Review: Dreamweaver MX: The Missing Manual

Reviewed By: Kirk Hiner

Review Date: January 19, 2003

Author: David Sawyer McFarland (edited by David Pogue)

Publisher: Pogue Press/O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., Sebastopol, California

Copyright: © 2002 Pogue Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

First Edition: November 2002

ISBN: 0-596-00349-8

Price: $34.95

I'm ambivalent when it comes to manuals these days. On one hand, yes, it angers me that software manufacturers rarely provide us with printed manuals anymore or, when they do, they barely scratch the surface of the program's capabilities. I understand that not providing a manual helps to keep production costs down, but I don't see--beyond lower shipping and handling fees for mail order software purchases--that those cost savings are being passed on to us.

On the other hand, most of the manuals that used to be provided with software were fairly shoddy anyway. As a result, most of the manuals that shipped with the product are boxed up in my attic while my bookshelf is lined with third party manuals from the various series we all know and love: Real World, Quick Start, The Amazing Adventures of Flash Gordon...

Oh, wait...wrong bookshelf.

Nonetheless, I was buying third party manuals well before I had no choice but to buy third party manuals. This is because, more often than not, they covered more material, they offered better tips, they provided better examples, and they were simply more fun to read.

Such is the case with The Missing Manual series from Pogue Press/O'Reilly. I haven't read all of them, of course, but the ones I have read, simply put, have helped me become much more proficient in the program of subject.

When I purchase a third party manual, there are three elements I deem most important. First, I want to be able to immediately find the answer to a problem. This is most important because, quite often, I'm buying the manual because I have an immediate problem. Also, quite frankly, there are more than enough software resources on the web. Pretty much any answer can be found in online tutorials or forums, so the answer must be able to be located much more quickly in the manual if I'm to pay for it.

Second, I want tutorials. If I'm just starting with the program, I find that tutorials do a great job of crystallizing the instructions laid out throughout the manual. Even if the program is familiar to me, I find it's still useful to go through the tutorials because they allow me to use (and become proficient with) features of the program of which I otherwise wouldn't have taken advantage.

And third, I want good writing. I don't want the manual to read as if it were written by a programmer who assumed too much about the capabilities of the reader. I like manuals to read as if the author were a friend of mine (or at least a co-worker) sitting behind me, offering tips as I do the work. It's rare that I read a manual all the way through, but the writing had better be good in case I decide to.

So, okay, now that we've established that, let's finally move on to "Dreamweaver MX: The Missing Manual" by David Sawyer McFarland. As an author of this manual, McFarland is certainly qualified. He's taught classes at a bunch of places I've never been, and that's always a good sign since I haven't been to the best places.

I'll review McFarland's book in the same order in which I used it, starting off with a look at my first required element above. While designing my own website, I decided it was of utmost importance that I have a UFO hovering above the top navigation bar. It was impractical to create this as an animated GIF, and I didn't feel like messing around in Flash. I was pretty sure that Dreamweaver MX allowed for the creation of such elements as CSS layers, yet the manual that shipped with Macromedia Studio MX was no help at all. Picking up Dreamweaver MX: The Missing Manual, I turned right to the Index; A -> animation. Perfect. It guided me to proper chapter and started to read. After happening across the phrase "using the techniques described on page 371," I realized two things. First, obviously, I was ahead of myself. Second, this was going to be easy. McFarland obviously understands that people don't always read manuals from cover to cover, and he's kind enough to tell you exactly where to go if you missed something important.

So, back I went. I learned what I was supposed to learn, then skimmed my way back up to the animation section, ensuring the information in between wasn't important to my specific task. The instructions for creating the CSS animation were well drawn out, and the tips and figures were useful. Some of these tips may have over-complicated the process, I think, but keeping them isolated from the main text made it clear that they weren't necessary if you weren't yet that comfortable with the program.

From start (picking up the manual) to finish (saving the document), the whole animation process took me approximately half an hour. That's both an attestment to Dreamweaver MX and to this manual. Dreamweaver MX made it simple to do, and The Missing Manual made it simple to learn. (The result of this exercise, by the way, can be found here.)

