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Provides: Comprehensive training on how to use Adobe GoLive CS2
Developer: Total Training
Requirements: PowerPC G4 Dual 450MHz processor, Mac OS X v10.2.4, QuickTime 5.0.2 or newer, 256MB RAM or greater, 300MB free hard drive space (for Project Files), 1024x768 screen resolution, DVD-ROM drive, Adobe GoLive CS2 (not supplied with DVD, you can download a trial version from Adobe's website)
Premium Retail Price: $99
If you've purchased the Adobe Suite, you also received a Total Training DVD with basic tricks and tips and how to use all the programs. If you wanted more information on GoLive and/or are new to GoLive (by way of CS2, or purchased GoLive separately), this is a great DVD training video for you.
Like all Total Training DVDs, when you first load the disk, you need to install the Total Training application—this is a one time operation. Once you start the actual training part of the program, a ship sweeps across your training window.
Perhaps because of the star fish icon for GoLive, or perhaps because of how the web is the connecting link for all information as the sea once was, the folks at Total Training decided on a nautical theme for GoLive. I'm not sure on the reasons for this, but I think the final thought is "Live with it." Like it or not, you see this ship at the beginning and between each lesson, and after each introduction by this Total Training trainer, Lynn Grillo. Every time you start the program, there is an extended image of sailing ships and nautical folks using some kind of sextant. Fortunately, you can click on the screen to bypass this scene to get to the subject at hand--lessons.
Also included on the DVD is the material for you to follow along with each lesson. The Project Files are simply dragged to a convenient place on your hard drive, such as the desktop (keep in mind that there is 265MB of data here). Included in the Project Files (one for each lesson) include any site files, images, text or whatever is being demonstrated by Lynn.
For those who've had the chance to see Lynn in action at a conference or any presentation, you know she knows her stuff, and she's a pleasure to learn from. A small bit of history: Lynn was a big CyberStudio user when GoLive was a company, and was a constant contributor to several of the user forums (along with Adam Pratt). At one point Adobe hired the two of them, and they've worked for Adobe ever since.
[I'm not sure why or how the Oxford English Dictionary (see bottom left on the
photo above) figures in a nautical theme, but it does help fill Lynn's working desk.]
I've used GoLive almost as long as Lynn and Adam, and I figured I knew it pretty well. This Total Training DVD proved me wrong. There's lots more to learn. Thus, this TT DVD is for just about anyone, beginners to advanced users.
There are fifteen different lessons, or sections that are covered, and you can go directly to any of those sections from the drop-down menu from the left hand side of the window. Overall, there are about seven hours of video for your education.
Once in each lesson, you can easily navigate (no pun intended) to any of the specific topics from the drop-down selection from the middle of the window.
And in each lesson, you can back up, skip and pause the lesson while trying out the various activities using the supplied project files or your own site.
One of the things that struck me while I was working with the various lessons was how busy things seemed to be. I never considered GoLive to be all that hard or complex. It took me a while, but I figured it out: Adobe GoLive is one of those programs that lets you accomplish the same result with a variety of mechanisms to get there. This is a good thing, like the many ways to select an object in Photoshop (which is the "right" way to select something in Photoshop, I dare you!). Some training programs I've seen (including those from Adobe) tend to demonstrate a single way to do any particular process, and seldom vary from that format. This is the easy way, not the right way to teach. Lynn does it the right way, albeit in a potentially confusing and overwhelming way at first glance. Be patient, and focus on the subject at hand. There is much to learn.
What's important to keep in mind as you watch the various lessons is that Lynn is not only showing you how to do "X" operation, but also how to make links, change names of files, organize your site, organize your windows and palettes, etc. If she were to limit her discussion and demonstrations solely to the subject at hand, you'd know how to do that subject, but you would not be all that wise on how to use GoLive.
How to make a link in GoLive:
As an example of how many ways there are to do any task in GoLive, I'm providing a list of how to do something as basic as making a link. Following is a list of different ways you can make a link in GoLive from text on a page. All of the following approaches follow making some text active either by double-clicking, dragging, or shift-clicking some text (even making text active has options...)
- After you have made a word active, click on the "chain" link in the inspector and type or paste the URL in the URL field
- After you have made a word active, mouse-down on the Point-and-Shoot icon in the inspector and drag to the item in the site file you want to link to.
- After you have made a word active, press the Command key and mouse-down on the word. You can then Point-and-Shoot from that word to any file in the site.
- Either go to split view or select the Source tab so you are looking at the raw code for the page, type in the link directly into the code.
