As many of you may know, Dreamweaver CS3 (version 9) is the first version of the web development tool, originally created by Macromedia, to be published by Adobe Systems. Adobe acquired Macromedia in 2005 shortly after the version 8 release. Some of the new features added to Dreamweaver include Spry framework for Ajax, Adobe Photoshop and Fireworks integration, easier CSS integration, and device central for mobile content.

Visual Quickstart Guide: Dreamweaver CS3 is the new version of the Quickstart Guide for Dreamweaver from Peachpit Press. At 559 pages contained in 18 chapters, three appendixes and an index, it addresses the Windows and Mac platforms and presumes that you are using Dreamweaver CS3. There are version specific copies for prior versions of Dreamweaver.

Breaking down the chapters into logical sections, Visual Quickstart Guide starts off with appropriate introductory information.

Chapter 1, "Introducing Dreamweaver"
Chapter 2, "Starting Your First Site"
Chapter 3, "Building Your First Page"

These first three chapters gives you a quick tour of the Dreamweaver interface, how to set up your workspace and what is new to Dreamweaver CS3. It explains what local and remote sites are, how to work with views and files, how to synchronize the sites, and how to build your first page.

Chapters 4-7 go into more detail on adding information to your pages such as dragging and dropping text, applying character formats, as well as working with fonts and alignments.

Chapter 4, "Adding Text to Your Pages"
Chapter 5, "Styling Page Content"
Chapter 6, "Positioning Page Content"
Chapter 7, "Managing Styles"

You will also learn how use CSS to stylize your content, as well as how to use it to set your layouts. Once you have gotten a handle on the styles, you will learn how to manage them, and keep them under control.

In chapter 8 and 9 you will learn how to create text, graphics, and email links on your pages, as well as how to use the assets panel to insert images. You will also learn how to insert favicon's, Flash buttons, Flash Video as well as Quicktime and other media.

Chapter 8, "Working with Links"
Chapter 9, "Including Images and Media"
 

The focus in chapters 10-12 is the layout of data on the pages. At one time is was acceptable to use tables for layout, but this is no longer an accepted practice with the advent of CSS. Using forms and fields will show you how to present data and accept input from the user. By using frames, you will see how to define areas of content on the screen.

Chapter 10, "Inserting Tables"
Chapter 11, "Using Forms and Fields"
Chapter 12, "Adding Frames"