This is a thick, heavy book, hard to hold, worth the trouble. It doesn't solve every problem but it comes close, and offers links for more insight and details. If you are looking for a way to understand what you are working on, for a foundation from which to be creative, good book.

For those that are just starting out with Dreamweaver CS3 this is a complete breakdown of all the technical stuff but in a non-technical language. The tutorials are easy to follow and give you a good basis for creating your own website. It is rather lengthy but not every word needs to be read to follow along. As your skills increase there is information that will allow you to learn at your own pace.

This manual reads so easily, works great as a reference and has a tutorial to follow after most of the key chapters. This is by far the easiest method I've found for learning this complex program. The author also speaks to mac and pc specifically if there are any differences. Great product!

The book is clear and provides good "learn by doing" exercises to reinforce the explanations. It also serves as a good reference. I was immediately able to create a website for a non-profit that I am a member of. Highly recommended.

David McFarland's guide answers most, but not my any means all, of the questions, a beginner or intermediate user might ask about Adobe Dreamweaver, the absolute best commercial program for web design. It's a good start and McFarland writes clearly and accurately but doesn't always follow through to the depth that some users nned. That said, it's still probably the best book yet published on Dreamweaver, useful and easy-to use.
JoeGraphics, Memphis, TN

I'm only a few chapters in, but this book is great for learning Dreamweaver. Step by step instructions and tutorials, along with a little humor make it an easy and fun read.

Just as the subtitle reads, this is the "manual that should have been in the box". Well written and organized, the tutorials were especially helpful for me.

Before getting this book I knew absolutely nothing about Adobe Dreamweaver. Granted, I use Adobe Photoshop and InDesign a lot...so I was familiar with the Adobe family. Regardless, this book covers everything. I went from knowing nothing about web design to having my own web page up and running in 2 days. The book is very thorough, easy to read...especially for beginners, and the format is setup so that you can quickly refer to a particular topic if needed. The included tutorials are solid and really helped me learn at my pace.

I've only just started working my way through this book. So far it is well-written, clear and detailed, and I feel the author did his best to help his readers get up to speed with Dreamweaver quickly.

However, I had to knock one star off the review, because there are no page numbers! The author refers to something that will come up on page 126, but there's no way to find that page; there's no way to know what he is talking about when he references any page number, because there's not one, not anywhere in the whole book! Once I started flipping through it, I realized they had been cut off in printing. Overall, a very sloppy job was done with the printing. The text appears at an angle, and the pages are torn at the bottom.

Publishers are getting cheap and indifferent to quality. This terrible printing job should have been caught by someone before it left the publisher's warehouse. Instead I paid full price for something that can not really be used for reference after I finish reading it, because the table of contents is pointless without any page numbers for guidance.

As the title says, this book contains a ton of information. At times you have to search for specific items, but when you find it, it's like finding gold. The fact that it is enjoyable to read is a bonus.

I needed to program my first web site using Dreamweaver CS3. I had designed the web site and programmed it in a higher level language which didn't give me access to the html code. I needed this access capability for SEO (search engine optimization) purposes. Although I had programming experience, I didn't know html or cascading style sheets and had never used Dreamweaver. I spent a considerable amount of time searching for the best manual for me. I selected two manuals-McFarland's Dreamweaver CS3 as my primary manual and Master Visually Dreamweaver CS3 and Flash CS3 Professional by Gunter & Valade for its outline by function.
Now, six months later, I have completed the web site ([...] if you wish to see its complexity) and will give you my opinions. Contrary to what some say about the verbosity of McFarland's book, with my lack of experience, I found the detail explanations most helpful. As it turned out, even though I liked the Master Visually manual, I seldom needed to use it. I did about half of the exercises in the McFarland book, and didn't find the few errors in the examples disruptive. But I didn't have the patience to go through the rest of the examples. I found very few errors in the manual itself which is important when you are working in unchartered waters. I really liked the McFarland book and I also liked how it would cross reference the same topic elsewhere in the manual. One area I was really concerned with was what I would use for a menu structure. I decided on the Spy menus and was very happy with how well they worked as well as their appearance using CS3. Using FcFarland's manual and Dreamweaver I made two master templates. This was well worth the extra work in learning. One master template fixed the header, sidebar menu and the footer. The net result is that a menu change takes only seconds to propagate through the entire system saving a lot of time. The second master template is designed for those times I used images to fill the content area. This saved some work and insured consistency. Probably the most difficult area with Dreamweaver is to get a handle on its complex interface. But once learned, you can appreciate how so much info that is needed is available on your screen. I guess my best recommendation for McFarland's Dreamweaver CS3 is that I was able to use it to program my website in Dreamweaver CS3.

