Comments on: Upgrading from Dreamweaver 8 to CS4

By: jcook

jcook — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 15:18:07 +0000

@Yenn, the key is "standards-baed." Tables are not baed upon current web standards. If you look at the code of table-based layouts and pages that make use of the tag (or worse yet try to redesign them) you'll see that they cause a lot of problems. Not to mention that they are very bloated.

Yes it does take some time and effort to learn and yes it can be frustrating but it took some time to learn to use and manipulate tables as well.

Also, as I recommend to my students, working with Dreamweaver's built in CSS-based layouts and reading the comments in the CSS and HTML is a good way to start.

In the Dreamweaver tutorials for my Dominate Dreamweaver course (http://www.dwcourse.com) I focus on CSS throughout the twelve week course. Our next session will begin in January 2011. Contact me at jcook@dwcourse.com if you'd like more information.

By: Yenn

Yenn — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:42:39 +0000

The only was CSS makes building "standard-based" websites easy is IF you understand CSS. And most people don't. There isn't a place to really learn it, or at least I haven't found it! Learning HTML was easier! I'm not a programmer! DW8 was EASIER to do what I needed for my pages (like changing the size of the text to 8pts or whatever size I needed. Now in CS4 I have to design a RULE for stuff like that and is very frustrating!) Perhaps I'm just an ignorant fool, but even my boss - supposedly a hardcore Web guru - can't turn the team into a good way to learn the whole CSS subject. Perhaps some good advice from your part would be availble for us? (just please, don't say going back to college since that's not an option here and we would prefer online resources if posible. Thanks in advance.)

By: jcook

jcook — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:45:19 +0000

There is really no conversion process. If CS4 doesn't find your sites when you install it, then you'll need to redefine the sites. Once that's done you should be able to open and edit your MX2004 pages.

The major issue is that DW CS4 focuses on CSS. If you're accustomed to using tables and HTML attributes in your design, you'll have a learning curve.

Also, I do remember that at one point (not sure if it was before or after MX2004) some behaviors (like swap image) broke if they were edited in a newer version. If so, you might need to rebuild those behaviors.

By: Tyler Hawks

Tyler Hawks — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:48:23 +0000

I recently got CS4. So here's my question: I've been working with Dreamweaver MX2004 and was wondering how to convert my sites over to Dreamweaver CS4? Any suggestions?