Dreamweaver MX - Page 2
September 30, 2002
Can you improve on an already great program? Apparantly
Macromedia can. Requests and 'wish lists' have been heard
and responded to in this latest release. And they didn't stop
with the program. The Macromedia website is a wealth of
knowledge, tutorials, samples and resources! Check out
The Dreamweaver MX Evaluation Resource Center designed
especially for new users.
Now, let's check out some of those new features.
Workspace
Panel Management
Manage your workspace more efficiently with dockable panels that
can be grouped together, collapsed or expanded. Panels can also be
undocked, floated anywhere on the screen or docked to another part
of the screen using the 'gripper' area of the panel title bar.
Insert Bar
The Objects Panel from Dreamweaver 4 has been replaced by the new
Insert Bar. Tabbed headings give access to various object's,
editors and behaviors. In addition, the Insert Bar will configure
itself automatically depending upon the type of document you're
editing, (HTML, ASP, JSP, ASP.NET, or PHP).
Integrated File Explorer
Included among the Panels is a new Site panel which allows for
quick browsing of the desktop and network.
Answers Panel
The Answers panel is a direct link to the Macromedia Support
Center. This online content provides the latest training
materials and tech support updates.
The Macromedia Dreamweaver Support Center provides additional
tutorials to those included with the program.
Site Creation and Maintenance
Site Wizard
The Site Setup Wizard walks the user through the necessary
steps to set Dreamweaver up to edit and publish files for
various server configurations. The wizard gives you the option
of selecting a server technology such as ColdFusion, ASP.NET,
ASP, or PHP, or selecting "no, I don't want to use a server
technology". Decide whether you want to edit on your local
system and upload later, edit directly on the server using
the local network, FTP, or RDS. All of this is done through
drop down menus and radio check boxes, leaving no room for
the user to forget a step. An advanced tab in the wizard
allows for configuration of local info, remote info, testing
server, cloaking, design notes,site map layout, and file view
columns.
Layout and Code Quickstarts
Dreamweaver MX comes packaged with layout and code quickstarts.
Setting up a new document couldn't be easier. Select your layout,
choosing from Basic Page, Dynamic Page, Template Page, CSS, Framesets,
Designs or Accessible Designs. Need a quick shopping cart? Select
it from the new document window. It's as easy as that.
The New Document window is also the place to access templates.
Until you save some, this area will be empty. The good news is
template samples can also be downloaded from the Macromedia
site. Actually, this is great news for beginners.
Templates
The Dreamweaver MX Templates are awesome, probably the best thing
that ever happened to 'team' work. A site template can be created
so that repetitive data, such as navigation, logos, etc, will
remain the same throughout the site. But what's this? You say
templates aren't new? These are. How about if you could lock
those templates so that another member of the team could only
edit those parts of the template that you've specified? That's
right, you can create
editable sections of the template, what's more,
you can then burrow down another level and make yet another
nested template that locks even more of your data so that it
can't be changed! Hand these templates out to different departments,
and they can only change those sections that pertain to them;
the rest of the page is safe.
Now, after you've got all of your templates finished, and
dept. a, b, and c have happily finished their pages too, you
discover that the main navigation needs to be updated, or there's
a spelling error in the locked portions of those templates. It's
a snap to fix not only the main template, but all of the spawned
templates and finished webpages. No, not a search and replace.
Simply fix the main template and save it. You will be prompted
to update any pages based on that template! Click 'update' and
Dreamweaver will handle it from there.
Roundtrip Fireworks editing
Roundtrip Fireworks editing makes image editing a snap. Simply
select your image, say a button, in Dreamweaver. In the
properties box click the edit button to launch Fireworks,
complete with your source file already opened. Edit, click
'Done' and Fireworks will automatically re-export your image.
Code Editing Support
Code editing support has been taken to the next level by
integrating the features of Homesite with Dreamweaver. The
developer has the choice of working in code view, design view,
or both at the same time.
Code coloring has been enhanced. A wide array of options are
available in the Edit->Preferences->Code Coloring dialog box.
Tag Editors
Dreamweaver MX has a comprehensive set of tag editors for all HTML and CFML
tags, as well as a large portion of the ASP.NET server and
validation control tags. Not only does the Tag Editor show you
all of the attributes for the active tag, but also which
attributes are supported in which browser versions.
Tag Chooser
The tag chooser is a comprehensive list of all tags that are
installed and available for use inside of Dreamweaver MX. The
Tag Chooser can not only be used to browse and insert tags that
come with Dreamweaver, but also custom tags that have been
imported. In addition, if you want to know more about a
particular tag, a 'Tag Info' button is provided within the
Tag Chooser window. Clicking on it gives the tag specs and
even provides some examples!
Studio MX
Studio MX
Dreamweaver MX and Internet Applications - Page 3
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