Adobe GoLive CS2 would have been GoLive version 8 if Adobe had not renamed it for the Creative Suite. Where GoLive Came FromWhether or not you believe that the Internet was invented by Al Gore, the World Wide Web has pushed professional publishing and design to a new level. The tools to help publish rich web experiences have evolved as well. Back in the day (um, like several years ago), creating web graphics and publishing websites of any kind required an intimate knowledge of HTML, Unix-based systems and commands, and more. Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the code that defines how a web page should appear. (We talk in more detail about HTML later in this book.) At the time when Internet IPOs meant instant wealth and early retirement, a slew of WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) HTML editors were released. Similar in concept to PageMaker or Quark, these programs, such as Adobe PageMill, attempted to allow designers to easily lay out pages without having to learn or know how to code HTML. There weren't many success stories. A promotional QuarkXPress poster at the time proclaimed, "HTML is just like typesettingyeah, like typesetting from 20 years ago." One HTML editor, called GoLive CyberStudio, was particularly geared toward designers and enabled users not only to design pages, but also to manage websites. Adobe bought CyberStudio and called it, simply, Adobe GoLive. Facing similar challenges to those of InDesign with QuarkXPress, GoLive competes with Macromedia Dreamweaver, which is considered the preferred tool for website development and management. What GoLive DoesAt first glance, GoLive seems like an incredibly complex program, but on closer inspection, it begins to make a lot of sense. That's because GoLive takes care of just about every aspect of the process, from planning a website to designing it and to publishing it to the Internet. If you had to make a comparison with a program such as InDesign, you'd have to give InDesign storyboards for planning your entire project, and then you'd need to add a printing press, to boot. Let me explain. One of the most incredible aspects of the World Wide Web is how quickly you can distribute information. The Web is a medium that offers the capability to publish information so quicklyeven in real timeto anywhere in the world. This can happen because the information is electronic; publishing information on the Web is as simple as copying a file from your computer to another computer (a server or "host"). GoLive possesses the tools to perform all the steps involved in this process. There are site-layout tools to help you plan your website, a full range of web page layout tools, and a complete set of tools to upload your site to a server. Let's take things one step at a time, shall we? Before you begin to create a website, you create what's called a site architecturebasically a layout of all the pages in your site and how they link together. A website isn't like a printed booklet in which everything is linear, one page after another. A website is nonlinear: A user can jump to different pages as needed or on impulse. A website requires planning, or you end up doing triple the work later in the process. GoLive can assist in the planning process with the Site Diagram feature, which enables you to set up how pages will link to each other, and even export the site as a PDF to get approval from a client or a manager (see Figure 2.14). When you have the site design approved, GoLive can automatically convert the site design to an actual site where you can begin the next process: designing the pages. Figure 2.14. A site design in GoLive.GoLive is a graphic artist's web design program. You can place native Photoshop and Illustrator files right into your web layouts (see Figure 2.15), you can position items precisely on your page (down to the pixel), and, most important, you don't have to know HTML. GoLive works much like a page-layout tool, in which you position items on a page. But you also have the capability to add fun stuff, such as sounds, buttons, links, movies, and rollovers. GoLive even handles all the scary stuff, such as adding JavaScripts and setting up scripts, which we talk more in detail about in Chapter 9. GoLive also has a feature called Components for managing the many design elements or parts of a website that are used often, such as navigation elements that appear on every page. GoLive makes managing these repeating elements easy: Update one, and they update everywhere. Figure 2.15. Laying out items on a web page in GoLive.The final part of the web publishing process involves uploading your website to a server, a process called taking your site "live." GoLive has a full range of site-management features (see Figure 2.16) that makes it easy to track changes across your entire site, as well as manage updates and modifications. Basically, GoLive knows exactly what needs to be uploaded when you modify your website and can do so at the click of a button. GoLive also makes it easy to administer a site so that you can have several people contributing to or updating different parts of your site simultaneously. Figure 2.16. GoLive's Site window helps you manage your website.It's important to realize that some web design firms break up these three processes into completely different departments. Site designs are done by information architects, web designers create the look of the site, and web developers oversee the technical aspects of coding and maintaining the site. GoLive can handle all these tasks if you're a department of one, but if you are part of a team, you can focus on just the part of GoLive that you need. Of course, GoLive has a whole range of features, some of which we mention here:
Now that you have a better understanding of what GoLive can do, let's discuss when you should use it. When to Use GoLiveGoLive is perfect for various tasks, including the following:
If you've never been involved with web design, it might take some getting used to. Overall, though, the concepts are similar to those you've seen in the print world. Of course, just because GoLive can export PDF files and works with XML doesn't mean you should use it to design your next print brochure. As a specialized tool for all that the Web brings to the table, GoLive will fit your needs today and for the future as well. |