September 2, 2010

New Blog…Oh No, Not Another Blog

41 comments

Today, I launch a new blog. Let’s hope it lasts longer than my last blog.

Memo to self: keep posting to blog.

  1. September 6, 2010 at 2:42 am
    Brian Rouley says:

    I finally am getting a handle on CSS – after I bought your book, I took a 22 lesson on-line tutorial, then I used you book to figure out how to adjust colors. Lucky for you, I REALLY like books. Lucky for me, people who put these resources on-line seem to be incredibly generous! Maybe I’m just never going to get used to getting something for nothing and I’ll always want to have something I can hold and read. Thanks.

    • September 7, 2010 at 2:35 pm
      Dave McFarland says:

      Hi Brian,

      I’m glad my book has helped! And thanks for buying my book!

  2. September 6, 2010 at 2:44 am
    Brian Rouley says:

    “then I used you book”

    Should be; then I used your book

    Note to self: read what you have written, before you press that submit button.

    BR

  3. September 14, 2010 at 4:24 pm
    Lars Hundere says:

    I too am benefitting greatly from this book. I had enjoyed your recent edition of MM for CSS so much that it made it difficult to get over my anti-Adobe prejudice and start getting productive in Deamweaver.

    Thanks for a job well done.

    • September 21, 2010 at 4:15 pm
      Dave McFarland says:

      Thanks Lars!

      –dave

  4. September 16, 2010 at 5:34 pm
    Rajan says:

    Hi Dave,

    This is Rajan. I am a PhD student in Organic Chemistry at Oregon State University. I am just a computer enthusiast. I was fascinated by the web since the moment I browsed the internet for the first time. Of course, then the obsession to control the way web pages look like entailed. Your book (Dreamweaver CS4: The Missing Manual) helped tons. I really like it.
    Keep up the good work.
    Rajan

    • September 21, 2010 at 4:16 pm
      Dave McFarland says:

      Hi Rajan,

      Thanks for the comments. Glad the book has helped. Go Beavers!

      –dave

  5. September 20, 2010 at 9:16 pm
    craig harris says:

    I bought your CSS missing manual book. It’s really excellent,.. thanks!
    I just ordered your dreamweaver cs5 book. It’s very big! Have you or anyone else written more of a “how to construct and structure a non-trivial website according to best practices” tutorial? More of a recipe book or tutorial? The descriptions in your books are great but I’m looking for ways to accelerate constructing a website with dreamweaver while structuring it well in terms of anticipating future changes and maintenance.

    • September 21, 2010 at 4:19 pm
      Dave McFarland says:

      Hi Craig,

      Glad you like my book. Yes the CS5 book is a monster (makes a great door stop.) I don’t have a tutorial on structuring a large scale site. What you’re after is a book on information architecture and site design. You might check out the book “Interact with Web Standards.” It has lots of good material including some information on structuring sites.

      Best of luck

      –dave

  6. September 20, 2010 at 10:17 pm
    Joie says:

    hi Dave,
    I enjoy reading your book. It is very good. I learn a lot from it.

    • September 21, 2010 at 4:20 pm
      Dave McFarland says:

      Hi Joie,

      Glad you like my book!

      –dave

  7. September 23, 2010 at 2:00 am
    bond007 says:

    Can you please tell me why you 404′d the DW MX2004 tutorial??? The respective Missing Manual is still being sold! Could you please reactivate the link? Thank you.

    • September 30, 2010 at 8:10 pm
      Dave McFarland says:

      Hi,

      The DWMX2004 tutorials are back up: http://sawmac.com/dwmx2004/
      Thanks for pointing out this error.

      –dave

  8. September 28, 2010 at 5:31 pm
    Paul says:

    Hi Dave,

    I really enjoyed your Dreamweaver The Missing Manual book–not sure how I would have gotten by without it.

    As a volunteer, I am trying to create a couple of simple websites. I would like to use this opportunity to learn and create a couple of model websites using CSS, layers, and templates. I would very much like to be able to make style changes once for all my pages.

    However, I am having trouble coming up with a good way to have my standard Nav bar as part of my template. How can I keep the template, with Nav bar, linked to my pages and have each page show up with it’s related menu button down image showing (so the user can easily see which page they are on by looking at the menu)? If you have a solution in one of your books, I would love to know which book and chapter.

