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bubblesblow
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Dreamweaver 8 | Flash 8 | Fireworks 8

Sep 7, 2006 1:22 AM

Are the combinations of Dreamweaver 8 | Flash 8 | Fireworks 8 good for producing high end web pages. If not, what do you all recommend?

Also, should Dreamweaver be the ending program to peice all of the different graphical and text elements together?

Or can you just build multi web pages through Flash alone?

I just finished reading Dreamweaver training book so I'm hoping it wasn't a waste of time. I spent almost 1 week reading and doing all the exercises.

I did find that uploading all your files through dreamweaver FTP was pretty easy so I would think formating all your pages using Dreamweaver can probably be good but what do I know, im just a nOOb developer.
 
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  • Currently Being Moderated
    Sep 7, 2006 2:16 AM   in reply to bubblesblow
    "Are the combinations of Dreamweaver 8 | Flash 8 | Fireworks 8 good for
    producing high end web pages. If not, what do you all recommend? "

    Of course. It is the best package of tools available.

    "Also, should Dreamweaver be the ending program to peice all of the
    different
    graphical and text elements together?"

    Yes, it is a complete sitebuilding and management program

    "Or can you just build multi web pages through Flash alone?"

    No. For a start Flash files need to be inside html files (or php etc) and
    although Flash will generate all the html - dont. Just dont. All flash sites
    are plain bad.

    "I just finished reading Dreamweaver training book so I'm hoping it wasn't
    a
    waste of time. I spent almost 1 week reading and doing all the exercises."

    A week huh? I've been using Dreamweaver for years and I'm still not done
    learning.

    --
    James Loudon
    www.fatgraphics.com
    websites::photography::video

    "bubblesblow" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
    news:edoksp$gtb$1@forums.macromedia.com...
    > Are the combinations of Dreamweaver 8 | Flash 8 | Fireworks 8 good for
    > producing high end web pages. If not, what do you all recommend?
    >
    > Also, should Dreamweaver be the ending program to peice all of the
    > different
    > graphical and text elements together?
    >
    > Or can you just build multi web pages through Flash alone?
    >
    > I just finished reading Dreamweaver training book so I'm hoping it wasn't
    > a
    > waste of time. I spent almost 1 week reading and doing all the exercises.
    >
    > I did find that uploading all your files through dreamweaver FTP was
    > pretty
    > easy so I would think formating all your pages using Dreamweaver can
    > probably
    > be good but what do I know, im just a nOOb developer.
    >


     
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  • Currently Being Moderated
    Sep 7, 2006 3:24 AM   in reply to bubblesblow
    Hey, no offence taken. I too am more of an art tart than a code head, but
    also an engineer that loves to put things together and find out out they
    work.

    "With every book I read or CD rom I watch I get more and more questions."

    Yup, that'll happen. It just means you are not getting complacent and you
    want to find out more. There is nothing worse that someone who reads a book
    then thinks they know it all. In World Of Web you just never stop learning -
    especially as standards change and CSS develops. Keeps your brain working.

    "cause my questions must be answered to I get the BIG PICTURE."

    Might be a good plan. Once you get a few basic principles in place in your
    head a lot more will become clear. I honestly wish I had had some proper
    training and I may have advanced quicker. You can't beat having an expert
    right there, so you can go "Sorry, just dont understand that bit"
    Mind you, things were a bit simpler 8 years ago. I wouldn't want to be
    starting out now!
    I'll tell you a book that really helped be back then - Designing Web
    Graphics by Lynda Weinmann.
    At some point you are also going to want to read Eric Meyer cos he is the
    god of all things CSS.
    Good luck.



    --
    James Loudon
    www.fatgraphics.com
    websites::photography::video


    "bubblesblow" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
    news:edoq22$me1$1@forums.macromedia.com...
    > Well, I do thank you James for your feedback, I certainly didn't want to
    > offend
    > you about what I said about the learning Dreamweaver. I'm sure your BIG
    > TIME
    > more advanced then me. Again, I'm just a Macromedia NOOB!
    >
    > But I'm a artist at heart which is whats making me not give up.
    >
    > I'm just confused about the whole process about making the graphics and
    > sending them to Dreamweaver.
    >
    > I guess I'll get it cause I've only been eating, sleeping, drinking and
    > farting this stuff, literally!!!
    >
    > I've spent a great deal of money on books and programs and I feel like
    > I've
    > made no stride. With every book I read or CD rom I watch I get more and
    > more
    > questions.
    >
    > I think I need 2 just give in and go to a class cause my questions must be
    > answerd to I get the BIG PICTURE.
    >
    >
    >


     
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  • Currently Being Moderated
    Sep 7, 2006 3:30 AM   in reply to bubblesblow
    bubblesblow wrote:
    > I think I need 2 just give in and go to a class cause my questions must be
    > answerd to I get the BIG PICTURE.