I still use this book on most working days.
It is such a great reference for dreamweaver.
One of its main features are all of the things that you don't get in the official documentations.

Really well written continueing the great tradition of the
'missing manuals'

Tony

Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual

If you want to learn Dreamweaver and don't know much about webpages this is the book for you....written in a very clear manner, it is very easy to understand......

Excellent book that SHOULD have come with the program. Steps you through even complex tasks with clearly written text and ample diagrams and examples. First rate.

This is a well laid out book that fills in the blanks for those that have used Dreamweacer before. If you are new to Dreamweaver, it is must have reference.

Good reading and great reference. A huge book! Goes into detail about many aspects of CS3 and the Dreamweaver program. Helps solve those little problems that may crop up when designing a site or a page on a site.

I live with my nose in this book when writing websites. As with any new area of knowledge learning the vocabulary is essential in order to find the information. This book helped.

I work for an engineering company, do their web, and a bunch of other stuff. We're moving from Go-Live to Dreamweaver. I've been doing the web for nine years, and am not a rookie. Having said that, this book is excellent for beginners or advanced code writers who wants to learn Dreamweaver. I just don't have a lot of time to waste. The tutorials march you through it. This book is recommended if you don't have a lot of time. I have NOT bought any other books for Dreamweaver, but I have bought Adobe's Classroom in a Book for other programs. This book is as good as those, and with fewer errors. And the writer is more precise in the steps to take. Nearly impossible to get lost in the steps.

Personally, I don't write reviews very often. But this is a real review by someone really working for a living, and I MUST figure out how to use Dreamweaver right NOW!!! The book is helping; this is day 2; I'm on page 243 (Images) and it's starting to sink in.

One other note: the reviewer who said he was suspicious of all the positive reviews: get a life! This book is detailed, but not mindlessly so. The tutorials found on the writer's website are just fine, and the website is easy to navigate. Not sure what the gent meant. But I guess you can't please everybody.

Gotta get back to work!

I am in no way a computer expert. I was trained to be a teacher way before Windows even came out. The internet was nothing more than personal computers connected by modems way back then. So it has been rather daunting that my mid-life crisis involves a desire to create a website. Who am I to think I can pull this off??

Before I stated out, I checked out a bunch of website creation books from my local library. Several of the books made me feel like a real nincompoop who had no hope of ever understanding the inner workings of a website. Some of the books were so incredible boring, they were great for insomnia. The rest were better used as door stops. One book, however, was so good that I had to go out and buy my own copy.

Dreamweaver CS3, The Missing Manual is perfect for a person like me with very little knowledge of programing (DOS in the 80's) and a not a whole lot of time to learn something new. I love the humor that is intertwined with the material. It makes the book that much more enjoyable. I also love the way the author points out many things but cuts right to the chase and lets his reader know exactly what the important stuff is.

I have found that the website which accompanies this book is a perfect companion to the book. The downloads are quick and easy and the tutorials are easy and entertaining.

I highly recommend this book.

I am very suspicious about these other reviews. I purchased this book because the very high recommendations that others have given it. This book goes over the most complicated aspects of the program without giving guidence on the use of the items. The website for the book that contains the demos looks like a 8th grader made it in front page. So if you cant make a good website for yourself, why are you telling me how to make one.

It would be like reading a book on how to change a tire, but the first 500 pages are about how a lug nut works.

I've been hand coding for over eight years now and was pretty reluctant about trying something like Dreamweaver--especially since I couldn't figure it out on my own. When I decided to give it another shot, I also decided to buy Mr. McFarland's book based on the reviews and how much I love his CSS book. The first chapter itself is a huge help, and I've been able to set up a simple site after reading that and skimming some other sections. I like that it's not too wordy like some other books I'd looked through, and the screenshots are great as well.

