Introduction

This is a book about extending Macromedia Dreamweaver. If you are reading it, you're probably an intermediate to advanced Dreamweaver user , you've visited the Macromedia Exchange, and you've downloaded and installed various extensions. You have probably also discovered the many powerful additions available for this already powerful programand you want to try it yourself. You've been working away, turning out web pages and managing web sites with Dreamweaver, and you find yourself saying, over and over again, "Gee, my life would be so much easier if only the program did xxx." Or "How come I always have to hand-code xxx? I could really use an extension to help with that." You're comfortable writing HTML code, you've worked with JavaScript, and you're ready to open up Dreamweaver, look under the hood, and see how you can soup this baby up! That's what we're going to do in the following chapters. We'll cover some basic groundwork ; set up shop; and get to work writing custom objects, behaviors, commands, inspectors, and floating panels. Along the way, we'll discuss how best to analyze your own workflow needs and determine where custom extensions can help you. So, let's get started!