I am familiar with basic web design and basic HTML. I have used Dreamweaver to put together simple web pages and was looking for a book to help me learn to do more than my limited knowledge allows me to at this point. This book was an utter disappointment.

What you can expect from this book is an assumption of familiarity with earlier versions of Dreamweaver. This book basically tells you about how to use the functions of Dreamweaver, not how to create a web page. It assumes you understand what divs, ids, and classes do, how to create them, how they function on web pages, and why you might want them. It jumps around and you should not expect to get much web knowledge at all out of this book.

I am really quite surprised by those who are down on this quickstart book. I think it holds up just as well if not even better then some of the previous Dreamweaver books in the series.

The great thing about the book is that it works so well as a quick reference guide in which it was meant to be used as , amongst other uses that it will meet your needs for.

So if its just having to quickly do some basic tasks with the program like adding links, pictures or frames to a page it will quickly guide through that. But it will dive into the newer aspects of the program like Spry and CSS and teach it in an easy to use and understand manner.

I was a little rusty with the program, not having used Dreamweaver for a few years since I finished my college classes and I was able to jump right back into the program mostly due to this book. Almost any basic question I had it was easily answered mostly due to this book.

Its very informative and will explain clearly what every menu, option and set up situation does so you can get the most out of the Dreamweaver CS3 program.

As great as the book is, and it really is, there are some downsides to the book I do have to admit. One is its really just for the beginner to intermediate skilled person. So you won't be able to build a site like, say Amazon.com with this book. You will need a more advanced oriented book for that task. And you may even wish there was more to offer in the book then just the quick step by step process that guides you through each skill you are trying to learn at the given moment.

But for me, this fit the needs I had just fine . I won't use this program without this quickstart reference book at my side. I highly and greatly recommend this book to any who are using this program. Its ok to forget a few basic things every now and then, this book will easily give you that refreser you needed. Not to mention it will also teach you some ways to do things that you may not have realized you could, making your life that much easier.

Whether its template set ups, setting up the ftp for your site through Dreamweaver, how to fix broken links, checking browser compatibilities or anything else that you want to set up on your newly created page, this book will guide you to an easy and effective path to do so.

Its really the greatest purchase I have made book wise in a long time. Even if you are looking for something more advanced, this book is still must have. It also serves as a great compilation to other more advanced books when you just want to quickly look up something that you wanted to implement.

Bottom line, if you are using Dreamweaver CS3 and need a book to help you get through some of the more confusing elements and menus of it, look no further. You will want to have this book handy at all times and be glad that you have it there. Its saved me many a times from moments of confusion or question and its always lead me to finishing a site successfully.

Get this book. Even if you get others, this is one you don't want to be without.

I read the other reviews and had to comment.

This book is NOT a technical manual, nor a step-by-step on how to design websites. Rather, it is a COMPANION book on how to use DreamWeaver. If you are familiar with other Adobe products, then you will appreciate that DreamWeaver maintains many similarities. If you are NOT familiar with Adobe products, then you are in for a major learning experience!

Let's get one thing straight right off the bat ... DreamWeaver is a highly complex program that is NOT meant for just any [dingbat] one to pick up on a whim and design the "perfect" website. You actually have to know how to read and understand (X)HTML, you can't just plop a site together without knowing this. Just because you CAN use the WYSIWYG interface doesn't mean you can do that exclusively.

If you are used to using FrontPage, then you have a RUDE awakening when it comes to the difference between that and DreamWeaver.

This book was the required book for the class in Web Design with DreamWeaver that I enrolled in (at an actual school) and completed very successfully.

This book is EXACTLY what the title states: a "quick start". It in no way ever implies that it is anything other than that! It is there as a gentle nudge. It is NOT there as a guided class!

AND, it NEVER EVER states that it teaches CSS ... NEVER!! Maybe you thought that "CS3" was the same as "CSS"??

If you are looking for an entire "class in a book" strictly on DreamWeaver, then I recommend the "Missing Manual" by O'Reilly and/or the "Classroom in A Book" series from Adobe Press.

If you are looking for a book on CSS (cascading style sheets), then you want the "Head First" series entitled "HTML with CSS & XHTML", or the Visual Quick Start book entitled "HTML, XHTML & CSS" ... DUH!! I mean, really - make sure you buy the correct book for what you want to learn! If you don't, then DON'T BLAME THE BOOK!!

