29-Apr	READING DAY
April 30- May 9	FINALS WEEEK

Playing in the interface

So, I finally downloaded the Adobe software and started playing in the Dreamweaver interface a little. Now that I have the first two chapters of the book down, I am ready to get going and start making some sites!
One thing I did today was to go out and download different browsers to my computer (Netscape, Opera, and Safari) so that I will be able to test any sites that I create against multiple browsers. Now that I have the introduction stuff done, I am ready to hit the next chapter: Site Management. These chapters are quicker to get through than I thought, so I will be rethinking my plan of attack. More to come on that....

Starting With Dreamweaver

I bought a book on Dreamweaver CS3 on Friday and will begin working through it this week. There are 21 chapters in the book; but, I don't think all of them will be necessary. The first two chapters, "Getting Started" and "Exploring the Interface," will be what I will work through this week. They shouldnt take very long, so I hope to begin the lessons with exercises next weekend. I guess two chapters a week would be a good amount. That would put my completion of the book at the end of March, which seems kinda late--so maybe I will cut out some chapters or do more than two-a-week.

One good thing about this book is that it has a whole chapter at the end on deploying a web site, which will come in handy since I have never done that before.

Alongside my working through the book, I would like to be gathering ideas for Eve's page and brainstorming how it will be laid out.

Getting Started

I am starting this blog to record my progress in a directed study class. So far, I dont know much about exactly how the course will be working. I do know that we will be working with web design in the Adobe suite. Probably will be focusing on Flash and Dreamweaver. Also, I will be using the skills gained to create a website for a friend of mine who just opened a tattoo shop in Columbus, GA. Her shop is called Primitive Body Art. My goal is for her shop to have the best website out of all the tattoo shops in the area. Specifically, this means she should be listed first on results from search engines for various search criteria and her website should look the most professional and artistic. It should also be easy to navigate and practical so that it will increase her business.