Rating: 
Summary: Templates - What you always wanted to know!
Review: Templates - What you always wanted to know and but were afraid (or didn't know) to ask. I have to say that DMXT is one power-packed book. Having only 'dabbled' with templates in the past, my eyes are now open to their commanding strengths. Murray Summers and Brad Halstead did their homework and absolutely *know* the subject matter inside and out. I have to admit, though, that I didn't follow the authors' advice completly by reading ALL of the chapters in Section I before skipping over to the 'real' stuff (read as hands on - visual). I read the chapters:
1)Snippets
2)Library Items Revealed
3)Removing Dreamweaver Markup (well, most of it)
and barely skimmed
4)the remaining chapters in Section I then went straight to
Section II (having discovered the importance of Section I, I'll read it thoroughly now). Even so, I wouldn't trade anything for skipping ahead. I was restless, and wanted to get to actually see the results. And the results are great! Yes, a lot of the information presented could probably be found elsewhere (help files, online tutorials, newsgroups, etc.) but, how convenient and time-saving it is to have all this material in one book. Also, to have it explained so well is a bonus. You not only get to add tremendous functionality to the templates, the theory behind it all is covered thoroughly. I appreciated the fact that the authors did not talk down to me, the reader. Their approach was one of professional-to-professional. I do have a couple of little problems with this book. Too much emphasis is placed on DW4/UD4 templates! In order to save myself time when using DMXT as a reference, I have X'd out all references to the "old way of creating templates". If the book had been titled, Dreamweaver Templates and not Dreamweaver MX Templates, I don't think this would be such an annoyance for me. I also think that listing the default code formatting/coloring is a wonderful addition, however, I feel it would have been better to place this info at the back of the book in an appendix. (Making searching easier for when you make a royal mess of things!) Other than the minor points listed above, this book is definately worth the $ and your time will be well spent reading it.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is needed to learn template features well
Review: Templates in Dreamweaver MX are far more advanced than previous versions of Dreamweaver. There are five new regions to enhance and extend Dreamweaver templates. The templates have become mini-programs in a way which allow the designer a vast amount of control - control that I didn't even realize was possible. I bought this book to learn about Editable Tag Attributes and was amazed at what can be done with the new templates. In the first section of the book, the authors cover new template features -explaining them in depth. The second section of the book walks you through the development of a template-based web site. The authors also explain pitfalls so that you can avoid making mistakes in your design. This is a great book and I highly recommend it. The template snippet extension that they provide is fantastic too. To learn more about his book, visit the author site...
Rating:
Summary: Must-have Information for Dreamweaver Users
Review: The latest version of Dreamweaver introduced major enhancements--and significant complexity--to its templates feature. This book covers all of Dreamweaver's code reusability features--templates, library items, and snippets--in detail. The first section of the book uses text, illustrations, and some short exercises to cover these productivity features, including a description of the user interface, pros and cons of using the specific feature, the underlying code that Dreamweaver generates, and where you can obtain useful Dreamweaver extensions related to the feature. The second part of the book puts all the theory of the first section into practice by walking through a project that showcases the use of templates. You can download all the files necessary to complete the exercises of section 1 and the project in section 2 from the book's companion web site. So much of the power of the MX templates comes from tweaking the code that it's difficult to figure out their best use without some guidance. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to delve into Dreamweaver MX's code-reusability features; even if you've mastered the use of templates in previous versions of Dreamweaver, you'll need this book to take full advantage of Dreamweaver MX's new template features.
Rating:
Summary: Valuable resource for a professional or shop
Review: This Book is for The Dreamweaver Users who wants to get more out of Dreamweaver. Written mostly for the "Experienced User" But you don't have to be an expert to need or want the advantages that Dreamweaver Mx Templates provide. If you use Dreamweaver Templates, You know how handy they can be.
