[thelist] Dreamweaver and hand-coding

[Burhan Khalid]

Peter-Paul Koch wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I'm writing a course User Interface & Web Design in which I have to
> treat Dreamweaver, too. The problem is that I know nothing about
> Dreamweaver, except that it exists. So I'd like to ask a bit of help
> from the list.
> 
> The course will of course lay heavy emphasis on hand-coding,
> cross-browser checking and such, and the Dreamweaver chapter will
> start with a warning not to rely on it too much.
> 
> What I'm looking for are people who pride themselves on their ability
> to hand-code a site, but nonetheless use Dreamweaver to speed up
> certain coding phases. For them I have the following questions:
> 
> - Which Dreamweaver functions do you find most useful? Where can I
> find these functions? (short answers, please)

Code Snippets
Code Reference
Application
Tag Inspector

> - Which Dreamweaver functions should we avoid?

Personally, I don't like the remote site function (the FTP & RDS servers 
option). I find that it makes redundant connections, and if you have a 
lot of sites in your list, startup time in Dreamweaver slows down.

> - Do you have any tips and tricks for beginning hand-coders who want
> to use Dreamweaver?

Make sure you choose the "Coder" layout preference when you are using 
Dreamweaver. (To switch, Edit --> Preferences --> General --> Change 
Workspace).

Make sure you go through the Snippets library, which can cut your coding 
time by providing quick shortcuts to common tasks.

Peter -- you can get a trial version of Dreamweaver if you want to test 
out some of its features.  Check 
http://www.macromedia.com/products/dreamweaver

Love your quirksmode site :)