    The big picture is relatively straightforward. The vast majority of web
    pages are created using (X)HTML. More and more frequently, the styling
    is handled by CSS. Dreamweaver 8 is the tool for both of these. Learn
    about (X)HTML and CSS, and Dreamweaver will become a lot easier to use.
    Dreamweaver also enables you to create dynamic websites using a
    server-side language and database. You shouldn't try using either until
    you have a solid knowledge of (X)HTML/CSS.

    Fireworks 8 is for creating and manipulating the graphical elements of
    your web pages.

    Flash 8 is for creating animated or interactive elements of a site.
    Although some sites are made exclusively in Flash, this is rare, because
    Flash sites require the Flash Player browser plug-in. Consequently,
    anyone who doesn't have the right plug-in can't see the site.

    Web design is a complex business. There is a lot to learn. It never
    stops developing, so the big picture is continually expanding.

    --
    David Powers
    Adobe Community Expert
    Author, "Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8" (friends of ED)
    http://foundationphp.com/
     
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  • Currently Being Moderated
    Sep 7, 2006 3:54 AM   in reply to bubblesblow
    bubblesblow wrote:
    > Are the combinations of Dreamweaver 8 | Flash 8 | Fireworks 8 good for
    > producing high end web pages. If not, what do you all recommend?

    You have to define what you think a high end web page is. Blue chip
    companies often have dreadful sites, and one man bands have been known to
    have great sites. Is 'high end' related to the design of the page, or the
    underlying technology?

    > Also, should Dreamweaver be the ending program to peice all of the
    > different graphical and text elements together?

    Yes, that's normal.
    >
    > Or can you just build multi web pages through Flash alone?

    No. You can write the majority of the website in Flash if you wish, but it
    will at least need a wrapper of HTML to make it work on the internet. If you
    do write the site in Flash, make sure you address issues of accessibility -
    if a blind person cannot work with the site, neither can search engines.

    > I just finished reading Dreamweaver training book so I'm hoping it
    > wasn't a waste of time. I spent almost 1 week reading and doing all
    > the exercises.

    Depends on the book and the exercises (I do recommend 50 sit-ups a day
    though. And if you can do 100, that's my quota done too...).

    I'd suggest getting hold of a good template (from
    http://www.projectseven.com or http://www.dreamweaverresources.com) and
    playing with it to see how it's built up from the original Fireworks
    graphics. Both these companies provide excellent documentation, so you can
    see the workflow of the professionals, and the support if you have any
    questions is second to none. At some point you'll need to pick up a bit of
    HTML and CSS - but that will come naturally; just leave DW in 'Split' mode,
    and see what the code does when you change the design, and vice versa.

    HTH,

    Pete.
    --
    Peter Connolly
    http://www.acutecomputing.co.uk
    Derby
    UK
    Skype ID: acutecomputing


     
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  • Currently Being Moderated
    Sep 7, 2006 4:04 AM   in reply to bubblesblow
    The best tool for doing this is your brain. If you are fluent in HTML, CSS,
    and javascript, you will produce high-end web pages with Notepad. If you
    are not, you won't be able to create them with anything. It's the operator,
    not the tool, you know?

    --
    Murray --- ICQ 71997575
    Adobe Community Expert
    (If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
    ==================
    http://www.dreamweavermx-templates.com - Template Triage!
    http://www.projectseven.com/go - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
    http://www.dwfaq.com - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
    http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/ - Macromedia (MM) Technotes
    ==================


    "bubblesblow" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
    news:edoksp$gtb$1@forums.macromedia.com...
    > Are the combinations of Dreamweaver 8 | Flash 8 | Fireworks 8 good for
    > producing high end web pages. If not, what do you all recommend?
    >
    > Also, should Dreamweaver be the ending program to peice all of the
    > different
    > graphical and text elements together?
    >
    > Or can you just build multi web pages through Flash alone?
    >
    > I just finished reading Dreamweaver training book so I'm hoping it wasn't
    > a
    > waste of time. I spent almost 1 week reading and doing all the exercises.
    >
    > I did find that uploading all your files through dreamweaver FTP was
    > pretty
    > easy so I would think formating all your pages using Dreamweaver can
    > probably
    > be good but what do I know, im just a nOOb developer.
    >


     
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  • Currently Being Moderated
    Sep 7, 2006 4:24 AM   in reply to bubblesblow
    On 07 Sep 2006 in macromedia.dreamweaver, bubblesblow wrote:

    > I think I need 2 just give in and go to a class cause my questions
    > must be answerd to I get the BIG PICTURE.

