Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Choice!
Comment: This book was recommended when I signed up for a Dreaweaver workshop. I knew I could get a better price through Amazon, and I did--it was almost half the price! It was also very worth it. I especially like the fact that it contains tutorials so that I can see how to do the things described in the various chapters. I think it covers just about everything I need to know and maybe then some. I highly recommend this book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Find this manual!!!
Comment: I admit, I am a techno-junkie. As a technical writer and web designer I buy all the latest software and try and keep up with all the latest languages and hardware to support my techno-habits. Whenever I purchase new software I also purchase 3-4 books on the subject as I am mostly self-taught when it comes to trying the latest things. I use Dreamweaver moderately for work and the last source of training I used was for version 4. I also took a Dreamweaver MX course at a local community college to get up to speed quickly on the newest features Dreamweaver had to offer, the course pretty much taught me what I already knew. To be fair I understand the ciriculum is pretty much pre-determined but I needed more than the basics or what I could easliy find in the help system.
After attending a seminar by David McFarland, I did what I usually do and ran out to purchase his book on Dreamweaver 8 as many of the Dreamweaver 8 books had yet to have hit the shelves. To my surprise this time I would not need 3-4 books in order to fully utilize all Dreamweaver has to offer. This book was so clear, concise, and downright READABLE, I found tips and techniques I had never used before, nor read about in any of the other manuals or bibles.
By the first chapter I had already resolved an issue I could find no information on anywhere else. I passed this book around at work and we now have 4 copies. Each of my co-workers have thanked me profusely for suggesting the book and use it frequently when working with Dreamweaver.
Beginners will be walked through every detail of Dreamweavers interface and be up to speed and desiging quickly and efficiently in no time. Advanced user will also benefit in learning new features, tips, tricks and techniques and gain an in-depth knowledge of all that Dreamweaver has to offer.
Mr. McFarland is obviously highly knowledgeable in his subject and such a pleasure to read that as you go through the contents of the book I can only describe it as having your own personal tutor standing beside your desk advising you each step of the way. I have not run into a question or issue yet that could not be solved by referencing the Missing Manual.
I strongly encourage all users, beginner and advanced alike to purchase this book. If you have a question about Dreamweaver, it's in there.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Heavy on details, and just plain heavy!
Comment: ORIGINAL REVIEW (Apr. 27, 2006): "Heavy on details, and just plain heavy!" -- This is a really heavy book, and it's loaded with great examples, explanations, and illustrations. Unlike most Dreamweaver books, which stick either to basic, static web design or to advanced, dynamic pages, this book runs the gamut, not skimping on either (but certainly concentrating on the former). The chapters are organized logically, the chunks are reasonably small, and many of the chapters end with a very illustrative hands-on example to demonstrate the topics covered. Supplemented with on-line materials only available to owners of the book (for example, five chapters on PHP and SQL), the book covers almost everything, although a couple of topics (animation and frames) are available only as freely downloadable chapters from the prior (2004) edition of the book.
The style is less formal than many other books, but the material is covered in depth and accurately, for the most part. Like almost every technical book, the book's first printing does contain a reasonable number of minor errors, so be sure to refer to the author's website and take note of the errata before digging in. The book is printed in black and white with no color plates, but this does not affect its usability at all.
Despite the book's title, this really isn't a "manual" for Dreamweaver -- it's more of a primer. If you're an advanced user looking for a reference volume to provide a quick reference into every picayune detail of Dreamweaver, this isn't your book. This also isn't your book if you're looking for anything other than a first-pass introduction to ASP, PHP, or one of the other server models. But if you're a novice to HTML or a seasoned web designer making the jump from manual coding to the advanced WYSIWYG features of Dreamweaver and need a gentle immersion into the broad power of Dreamweaver 8, this is a great book to use.
For this reason, this is easily my favorite Dreamweaver book.
ADDENDUM (10 Sept. 2006): "Where did the support go?" -- The errata page for the book has not been updated since June. There are more than a few reported errors still outstanding that have not been added to the errata list; I know because I submitted them myself through the O'Reilly website. It appears that support for this title has ended -- or at least that it has been put on the back-burner -- despite Dreamweaver 8 still being the current version. That's particularly disappointing because it's so un-O'Reilly to let mistakes go like this.
Because of the lack of ongoing support, and because I have since discovered some better Dreamweaver books (see my other reviews), I would drop my rating of this book from 5 stars to 4.
ADDENDUM (5 Oct. 2006): The errata page has, finally, been updated. According to the email I received from the publisher, O'Reilly had some issues migrating its errata-tracking system to a new server this summer, causing the long delay. These issues are now resolved, and the errata are appearing regularly again.
Customer Rating:
Summary: This Won't Collect Dust
Comment: The Missing Manual for Dreamweaver is a must-have book for learning the many great features of the site-building software, as well as for keeping it on your desk as a grab-it-now reference reminder.
It is the greatest substitute for the manual that didn't come in the box, period. Tutorials, workarounds, explanations, advice ... what more could you ask for on the road to publishing your own site?
Maybe it's just me, but the online help for DW8 is only OK for when you're sitting in front of the screen. If you're looking to read a bit before snoozing, (or while relaxing and dreaming up your ideas) this is definitely the book to flip through. Five stars ... because there ain't anything higher to rate it with.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Dreamweaver 8: Not the Missing Manual
Comment: The content is not well structured and does not flow easily. The style is fluffy, and untidy. Terminology is not precise, and different words are used liberally to designate the same thing thus sacrificing pertinence. For example, it calls "Page Layout 101" the chapter dedicated to tables; and "Advanced Page Layout" the one dedicated to Layers. In addition, it refers to layers as CSS-positioned, Css-based, building blocks, etc... and you start wondering if these are the same beast.
It would have been much better to stick to Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 terminology and not to try to make this look like an "essay" on interpreting it. Often, it tries to explain the obvious (long paragraphs where few words would have been enough). The book may gain in quality if its size were cut in half, and written with conciseness and economy, and where the essential is separated from the important from the useful from the ancillary...
Technical writing (such as about Dreamweaver 8) is meant to be "to the point", and this book lacks that quality. It clearly assumes the reader is not a programmer (or does not have much knowledge in web or programming); It looks more destined for starters.
It certainly is not the "missing manual" as it pretends to be, others such as the Lynda.com book (or others) better qualify for this title. Each time I grabbed the book I got confused and bored, while I could not put down the Lynda's book, and learned more from it in few hours more then from this book in days.
If you are a starter, this book may be good for you, but if you are an experienced programmer, then be aware... I hate being unfair... so you get 3 stars.
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