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Dave Sawyer McFarland
Dave Sawyer McFarland is a Web designer, instructor, speaker, and the author of Dreamweaver CS3: The Missing Manual and CSS: The Missing Manual. You can learn more about his books and work at www.sawmac.com.
View Source: Make Web Site Elements Partially Transparent
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on September 16, 2009
With CSS3, you can create all kinds of transparency effects, including overlapping, partially transparent text and buttons. And it even works in IE!
Master Templates in Dreamweaver, Part III
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on August 5, 2009
Use optional regions to hide and show pieces of code on different template-based pages. You'll escape that cookie cutter look yet still save lots of time!
Master Templates in Dreamweaver, Part II
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on July 9, 2009
Do you think that building a site with templates will lead to something that looks the same on every page? Never fear! In part two of this three-part series, you'll learn how CSS magic and a little-known Dreamweaver template feature helps you build visually unique pages using just one Dreamweaver template.
Master Templates in Dreamweaver: Part 1
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on May 21, 2009
Templates are production godsends, but they're also flexible enough to let you stretch your design muscles and keep a site's many pages varied and interesting. This three-part series will tell you everything you need to know about making and using Dreamweaver CS4 templates.
View Source: Designing and Testing Sites for Internet Explorer 8
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on April 8, 2009
IE8 is faster and better, but if you’re not careful, IE8 may ignore all of its fancy CSS and JavaScript improvements and revert to displaying pages like IE7 or even IE5. Here's how to outsmart it.
View Source: Make Pop-Up Tooltips with Dreamweaver
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on February 25, 2009
You can add pop-up image captions, word definitions, and more to your Web pages, and you don't need to be a programmer to do it. Here's how to make it happen in Dreamweaver CS4.
ViewSource: Build Interactive HTML Tables with Dreamweaver CS4
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on January 7, 2009
An HTML table is the best way to display rows and columns of information. But giving site visitors the ability to sort that data hasn't been so easy. Now, with a little help from JavaScript and Dreamweaver CS4, you can super-power your HTML tables so that visitors can quickly sort that data.
View Source: How to Use Photoshop Files with Dreamweaver CS4
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on November 19, 2008
Follow along with tutorial files while you learn the best practices in Photoshop and Dreamweaver.
Dreamweaver How-to: Create "You Are Here" Navigation Links
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on June 13, 2008
Use this simple technique to create a nav bar button that changes to reflect a visitor's location in your site, then make it work across the site using Dreamweaver CS3's Template.
View Source: Make Your Links Unforgettable
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on April 30, 2008
Most Web usability books (for example, Steve Krug's excellent Don't Make Me Think) emphasize that the less you make a visitor think and work, the more likely they'll visit, enjoy, and benefit from your site. The typical HTML link is one of those things that make visitors work -- a single linked word, for example, is a small target that requires good aim to hit. That's one of the reasons Web designers make navigation bars with buttons that are larger than the text inside them.
View Source: JavaScript for Designers
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on February 25, 2008
Add interactive Web site effects without a lot of programming.
View Source: An Introduction to Dreamweaver Templates
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on January 4, 2008
Want to build and update your sites more quickly and efficiently? Read on.
View Source: Web Design's Magic Bullet Is Back!
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on November 26, 2007
Do you want overlapping page elements, captions that sit on top of photos, and images that float outside the edges of their containing divs? Modern browsers and this tutorial make it safe to try CSS positioning again.
View Source: Create Advanced Online Galleries
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on October 29, 2007
Do you need an online portfolio or just want to post photos from your kid's birthday party? The free Lightbox2 adds sophisticated JavaScript functionality you can customize. The best part? You don't have to do a lick of programming.
View Source: Building Better Forms with Dreamweaver CS3
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on September 26, 2007
Web forms don't do you much good if they're incomplete or filled out with incorrect data. You can prevent this problem with form validation that is sophisticated yet simple to add to your sites.
View Source: Advanced CSS Rollovers
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on August 20, 2007
Forget JavaScript -- you can create dynamic rollover images using just CSS. And once you've mastered the basic concept, many creative possibilities open up.
View Source: The Easy Way to Add Dynamic Elements to Web Sites
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on July 11, 2007
This tutorial takes you step-by-step through adding and modifying a Spry Menu Bar in Dreamweaver CS3.
View Source: Harnessing the Power of PNGs
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on June 13, 2007
Compared to GIF AND JPEG, the PNG file format has a lot to offer: smaller file sizes, higher quality, and superb transparency. All you need are a few guidelines and techniques to expand your design toolbox.
Web How-To: Plan Your Site Right In Dreamweaver
How-Tos: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on May 20, 2005
Without the proper site management, your brilliant work may instead be replaced with an annoying "File Not Found" error. Here's how to plan, build, and manage Web sites for best results.
Banking on CSS Inheritance
Features: Written by Dave Sawyer McFarland on November 6, 2001
Making the most of cascading style sheets means learning Web geneology. Inheritance, or how one style passes its physical attributes to its offspring, is the key to good Web design.