| The chapters are a bit like modules, particularly in Part 1 and Part 3, where you can take them in the order that makes sense for you, not necessarily in the sequence that I've given them. Part 2 and Part 4 are somewhat less flexible in this regard, so if you're new to web building or the Dreamweaver application, I'd say read the book from cover to cover. After you've achieved your comfort level, by all means, read the book as you see fit. For purposes of quick reference, I tried to make whatever utility this humble tome possesses as easy to access as may be. It comes to you in four parts:
Part 1: Planning Your Site -
You don't construct a building without a blueprint, and you don't build a web site without a plan. These chapters take you through the planning process with an eye toward maximizing design and production.
Part 2: Designing Your Site -
With your plan in hand, you create a Dreamweaver template to control the layout of your pages, plus an external Cascading Style Sheet to control the look and feel of the content. By the end of this part, the pages of your site are rolling out your studio.
Part 3: Building Your Site -
Into the rough template-based pages go the navigation, the text, the images, the Flash movies, the links, and the forms that you've been planning since Part 1. By now, production is unstoppable. Each new addition to the template document fleshes out your site in a wonderful way.
Part 4: Publishing Your Site -
Before you realize it, your site is finished. Use Dreamweaver's site management features to check for broken links, orphaned files, and rogue code. Then upload your site to the Web, and learn how the design-build approach by way of Dreamweaver translates into effortless site maintenance. |