Having this out of the way, it was time to learn a few new things via my second element; tutorials. These are set up somewhat oddly, I think, in that they conclude many of the chapters in the book. Normally, the tutorials are chapters of the book. The benefit of the approach here is that you first learn the system, then you apply it, which is better in the long run. The drawbacks are that it's much more time consuming and it doesn't facilitate just poking around to see what the program can do.

The book doesn't come with a CD, so you'll have to download the files required to run the tutorials. Normally, I would consider this a negative. But, since we're talking about a web design program, I think it's a fair assumption that readers will have a good internet connection. All the tutorials stem from the same project, so you get the feel that you're actually creating something as you move along, as opposed to just building random pieces of an unknown project. Again, if you have the time for this, great. If, however, you're working against deadlines, you'd better stick with the index.

This, then, brings us the writing. I'm a fan of David Pogue, which sounds odd to say..."Oh, I just love David Pogue! Did you get a chance to read iMovie 2: The Missing Manual? It was simply captivating. I cried throughout the whole chapter on transitions and effects." Nonetheless, I'm a fan, and was somewhat disappointed to see that he only served as editor on this book. Not to worry. Although not as entertaining as Pogue, McFarland's writing style is light and friendly...perfect for a day at the beach. You know, if you're inclined to read software manuals at the beach.

The book begins with brief page on the new features of Dreamweaver MX, then launches into the obligatory HTML lesson. You actually learn more about HTML while using Dreamweaver in the split pane mode (seeing the HTML generated on the fly as you work in the WYSIWYG interface), so just skip this section. McFarland then follows the example of good teachers everywhere by explaining how the book will work. As I learned while obtaining my teaching certificate in secondary education, it's always better to show the students what they'll learn and how they'll learn it before you actually start learnin' 'em.

From there, the book is broken into seven parts (click here to view the table of contents). Part One: Building a Web Page covers the basics of WYSIWYG HTML editing, such as inserting text, creating hyperlinks, and working with graphics. I found it odd, therefore, that tables aren't covered until Part Two: Building A Better Web Page. I've built dozens of websites over the past few years, and all of them used tables for formatting. Tables should be the very first element covered. On the other hand, I'm amused by the fact that graphic rollovers are covered in Part One. I can remember spending countless hours hard coding my first JavaScript rollover. I was so thrilled when I made it work that you'd've thought I'd hacked into the Kremlin and procured myself a couple MiG-25s. Suddenly, rollovers are now considered a basic element of web design...and MiG-25s aren't much above that.

What's missing in here is the cautionary advice that David Pogue likes to offer. Understanding that knowing how to use a program doesn't necessarily mean that people will use it properly, Pogue's not afraid to tell his readers what sucks and what's good. Perhaps it's just not McFarland's style, but we need this kind of device in web manuals. Just because you can create Flash text and animated layers, that doesn't mean you should. I mean, I like my U.F.O., but I've never even considered putting such an element in a client's site.

Beyond Parts One and Two, Dreamweaver MX: The Missing Manual builds up step by step to slowly show off most of Dreamweaver MX's capabilities. Everything from the basics of forms to the intricacies of database-driven websites are covered, and most of it is reinforced with the previously mentioned tutorials and copious screen captures, figures, notes and tips. It also teaches you how to use Dreamweaver as a site management tool instead of just as a web page creation tool. This will be extremely helpful especially to those coming off of programs such as Microsoft FrontPage, people who therefore have no concept of site management (I can safely say this, for I was once one of them). Even though I've been using Dreamweaver MX for some time now, there was still plenty to learn in here...plenty of timesaving methods and tools that justify the time spent looking through the manual. Yes, there's plenty in here about the flashier things that Dreamweaver MX can do, but it's the details on the more mundane (and, therefore, useful) features that make this book worthwhile.

In my review of Dreamweaver Studio MX, I mentioned that the tight integration with O'Reilly's online help tools almost made the lack of a decent manual forgivable. Almost. Dreamweaver MX: The Missing Manual finishes the job. It's still a shame that we can't get manuals such as this in the box, as everyone from the novice to the professional can benefit from them. We all can, I guess, but for $35.00 more and usually a few months later than we'd like. Still, by then you've forgotten about the cost of the software and you have a better idea of what you need help with, so that maybe that's a good thing.

Sure. However you want to justify it.

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