May 24, 2015

Golden Oldies: Design Tips That Stand The Test Of Time – Almost

Many sites today, in addition to a liberal sprinkling of graphics in the banner and in the body, have graphic navigation systems. Navigation systems have become more elaborate, as sites have evolved from 6-page brochure-like entities to full-fledged multimedia sites with multiple web applications. Coinciding with the shift in online content is a shift in the metaphor used for designing web graphics. Less and less do we see ourselves designing “pages”; instead, we now find ourselves designing Read more [...]
May 24, 2015

Golden Oldies: Page Speed Tips from 2001

Both Fireworks MX and Dreamweaver MX share many similar interface elements and editing procedures. In addition, the integration between the graphics creation program and the HTML authoring program are so tight that it is easy to produce a seamless collaborative workflow for graphics creation, optimization, and delivery into your web pages. When designing images and graphical components for your site, bear in mind that every single image, from an advertisement to a spacer increases the length of Read more [...]
May 24, 2015

Golden Oldies: Fireworks MX as a Wireframer

One of the best, and most often overlooked, uses of Fireworks is to create whole page designs with it. Its always editable vector graphics make the trial and error so important to the creative process painless. You can move things around, resize them, or change their color if you don’t like them. You can create a design and multiple variations by simply copying and pasting objects. Because Fireworks designs don’t rest on HTML like Dreamweaver designs do, you can redo entire structures using drag Read more [...]
May 24, 2015

Golden Oldies: Using Placeholder Images in Dreamweaver MX

At the earliest stages of creating and laying out a design or graphical components for your interface, you may not have the finished graphics to work with; indeed, you may not have any graphics at all. Trying to create a design and evaluating the size of images for layout purposes can be nearly impossible at times without the actual images. But sometimes a project just cannot wait for the final graphics—you need to get started. In such cases, you should use the image placeholder object to lay Read more [...]
May 24, 2015

Golden Oldies: Server Side Includes

If you are using ColdFusion, Active Server Pages, PHP or another server-side scripting language, you have the ability to create server-side include files. These are text files containing code that is inserted into your pages before the web server sends them to visiting web browsers. Because multiple HTML pages can link to the same include file, it is also possible to change the include file and have it instantly update in all of the pages that use it. Although similar to linking scripts, include Read more [...]
May 24, 2015

Dreamweaver Asset Maintenance in a New Site Build

I've recently found a whole bunch of tips, tricks and just plain common sense articles and snippets I wrote over a decade ago in relation to Macromedia Dreamweaver. Whilst they may be a slightly archaic, they are still relevant to this day in CS6 and CC versions. The following lists suggests several ways to get the most out of existing assets during a site redesign without letting those assets undermine your ability to create a new site optimized for maintenance. • Don’t throw everything Read more [...]