I use this book as a reference quite often, and to remind myself how to do certain functions in DreamWeaver. It has a great index, and the appendices are very informative.

Also, the website is as complete as it can be. They give you the links for the resources in the book. There is only one "errata" that relates to using a Mac, and it's listed on the site.

About emailing ... they specifically say to READ THE FAQ'S FIRST. There is a disclaimer about them NOT being able to answer each and every email on page xiv of the book - so quit griping about that! Read the FAQ's, or get a teacher! [such a freakin' whiner you are M.F.Summy.]

I wish people would THINK before posting a negative review. There is value in every book. Before you buy it, look through it either online or in a book store! Whether you bought the proper one for your needs is NOT the book's fault! Grow up!

Visual Quickstart guides are great both for learning and reference

As a dreamweaver buff, I use this guide for reference pretty much, but it is great for both. I just bought more of this outstanding series.....

I love these Visual QuickStart Guides. I have them for all the Adobe design software. I don't read them, just dip in and out when I need something. I'm swapping over from Go Live to Dreamweaver and this book is a must have reference because it shows where things are... where the properties are, the CSS details, etc. Love it.

This is the fourth book I've owned in the Quickstart series (all relating to Adobe design products or their predecessors) and find it to be an excellent series. Each book has been thorough and well-organized without being wordy. As for the negative reviews about this book: it's worth keeping in mind that no publisher is going to stake its reputation (and bottom line) on an incompetent author. Rather, books (and series) are written with a specific agenda. This book is meant to serve as a concise guide and reference manual and is not a tutorial: if you're looking for step-by-step exercises, look elsewhere.

I've taught myself quite a lot of what I do from self-study books, and have never experienced such a frustrating mess as this book. I dutifully went through 3/4 of the book and know absolutlely nothing more about using CSS with Dreamweaver than I did before.

It skips over basic concepts, rehashes the obvious over and over, and makes huge leaps of faith from chapter to chapter. When you go from Chapter 5 to Chapter 6, you'll wonder what happened to the three chapters that should have been between them.

Additionally, the book boasts of a companion website and the ability to email questions to the authors. Well, their website is completely devoid of content, and they don't respond to email questions.

Don't buy this book. Buy ANYTHING else.

I have to agree with the previous "utterly useless" review. This book is terrible. I am a complete novice at website design and Dreamweaver. This book does not teach you anything--it does not give you detailed instruction to the novice nor is it a reference book.

If you are a novice like me you will not learn anything from this book. I will be returning to the book store to look for another book. This book was a total waste of time.

This book is incredibly unorganized. For example, in the chapter on CSS this is what is says:

Chapter 5
Understanding CSS
Cascading Style Sheets are all about style, looks, and presentation. CSS properties and rules give you an amazing array of control over foregrounds, backgrounds, colors, fonts, positions, alignments, margins, borders, lists, and other aspects of presentations.

Appendix C contains a list of CSS properties. That list is amazing in its scope, but it can be a little overwhelming as well.

Appendix C!!!! This is the explanation of CSS. This book is pathetic. It gives no conceptual explanation of CSS or practical knowledge of how Dreamweaver utilizes it.

Save your money and buy something else.

This book is a completely useless guide to Dreamweaver. Nothing inside it will help you use Dreamweaver or get you any closer to being able to build a website using this powerful software. Under no circumstances should you ever buy this book.

The problem with the book is that, on one hand, it is not a step-by-step guide to building a webpage using Dreamweaver. You do not learn to build a website, and the examples provided in the book are seemingly random. On the other hand, it is not a useful reference text, either -- each section builds upon what you have allegedly learned from building a non-existent, non-specific webpage using the previous chapter.

For example, the "Positioning Page Content" chapter opens with a sentence that begins with, "Now that you've created boxes on your page...", assuming that the previous chapter clearly tells you how to create CSS boxes. It doesn't. You're left wondering why you bought the book at all, if it simply assumes you've learned the things you bought the book to learn.

The book is full of oversights like this. It's sloppily-written, overpriced, and if anything will confuse and derail any attempt you're making to actually learn how to use Dreamweaver. Do not buy it.

I was pretty familiar with website creation software before Dreamweaver, so just needed something to get me started. The interface is quite a bit different than Frontpage and other web programs, so this book is definitely useful for learning your way around. It's also a good introduction to the more powerful features that dreamweaver offers.