What is Web Design: Complete Course?
Part of Wiley Publishing Inc.’s Complete Course series, Web Design: Complete Course by Joyce J. Evans teaches you how to create a modern web site using commercial professional programs. Evans wrote the book for those (beginning to intermediate web designers) “serious about entering the field of web design.”

Web Design: Complete Course is “written for the aspiring Web designer.” “The goal of the book is to discuss the concepts and techniques of building a Web site, including planning, graphic design, code and content development, and deployment of a project, while offering practical and sound advice for using Macromedia Fireworks MX and Dreamweaver MX – industry standards for Web design.” Readers “will learn how to integrate Photoshop, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, and Flash to create a customized, interactive, e-commerce site.”

Evans warns you that it’s not for the faint of heart.” She promises that if you “follow the instructions carefully and repeat them if you make a mistake, you’ll be amazed at how fast you learn by doing.”

Web Design: Complete Course is a hands-on how-to manual. If you complete the tutorials, you will learn the basics of using Macromedia Fireworks MX, Dreamweaver MX, ColdFusion, and Flash. You will have also created a “polished, fully functional e-commerce [web] site adaptable to [your] own needs.” It provides both Macintosh and Windows instructions.

I haven’t read any other books by Evans or any other Complete Course books.

What Does Web Design: Complete Course Cover?
Web Design: Complete Course’s 400 pages contain an Introduction, a Confidence Builder, five Parts with 2 chapters and 17 sessions (containing over 100 tutorials), 4 appendixes, and an Index.

The Introduction (5 pages) provides an overview of the book’s content.

The Confidence Builder’s (13 pages) purpose is to let you get your feet wet and to see how easy it is to make a professional looking Web page. However, it assumes that Macromedia Fireworks MX and Dreamweaver MX are already loaded on your system. Evans does not provide information on installing the programs until Chapter 2 and Appendix A. In addition, she put instructions for Windows and Macintosh users one after the other without telling the reader she was doing so. At first, this confused me until I remembered other Macintosh instructions I’ve seen over the years.

“Part I: Course Setup starts with an overview of the Web design process and explains how to plan a new site.” Chapter 1: Web Design Basics (11 pages) is an overview from a business/commercial point of view. Chapter 2: Project Overview (4 pages) lists the browsers and software used, how to copy and organize the course files from the CD, system requirements for Windows and Macintosh, system recommendations, and Mac & PC differences.

“Part 2: Building the Site Imagery Using Fireworks MX (75 pages) shares step-by-step techniques for building beautiful graphics with Photoshop and Fireworks.” It includes the following sessions:
Session 1: Bringing Image Assets into Fireworks.
Session 2: Designing Image Compositions
Session 3: Building the Site’s Vector Images.
Session 4: Building the Site’s Bitmap Images.
Session 5: Fireworks Animation.

“Part 3: Finalizing the Images for Export (34 pages) covers animation from simple animated GIFs through advanced, interactive Flash movies.” It includes the following sessions:
Session 6: Preparing the Mockups.
Session 7: Optimizing and Exporting Images for Use in Dreamweaver Layouts.

“Part 4: Laying Out the Site Using Dreamweaver MX (128 pages) shows readers production techniques for preparing media for the Web and how to begin building their initial Web pages in Dreamweaver.” It includes the following sessions:
Session 8: Setting Up the Site in Dreamweaver.
Session 9: HTML Page Structure.
Session 10: Behaviors, Snippets, and Client-Side Scripting.
Session 11: Using Cascading Style Sheets.
Session 12: Building the Site’s Snap Menus.
Session 13: Automating with Library Items and Templates.

“Part 5: Building a Web Application in Dreamweaver (70 pages) shows how to work with HTML, add CSS, e-commerce capability, and upload the Web site to a hosted service.” It includes the following sessions:
Session 14: Building Dynamic Web Pages.
Session 15: Displaying Dynamic Data.
Session 16: Adding a Shopping Cart.
Session 17: Before You Publish.

Appendix A: What’s on the CD-ROM (4 pages) provides system requirements for Windows and Macintosh and tells you how to use the CD with each operating system, including some troubleshooting tips. It provides a list, with a brief description, of the software (mostly demos) included on the CD. It also tells you how to copy the Tutorial files to your hard drive.

Appendix B: Web Design Do’s and Don’ts (4 pages) provides a checklist of things to do and avoid while designing your site. The Don’ts blend into the Do’s; there is no clear separation.

Appendix C: Installing PWS, IIS, and ColdFusion MX Developer (5 pages) provides three short installation tutorials.

Appendix D: Resources (7 pages) provides information on hosting services, software, and sources of plug-ins, images and fonts.

The Index (14 pages) is well laid out and relatively easy to read. I didn’t need to use it so I’m not sure how comprehensive it is.

Back matter (6 pages) contains Wiley Publishing Inc.’s End-User License Agreement and information about Seybold publications, services, and events.

Using Web Design: Complete Course Web Design: Complete Course is visually appealing and well laid out. It uses color and graphical elements to help organize its contents. It uses full-color illustrations and screenshots through out.

The tutorials have explicit numbered steps. They always tell you when and how to save your work, including whether or not to close the file. Unfortunately, Evans doesn’t explain the conventions she uses in the tutorials. It took me some time to realize what they are. First, she always gives the Windows commands, then the Macintosh commands. Second, she uses blue numbers for steps she only describes. Third, she uses red numbers for steps that are found in the screenshots. Fourth, she uses red type for notes and tips.

