Description
Originally produced by
Macromedia and bought by Adobe in 2005, Dreamweaver is a web
development program that is design to facilitate the creation and
maintenance of websites. With A WSYIWYG interface,
Dreamweaver has different modes of operation, including the ability to
display HTML code (code view), hide HTML code (design view), or provide
a split screen that allows the user to view the HTML code in one screen
and displays only the content and look of the page being created or
edited in another. The ability to hide HTML so that the user
sees only how a page will look is one of the features that makes the
program appealing to users with little or web design experience.
Newer versions of Dreamweaver have the capacity to provide greater
support to designs using codes other than HTML, and have increased
support for CSS and Javascript. It can also support a range
of small extension programs, should the more experienced user want to
accomplish an effect that isn’t available using
Dreamweaver. A range of templates and effects, however, are
provided within the program, allowing the user to pick the one most
appropriate to their needs.
Diagram 1.1: Dreamweaver User Interface
(click image to enlarge, 192 kB png)
Diagram 3.1 and 3.2 clearly show the windows based layout of
Dreamweaver. The top of the screen shows the main navigation
bar that contains a row of drop down menu functions, the left side of
the screen contains the list of local files that can be used under a
range of icons and buttons that allow the user to navigate to other
files and folders, the “view” options can be found
at the top left of the window containing the page currently being
worked on (in this example, it is set to “design”
view), and the document title is clearly displayed in the top centre of
the workspace window. It is a format that the most Windows or
Mac users are familiar with, and would find easy to navigate through in
order to create a web page, and the “help” function
at the right of the main navigation bar will also provide assistance
should questions be necessary.
Diagram 1.2: Dreamweaver Dropdown Menus
(click image to enlarge, 408 kB png)
Evaluation
As a prototyping tool, Dreamweaver
should definitely be able to provide interactive wireframes and
clickable prototypes. Julie Stanford, in her 2006 article
“Dreamweaver Primer” highly recommends Dreamweaver for
prototyping because “it is easy to learn, offers palettes with
all the necessary interface widgets, and has built-in project
management tools like source control, which is useful if you are
working with a team.”
For all that Dreamweaver is designed to be easy to use from a
functional perspective, as well as providing a wide range of elements
that result in a polished looking final product, there are some
criticisms of the latest version.
Mendelsen (2007) finds that the “overstuffed menus and toolbars
can be intimidating and confusing”, that some of the most
frequently used menus are hidden in inconvenient places, and that users
need to watch the messages that pop up on the screen so as not to miss
anything important, such as broken links or incorrect code.
Despite these observations, Mendelsen (2007) concludes that the new version of Dreamweaver is much improved, as it is "the only Web editor that does everything."
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