Adobe Dreamweaver CS3

 

Review by

 

Phillip Hebenstreit

Web Graphics & Design Forum of Grand Rapids, Michigan

 

 

 

  

 Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 includes all the features that are expected of a web development environment, such as, the webpage view (WYSIWYG Interface), code view and a combined webpage/code view. The layout and features are very intuitive for a new user while the Dreamweaver panels (menus) on the right side of the screen provide easy access to advanced features, such as CSS Styles, Application dynamic data, Tag inspector and project files.

 

For the beginning web developer Dreamweaver’s wizards automatically help setup FTP or WebDAV connections to your website(s) and are available to help with other features, especially the new SPRY widgets. While the code view allows quick and easy access to website components and code for advanced users.

 

The Spry framework for AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) offers easy access to what used to be advanced website features including collapsible panels, accordion menus, tabbed panels, menu bars and validation text areas. These being just a few of the many SPRY widgets available, but being common requests they are right on the convenient Spry menu bar for easy access while designing your website.

 

Dreamweaver CS3 provides advanced support for Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) providing 32 built-in layouts along with making it easy to create your own CSS layout documents from the File/New Document/ menu. There are plenty of inline comments in the code to help you learn CSS, if you don’t already

 

Wither collaborating on a website or fully managing a site yourself, Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 has you covered there too. With support for FTP and WebDAV (Website Distributed Authoring and Versioning) you can easily work with any website. Check-in/check-out pages upload changes or make changes directly on the server Dreamweaver CS3 lets you design the page and handles the management of the page for you. If at anytime you need or want to take control you simply go to the File Panel on the right side of the screen for more advanced control.

 

Dreamweaver CS3 provides all the features you need for any modern webpage development while giving your access to advanced features and collaboration as your needs grow. Wizards, inline comments and help files assist you along the way. You will be able to quickly produce a rich and modern website.