DreamWeaver - Shane & Richard - anyone??

[Mr T.C.]

I take it all back. Hand coding tables is fine until I try a more advanced layout. Takes me ages and making later changes turns into a maths exercise. What can DreamWeavers tables thinger do exactly? I'm tired making Web sites with a piece of graph paper and a calculator, it's far from the 'creative' process it should be.

Is it worth buying DreamWeaver just for the tables features?

:?

[Shane]

Hey TC

...............I'm bound to say yes, but you'd use it for sooooooooo much more as well. It is easy to go back & edit/merge table cells etc etc etc in Dreamweaver, but knowing how you grasp things quickly Andrew you'd soon become immersed in everything else.

I just did a Google search on Dreamweaver tables and came up with too many sites to list here, most with screen shots of the tools etc. Here's a basic one, with screenshots of the 2 main tools to create tables, loads more/better on Google:

http://www.uic.edu/depts/adn/seminars/dwintro/tables.html

Not much there but shows easy table creation, tutes I've used/use here:

http://www.dwfaq.com/Tutorials/Tables/default.asp (or main site http://www.dwfaq.com/ )

http://www.dreamweaverfever.com/

http://www.thepattysite.com/essential_resources.cfm

Richard will have loads more....

p.s. try an ebay.co.uk or .com search for Dreamweaver 4 if you want to test the water without shelling out for MX, I've seen some amazing prices there....................Dreamweaver 4 has way better than good table handling too.....very similar to DW MX...course there's the fully functioning trial too....easy to get into with tables, give it a go......

[Flash ho]

I knew you'd see the light! Shane's idea on starting with DW makes financial cents. There is not that much diff. between mx and 4, unless you are using the rest of the tools from the mothership, then you can rountrip between programs, but that is another story. Tables, Css, Dynamic input, forms etc etc. all made easy in DW. Plus, there are a million "extensions", sorta like a patch/upgrade/plugin that makes everything from pop ups to drop down menus. (This is another reason to get mx tho). You'll need an understanding of html. js, css etc, but you won't have to learn to actually write it. Dynamically loaded pages are where MM is going. access the entire site with out leaving the first page, from shopping cart to photo galleries. fast and painless. Back to extensons - there are hundreds of free ones on the MM site, a google search will reveal hundreds more. Some costs $, but if you can create a 88 item drop down menu in 30 minutes with it, it is worth the $40. Project seven and Kaeosweaver are places to start your search for extensions. I'm beta testing an app that walks you thru setting up a database and setting up the middleman app to access it - truly mind blowing to a non code person like me. Oh, and the dw/MM community is great, tons of free help, great lists, tutorials etc . And The MM people listen! You'll find a MM rep on almost every list/ forum.
Ck out contribute ( free for you) your client pays to use it) while you at it. I could go on and on, You will learn tons of new tools, your time will be used efficently, there are no workaounds required, you will think in terms of cross browser/platform compatability, user accessability, code validation etc. The Dw interface opens a bunch of scary looking panels, just approach one at a time, you'll get it and love it. Cut me off, I'm going on and on///////

[Mr T.C.]

WOW! - WOW! WOW!!

I'm trying dreamweaver3 cos its REAL cheap ;^) I don't know if 4's table features are any better but this is pretty WOW!!! After messing with hand coding it's kinda like watching someone walk on water. No, it's better. Walking on water is like nothing compared to dragging and pushing tables around in Dreamweaver. If I ever actually see someone walking on water I'll be sure to swim over and point out that it's a neat trick but Dreamweaver has it licked already. I must say that this is not like the MM stuff I've tried before. Dreamweaver actually looks pretty simple and I think I'll be able do work it without a bible.

Top stuff - I'm impressed. So what bits got better in v4? Think I'll be buying 4 when I get a little more money in. Thanks guy's. Good recommendation

[Fred]

Hmmm - I need to look into that. However, I have heard others say Dreamweaver was difficult. I know Flash is for sure. :!:

[Shane]

"If I ever actually see someone walking on water I'll be sure to swim over and point out that it's a neat trick"...ha ha ha TC, nice one........

DW 4 (&DW MX's) table handling is very similar to DW 3's,... you are seeing what (& why) we rant on & on & on & on (& on) about TC. DW 4, which I started with kinda advanced in directions other than tables so you aren't missing much on the table front Andrew. You already more than knew your hand coding stuff and understood table & html structure so Dreamweaver is an aid & partner to you Andrew, it really does make this stuff easier, rather than the opposite.

I don't pretend to be anything approaching a Flash expert and Flash is very daunting at first, took me ages to even understand where to begin etc but it's the same as Dreamweaver, once certain structures and format/ basics of actionscript are understood it is logical.....honest........would I lie to you ? :shocked:

Nice general Dreamweaver 3 overview & quick basic tutes here:

http://www.uic.edu/depts/accc/seminars/dreamweaver/index.html

Give it a go Fred....................

[Mr T.C.]

Thanks for that link. I've already got a Dreamweaver folder going in my Favorites with the links you've given on this page.

Fred - I can save any HTML page to disk and edit it kinda drag&drop. I saved MSN's main page and mouse pushed the tables around. You view and work with the site onscreen - not the code! Clicking on any element lets you easily make changes - such as a form button code. You kinda work on the canvas rather than in the guts.
I like hand coding, I was just getting into it. I'm thinking I might go easy for now and just start the page in Dreamweaver - laying out the table sets and essentials but then finish by hand so my learning continues. I certainly know I wouldn't want to be without this tool now.

[Flash ho]

Quote
If I ever actually see someone walking on water I'll be sure to swim over and point out that it's a neat trick"...ha ha ha TC, nice one........
unquote

Shane forgot to mention that with DW MX, if you see someone walking on water, you will be able to run, not swim, over to them, using MX.

Dw isn't hard if you choose to learn one thing at a time. It looks difficult as there are sooooo many options, build in tables, layers, use php, use html, use cf, etc. etc. Pick one direction, learn that, then try another approach.

TC, tip - while you are playing with moving tables around, keep both views open, design and code, That way you will learn what you are actually doing to the code and won't end out with 37 lines of nsbn. :o