Calling this the "missing" manual may go a little too far, because I can't imagine any manufacturer doing such a thorough job with a guidebook. It's a comprehensive intro and reference that no Dreamweaver learner should do without. I looked at several and actually bought one that was so bad I wound up demanding (successfully!) a refund for at Borders. Good work, Mr. McFarland, and kudos to you for being visible and open to feedback through your blog.

I am a novice at web design - and with the help of this manual and of course Dreamweaver - I have set up two business web sites. I am pretty good generally with computers - though I think Dreamweaver and web design is still fairly complicated, but this book is able walk someone like me through the process and help me understand how to get things accomplished. There are several sections I won't have to use - but everything I have used is well written and thought out. I'd recommend this book.

I painful dug thru many of the "well respected" writing out there and none of them measure up to the clean and clearly well thought out to Dreamweaver CS3 The Missing manual by David McFarland .

I recently moved from Front Page over to Dreamweaver CS3 and was looking for the one book to use and have found it after a long and sometimes a painful search.

I had originally purchased Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 Classroom in a Book based on the excellent verion of Photoshop by the same group. Yet the version that David wrote is far cleaner and it what I alway recommend to friends an colleges about " the right stuff" You just earned 5 stars from me, and I told hand those out very often...
Keep up the awesome work David !

I like this book and the tutorials, and I'm glad I bought it, BUT it gets annoying after a while with how verbose it is. For instance, the author even says at one point in the first chapter,

'"Enough already! I want to build a web page," you're probably saying.'

Yes, you're right! That IS what I was saying!

He then takes p.44-64, (20 pages!) to walk you through importing a graphic, copying a text file, adding a background, and centering the page in the browser. When you list on a piece of paper the steps that you just did and repeat it, it can be carried out within maybe 90 seconds.

I started to think that this book is like friends you may have that are really nice, they're smart, and you like them, but they just can't give you the short version of a story! I find myself jotting in the margin the one thing from the whole page to remember.

This is a book for absolute beginners, not only to Dreamweaver but to web pages in general. If you've been writing web pages in a text editor and just want to see how Dreamweaver can make everything easier, this book makes you want to pull your hair out! For instance, three leading paragraphs in Chapter 2 on adding text to your pages that can be summed up as, "Text is still the most important thing on the web". WE ALL KNOW THAT! Don't make me read a whole page for that!!

I buy a new computer book about once a week, and this book does what so many are guilty of - sidebars to the point of distraction. There is a sidebar topic, hint, etc. on virtually every page of this book, which, along with the wordiness, adds to the "Let's get this done!" frustration you start to feel.

If you're already familiar with html and web pages and aren't real patient with people that take forever to tell you something, get a different book.

As another reviewer said, this book could be 1/4 its size and would be SO MUCH better!

This book is a lifesaver! I still had many questions about Dreamweaver after taking a six-week online class, but no one to ask. Dreamwear CS3 the missing manual answered all of them and more. It has made my job easier, and completing task faster.

It is discouraging to work with the book. To much small talk and very little hands on. You have to go trough four pages of autor's ideas and tips before you find what you are looking for or what you have to do. The book could be four times smaller and then would have been one of the best.

I have had no prior experience with web programming, or with Dreamweaver. I really liked the flow of the manual and the amount of information in it. I did not realize how thick the manual is physically, but glad that it has so much information. The tutorials are a step by step process, which I needed to get me started. The examples and source files are all included. I recommend it.

I've heard about O'reilly books before. And I'm glad to have one. It has a comprehensible and sincere expression. After all I've found my missing manual! Thanks...

If you're new to dreamweaver this book will be very very helpful, pretty straightfoward, although it's huge, it will cover everything you need to know about dreamweaver cs3, very easy to understand, especially for newbies like me, highly recommended!!!

I like the Missing Manual series over other popular help series in the way they don't use as much empty space as filler. This book is wall to wall information on helping the novice (me) understand how DW CS3 works, but it also has advanced chapters that I might have needed if I wasn't building such a simple website. This was my second Missing Manual after having received the first on another topic for a Christmas gift. I will look for everything in this series from now on when I need a hand. I highly recommend it. It is written so it is clear to both the novice and intermediate users. However, I imagine an advanced CS3 user would not learn much, beyond the occasional, "Wow, I didn't know CS3 could do that...".