    -Paul

  9. September 29, 2010 at 7:18 pm
    Ari Ogoke says:

    Hi Dave,

    I clicked the link to “Defining a Site in Dreamweaver CS4″ and nothing happened. Is this just me or is something wrong with the link?

    Ari

  10. October 13, 2010 at 6:53 am
    Rajan says:

    Hi Dave,

    I have checked out your book on CSS. Extremely helpful. Simply a must. I am planning to get hold of your JavaScript missing manual.
    I have a question, if you do not mind. I have been trying to set up a photo-gallery on my site similar to the one on the following link. Please disregard the contents of the site.

    http://patrijarh-pavle.spc.rs/fotografije.htm

    If you click on the pictures on the right gallery, a picture pops up. Do you explain how to do this anywhere in your books? If not, please just give me a hint what techniques or software is used here. Thank you so much.

  11. October 13, 2010 at 11:41 pm
    Derek Xava says:

    Hi Dave,

    All my recent web design coursework has been online and faceless, so your Missing Manual CSS was a relief with its occasional snarky comments and knowing smiles. I wish we had used your other books as well, to the degree that I’ve bought your MM JavaScript & Dreamweaver texts as my chief references. Actually, I bought all 3 books twice, since the first set was ruined by a rather determined smooshy banana in the bottom of my book bag.

    Thanks for the extra measured doses of enlightenment here as well.

    • October 14, 2010 at 4:57 pm
      Dave McFarland says:

      Hi Derek,

      Thanks for buying my books (twice!). Darn those smooshy bananas!

  12. October 15, 2010 at 12:35 pm
    David Mathew says:

    Your CSS: The missing manual was absolutely tremendous. Thanks. I have a question, though. My aim is to manage my small business website, which has static pages plus, for specific clients, a set of online questionnaires. Reports are automatically produced through PHP, MySQL and a pdf publisher.(System was set up by stepson, now headhunted by Microsoft, hence my wanting to become self-sufficient)

    My original plan was to learn xhtml and css, now done, next PHP and MySQL, then javascript. However, several web developers have suggested that I learn Dreamweaver next, and guffaw when I say I use Notepad ++. I have your Dreamweaver and javascript books. What to do? Advice much appreciated.

  13. October 18, 2010 at 6:06 pm
    Miguel says:

    But where is your blog, David?

  14. October 18, 2010 at 8:15 pm
    David M says:

    Thanks for the fabulous CSS missing manual. I am learning how to look after my own small company website. It’s mainly static pages so the html and css I learnt over the summer will be just fine. However, it also has a page where selected clients can enter an area of our three online “360″ questionnaires. Reports are produced automatically in pdf format when I, as administrator, click on a button on the questionnaire administrator page. I need to learn PHP and MySQL and javascript and Dreamweaver to manage this properly. Long term project, obviously, but which order to learn them in? I have your javascript and Dreamweaver books. Which order would you recommend. Very grateful for guidance. David

  15. November 12, 2010 at 9:53 am
    Aditya Menon says:

    Hi , i recently bought your book Missing Manual
    javascript , css and dreamweaver cs5.
    I am getting a catch over dreamweaver and css,
    but then in javascript , the illustration of toggleClass() function in page 186 , did not clear my doubts , in fact i am having few difficulties beyond this point , help please?

  16. November 12, 2010 at 9:58 pm
    Rob Owen says:

    Hi,
    I’ve just bought your MM CSS book (second edition) Enjoying it so far!
    BUT – I can’t download the tutorial files from:
    “http://files.sawmac.com/CSS2e_MM_TUTORIALS.zip”
    I just get the message: “Server not found”, even though I can view the rest of your website perfectly. Any help would be appreciated.
    Thanks.

  17. November 13, 2010 at 3:25 am
    Jim Durtschi says:

    Dave,
    I’m wanting to setup a virtual host but when I select the link at the bottom of the ‘Installing MAMP’ page (http://sawmac.com/mamp/) it takes me to a XAMPP page and when I try to use the link from P.824 note in ‘Dreamweaver CS4, TMM’ at ‘www.sawmac.com/mamp/localhosts’ it takes me to an error page. Do you have a new address for that page?
    By the way, your book is great. I believe it’s the best written computer book I’ve ever bought.
    Thanks,
    Jim

    • November 16, 2010 at 10:21 pm
      Dave McFarland says:

      Hi,

      Thanks for pointing out this error. I’ve fixed the link on the page. Here’s the actual link: http://sawmac.com/mamp/virtual/

  18. November 13, 2010 at 10:38 pm
    Matthew says:

    Enjoying you Dreamweaver CS5, and as a complete beginner I’m amazed how well your book is put together. Ever though of writing one for WordPress. Or are you aware of any books from anyone with your talent and ability to explain all the necessary details of wordpress and walk through gradually progressive test drives like you do so well in yours? Would enjoy your suggestions. And thanks for all the great info on Dreamweaver CS5.

