Technical Editor

[Detroit]

My evaluation of Adobe Dreamweaver CS4

Last week I started a 30-day evaluation of Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 and will report on it in an ad hoc fashion, as I see fit--whenever if and when I get around to it... So far, I like it and can understand why it is very popular. In the interim, I will attempt to snag a discounted version on eBay, if possible.

I am adapting Adobe's two tutorials for creating websites and have started two sticky threads for my adaptations. The older CS3 version uses tables for website layout, whereas the current CS4 version uses CSS for website layout. The tutorials are well-written, although numerous minor errors were made in not being totally accurate in naming many menu items or GUI elements. Mostly, the names contain errors in uppercase or lower case naming. Picky, picky me...

In other cases, some missing steps or procedures should have been added, so as to avoid confusion or ambiguities. I have added those steps as I detect any need or advantage in including them.

[Detroit]

My review of Dreamweaver CS4: The Missing Manual

Consideration should also be given to Dreamweaver CS4 documentation. Being almost convinced that I would eventually purchase Dreamweaver CS4, I scoped out the Internet and Amazon for some books about Dreamweaver CS4, in addition to any other web design areas: XHTML, CSS, PHP, Smarty, and various HTML editors, such as W3C's Amaya and CoffeeCup's free and paid versions.

I discovered that O'Reilly has published a number of titles in its "The Missing Manual" series. So, I purchased three books (one--Creating a Web Site: The Missing Manual--listed as being "used--excellent condition" for $10 including any S&H, but appeared brand-new to me, and another two new paperbacks--Dreamweaver CS4:The Missing Manual and CSS: The Missing Manual). Dreamweaver CS4: The Missing Manual has 26 chapters and two appendices--and is huge, weighing in at nearly 1100 pages. Dreamweaver CS4: The Missing Manual and Dreamweaver CS4's online help should handle the vast majority of any user documentation needs, I would suspect and expect.

In order to prove whether or not Dreamweaver CS4: The Missing Manual truly lives up to its name, any items not covered in Adobe's online help or other documentation will be listed in this post. So far empty, but only because I have not really read any of it as yet.