This book is as it says...the book that should have been in the box. It is very clear and concise and covers most of the things you'll need to know to get your web site up and running and looking good...an excellent book.

As a GoLive user for many years, I wanted to get up and running as fast as possible with Dreamweaver, now that I am making the switch-over. This book does the trick, with very well written explanations and tutorials. I highly recommend it!

This is an average book. The description is lengthy but the information is all over the place, making it difficult to reference. The steps to create a web page are presented in two ways: first a vague description of the steps are presented and after that, a tutorial at the back of each chapter is given. Thus, the steps are presented twice. This explains the thickness of this book.

A topic which is not covered in other books is the use of PHP in Dreamweaver. This book describes how to set up an online catalog using Dreamweaver but it stops short of creating an interface which takes in orders in a shopping cart, a powerful feature in PHP/SQL. Thus, this book is just an average book.

I own a dozen books of the Missing Manual series, and I haven't found a bad one yet. This one is exceptional. Dreamweaver CS3 is as deep as web design programs get, and this book allows extended dives well beneath the waves without running out of air.

This book is clear, with easy to follow descriptions and tutorials. It covers basic and complex web design in an easy to understand format. This is the best user's manual I've ever used.

I am new to both web design and dreamweaver. I have been reading this book from cover to cover. It is very well written in a logical manner and easy to understand. This is probably one of the best guide books I have ever read. The tutorial files available online really help to enforce concepts. Highly recommended.

Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual, is definitely the book you wished you'd found in the box with the installation disk for Adobe Dreamweaver CS3. Weighing in at 995 pages (including a 25 page index), The Missing Manual is the best resource book for learning and using this equally robust web development tool. The book is divided into 26 chapters and two appendices, organized into seven sections. The Table of Contents is quite detailed, listing the chapter headings and sub-heading, making it easy to locate a particular subject. This book is filled from beginning to end with very detailed step-by-step tutorials to help you learn how to use Dreamweaver to accomplish a wide variety of web development tasks. I consider Dreamweaver CS3 The Missing Manual a definite must-have bookshelf reference for anyone who wants to investigate and learn every nook and cranny of this extensive application.

Chapter 1 begins at the beginning and is geared to the new user. There is a tour of the interface followed by a thorough step-by-step `Test Drive' tutorial. Starting with customizing the program preferences, the chapter continues with setting up a site, creating and saving a web page, adding text and images, and previewing your page in a browser. This first chapter touches on a lot of subject matter covered in greater detail in later chapters. Dreamweaver has a wealth of dialogs and wizards to help you create rather sophisticated web documents and they can be just as daunting as writing code. And, there are also extensions (extend the functionality of Dreamweaver), you can install to facilitate productivity. The Missing Manual really holds your hand, leading you through the process of learning to use the Dreamweaver tools. For those who want a little more, there are insets throughout the pages with the titles (in the title bar) of `Workaround Workshop', `Up to Speed', `Power Users' Clinic', `Frequently Asked Questions', `Gem in the Rough', and even `Easter Egg Hunt'.

To really take control of the web document creation process it's important to understand and be able to work with the underlying code. Beginning in Chapter 8: Advanced CSS, the discussion moves to talking about the HTML elements, the building blocks of creating a web page. Terms such as ID and Descendant Selectors enter the tutorial discussion. Why would you care? Well, even when using Dreamweaver as a visual editor and the GUI (graphic user interface) to modify the appearance of say, a list item, you need to know what the

tag is and that it needs to be selected for styling. And then wee come to Chapter 10, Under the Hood: HTML. Here we learn about using the Code View. First there are Preferences settings suggested, one for targeting and fixing invalidly nested or unclosed tags, and another for targeting extra closing tags for removal. Dreamweaver provides some great tools for working with code such as code hints, code collapse, the tag inspector and tools for file comparison. This chapter will help ease you into working with code, if you are interested.

