Using Dreamweaver for Web Design
 Dreamweaver is a leading-edge software package that enables users to easily and efficiently design, develop, and maintain applications and websites that are standards-based.
Produced by Macromedia, the makers of Shockwave (which was recently bought out by Adobe Systems, the makers of Acrobat Reader), Dreamweaver claims a 75% market share among web developers with a widely respected reputation as the top WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) HTML editor in the marketplace.
Why is Dreamweaver So Popular? |
One of the main reasons Dreamweaver is so popular among web designers and web developers of all levels of experience is its convenient WYSIWYG visual layout capabilities. Whether you're using CSS, XML, HTML, or any other web authoring language, Dreamweaver lets you see the results of all your efforts, each and every step of the way, just as your site visitors would see it.
Dreamweaver also lets users split their display screen between code and design modes for the easiest back-and-forth referencing possible.
Yet another reason web designers love Dreamweaver so much is because of how seamlessly it integrates third party tools like Flash and Director and lets users easily mix them with regular HTML using tables and layers.
Web designers also adore how Dreamweaver allows them to create customized workspaces based on their own unique needs and preferences. Even novices designing their first web page ever can use Dreamweaver to great effect simply by getting a head start with templates of sample CSS style sheets, page designs, and starter pages.
What Are Some of Dreamweaver's Key Features? |
Dreamweaver comes with an ever-increasing slew of features, just some of which are the following:
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Add Flash video to web pages |
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A central CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) panel with full layout visualization - including the ability to experiment with CSS borders and CSS colors with ease |
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Tooltips Help Kit - answers questions about things like padding, margin/border, and ID settings |
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Style Rendering Toolbar - lets you see exactly what your web pages will look like on all sorts of devices, including Blackberry |
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Style Rendering Toolbar - lets you see exactly what your web pages will look like on all sorts of devices, including Blackberry |
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Visual Authoring using XML data |
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Coding Toolbar - permanently subverts the needs to navigate through endless panels and menus to find code snippets |
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Zoom - a convenient function for examining portions of a web page up-close |
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Built-in FTP - for easy uploading to the web |
Plus, with Dreamweaver 8, anyone at all can easily create rollover buttons, popup menus, server-side include buttons, web forms, and more!
Where Can I Get Dreamweaver? |
A recipient of regular updates and upgrades currently in its eighth incarnation, Dreamweaver 8 costs $399 by itself, or you can purchase it as part of a larger package that includes Fireworks, Flash Professional, FlashPaper, and Contribute for $999.
Click here to instantly download Dreamweaver.
Dreamweaver can be used on any PC or a Mac with the following specifications:
Windows |
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800 MHz Intel Pentium III processor (or equivalent) and later |
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Windows 2000, Windows XP |
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256 MB RAM (1 GB recommended to run more than one Studio 8 product simultaneously) |
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1024 x 768, 16-bit display (32-bit recommended) |
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650 MB available disk space |
Macintosh |
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600 MHz PowerPC G3 and later |
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Mac OS X 10.3, 10.4 |
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256 MB RAM (1 GB recommended to run more than one Studio 8 product simultaneously) |
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1024 x 768, thousands of colors display (millions of colors recommended) |
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300 MB available disk space |
How Can I Learn More About Using Dreamweaver? |
To find out more about using Dreamweaver to create stylish and professional-looking websites of your own, check out the following resources:
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