Get the best out of the DW Server Behavior Builder

The Server Behavior Builder (SBB) has been part of Dreamweaver for a long time, but few people seem to realize just how useful it can be in speeding up development with PHP or other server-side languages. What makes the SBB so powerful is its ability to insert commonly used blocks of code simultaneously in different parts of the page. Just add placeholders for values that will be different each time, and Dreamweaver automatically builds a dialog box for you to fill in.

The beauty of the Server Behavior Builder is that it’s not dependent on Dreamweaver’s built-in server behaviors. You can use it with your own code or in conjunction with a third-party PHP library, such as the Zend Framework.

I’m thrilled to have been chosen to present a hands-on demonstration of using the SBB at Adobe MAX in Los Angeles at 3:30pm on Tuesday, 26 October. It’s a BYOL (bring your own laptop) Lab. I’ll be showing how to create several useful tools to speed up PHP development, and I’ll also show you how to package your server behaviors as Dreamweaver extensions, so you can move them quickly to another computer or share them with friends and colleagues.

Even if you’ve learned about the SBB from my books, this session will go into greater detail, and will be based on new material. All the necessary files will be provided. Just bring yourself and a laptop. So, register for Adobe MAX 2010 and sign up for my BYOL Lab. See you in LA!

Posted in Dreamweaver, PHP | Leave a comment

DW CS5 with PHP book on Rough Cuts

If you would like to get early access to my next book “Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 with PHP: Training from the Source”, the first six chapters (of 12) are now available as Rough Cuts in Creative Edge and Safari Books Online.

If you have a Safari Library subscription, you can view the chapters free of charge, and see new ones as they’re added. Without a subscription, you can get access to the book in PDF format for $34.99, including the finished ebook version when the book is complete. You can also opt for the Rough Cuts PDF and Print bundle for $67.48. The print version is expected to be released in early August.

The chapters currently available are Lessons 1-3 and 4-7, covering the following subjects:

  • An in-depth look at all the PHP features in Dreamweaver CS5
  • Instructions for setting up a local PHP development environment
  • A quick PHP crash course (or refresher)
  • Creating your own database in MySQL
  • Using Dreamweaver server behaviors for automatic code generation
  • Building a robust user registration system with Zend_Validate and Zend_Db

Chapters still to come concentrate heavily on using selected modules of the Zend Framework for sending email, uploading files, and building a content management system. (To avoid any misunderstanding, the book does not use the MVC design pattern—it follows what the ZF documentation calls “use at will” design, making use of individual components.)

Posted in Books, Dreamweaver, MySQL, PHP | 12 Comments

New extension to convert colours to RGBA

CSS3 offers a new way to define colours: RGBA. This extends the RGB (red, green, blue) colour model to include alpha transparency. Unfortunately, RGBA does not accept hexadecimal values for colours. So, I have created a free Dreamweaver extension that converts from hexadecimal (or the 17 named colours) to RGBA. It’s free, and can be downloaded from the Tools page on this site.

Posted in CSS, Dreamweaver | 2 Comments

Lorem and More updated for Dreamweaver CS5

During testing of Dreamweaver CS5, I discovered that my filler-text extension, Lorem and More, caused it to crash under certain circumstances. I have updated the code in the extension to make it compatible with Dreamweaver CS5. Please download Lorem and More 1.3.0 if you’re upgrading to Dreamweaver CS5 or using the trial version.

Although it’s not necessary to upgrade Lorem and More if you’re using an older version of Dreamweaver, it’s compatible with all versions of Dreamweaver from DW4 to CS5.

My thanks to fellow Adobe Community Professional, Danilo Celic, for helping identify the cause of the incompatibility with CS5.

Posted in Dreamweaver | Leave a comment

Dreamweaver CS5 is good news for PHP devs

Book coverSo, Adobe has finally released details of Creative Suite 5, and you’ll be able to get your hands on it at the end of this month. As the author of a forthcoming book on Dreamweaver (Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 with PHP: Training from the Source), I’ve had the opportunity to explore the new features of Dreamweaver CS5 for some time. Here are my thoughts.

When CS4 was released 18 months ago, I described it as the “most significant release of Dreamweaver since Dreamweaver MX ”. To my mind, Dreamweaver CS5 just blows CS4 out of the water. Before I explain why, let me address the negatives. At least three groups of people are going to be disappointed by this new release:

  • Early adopters of HTML5 and CSS3—support is close to zero.
  • Developers of dynamic sites hoping for new server behaviors—there aren’t any.
  • Former users of GoLive—Dreamweaver CS5 hasn’t incorporated any features from GL.

With the debate that has been raging over Apple’s decision to ban Flash from the iPad and iPhone in the name of HTML5 and “web standards”, many will be stunned to learn that the only concession to HTML5 in Dreamweaver CS5 is the option to use an HTML5 DOCTYPE. There’s also no support for CSS3. Has Adobe missed the boat on this? In publicity terms, maybe. In reality, I don’t think so. Continue reading

Posted in Books, CSS, Dreamweaver, PHP | 47 Comments

New tutorials and articles

I have just added to my site a tutorial on converting a Spry Menu Bar into a server-side include. I have also been busy adding a bunch of brief articles to the Dreamweaver Cookbook on the Adobe site.

I answer a lot of questions in the Dreamweaver forums, and realized that a lot of the solutions I was coming up with for people weren’t easy to find after a couple of days. So, rather than letting them disappear into cyberoblivion, I decided to add any of general interest to the cookbook when I had a few spare moments. The Dreamweaver Cookbook is intended for code samples, and doesn’t have the capability of including screenshots, so I’ll continue posting longer tutorials on my own site. But I hope you’ll find my contributions to the cookbook useful.