Adobe's Spry Framework for Ajax is mentioned as a technique for creating navigation menus in Chapter 5 and as a method for validating form data in the Chapter that explains how to build forms. Spry is the current hot web technology and you'll find the thorough explanations of Spry and Spry Widgets (an element made up of HTML, CSS and JavaScript), clear and understandable. Even if you don't completely understand the technology, you'll find the step-by-steps easy to follow. There are tutorials for adding Spry Widgets such as an accordion of collapsible panels and creating Spry Effects in the chapter that covers Dreamweaver Behaviors. If you've never been able to figure out how to use Dreamweaver's behaviors, working through the information and tutorials in this chapter will help get you past that obstacle.

While a 995 page tech book is not usually a cover to cover read, you should be sure to refer to Chapter 16: Testing Your Site, before going public with your creation. It's a relatively short chapter with a checklist and the usual info on Dreamweaver tools for checking the site performance and detecting errors on your pages. The next chapter addresses getting your site onto the Internet. Section 5 is about how to really get the most out of using Dreamweaver. The chapters cover the topics of snippets, libraries, templates, automation and customizing the application. Section 6 is titled Dynamic Dreamweaver and has extremely good tutorials on using a variety of server side technologies. You'll even be stepped through setting up a free testing server on your computer, XAMP for Windows and MAMP for MacOSX. The last section contains two appendices. The first gives details about a variety of help resources including the Dreamweaver Help System, the Adobe site, Forums, the DMX Zone, and paid support. The second appendix is a detailing of every Dreamweaver menu.

This book was an excellent introduction to Dream weaver for a novice like myself.It has easy to follow tutorial and is very user friendly. High recommended.

The Missing Manual series sports the tag line "The book that should have been in the box". Generally it's the truth and "Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual" is a shining example of what a tech manual should be.

It's huge: 968 pages, not counting the index.

It is thorough: the table of contents runs 14 pages and you can see that just about every subject a beginning to advanced intermediate website creator is included. (Note that I say website creator and not designer. This is not really a book intended for designers.)

McFarland is an excellent writer for this kind of book. His style is moderately spare. He keeps his sentences concise and direct, which is a boon in this kind of manual. Unlike some tech authors, he does not see himself as a comedian, and doesn't attempt intoducing lame humor.

Website creation isn't a single subject and, if it is covered in detail, it isn't necessarily simple. One needs to understand HTML, XHTML, CSS, HTTP and more. McFarland does an excellent job of introducing the reader to both website creation and Dreamweaver CS3.

Dreamweaver CS3 is a complex environment, which accounts for its being the most used creation tool by web professionals. But McFarland takes the reader by the hand and walks him through virtually every aspect of Dreamweaver CS3. Not every capabilitity is treated in great depth, but that is to be expected.

Overall, this is a fine example of what a technical manual should be. Exhaustive, but readable and highly informative. Its 968 pages may look daunting at the outset, but the reward is in leaving with a thorough explanation of what Dreamweaver CS3 can do - and being able to do it.

Jerry

Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual

I found that this book was absolutely great for my Dreamweaver 2004. I needed help with templates and my version as well as the books that came with software didn't do a good job with this. I have bought other books but when I got this one it did a great job with examples etc. 50+ pages just on this topic! I can't wait to use it for other types of things I plan on doing with my current version of Dreamweaver.

Simply put, this is the best executed guide to Dreamweaver I've read. It accommodates most any level of skill going in to it, and has very well constructed tutorials and examples. David is a natural teacher.

My only minor criticism is that in a few spots, I felt the fine tuning of certain features was not fully explained, nor was there an acknowledgment of certain missing features to Dreamweaver and how to augment these missing options with minor CodeView tweaks. I'm not sure anyone but me missed this exclusion, so it is such a minor criticism to an otherwise glowing critique.

This manual is a good place to start if you want to learn about dreamweaver and all it can do without a headache. Very easy to follow and the tutorials are on the internet so no worrying about a cd that will scratch over time.

Comprehensive and easy to follow. I know I will refer to this book
many times in the future.

After trying a few other Dreamweaver books, I finally found success with this copy. As a beginner, it had both concise explanations, as well as thoughtful tutorials so I could get my hands on the software right away. I was able to start building a website for my business right away.

Nice job David.

