[WEB400] RE: Dreamweaver

["Joe Pluta" <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Nathan, I'm cross-posting this to WEB400-L, where it's probably a little
more appropriate.


> From: Nathan M. Andelin
>
> > From: "Joe Pluta" <joepluta@PlutaBrothers.com>
> > If anybody's interested, I've just put up a new version of
> > my website designed with Macromedia Dreamweaver.
>
> Joe,
>
> The tab layout on your new site is quite appealing to me.  Did Dreamweaver
> provide the images for the tabs?  And did it generate the JavaScript to
> highlight the green ball on the tabs?

I stole the tab design from, of all things, VAJ.  I use a package called
Paint Shop Pro that allows me to capture anything on my screen.  I captured
a tab from VAJ and then made it bigger.

The original ball I made with Powerpoint.  I made two different colored
balls and copyied them into Paint Shop Pro.  I manually added the little
highlight in the upper left corner of the "lit" ball.

Each tab has three versions: gray unlit, gray lit and white lit.  Each page
has its own tab in white, while the other tabs are gray.  The normal tab is
unlit, while the mouseover is lit.  Dreamweaver allowed me to define the
gray images and their rollovers quite easily (see below).


> Unless I'm missing something, MS FrontPage 2000 doesn't provide
> much support
> for dynamic visual effects with HTML, JavaScript, and images.  Is
> Dreamweaver more robust in that type of thing?

Dreamweaver shines here.  The ability to place an image and then assign an
event to mouseover that replaces the image is very powerful and easy to use.
It's not 100% intuitive at first, because it's so flexible (rolling over one
image allows you to change the contents of another - VERY powerful, but a
little confusing).  However, once you get it, it's very easy to use.

Dreamweaver is not cheap, but the 30 day free trial should allow you to
decide whether it's worth the money.

Joe