Here are direct links to some of the articles I have added to the Dreamweaver Cookbook:

The Dreamweaver Cookbook is open to anyone to either request recipes or contribute recipes of their own. It could turn into a very useful resource if people start using it regularly. Check it out!

Posted in AJAX/JavaScript, Dreamweaver, MySQL, PHP | 15 Comments

Getting StartED with CSS now available

My latest book, Getting StartED with CSS, has been published, and is already in stock at Amazon.com. “Who needs yet another book on CSS?” you may ask. The reason I wrote it is because I felt the process of learning CSS was made too hard by the books that I used to learn it. Let’s face it. Learning CSS can be an uphill struggle. It’s not because the basic syntax is difficult. In fact, it’s quite easy. The main problem lies in the infinite number of ways you can combine properties and selectors to achieve the effect you want. Another big problem has been the inconsistency in the way browsers have rendered CSS.

This second problem is finally becoming less acute, thanks to the release of Internet Explorer 8 in March this year. IE8 supports the whole of CSS2.1, and its accurate rendering of CSS puts it on a level with other standards-compliant browsers, such as Firefox, Safari, and Opera. Getting StartED with CSS was written after the release of IE8, so it’s bang up to date; and it concentrates on CSS as rendered by modern browsers, rather than getting bogged down in details of hacks to persuade older browsers to behave. However, since the bane of web designers’ lives, IE6, is likely to be around for some time to come, the book does offer advice on how to deal with the most common bugs in IE6.

Where I hope my book stands out from others is in the way it avoids throwing a whole load of theory at your before you can achieve anything practical with CSS. Instead of forcing you to wade through a detailed explanation of classes and other selectors before you start using CSS, I show you how to achieve practical results with the most basic selector of all, the type (or tag) selector, which redefines the default look of HTML tags. I don’t get into classes until Chapter 4 (of 12).

Another difference is the way I approach the box model, an understanding of which is essential to working with CSS. Instead of bamboozling you with a whole pile of theory, I devote a whole chapter to showing how margins are used to create space between elements and lay them out. The following chapter builds on this by discussing how to add backgrounds and borders. Finally, a third chapter brings the whole box model together by adding padding, width, and height into the mix. My aim is that by introducing each aspect of the box model gradually, you build up a better understanding of how it all fits together. By the of the twelfth chapter, you have studied all visual and print properties in CSS2.1, including some of the less well-known ones, such as generated content.

Perhaps my only disappointment with the book is that it’s printed in black and white. However, the plus side is that the publisher has given it a relatively inexpensive price tag, at least for a computer book. The cover price is $24.99, and many online sellers are offering it for a discount. Sadly, the price is more expensive outside the USA, but that always seems to be the case with books.

The book’s companion website contains a complete reference to all CSS2.1 visual and print properties, and selectors, together with lots of examples of the properties in action. I hope you’ll find the site useful even if you don’t buy the book. But, of course, I hope you will decide to buy. ;)

Posted in Books, CSS | 16 Comments

Meet me at MAX

In a few hours’ time, I get in a plane and fly off to Los Angeles for Adobe MAX. It’s my first time in southern California, so I’m really looking forward to it. It will also be great to hang out with like-minded people for a few days. Writing books can be a lonely occupation at times. If you’re going to MAX, look out for me and say “Hi!” If you’re lucky, you might even get a free copy of one of my books.

Posted in Books | 5 Comments

Adding an Adobe Bridge web gallery to a site

For the past two versions, Dreamweaver has come bundled with Adobe Bridge, a program that’s designed to make it easy to sort through visual assets, such as photographs, PDFs, and Flash movies. The idea behind Bridge is that it gives you quick access to items that you might want to work with in different parts of the Adobe Creative Suite. It’s particularly useful for Flash developers who want to build part of their movie in Illustrator or Photoshop. However, most Dreamweaver users seem to remain blissfully ignorant of its existence; or if they do know about it, they leave Bridge firmly shut.

That’s a shame, because Bridge has some very useful features. I use it frequently for batch renumbering my photos and for selecting photos to use in websites. The thumbnail images can be resized, making light work of choosing the best photo to zap into Photoshop and optimize for a web page. The other great feature in Bridge is what is called the Adobe Output Module. Among other things, this creates Flash-based web galleries of your visual assets. It’s incredibly easy to use, and produces really nice results.

The only problem is that the HTML file generated by Bridge makes the Flash movie fill the entire browser window, making it impossible to incorporate the gallery into an existing website. Well, it’s not really impossible. All it needs is a little editing of the HTML and JavaScript. I have created a new tutorial with step-by-step instructions to show how to incorporate an Adobe Bridge web gallery into a website. I hope you find it useful.

Posted in AJAX/JavaScript, Dreamweaver, Flash | 36 Comments

Customizing a Spry Menu Bar

About a year ago, Adobe asked me if I would become a moderator for Dreamweaver Community Help. The idea was to encourage people to use the Dreamweaver online Help files more frequently on the assumption that people would be more willing to do so if power users answered their questions promptly. It’s certainly worked. The problem is that some Help pages have become overwhelmed with questions. One of them is Customizing a Spry Menu Bar Widget.

It’s obvious that people love the ability to create a menu bar in seconds, but they hate banging their head on their keyboard trying to figure out how to edit the CSS. In response, I’ve created a couple of tutorials that are now live on my site. The first one goes into considerable detail, explaining the basics of customizing the CSS of a Spry Menu Bar, with instructions for both horizontal and vertical menu bars. The other, shorter tutorial shows how to centre a horizontal menu bar. I hope you find them useful.

Posted in AJAX/JavaScript, CSS, Dreamweaver | 25 Comments