    As Murray suggested, you need to learn HTML and CSS. Spend a few more
    bucks (under US$20 at Amazon) and pick up a copy of Elizabeth Castro,
    "HTML, XHTML, and CSS, Sixth Edition (Visual Quickstart Guide)"

    http://www.peachpit.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=0321430840&rl=1

    <disclaimer class="standard">No connection, etc</disclaimer>

    Then spend a week with Castro and your favorite text editor hand-coding
    pages. The big picture will come into clearer focus.

    --
    Joe Makowiec
    http://makowiec.net/
    Email: http://makowiec.net/email.php
     
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  • Currently Being Moderated
    Sep 7, 2006 5:11 AM   in reply to bubblesblow
    Ok, all these guys gave you good answers and good advice, but all of them skipped over the best learning tool of all.

    As Nike says, “Just Do It”. Start creating web sites.

    The best teacher in the world is experience.

    Design a concept, do a few layout sketches, come up with a plan then just create a site. You will most certainly screw something up, you will get frustrated, you won’t be able to make things work the way you want and slowly you will learn to fix things, improve things make things look better and the artist in you will become more and more satisfied with what you produce.

    Make mistakes. Come back here and ask specific questions. These guys will all help you. Make more mistakes and come back here again. If you’re not making any mistakes, you’re not doing anything.

    Visualize what you want to accomplish, then try it. As you go, you’ll remember something you read in one of those books or on this forum and the light will turn on.

    Stay away from flash for the most part for your beginning development. Use it sparingly if at all at first. It’s something that should be added after you have a good understanding of html and css. You can find a lot of good advice and pitfalls by browsing through this forum. Do a search for Flash and read the posts. They’ll help you a lot.

    Hope this helps… from one “Artistic Type” to another…

     
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  • Currently Being Moderated
    Sep 7, 2006 6:05 AM   in reply to bubblesblow
    Michael Hager wrote:
    > As Nike says, ?Just Do It?. Start creating web sites.
    >
    > The best teacher in the world is experience.

    Agreed, but you need a basis from which to start. The key to building
    good websites is an understanding of (X)HTML. A lot of the people who
    come here with problems have followed the "just do it" ethos for too
    long, got into bad habits, and create spaghetti soup instead of clean
    code. A short amount of time studying (X)HTML now will repay itself over
    and over again.

    --
    David Powers
    Adobe Community Expert
    Author, "Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8" (friends of ED)
    http://foundationphp.com/
     
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  • Currently Being Moderated
    Sep 8, 2006 4:00 AM   in reply to bubblesblow
    Admire his/her art if you want, but don't emulate the web methods....

    --
    Murray --- ICQ 71997575
    Adobe Community Expert
    (If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
    ==================
    http://www.dreamweavermx-templates.com - Template Triage!
    http://www.projectseven.com/go - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
    http://www.dwfaq.com - DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
    http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/ - Macromedia (MM) Technotes
    ==================


    "bubblesblow" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
    news:edrgju$24b$1@forums.macromedia.com...
    > Wow, this is all EXCELLENT advices and I thank ALL of you.
    >
    > I'm seriously excited about learning as much as I can but I think I must
    > take
    > ALL of your advices and do this step by step.
    >
    > Again, im totaly new to all this but the artist in me just wont let me
    > give
    > up. I'm reading stuff that makes most of my friends scratch their head.
    >
    > I'm not much of a book worm, my memory is aaaaa and I can get impatient
    > BUT, I
    > am making major stride to changing my bad habits and just learning the
    > boring
    > stuff so I can get to the fun stuff, ART!!!!!
    >
    > Anyways, I do have a couple of web artist who I totally look up to. One of
    > which is this cat, http://www.minkipark.com.
    >


     
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  • Currently Being Moderated
    Sep 8, 2006 9:07 AM   in reply to bubblesblow
    David Powers Wrote:

    >Agreed, but you need a basis from which to start. The key to building
    >good websites is an understanding of (X)HTML. A lot of the people who
    >come here with problems have followed the "just do it" ethos for too
    >long, got into bad habits, and create spaghetti soup instead of clean
    >code. A short amount of time studying (X)HTML now will repay itself over
    >and over again.


    Yes and agreed… there is no substitute for knowledge but the best place to get that is in the school of hard knocks. You need to do it, even do it wrong in order to know how to do it right.
     
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