ToddW Blog

Chatting and working is o k as long as you can monitor yourself.

My Dual 20″ Dell LCDs just were not cutting it anymore.  I new I either wanted a third monitor or to upgrade my primary display to a larger widescreen.  I opted for the larger widescreen, and by larger I mean A LOT larger.

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Do not store the majority of your code in a ‘main.php’ or ‘functions_library.php’ type of file!! (more…)

Like most everyone else when I come up with an idea or a project I like to jump on it and get it completed while I still like the idea and am ‘jazzed’ about it.  This is great because it normally means a new site is made relatively fast and you work better if you are still excited about the topic and not doing it just to make money.

This is all fine and dandy but what it means is we are not stopping to learn how to do something the right way or how to use something optimally.

I realized that while I new how to use Dreamweaver CS3 to edit, code, and setup my sites I did not know even 50% of the features let alone any of the advanced features.

I picked up a few books on CS3 and WOW can it save a lot of time!

Some of the key features for CS3 I’ve found to be VERY useful and GREAT timesavers.

• Built in FTP Client.
• Built in Database/Table Management. (This one is HUGE! I can now browse, edit, add items in my table just like phpmyadmin!)
• Snippets.
  This is another huge one.  Code I use over and over I can save and with a single mouse click have it re-inserted into the page.  You can even save code different ways! You can save code so if you high-light something and then insert it places what you highlighted where you want, or you can simply just have it insert at the cursor point.  This is great for selecting a database or inserting common while, and if statements.
  A nice thing about snippets is that you can organize them by directory too… So you can put your PHP Snippets in one area JavaScript in another, MySQL/DB stuff in another, etc.  This feature ALONE has saved me hours once I figured it out and set it up properly. (Which takes time to save snippets.)
• CSS Property Tab. This lets you visually edit CSS and add properties.  Less memorizing of code, point click operation and done.
• CTRL-F to search, but also using this to find all instances for entire site. Great for replacing variables and updating code throughout your site.
• DW CS3 now shows images that have a source of http:// so you can design with web linked images WAY easier now!
• Dreamweaver CS3 can also do simple to complex database queries and data output in PHP. (possibly other languages, not sure as I only do PHP). This works good if you need to show data to someone really quick, and don’t need a custom application developed to retrieve it.
• Dreamweaver will even let you make forms to retrieve data by point and clicking… this isn’t for me but newbies might find it helpful to reverse engineer the code and figure out what does what.
• The History Window is GREAT for going back 1 step or 20 with a single click!
• The properties window is another great feature of dreamweaver… not new, and not new to me but worth a mention.

The above are just a few reasons why I enjoy using Dreamweaver CS3 to develop my websites with.

I used to be against graphical user interfaces when it came time to code and work on sites but after learning the possiblities they are now saving me loads of time and allowing me to produce websites faster, nicer, and easier. Not to mention I can have others learn the software and contribute.

If you rely on someone else to do the writing for your site you may be in trouble if they up and one day stop deciding to write for you.  YOU NEED to have more than one writer at all times contributing.  If someone else is going to be your only source of content you should have a minimum of two writers, and if you can’t afford two writers at the same time you should have a cache of a couple articles that can hold you over until you can find a new writer.

I recently had a writer start lagging and my site has been suffering due to the lack of new content.  Writers are awesome and can really help you but if your site gets popular and it’s based on articles not written by you then you can be in a real JAM if the writers decided to leave.

So, my advice… get someone as a backup, always have two writers, and/or have a cache of some backup articles to hold your site over until you get a new writer hired.