dom.net

Having spent some time engineering the Flash Video Kit, I can appreciate what having OS-level control can do for a media application.

Steps:
1. Open any QuickTime file, or check out the new Star Wars music video.
2. As it plays, hover over the timeline, and activate your mouse's scroll-wheel.
3. What? You don't have a scroll-wheel mouse? Which mouse-button are you using for Exposé?

When you scroll your mouse, the movie steps forward, and back. PERFECT for skipping around a video, looking for clues.

May 17, 2005

My RSS aggregator mysteriously broke, so I patched it up with Magpie.

The trick is to get your cache directory set to the proper permissions (755).

Now check out learning.dom.net and mob.dom.net.

Thanks for the hint, Eric!

May 15, 2005

It's official - I've got my ticket for Apple's WorldWide Developer's Conference next month in San Francisco!

I Heart Apple.

Last year, they provided a pretty stable version of Tiger. I wonder what it'll be this year? What's next?! New hardware? Mobile? I'm cool with whatever.

My goal this year is to come out with a solid Widget or two to share with you all. If you're going this year, look me up!

May 12, 2005

I've started using the "experimental post to del.icio.us".

Creating a link blog was never so easy. Everything has an RSS feed, of course.

People are creating little web apps around it and whatnot.

It's hot. It is like so five minutes from now.

May 11, 2005

Tim Yang: 15 things you can do with RSS (it was supposed to be 10, but I got carried away).

If you're a Mac user, there is also this simple hack for a Gmail notifier.

Catch the drift!

May 9, 2005

In case you're interested, John Dowdell is blogging the Adobe + Macromedia acquisition.

Business as usual.
Move along.

May 7, 2005

Some of you have asked me, "Dom, what Web hosting service would you recommend?" My answer without hesitation is: DreamHost.

Besides the fact that they are really cool people in real life, DreamHost provides unparalleled features and service for the price. Example: they just TRIPLED my disk space and bandwidth. Same price.

PHP, MySQL, one-click blog installation, secure server, WebDAV, counters, Jabber, merchant services, and lots more (plus: humor). They also offer a referral program that has helped me pay for my Web hosting by taking a cut of your fees. So, please use this link to sign up.

It'd be a whole lot cooler if you did.

May 5, 2005

This week in class we covered the following topics:

In Dreamweaver:

• Behaviors apply to elements such as links or images
• Window > Behaviors - Show Pop-up menu
• Always use the alt attribute in dialogs
• About the target attribute
• Template updating process:
  1. Create new template or save page as template
  2. Modify template, save
  3. Yes to update template instances
  4. Save any open template instance
  5. Preview template instance
• Think of template as your digital type-stamp. You'll still need to update/save/put your stamped copy

Regarding maintenance:

• Resizing images - use Fireworks, or skip the whole process and use ImageMagick on the server
• See Gallery.menalto.com

Regarding Flash:

• Flash decompiler for Mac

Regarding Design:

• Page-reload flash issue - be careful, some users may expect it

Homework:

Create and publish a site design with two or more JavaScript Behaviors in it using Dreamweaver. Email URL to the class list.

Next Week: How to Crash Dreamweaver!

April 27, 2005

This week in class we covered the following topics:

In Dreamweaver:

• 10 Steps to Create a Site
  1. Start by drawing a page
  2. Begin Storyboarding (again, on paper)
  3. Decide on a layout that portrays that storyboard
  4. Freeze static elements of the design
  5. Break the design into reusable modules
  6. Assign "editable regions" or areas that will change from page instance to page instance
  7. Either create a Template in DW or use includes for the reusable elements
  8. Create the rest of the page instances
  9. Test publish to staging server
  10. Final publish to live site
• Back up your site by creating a duplicate site and putting to another local folder
• Check 'Put dependent files' to just back up a few files and their associated images, etc
• Insert > Media > Image Viewer
• Insert > Media > Flash Text
• Insert > Media > Flash Button
• The Flash Video Kit
  • Example 1: Surfing
  • Example 2: Snowboarding
• Anatomy of a Bug
  • Subject
  • Platform
  • Description
  • Steps
  • Actual Results
  • Expected Results

In Code:

• The Power of phpinfo()

Homework:

Follow the steps above to create a new site from scratch. Before you begin, take a look at some free Flash to incorporate into your design:

• Google Search for "Free Flash swf"

Final site should have the following characteristics:

• Original and different from your previous designs
• More than two pages of complete content
• Some kind of Flash embedded in your design
• Published to your domain, URL sent to the class

Next week: Stump the Master!

April 20, 2005

This week we covered the following topics:

In Dreamweaver:

• Insert > HTML > Script Objects > Server-Side include
• The Power of the Server-Side include
• The Power of the Application panel (i.e. Build a Blog with Dreamweaver)
• Insert > Application Objects > Recordset
• Multiple Repeat Regions in the Same Page
• Insert > Application Objects > Master Detail Page Set
• PHP include syntax

On the Mac:

• The Importance of Tiger
• Running PHP
• Running MySQL

Regarding Design:

• Designing for Video
• RSS Tool: Newsfire
• PHP is FREE
• Designing for Mobile
• Designing for Ads
• Recycling Designs

Homework:

1. Set up a sub-domain as a PHP testing server
2. Set up your machine to run the latest PHP
3. Set up your machine to run MySQL
4. Draw a design flexible enough to incorporate an unknown amount of data.
5. Access student database via Application panel
6. Create a repeating region from the database, and place it in your design.
7. Prototype using Live Preview button.
8. Save to server, send URL.

Next Week: How to Create Flash With Dreamweaver!