If you've used Dreamweaver Templates, You also know how confusing they can be. This Book highlights the best aspects of MX Templates. The How and Why you should use them in the working environment. How to speed up production and just make your job easier. This book is easy to navigate. If you have any experience with Dreamweaver or the Internet, all you really have to know is, what it is do you want to do. This book covers topics not covered in the Dreamweaver manual and explains in further detail topics that do cross over. If you use Dreamweaver or want to use Dreamweaver. This book is a must read! Here are some highlights that I found very helpful: Library Items: Library Items aren't new and have been covered in previous Dreamweaver manuals. Dreamweaver MX-templates put Library Items in a perspective that show you how to use all the elements of Dreamweaver that work together to give you the full benefit of Dreamweaver MX. Snippets: Anyone who's ever wrote HTML has used snippets, even if you didn't realize it. If you've ever veiwed the source of a page to see how it's been done, or had to go back into a site and grab code you've already written to apply it to a new site in a different environment , You've used snippets. Snippets allow you to save parts "snippets" of code to reuse over and over again. Snippets are available under windows in the snippets panel. Unlike library Items, snippets aren't updateable site wide. A find and replace could save you some time and provide similar results if used carefully. Templates and Regions
This section goes in to further detail on how to use templates to their fullest extent. The sections on Nested templates and Editable Regions should clear up any confusion anyone may have or had using Templates in this way. I know I couldn't have figured it out without this book or a one on one tutor. Dreamweaver MX-templates also covers overlooked topics like the importance of removing dreamweaver markup. Section 2 The Project: Covers exercises to use on your computer and examples of templates to download. The project was great because it puts you in a working environment with out the stress of a working environment. So if make a mistake you will learn from it, instead of setting the project back or worse. Better to make the mistakes in the project exercise than in the real world. Anyone who reads this book and completes the exercise should have just about all the knowledge available to Dreamweaver to date. Again, If you use Dreamweaver or want to use Dreamweaver. This book is a must read!
Rating:
Summary: Valuable resource for a professional or shop
Review: This Book is for The Dreamweaver Users who wants to get more out of Dreamweaver. Written mostly for the "Experienced User" But you don't have to be an expert to need or want the advantages that Dreamweaver Mx Templates provide. If you use Dreamweaver Templates, You know how handy they can be.
If you've used Dreamweaver Templates, You also know how confusing they can be. This Book highlights the best aspects of MX Templates. The How and Why you should use them in the working environment. How to speed up production and just make your job easier. This book is easy to navigate. If you have any experience with Dreamweaver or the Internet, all you really have to know is, what it is do you want to do. This book covers topics not covered in the Dreamweaver manual and explains in further detail topics that do cross over. If you use Dreamweaver or want to use Dreamweaver. This book is a must read! Here are some highlights that I found very helpful: Library Items: Library Items aren't new and have been covered in previous Dreamweaver manuals. Dreamweaver MX-templates put Library Items in a perspective that show you how to use all the elements of Dreamweaver that work together to give you the full benefit of Dreamweaver MX. Snippets: Anyone who's ever wrote HTML has used snippets, even if you didn't realize it. If you've ever veiwed the source of a page to see how it's been done, or had to go back into a site and grab code you've already written to apply it to a new site in a different environment , You've used snippets. Snippets allow you to save parts "snippets" of code to reuse over and over again. Snippets are available under windows in the snippets panel. Unlike library Items, snippets aren't updateable site wide. A find and replace could save you some time and provide similar results if used carefully. Templates and Regions
This section goes in to further detail on how to use templates to their fullest extent. The sections on Nested templates and Editable Regions should clear up any confusion anyone may have or had using Templates in this way. I know I couldn't have figured it out without this book or a one on one tutor. Dreamweaver MX-templates also covers overlooked topics like the importance of removing dreamweaver markup. Section 2 The Project: Covers exercises to use on your computer and examples of templates to download. The project was great because it puts you in a working environment with out the stress of a working environment. So if make a mistake you will learn from it, instead of setting the project back or worse. Better to make the mistakes in the project exercise than in the real world. Anyone who reads this book and completes the exercise should have just about all the knowledge available to Dreamweaver to date. Again, If you use Dreamweaver or want to use Dreamweaver. This book is a must read!
Rating:
Summary: wow, templates can do so much!!
Review: This book is really great, and much better than I honestly expected it to be. After all a template is a template.... Well maybe not after reading this book, which shows just how much they can really do.
All of the new template features in Dreamweaver are fully explained. The code examples and pictures work really well to make sure that all of the material is easy to follow even when it looks really complex at first sight. The examples are clear and concise with full steps throughs where required.
There are loads of Dreamweaver books out there, but for anyone who really wants to get to grips with templates and reuning the same information on any page, this book should be on the must have list.
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