Dreamweaver and Fireworks A Dream Package (General Web Design Tips)

Member Name: mr_nice_man

Product:	General Web Design Tips
Date:	11/02/02 (110 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pro Design, Looks Great, Fireworks and DW work with each other

Disadvantages: EXPENSIVE, prone to some bugs

Okay firstly you need Dreamweaver and Fireworks which are both very expensive pieces of kit. Whether you purchased it or not you can still download the free 30 day trial and see for yourself

Dreamweaver has to be the best web making software that money can buy. Although it is an expensive software it does have may advantages when put in comparison to that of Front Page Express and Homestead.

The golden rule is that Homestead and FrontPage sites look very unprofessional, they don?t look like a site that you would trust when giving your credit card info over to. What you need to do is use Dreamweaver whether it is for your company or personal use it is perfect for the job.

When using DW always start by using a template which is a baseline for starting your site around. In the template you should have some of the following:

. Links on the side or on the top, your choice

. Your main banner created by fireworks which I will talk about later

This is the building block for your site. You will use this for every page that you create and it makes it easy to change things if you need to once you have done more of the site. The great thing about DW is that it is compatible with other products by Macromedia. For example if you had made an image in Fireworks and you would want to change it while in DW there is a quick change button which allows you to make quick simple changes.

With DW you will find it fairly simple to use but you must know the basic rules about using it. Here are some things you should know and consider when making the page

. Always use templates as a building block to get your site of the ground with

. Plan the site out before you do it as you will find it will save you lots of time in the future

. Know what you want to do with your site

. Always use TABLES and LAYERS as a way of moving your site around and manipulating it the way that you want it to be

>. Use Fireworks for the design of the pictures and always save pictures in JPG otherwise people could be waiting ages for one picture

If you follow these basic rules then you should be on the way to making a pro site without having to suffer the pain I did when making my first site. In the end the full product is very good and the more you use it the better you become at it.

Fireworks is basically the same as paint shop pro and it is great for working with DW as it is made by the same people as DW. They work as a package and therefore using fireworks really helps when making banners and images for you page. You also can create interactive buttons and scroll won menus for use in your site with DW.

Overall they are a great combo of tools which should set you up on your way to making your first pro site.

One more tip alwasy use a white bg colour, this makes your site look more readable and therefore like a pro site. Keep basic fonts never do fancy fonts always make very clean and crisp design and remember the biggest and most important rule is to use Layers and Tables to manipulate DW.

Download the free trial at Macromedia's site and see for yourself

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