Book Video Training: Cartoon Smart: Dreamweaver Mega Package

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Cartoon Smart: Dreamweaver Mega Package

Cartoon Smart - Dreamweaver Mega Package 357 MB -> 1.18 GB

From the Basics to CSS, PHP, Javascript, Mail Forms, Client Logins & More!

Part 1 - Stuff You Probably Already Know.
All the basics: Tables, Text, Images, Embedding Flash, FTP (uploading from Dreamweaver)
If you've never taken a course in Dreamweaver, and are fairly new to basic HTML concepts, definitely
pay attention to this course. Past CartoonSmart Students that have taken a previous Dreamweaver course, won't find much new info until around 55:00. New methods of Embedding Flash are discussed, as well as where to write alternate text for search engines to spider. And finally, how to make a Flash movie transparent, to see through to the html below (1:05:00)

Part 2 - Text Formatting and Design Layout with CSS
CSS gets discussed a little in every lesson from here on, but this video focuses primarily on it. The first 23 minutes go into what exactly CSS is, how it works, and where to write it. For this part of the lesson, we'll apply CSS mostly to text examples (color changes, font size, font type , etc). From around 23:00 onwards, the video goes into how to use CSS to layout your designs. This is a big departure for those of you that usually lay out your HTML page using tables or frames. This is one of the cooler aspects of CSS. The video also goes into how to set multiple Page Styles using an external css page or display different content for handheld devices. (45:00)

Part 3 - Basics of PHP and Coding a PHP Mail Form
From 0:00 to 13:00, the video discusses how to write PHP variables and create a simple IF / ELSE statement to write html to the screen based on a true false variable.
13:00 to 42:30 teaches how to build an image gallery using query string variables to control which image is currently being seen. This is a common method for web comics sites, that have an archive of images. Instead of creating a new HTML page for each image, one PHP page changes the current image and href links based on a PHP variable.
42:30 till the end, teaches how to build a simple form and PHP submission script. This will mail the contents of the form to an email address. A host to upload to is required for testing the PHP files, but you do not need access to a database.

Part 4 - Various Buttons and Navigation Methods
0:00 to 3:00 Simple Jump Menu (pulldown from a list of links, and select one to go there)
3:00 to 6:30 Navigation Bar with rollover images.
6:00 - 10:00 Javascript Rollover images
11:00 - 36:00 Using CSS for rollover tabs. This part also gets into some design issues as well.
37:00 - 41:00 New SPRY Dropdown navigation bar (Dreamweaver CS3 Users have this new feature)
42:00 - 1:00:00 How to program a simple drop down menu using CSS. Many very key CSS concepts are discussed.
1:00:30 - 1:13:00 Flash Buttons and Flash navigation devices
1:13 to 1: 26 How to reveal hidden content using CSS. Useful for rollover / pop up images or "more info" type boxes

Part 5 - Variable Contingent Designs, PHP based Client Login and Javascript Examples
0:00 to 23:00 - Using an Entrance Page to a site to gather user info (like what Country they are from) Then diverts them to a unique page or a common page that uses a different external css file based on their info. This uses CSS and PHP. This could also be used for triggering randomly different page styles.
23:00 - 45:00 programming a PHP based client login. Note this doesn't make use of a database. You would enter username and password info for a particular client into a PHP file, which would then be checked against everytime the client went to login. This is a simplistic login, but good for web developers looking to give their clients hidden preview pages to look at work. PHP session variables are also taught.
45:00 to 57:00 Javascript Examples. Pop up Window, Fullscreen, Automatic Page Resize, Image Rollovers and Shaking the screen (pointless, but fun)

Part 6 - Odds and Ends - Quicktime Embed Code, Meta Tags, Site Map, Final Design
0:00 - 2:00 Automatically refresh pages based on a number of seconds
2:00 - 8:00 New IE7 friendly method for embedding Quicktime.
8:00 - 15:00 Search Engine Optimization tips. Nothing spectacularly unique, but stuff you should definitely do. Meta tags, titles, site map.
15:00 - 30:00 Image Optimization technique using sliced images
31:00 to 46:00 : Putting everything together into a final design and some last minute thoughts / tips!