Well I've sat down with a coffee in one hand and the Dreamweaver 3 Bible in the other with intensions of telling you all about it. It's hard to choose the right book these days, but with so much of my experience in choosing books, because I love reading them, I can come from the beginners perspective.

The Dreamweaver 3 Bible contains 1081 pages spread across 35 Chapters and 4 appendixes. Quite a chunky book I can tell you. As always with these type of books we get the usual introduction chapters which explain exactly what Dreamweaver is all about. Probably worth treating this as a bonus on top of the manual which ships with Dreamweaver. This beginning chapter has good content on what is actually new to Dreamweaver 3 from Dreamweaver 2. Worth the read as always.

So whats the chapters all about. Well, here is a list of the topics covered in the chapters.

Chapter 1: What is Dreamweaver
Chapter 2: Quickstart for Beginners
Chapter 3: A Hands on Tour of Dreamweaver
Chapter 4: Setting your Preferences
Chapter 5: Using the Help System
Chapter 6: Setting up your first site
Chapter 7: Publishing with the Site Window
Chapter 8: Understanding how HTML works
Chapter 9: Adding Text to your Web Page
Chapter 10: Inserting Images
Chapter 11: Establishing Web Links
Chapter 12: Creating Lists
Chapter 13: Setting up Tables
Chapter 14: Making Client-Side Image Maps
Chapter 15: Interactive Forms
Chapter 16: Using Frames and Framesets
Chapter 17: Accessing External Programs
Chapter 18: Creating and Using Objects
Chapter 19: Using Behaviours
Chapter 20: Creating a Behaviour
Chapter 21: Customizing Dreamweaver
Chapter 22: Fireworks Intergration
Chapter 23: Adding Video to your Web Page
Chapter 24: Using Audio on your Web Page
Chapter 25: Shockwave and Flash movies
Chapter 26: What is Dynamic HTML
Chapter 27: Building Style Sheet Web Pages
Chapter 28: Working with Layers
Chapter 29: Working with Timelines
Chapter 30: Extending with XML
Chapter 31: Adding Multimedia Extensions
Chapter 32: Building Acive Web Sites
Chapter 33: Using Dreamweaver Templates
Chapter 34: Using the Repeating Elements Library
Chapter 35: Maximizing Browser Targeting
Appendix A: Whats on the CDROM
Appendix B: CourseBuilder for Dreamweaver
Appendix C: BBEdit 5 Primer (For Macintosh Users)
Appendix D: Homesite 4.5 Primer (For Windows Users)

Wow, such a huge list of chapters. The important thing here to remember is that each chapter is seriously filled with information. The earlier chapters are targetted at a beginner level, but if you've not worked with Dreamweaver before, this book is surely going to help you master the product.

The book is not just a tutorial, it has been designed as a reference aid. For example, Chapter 3 tells you about each object inside dreamweaver including Form objects like Text Boxes and Radio buttons to the more common objects such as Tables and Images. This chapter in its own right is full of excellent reference information.

Let me tell you about Chapter 4. Dreamweaver is such a big piece of software with hundreds of options available to change. To ensure you use Dreamweaver to its full potential, it is important to understand what the options under preferences actually do. This chapter explains everything you need to know. A good read in its own right!

Upto Chapter 16, this books does go along way to tell you how to use Dreamweaver to it's design potential. Such as general HTML and Framesets, however after this chapter it starts to get very interesting.

Chapters 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 uncovers the true power of Dreamweaver. The accessing of External program such as Java Applets and Active X controls opens up a whole new meaning to website creation. It is just so easy to implement with such difficult technologies.

What about the extensions to Dreamweaver? Behaviours are like plugins which turn your current site into some interactive using JavaScript. You too can turn static elements into something more inviting for your users. This books shows you how to implement but also how to create Behaviours. And Chapter 21 tells you how to customize Dreamweaver to ensure your sites are built in the minimal ammount of time. Although things start to get a little advanced by this stage, atleast you have the information available for when you become a true master.

Chapter 22 by this stage really does wrap up an excellent book or me. If you own Macromedia Fireworks to build your web graphics, then the true power to working with Dreamweaver is how well Fireworks can be intergrated into your web building environment. This is somehow an area which is overlooked but believe me, it can save you time by learning how to work with the products together. This book does go to length to show you how its done.

At the end of the say this book is truley amazing. If you work with Dreamweaver at whatever level you are, this one should not be missed. There is plenty of excitement along the way which really does make the learning experience fun. With a CDROM also attached with over 300 extra extensions, behaviours, objects, floaters and commands its really worth its weight in gold. The good thing also is that if you dont actually own Dreamweaver, there is a 30 day fully functional version to wet your tastebuds.

Amazon currently sell this book for around £22. If you would like to learn more about it, why not visit the following URL for more information, customer reviews and ordering details.
Amazon.co.uk Online Bookstore