Tries to do too much
I got this book after positive reviews on this website. It was my first foray into web design. Boy, did Lowery's approach get me off on the wrong foot.Firstly, the writing is appalling. Here's are a few example (at random):
"The term cascading describes the capability of a local style to override a general style"
"Although you can design the most beautiful, compelling image possible in your graphics program, if it's intended for the Internet, you need to view it in a Web page."
"Checkboxes enable an option to be selected or deselected, so the only information that a function needs from a checkbox is whether it has been selected."
Argh! Why use 5 words when 15 will do? I also get the impression that Lowery is paraphrasing the Macromedia Tech guides. And his book is riddled with errors. Consider this howler:
"For instance, rather than just specifying Palatino - a sans serif font common on PC's but relatively unknown on the Mac - you could insert a tag such as the following ..."
Not only is Palatino a *serif* typeface, it has been included as a system Macintosh font since the 1980's - it's a default install on every Macintosh sold! I emailed Lowery about this, and to his credit he replied within 24 hours. His response?
"Okay - how about I change it to Verdana next time ;)"
Joseph, I think you're missing the point.
In his defence, the tone is paternal and he seems to be a well-meaning buffoon. But I've found the book terribly confusing and, after shelling out £40 for the doorstop, ended up getting most of my Dreamweaver help from the web.
I find it incredible that such a third rate manual gets published, let alone gets a high customer ranking. Steer clear, you can do better.
Good Reference Book
Whereas, this is NOT the book to use to teach you Dreamweaver, it is a good reference book. Joseph Lowery is a recognized expert with Macromedia Products and knows his stuff.
Lots of useful information
This book tries to be all things to all people and as such it includes basic stuff and quite advanced stuff. There's basic info about HTML (ie what's a tag) which I skipped straight over but which a beginner would find useful (although there's plenty of other books that cover this material). For the more advanced user there's some great info on how to make your own Dreamweaver extensions, cross-browser compatibility issues, and incorporating the Beatnik plug-in into your pages to make interesting sound effects.
The accompanying CD-ROM is full of useful Dreamweaver extensions (although you could have downloaded these from various websites), as well as trial versions of Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash. Also included is the complete text of the book in PDF format.
From zero to "really competent"
This is an excellent book for anyone who has never built a website but wants a complete approach to getting one up and running. But this book won't get you up and running with a whiz-bang, full multimedia website quickly. Instead, it will walk you through all the features of Dreamweaver and have you try out each one step-by-step. Flipping around the book helped me to learn the features I wanted to learn.There is a Quickstart section that's supposed to get you up and running fast, but I found this section to be too deep too soon for what I wanted. I needed about 3 weeks of reading and practice before I could build something that was useful (I'm building an Intranet for the company I work at), and I will probably need another 2-3 months with this book before I can make my site do what I want it to do. Nonethelss, I have received a lot of compliments for what I now have.
I think that after getting through this book (in the 2-3 months) I will be "really competent". Becomming an expert will take more time. But that's the way it is with any software book. Nobody becomes an programming or website expert quickly from a book. Just practice!
There is also a full-featured 30-day trial of Dreamweaver on the CD, a definate plus.
Easy, Powerful, and FUN!
Start off knowing nothing about web design and a few days later know it all! This book is packed full of easy-to-understand examples and powerful hints and tips. I've read a lot of computer-related books in my day and I've never seen a book layed out any better. It's so easy to comprehend and follow. And the best part is....you'll have a FUN time learning unlike a lot of other software programs.