While general discussions are printed in large, easy to read type, the tutorials are printed in very small type. I found it hard to read them. Screenshots are small; I had to take my glasses off to clearly see them. Very bright light makes it easier to read the book. You won’t find any long, dense blocks of text in this book so it’s easy and quick to read. Colored sidebars scattered throughout the tutorials contain additional information to help put tasks in context. This aids you in creating your own projects.

When Evans introduces programs in the text she usually gives the operating system it runs on and, even if it’s on the CD, the download web site. This makes it easy to find the latest demo versions.

The Introduction to each Session has a light blue background with a dark blue border. It contains a screenshot, a list of the discussions and tutorials covered, a brief description of the session, the tools used, materials needed, and time required. Tools used include software and specific commands used. Materials needed include the specific files required for the tutorials.

Time required is the minimum amount of time to complete the session. Session times range from 30 to 90 minutes. I added all them all and found that it takes a minimum of 21 hours and 15 minutes to complete them. I spent more than the listed time just reading some sessions without even doing the tasks on the computer.

At the end of each Session, you will find review questions with references to the page(s) containing the answers. You will also see a screenshot of the session’s project final image.

What’s Included on the CD-ROM?
You’ll find the following files on the CD:
Tutorial Files
Movie tutorials for concepts difficult to show in a book
Software: Mystical lighting (Demo), DreamSuite (Demo), Color Schemer (Trial), ColorWrite (Freeware), SmartDraw (Trial), WA PayPal eCommerce Toolkit (Trial), Linx Flash Editor (Demo), SWfX (Demo), ColdFusion MX Server (Developer Edition), Dreamweaver MX (Trial), Fireworks MX (Trial), and Xenofex (Demo).

System Requirements for Windows
CPU: Pentium III class III or 4 or better
Operating system: Windows 98, 2000, NT, Me, or XP
Required RAM: 64 MB RAM; Recommended: Macromedia: 128 MB RAM, Evans: 256 MB RAM
Free disk space: 280 MB minimum hard disk space
Monitor: color
Display properties: at least 800 x 600 resolution
Video card: 16-bit, 24-bit recommended
CD-ROM Drive
Web Browsers: Netscape Navigator version 4.0, version 4.79, version 6.2 or later or MS Internet Explorer 5.5 or later

System Requirements for Macintosh
Macintosh OS computer with a G3 or G4 PowerPC processor
Operating system: OS 9.1, OS 9.2, or OS X
Mac OS Runtime for Java (MRJ) 2.2 or above (included on the Dreamweaver MX CD)
Required RAM: 64 MB RAM; Recommended: Macromedia: 128 MB RAM, Evans: G3 – 192 MB RAM, G4 – 256 MB RAM, OS X – 384 to 512 MB RAM
Free disk space: 320 MB minimum hard disk space
Monitor: color
Display properties: at least 800 x 600 resolution
Video card: 16-bit, 24-bit recommended
CD-ROM Drive
Web Browsers: Netscape Navigator version 4.0 or later or MS Internet Explorer

Other Comments
This book does not teach HTML coding since the programs used do the coding for you.

The book has many editing errors. I found several instances where the wrong word is used.

You can test your skills and earn a certificate of completion at . You must register to take the test. After passing the 30-question multiple-choice test, Seybold will mail you a printed completion certificate. If you fail, you may re-test after a week. You may re-test an unlimited number of times.

Bottom Line
If you’re a home user and just want to learn enough to have a simple home page you don’t need this book.

However, if you want to have your own web development business or want to work for one, then this is an excellent introduction. Unless you have free access to the programs or are prepared to spend a lot of money, you do have to be prepared to spend much of your time for a month completing the tutorials before the demo and trial software times out. The printed certificate is worth the effort.

How much money is involved? Here are the prices for just three of the programs:
Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 - $399.00
Macromedia Flash MX 2004 - $499.00
Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004 - $299.00
They total $ 1,197.00. If you’re going into business, you’ll want other software and you have to be prepared to pay for image and font collections. Most collections aimed at the home user restrict you from using the images commercially. Commercial collections cost hundreds of dollars for just a few images or fonts.

Web Resources
View the sample web site. When you first access the site, a pop-up window should open telling you what’s functional. If you don’t have the latest plug-ins, you may not see it. I wasn’t able to view the site correctly with Opera 6.01. The search engine is functional and you will see thumbnails if you use these words: flowers, turtle, boat, trees, palms, ocean, shell, duck, and flamingo. Clicking on a thumbnail should take you to a detail page with a larger image. From there, you can add the image to a live PayPal shopping cart.

Wiley Publishing Inc.: Visit the Web Design Complete Course site. Among other items, you can find a complete listing of the book’s Table of Contents.

:For information on Dreamweaver MX 2004, Fireworks MX 2004, Macromedia Flash MX 2004, and ColdFusion Visit Macromedia.
Downloads
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Seybold Seminars, Publications, & Consulting:

Visit the author’s web site. It includes information on her books, tutorials for several graphics programs, and reviews she’s written.

Vital Statistics
Title: Web Design Complete Course
Author: Joyce J. Evans
ISBN: 0-7645-3752-0
Edition: Trade Paperback
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Wiley Publishing Inc.
Published: September 2003
Retail Price: US $44.99

On January 13, 2004, Amazon.com offered it for $31.49 and it qualified for Super Saver Shipping (you pay no shipping costs).