I chose to review Macromedia's Dreamweaver 3. Macromedia currently has a newer version of Dreamweaver (4), but I have stuck with 3 because I cannot see the cost benefit of upgrading to 4. Big corporations like Macromedia often try to get more of our money by releasing upgrades that are not necessary. Macromedia is, in fact, one of the shameless in this area. They have put out a new version of Dreamweaver in 1998, 1999 and in 2000. Until they drastically change this software I am not going to buy into it.
However, that is not to say that Dreamweaver is a rip-off. I like it's features immensely and I find it incredibly easy to use. It's biggest benefit is probably it's ability to work in conjunction with the Adope Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator programs. Illustrator, Photoshop and Dreamweaver can all share the same clipboard space on a mac platform. This saves a lot of time and trouble when dealing with graphics on webpages (ie: buttons and heads that you custom design). It also creates a very comfortable and creative work environment that, in my opinion, makes complex tasks doable and even enjoyable.
Dreamweaver 4 currently sells for 299.00. That's a lot. You can download a demo of the product from the macromedia homepage and try it for free for 30 days. Is Dreamweaver work 300 bucks? That is a question that each webdesigner needs to answer for themselves. I personally like Dreamweaver and would be willing to spend the $300. However, there are excellent programs out there for much less. Microsoft FrontPage, Adobe GoLive and Net Objects Fusion are all excellent web design programs with equal or less expensive price tags.
I am not going to create a tutorial on how to use Dreamweaver. I will, however, demonstrate some of the things you can do with this software. This is not an exhaustive review of the software. I am not an expert on Dreamweaver. I only know a thing or two, but here's some of what Dreamweaver 3 has to offer:
Layers:
One of things that I like most about Dreamweaver is it's ability to make complex web design tasks simple. I know a bit of HTML and have struggled with writing out programs for tables, layers and forms before. Therefore I can truly appreciate Dreamweaver's simplistic approach to page design.
The best example of this, for me, is the layers tool. Found on the object pallette (left) the layers tool allows you to create layers for your page and then later turn them into tables.
As small example of this is the picture to the left (the object pallette). That picture was inserted inside of its own layer. This text, on the other hand, is in a separate layer. When I finalize the page they will be in a table that is automatically created by the program.
One of the frustrating things about Dreamweaver, however, is it's inability to place a simple box around a layer. That's what frames are good for, I guess, but I enjoy working with layers. They make more sense to me. I have not worked with frames much in the past and, frankly, I do not like the way they look on a page.
Rollover Images:Once you have layers down the next really cool thing about Dreamweaver is the ease with which you a user can create effective interactive graphics. The rollover image is probably the easiest way to do it. A rollover image is simply an image that changes it's appearance when the user "rolls over" it with their mouse. Below is an example (please roll over it with you mouse):
This image is not a link to a separate page, but I could make it one very easily (I won't right now). The cool thing about rollover images is that you can put any image you want underneath it. I could have, for example, put a smily face underneath this image so that is would show a smiley face when you roll over it.
Actions:
The last, and coolest, thing I am going to demonstrate for the Dreamweaver 3 program is its actions menu. Dreamweaver allows you to do many complex web actions very simply. For example, if I want the user to open a new browser window when they click on a button, all I have to do is make the window and then use the "Behaviors" menu to set the action. Click on the button below for an example:
As you saw, when you clicked on the button it brought up my eportfolio page.
For fun, I could make you double click:
or I could have made the page appear when the mouse rolled over the button:
There are numerous ways to use this one action.
Other actions include pop-up messages (click below):
Changing the text of the status bar
(look at the bottom of the browser after you click and move the mouse away!):
playing music, changing text and even creating a timeline so images will replace each other after a certain amount of time or move off the page. (I am not very good at this right now!)
So as you can see there are a ton of great actions that Dreamweaver gives the user. Just little things that make the page more interactive and interesting for the user (and when you are talking about students interactive and interesting HAVE to be a part of it!)
Navigation Bars:
With all of the above actions mastered, it is quite simple to layout a page with navigation bars and headers. I'll make a navigation bar below to show how easy it is. This will be the bar for this page using anchors:
Pretty cool, eh?
The trick here, of course, is not so much the java work as the graphics themselves. Laying out the graphics and adding a swap image command is fairly simple once you understand the program. It is not so simple, however, to create the custom buttons. That is one place that Dreamweaver cannot help. It does not create graphics - though it does come with some templates. If you want custom graphics like the ones above you have to splurge and get photoshop or illustrator to help you.
Wrap-Up:Dreamweaver 3 has a ton of cool features, most of which I have touched on in this short page. DW3 can integrate Flash, Fireworks and Java into a page. It gives you cool templates to use if you want them. It can obviously change the color and size of text and manipulate images.
The main groove of web page design, however, has more to do with the graphics and images that are being used on a page. Dreamweaver 3 gives you all the tools you need to layout a clean page. It cannot, however, create graphics for you. That you need to do for yourself.
At $300 a pop Dreamweaver is expensive. Many web designers find it to be an irreplacable part of their workstation, however, and would not trade it for anything. I would encourage anyone with an intrest in this software to go to this page and download a demo. It's free and the webmaster on this page is extremely helpful:
Happy Designing!
Links to other CTER 4 Dreamweaver Sites:Kerry Rodetter's Dreamweaver 4 Site
Pat McNerney's Dreamweaver 4 Evaluation
Vicki Romano's Dreamweaver Demo Page
