Customer Rating:  
Summary: Something I can wrap my mind around.
Comment: I bought this book because I was getting confused in my Dreamweaver class. The author does a really good job in explaining the program in simple understandable language. His style is casual, easy to follow, and doesn't put you to sleep. My only complaint is that it has some random content that is meant for "study break" reading. I could do without these. Overall all, it is an excellent book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Funny, yet Informative
Comment: This title is both original and satisfying. Usually with "How-to" books, you're left in a drab environment, and end up wanting to peel your eyes out from sheer boredom.
Geoff does a great job of keeping one's interest with humourous side-panels, cute icons, and a writing style that more or less seems like an actual conversation - a good one at that.
I recommend this book to every web designer in the business. You won't regret it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Now let me just say this!......
Comment: For all the "creative smartypants"s out there...
You need at least half a brain to understand this book, even less to choose the right book off the shelf.
Mr. DeFever, give me a break! You whine about a book you picked up and paid for without someone holding a sawed-off phaser to your head. You talk as if the Author is to blame for your poor shopping skills! Finally we have a book available to us laced with true wit and you hop on Amazon and slam it for your shortcomings. An unfair review and totally unnecessary. I (and many others) actually wasted our time reading your review.
Allow me to clarify the finer points (as it seems you require):
(I'll even use the fancy :: like you did)
:: What does "create a new, blank page" mean? Come on! If you need to ask that question, that's one thing. If you need to ask that question and post it on Amazon while slamming a great book and you can't figure it out for yourself, you're goof ball!
:: Where are these buttons I'm supposed to select? Now Please! Are you serious? At this point you should have ran (not walked) to the closest in-class training available in your area.
:: That DIV tag comment thingy. Come on "smartypants"! Get "creative"! How many times does the book need to remind you that it is not your average "Step-By-Step" (Ooo baby) guide to Dreamweaver. It is not a linier training guide, it takes a much more imaginative approach.
Switching between PC and Mac is something all designers must consider in this modern age, you must know all paths for which the force flows, young padawan!
Do us all a big favor, don't buy any of the next titles; your sense of humor fails you.
Hey buddy, get back to designing your site instead of wasting time writing pointless reviews that end in you just getting your money back after admitting to muddling through it.
I hate to sound so upset, but frankly I am. A real book comes along in an endless sea of crap, gets right to the point, proves itself and earns itself a place on my bookshelf and some "creative smartypants" tags the wall with self-centered sputterings with little ::'s all over the place, and...
...never mind, I gotta go ...I've got a site to build
Customer Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, informative tech book.
Comment: I have to start by saying I totally disagree with K. DeFever...maybe he had a fever when writing his review. K, if you don't like or have time for the humorous side bars, skip them. I mean why the petty attack about them? It's not like you're forced or even obliged to read them...some people just love to flame for the sake of flaming. I personally liked them and thought they were a nice touch that helped to add levity to a dry technical discussion.
I liked the writing style, and the humor. I found the chapters and lessons easy to understand and learn, and more importantly I learned how to accomplish real life web site building tasks using DW.. I also believe if you read the lesson through it all makes sense in the end. I thought the book did a good job teaching the reader how to use the DW utilities to accomplish the task of building a standards compliant website.
Overall I'd recommend this book as it will teach about DW and how to navigate through the program to create a well coded web site.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Reads like a poorly designed web site
Comment: I have been going through the lessons in this book for a couple days and (so far) I am not entirely pleased with this "Ten Ton Dreamweaver".
Ironically enough, getting through the lessons is like navigating through a really poorly designed web site. It's been a struggle to get through some of the chapters, not for the difficulty of the concepts but because the tutorial instructions aren't totally clear. I've been going through parts of this book that review the really basic things I've already learned in Dreamweaver MX and, even so, I'm scratching my head and wondering: what did he mean by that?
:: What does "create a new, blank page" mean? There is no option for that. Does he mean an HTML page? A CSS page? Is this "new blank page" supposed to be part of the site I created in a previous chapter, or can I close that lesson for now?
:: Where are these buttons I'm supposed to select? What do they look like? What panel are they in? Just stating "select images button" means nothing when they are at least four of them staring at me from four different panels.
:: One of the first things the author says to do in the section about div tags is "click the page where you want to insert the div tag", without a thorough explanation of what a div tag is, let alone where one would want to place one. This is just one example of lessons teemed with head-scratchers. About a new tool: "enter the values you want"-- what are my options? "Name your style": what conventions do I need to follow, if any? How about "thisbooksucks"?
The author switches between PC and Mac verbiage frequently; sometimes he calls out which is which, most of the time not. Sure, I've been able to figure out that "OK" means "Choose" but, really, why should I have to figure out what the author really means when I really bought the book to figure out Dreamweaver?
In any case, I've been able to muddle my way through so far, guessing correctly in most cases when directions aren't entirely clear. However, if the material that I have already learned is confusing to get through in this book, I'm curious as to just how frustrating new material will be--- IF and when I get to it.
The author also tried to inject some humor into the book by including a recipe for Irish coffee, a list of excuses to tell your boss while you're playing hooky, etc., etc. I noticed these things while browsing through the book at the store but didn't realize how these charming little sidebars detract from why I bought the book: to figure out Dreamweaver. Hey, buddy, I have a site to build here. I don't need to see a page of not funny CSS-themed tattoo designs.
Perhaps more care could be put into writing lessons where the reader was creating a site along with the book (like the "Hands on Training" books) and less time trying to tickle the reader's funny bone?
I'll likely return this book and try another Dreamweaver 8 book. I don't have time for Irish coffee and scratching my head; I have a web site to build.
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