    • November 16, 2010 at 10:23 pm
      Dave McFarland says:

      Hi,

      Check out Head First WordPress. It’s a good place to start. Then I’d recommend “Digging Into WordPress” http://digwp.com/

  19. November 28, 2010 at 3:48 am
    Michael Hughes says:

    Hey Dave …

    I cannot seem to get Connecting to database to work on page 852. I I get the error message “An unidentified error has occurred”. I checked behind and everything seems to be in order. Do you have any ideas?

    Thanks, Michael

  20. December 21, 2010 at 9:38 pm
    John G says:

    Hey Dave, i am developing a site and i found your book extremely useful. One question i have is just how to get the email to actually send in the sign up sheet.

    Thanks,
    John

  21. January 10, 2011 at 7:08 am
    Cesar says:

    Hi Dave!

    I just bought your Missing Manual for CSS and im really enjoying it, first time ever that i have been laughing many times while reading a technical book, you have a great writting style, and the examples are really good.

    Greetings from México.

  22. January 18, 2011 at 9:54 am
    francois says:

    Hi Dave
    Worked through your CSS book, and loved it, I like your light hearted readability, and I nailed it… only to leave it too long and am now rusty. But, I am beginning the dreamweaver CS4 book which I also have, and since that covers CSS, it might refresh me. BUT theres a dang CS5 in the works, and I could buy it and then I would need to buy the new book. Can you tell me (honestley!) if it is worth doing that, or are the differences between the two books and upgrades too trivial – I did notice CSS templates have been added to CS5, but I would have thought we went through that in the CSS book? Also, all this PSP and servers and RSS feeding going on, and WordPress… people saying dreamweaver is old style and everything is Drupal… it doesn’t help the learnin curve!

  23. January 18, 2011 at 9:55 am
    francois says:

    Forgot to add thanks, before hitting the post key..

    Thanks!

  24. February 23, 2011 at 10:35 pm
    Gail says:

    I like your book very much – helpful and clear. I bought MAMP at your recommendation and can’t get it to display my pages. Can anyone out there help me?

  25. March 10, 2011 at 12:22 pm
    Janice says:

    I’m using the manual for Dreamweaver CS3 with version CS4 and so far, a lot of it still applies and has been enormously helpful. I’m totally stumped by getting images with a Spry detail region, though. I get all the text info from the XML page but what code do I use to have Spry recognize an image link and show the image? Example- page 496 of the DW CS3 manual. Any help with be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

  26. April 4, 2011 at 12:18 pm
    kurian Joseph says:

    Hi Dave,
    I,m about to order the Dreamweaver cs5 missing manual as i’m eager to learn dreamweaver cs5,but the negative comments on the errata of the book pulled me back. I want to know is it that bad and it is made to be your book is full of typo errors. Please clarify.

    • April 13, 2011 at 6:07 pm
      Dave McFarland says:

      Hi,

      There are certainly a few typos, as there are in any 1000 page book. Typos get introduced during writing, editing, and layout by various people (including myself). Of course, we try to catch those and when we don’t, we post errata, and fix the book in later printings. I can say the book is mostly correct and the positive reviews on Amazon and from readers who write to me can attest to the fact that almost everything in the book is accurate.

  27. April 24, 2011 at 4:03 pm
    Robert Miles says:

    Hi

    Is there a problem with operaton of the tutorial files at http://www.sawmac.com/css2e/ as they will not open for me?

  28. October 5, 2011 at 12:50 am
    Jim Durtschi says:

    I have a page with 2 tabs. On both tabs I have a repeat region that has the prev/next buttons. There is a separate quarry for each tab. When I’m in the second tab and select the next btn, it moves to the next set but leaves me in tab1. I’m using a MAC and Dreamweaver CS5 the missing manual. I’ve searched the web and can’t any solutions to this problem. Have you run into this problem before?

    Thanks,
    Jim