- After you have made a word active, click on the "chain" link in the inspector. Then open the In & Out Palette, find the broken link and click on the Point-and-Shoot icon and drag to any file in the site.
(This last one is particularly good if you already have a link that goes to many pages. Specifically, let's say you have a link on many pages that link to one PDF. Now you have a new PDF that you want to update on all of the linked pages. What you do is to click on the old PDF and open the In & Out palette. you will see an icon of the PDF and all of the pages that are linked to it. Next to the PDF is a Point & Shoot icon. Mouse-down on that and drag out to the new PDF in the site file. Now, all that's left to do is to upload the results with a single click on the Upload Modified Pages icon.)
There may be other mechanisms to create links, but these are the ones I use all the time. My point here is simply that when Lynn is showing you how to do one thing, she's always showing you other aspects about the program. Thus, even when you are learning any given subject, you will also be shown other aspects about GoLive. Like I said, there is much to learn.
And so, the way to use and benefit from this training DVD is to watch it a number of times; once to see what she has to say about any given subject, a second time to try the lesson with her, then perhaps a third time to get the subtle points. While all of her asides may make GoLive seem like an incredibly complex program, it really isn't once you realize that much of what Lynn is providing are alternate ways of doing the same thing while explaining the main theme of any given lesson.
While there is much to point out in the various lessons, I do want to point out one particular pair: Lesson 5 (Building a Page) and Lesson 8 (Advanced Page Building with CSS). In Lesson 5, Lynn shows how to make a semi-complex page using Tables. In Lesson 7, she shows how to make the exact same page but using CSS. For those of you who are trying to make the transition, this alone is worth the price of the DVD.
Admittedly, one of the limitations of the Total Training videos is that they have to limit the size of their window to accommodate a small resolution screen. Not only that, but they also have to accommodate all of the controls for their own operations. Thus, the small portion of the window remaining to display the workspace is annoyingly small. When you couple that with the fact that GoLive is one of those applications that has a bunch of windows and palettes, Lynn is left to spend a lot of time saying things such as "let me move this palette out of the way and bring the other palette into view..." [For what it's worth, I know several friends who use GoLive on a 12 inch PowerBook. While certainly not as desirable as a 20 inch monitor, it's doable.]
To encourage the user to register, you can obtain a full license to the very famous MenuMachine (see my review). The only limitation to this is that this is for MenuMachine 1 (an outstanding product), not the recently released MenuMachine 2 (not formally reviewed yet, but it is even better). At a minimum, you can update to MM2 for $39 instead of the normal price of $65.
There are a few curious problems on the DVD. First off, if you look at the image above on the bottom left hand side, you can see the word "View" with three icons below. One for normal windows size, on the right is a 50% window size, and on the left is a full screen window size. If you click on the full screen icon, you get a message saying you need an update, and you can get this from the Total Training website. If you go to the website, you will not find this update, and Total Training currently has no expected release date for this update.
The other option provided to access the full screen mode is to click on the "Setup" button seen on the bottom right (just to the left of the "Help" button). Once that popup screen is up, if you click on the "Click Here for Product Updates" link on that screen (which takes you to the Total Training website for updates), the rest of the buttons on the screen become inoperative, and the only recourse you have is to quit the program. The good news is that when you restart, you will be brought back to where you left off. Small consolation, but it is something.
I was also very disappointed that the only place I found the minimum requirements for this Total Training disk was on the PDF on the DVD. This is not only stupid, but a disservice to their customers. It was not (at the time of this writing) on their website and not on the box. (I have contacted Total Training on the issues mentioned here and time will tell if they respond.)
In short, ignoring the technical problem of the DVD, there's a lot to like on this Total Training lesson plan for GoLive CS2. On one hand, you do have the limitations of working with a video lesson plan; it's hard to skim through a lesson looking for one particular aspect, but, on the other hand, you are led step-by-step through every process. If you need to, you can easily back up and see the process over and over (and over) again. Having a master GoLive expert like Lynn Grillo by your side any time you need her is nothing to be sneezed at.
The important issue here is to separate the quality of the lessons from the failures of Total Training. I would give Total Training a 3 "A" rating, but fortunately, none of the failures of the DVD or program effect the quality of Lynn's training. It's top notch, and should be credited as such.
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___________ Gary Coyne has been a scientific glassblower for over 30 years. He's been using Macs since 1985 (his first was a fat Mac) and has been writing reviews of Mac software and hardware since 1995.
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