Description:
Many designers have "pop-up menu" envy over all the sleek variations that can be found on the Web. Al Sparber and the crew at Projectseven.com are well known for their tutorials and Dreamweaver extensions that help designers create state-of-the-art effects. This book shares some of their work, particularly the latest in cool menu designs. It's like a gift-bag of Project Seven's best offerings with step-by-step tutorials detailing how things work. For example, the authors show how to use cascading style sheets (CSS) and cookies to make user-controlled visual themes, how to build Dynamic HTML (DHTML) drop-down and fly-out menus, and even how to make menus that collapse and expand or have a tree functionality similar to that found on Windows or Mac operating systems. These aren't just eye-candy tricks either; they're also the sorts of interfaces that Web site visitors will intuitively understand. Other practical lessons show readers how to save bandwidth by using CSS to make an imageless navigation system or how to make a clickable DHTML tabbed interface. Also, the authors do not neglect compatibility issues. The book's not about showing off--these are practical methods that also give a site a fresh look. The project files are all included on the CD-ROM, along with finished results. The real deal is found in the custom Dreamweaver extensions, creating with just a click content that would otherwise require a lot of valuable time to write in JavaScript. Although readers should have experience with Dreamweaver, the book is written in a clear manner that outlines carefully what will be accomplished at each stage and why you might want to carry out any given task in a certain way. Since the tutorials all rely on the custom extensions, readers do have to follow along faithfully. In essence, this is a cookbook-style manual, using some prepackaged ingredients, and with each recipe producing the desired meal. Each chapter ends by explaining how readers can modify the results with their own design flavorings. --Angelynn Grant
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