I've purchased many Dreamweaver books, glanced through most and completed a few. I'm quite a ways into McFarland's book and I must say it's the best I've read. It's very informative and he seems to touch upon every detail. You're virtually guaranteed to become a Dreamweaver expert after finishing this book. I'd advise beginners and intermediates to go from cover to cover. I've picked up so many things so far that other books have left out.

I've found this book to be a fantastic learning tool for anyone who has interest in beginning to learn Dreamweaver CS3, or those of you like myself who have used past Dreamweaver versions and wanted to get up to speed on the latest and greatest. I was somewhat schooled in Dreameaver MX, back when CSS was beginning to be integrated into the software. Now that Adobe has ahold of the software, it's become much more complex with increased usability and features.

I originally wanted to start teaching myself CSS. I'm not a web professional by any means, I only do it as a hobby for my own personal site that is visited by a select few. As I was looking at CSS books at the local bookstore, I ran across this Dreamweaver CS3 book, looked through a few others, and decided that I needed to get back into the basics of my chosen web page editor before learning CSS. What a great decision this was.

I hadn't used Dreamweaver in a couple of years, so this book really helped me get back into the flow of things. It was easy to read without having to be in front of a computer at all times. I loved the layout of the lessons, it felt like a natural progression of what you'd want to do. You would be taught the basic layout options, then a chapter about basic CSS would come along to show you how to implement everything you've already learned. You would then be shown some more advanced features of Dreamweaver, then some advanced CSS. These CSS chapters have really helped me get a basic understanding of what CSS is, why it exists, and how it's used. It gives me a huge step up to learning CSS a bit more indepth instead of going into it blindly.

The tool tips scattered throughout the book are awesome additions to the material at hand, and gives you nice extra info that otherwise didn't fit in the instruction. Snapshots of the program are available all throughout the book, and provide a great visual so you don't have to try and decode what small button the text is trying to describe. The extra chapter on the new Spry java features is a welcome addition to understanding this great set of tools added to CS3. I appreciated the addition of chapters towards the end on dynamic webpages, but they seemed to be a bit beyond the scope of the book. However, Dreamweaver CS3 includes what looks to be great tools to work with these types of sites, so he has to cover them regardless.

Overall, great, great book. It's highly recommended from a novice such as myself. I've just ordered the CSS Missing Manual to go along with this book. I purchased this Dreamweaver CS3 book on a Tuesday, and I had my new site up and running, complete with external style sheets, on the following Friday. Not too shabby for a man who works full time during the week.

As a newcomer to Dreamweaver, I found this book very informative and easy to understand. The tutorials were well set out and easy to follow.

I can't stop talking about how GREAT this book is! I've been trying to figure out how create a dynamic website for a couple years now, and I finally found a book to walk me through the process from start to finish- I practiced on my son's school track website- Thanks to Mr. McFarland, I got a dynamic site up and running!(With password protected admin forms for the coaches to update the data themselves!) I had no previous experience with MySQL or PHP, and didn't even know that I needed them, or how to get them (he gives you the links to do it for free)... I noticed that some people found the references and repeats to other sections irritating- Not having time to read everything, I found them essential, and appreciated him taking the time and effort to do that. I skipped to the sections I needed and found EVERYTHING I needed at my finger tips. (Who has time to read almost 1000 pages before you get to work!) His real world tutorials, and step by step instructions were EXACTLY what I needed to get my site up and running! He was logical, thorough and entertaining- I've been looking for a book like this for several years and am thrilled that I finally found it. I'll have to go back and read the chapters I skipped, and get his book on CSS (The missing manual)Then I will be a real expert.

This is a verbose, somewhat unorganized book that could easily have been condensed to less than half the size the book. It has you referencing later in the book while mentioning something early in the book I think in an attempt to be cohesive but I found it irritating. I like bullet points but found it mostly in lengthly, overly wordy form. Just not my style. Now, with that said, once I am fluent, so to speak, in DW CS3, then perhaps I may refer to it and it may hold value to me then...not sure.

I won't mention this problem without a solution that fit for me. I bought Dreamweaver CS3 Video Training with Garrick Chow. This was an outstanding solution for me! Perfect. Everything you need to get started from start to finish with DW CS3.

I am absolutely new to Dreamweaver, and must note that as it may contribute to your expectations of what you want/need in supplemental materials to the DW program.