April 14, 2005

Vanessa, who works in the lobby of Baker & Hamilton, asked me to help solve a design problem for her band: How to keep from having to refresh the page, without using Flash, with no scrolling or frames?

Our answer: Show/Hide layers in Dreamweaver.

The result: No Origin - a voice for resistance. Listen to "The Draft".

April 12, 2005

This week we covered the following topics:

In Dreamweaver:

• CSS - postition: absolute
• Really undoing html.css
• Overriding via !important
• Linking vs. embedding CSS
• Name your layers
• Virtual includes
• Application servers and .htaccess

On the Mac:

• xScope

Regarding Design:

• Two modes of design: Prototyping, Deconstructing
• Lipsum.org
• Prototyping technique: design in graphics tool, then try to reproduce in HTML and CSS

Homework:

1. Draw a design on paper, or use another design tool to prototype it first.
2. Layout your design using tables and/or layers
3. Extract all CSS to another file (use File > Export)
4. Carve up your design into reusable elements. Break these elements out into separate files.
5. Re-include these elements into your files using virtual includes:
   <!--#include virtual="/[foldername]/[filename]" -->
6. If possible, put the resulting code to your server.
7. Email your page URLs (and if necessary, the elements) to the group.

Next week: Using Application Servers!

April 7, 2005

This week, I've set up two different syndication sites:

Student Blog Aggregator

and

Mobile News Aggregator

Here's how to do it:

1. Upload and configure Magpie.
2. Use a simple PHP or HTML include to stick one of the PHP templates onto your page, surrounded by some important links.

And there you have it, your own custom news page!

April 1, 2005

This week we covered the following topics:

• Working with Code view
• Code hints
• Code coloring
• Tag Autocomplete
• Reference Panel
• Macromedia Forums
• Breaking a tag in Split view
• Invisible Elements
• Dependent Files
• Inserting a link
• Modify > Convert > Tables to layers...

On the Web:

• Effective Web Searching - first search for the sentence you're looking for, then the topic

Regarding Design:

• Basic elements of design: content, content, content. Then, mark (copyright/license), meta data, header, footer, navigation.
• Free CommunityMX content

Student sites:

• Christina
• Sam
• Student News Aggregator

Homework:

1. Tables vs Layers
   1. Draw a new design on paper. Include the basic elements of web design (above).
   2. Using Layout mode, draw your table as you see fit.
   3. Switch to Standard mode and perfect the table.
   4. Use Modify > Convert > Tables to layers...
   5. Manipulate the layers to your satisfaction in Design view.
   6. Use Modify > Convert > Layers to tables... and then back to Layers to achieve a unique design.
   7. Remove inline styles to the HEAD of your document so that the CSS Styles panel shows all of your styles.
   8. Export your styles to an external file for use on other pages.
   9. Put your page to the web and send URL to the class list.
2. If you haven't already done so, send me your Bloglines blog URL.
3. Post to your bloglines blog. Include images and links using HTML from Dreamweaver.
4. Choose one to read up on: ASP, PHP, ColdFusion.

Next week: How to Learn Server Languages Using Dreamweaver!

March 29, 2005

Recently I received a message from one of my former students. She sent her regrets for being able to attend my Dreamweaver class, but sent me her most recent design:

grafias online

Not bad, eh!? She's graduating from the Certificate Program this semester and looking for work. If you need a Web site, I highly recommend Paola to you. She was my star student, and has clearly mastered Dreamweaver, Fireworks, and Flash on her own.

March 24, 2005

This week we covered the following topics:

How Not to Use Dreamweaver:

• Dom: Don't prototype with an external CSS file. Embed your testing CSS in your example file. This allows easy undo and save. When you're done, export your CSS and link it to other pages.
• Christina: Don't bother configuring a remote server for testing. Preview to localhost on your Mac.
• Bryan: Don't just select in Design View. Use the Tag Selector to make sure you've got the right selection for a copy or paste.
• Sam: Don't use <font>. Also, don't use Expanded Tables mode, use Table Layout and Standard mode instead.
• Adam: Don't forget to rename your automatically created CSS.
• Maureen: Don't take it all in at once. Be methodical about learning. Start with the menus, learn some keyboard shortcuts.
• Ben: Don't mess up your links by moving your files around! Use root-relative links, or allow Dreamweaver to update your links if you do need to move a file.
• Jake: Don't guess about CSS. Watch the Relevant CSS panel to see what styles are applied.
• All: Don't forget to save!

Taking advantage of the Mac:

• Disclosure arrow/button in Open dialog allows you to navigate all folders.
• Screen Capture: Apple+Shift+3
• Your Mac is a Web Server:

1. System Preferences > Sharing > Personal Web Sharing
2. Then visit http://localhost/
3. Localhost directory is [root]/Library/Webserver/Documents/
4. Set up your Testing Server in your Site Preferences to be this Localhost directory.
5. Hit F12 for a local preview, with root-relative links intact.

Homework:

1. Draw a Web design on paper. Armed with CSS and tables, design your site in Dreamweaver. Try Table Layout mode. Try the table button in the Insert bar. Or use Insert > Table. Use right-click (Control +Click) in the table to access menus, or examine the Property Inspector. Remember Text > CSS Styles > New.
2. For inspiration, visit the CSS Zen Garden and try "select a design".
3. If you get stuck, try Help > Dreamweaver Support Center.
4. Go to Bloglines.com. Create an account. Figure out how to:
   • Add Dom.net's RSS feed.
   • Add news.bbc.co.uk's news feed.
   • Create a blog and post to it. Send me your Blog URL.

March 23, 2005