A quick desktop reference for both new and experienced Dreamweaver developers, Dreamweaver in a Nutshell distills all of the software's features, commands, and shortcuts into one indispensable book. This is the most succinct and useful Dreamweaver reference available, and the only one in the compact In a Nutshell style. With this book, you will learn everything from document management to site management and all the details in between. You'll also benefit from the author's years of hands-on experience through the power user tips and tricks. All the information you need is here, from basics to advanced topics, including navigation bars, frames, layers, tables, image maps, modifications with XML, style sheets, positioning elements, HTML cleanup tools, and ways to extend Dreamweaver functions and functionality. Provided throughout the book are useful examples to clarify difficult techniques or solve common problems. Dreamweaver in a Nutshell focuses exclusively on Dreamweaver, rather than distracting readers with explanations of HTML and web design. That said, the book is equally useful to Dreamweaver UltraDev, which is based on the Dreamweaver platform. Dreamweaver in a Nutshell is the perfect companion to our best-selling Web Design in a Nutshell, and it complements the O'Reilly HTML, JavaScript, and Cascading Style Sheet books available in electronic format within the Dreamweaver Reference panel. This book's quick style and compact format make it the perfect reference for web site professionals who rely on Dreamweaver daily.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 4 Ratings

One for the desktop, not the bookshelf - 2002-01-08
Reviewer Rating:
I've used Dreamweaver since version 1.2, and while DW keeps getting better, it's also undoubtedly becoming more complex. This book has stopped me from being one of those people that just stays with the basic feature set, into really knowing and using every aspect of Dreamweaver.

Like many (most?) of the O'Reilly books, this is one of those books you'll want to keep handy on your desk. If you want just one book on DW, this is the one. CSS, Javascript behaviors, DHTML timelines, site management. It's all in here.

Dreamweaver in a Nutshell - 2002-02-10
Reviewer Rating:
This book is well-organized and easy to reference. It covers all Dreamweaver features with explicit figures and instructions.

Dreamweaver in a Nutshell - 2002-01-06
Reviewer Rating:
I got this book for Christmas and it saved my job. My boss just assigned me to update our company web site using Dreamweaver, and this book answered all of my questions, and then some, about how Dreamweaver works, and how to make our web site even better using its tools.

Take Dreamweaver skills to a new level - 2002-11-07
Reviewer Rating:
Web design applications like Dreamweaver speed up the design process with templates, macros, and word processing style capabilities. Such applications work similarly to a powered up word processor and ease the learning curve for getting started. The challenge is figuring out how to use its features for creating CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), frames, layers, timelines, tables, image maps, positioning elements and clean up tools.

When first learning Dreamweaver, I dove into the text, behaviors and tables management aspects of it. It wasn't until much later that I discovered the power of using its image maps and style sheet capabilities. Those needing support with HTML won't find it in this book since its focus, as it should be, is solely on using the Dreamweaver application to design HTML pages, create and manage templates, manage the site's structure, and create pages that work on all browsers and platforms.

One of the hottest things today is creating Web pages with XHTML markup accompanied by CSS. There are several pages dedicated to tweaking Dreamweaver to produce correct XHTML markup and an entire chapter devoted to using its CSS features. The book briefly touches on the importing and exporting of XML content, also gaining attention.

The authors can't control what Dreamweaver can or cannot do, but they show you how to use it to work around browser issues such as linking to external style sheets with @import as opposed to using link or using both where one satisfies older, lesser compliant browsers and the other for the newer browsers.

Surprisingly, there is little reference to making Dreamweaver pages accessible except for a downloadable extension that validates the pages. Though the book is not focused on teaching general Web design, it does add a few tips in utilizing Dreamweaver to create accessible pages such as Javascript workarounds for people who have it turned off.

The timelines and interactive chapters lack concrete examples. At least, there are step by step instructions for completing the process.

Dreamweaver befuddles the users working with tables especially when they're nested. Though we should be moving away from complex tables in design, the book walks you through various ways to create and manage tables using layout and standard views accompanied by advice on when to use which.

Those already using Dreamweaver can count on the book to push their knowledge and skills beyond its basic features and make the most out of this powerful application. It doesn't happen magically, however, but the book's reference style will make it reliable as a "when you need help" or "when you're ready to go to the next level" reference.

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