Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 with PHP

Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 with PHP: Training from the Source

Book cover Changes to Live View, together with massive improvements in PHP code hinting have turned Dreamweaver CS5 into a program that gives designers and PHP programmers plenty to smile about. Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 with PHP: Training from the Source concentrates on the PHP side of the program, with heavy emphasis on the new features, such as the ability to work directly in the Document window with Drupal, Joomla!, and WordPress, and Site-Specific Code Hints. Dreamweaver CS5 is capable of generating code hints on the fly for custom functions and classes, as well as third-party code libraries, such as the Zend Framework. With the help of this book, you'll be able to move beyond Dreamweaver's built-in server behaviors to add practical functionlity to your website, such as sending email in plain text and HTML, uploading files, and adding attachments to email, as well as building a simple content management system.

There are no changes to the PHP features in Dreamweaver CS5.5. This book remains valid for both CS5 and CS5.5.

Sample chapter: Lesson 7: Validating Input on the Server (1.7MB PDF)

The book assumes no prior knowledge of PHP, but it moves at a fast pace, so it should appeal equally to readers with previous experience. Here's what you can expect:

Lesson 1: Why PHP? Why Dreamweaver CS5?
A quick overview of PHP, the most popular server-side technology for developing dynamic and database-driven websites, followed by an in-depth look at all the PHP features in Dreamweaver CS5. These include the ability to style WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla! sites directly in the Document window, and Site-Specific Code Hints, which automatically generate code hints for any third-party code library, such as the Zend Framework.
Lesson 2: Getting Ready to Develop with PHP
All you need to know to get your local testing environment ready to work with PHP in Dreamweaver CS5, including how to create virtual hosts, so you can emulate the same conditions as on your live website.
Lesson 3: A Quick Crash Course in PHP
For the benefit of newcomers and those in need of a refresher, this covers the basic rules of PHP from the creation of variables through to using classes and objects. There's also a quick guide to interpreting PHP error messages.
Lesson 4: Restyling a WordPress Site
Dreamweaver CS5 automatically generates Site-Specific Code Hints for the three most popular PHP content management systems (CMSs), Drupal, Joomla!, and WordPress. This takes a default installation of WordPress 3.0, and shows how to create a child theme of the default Twenty Ten them, editing the styles directly in the Dreamweaver Document window.
Lesson 5: Designing and Building Your Own Database
An introduction to working with the MySQL database, with solid advice on how to avoid common mistakes in database design. You'll learn how to create a database and define the tables, as well as how to import data from an existing database.
Lesson 6: Generating PHP Automatically with Server Behaviors
Dreamweaver's PHP server behaviors offer a quick and easy way to prototype a database-driven website without the need to write much code. After demonstrating how to build a simple content management system, the lesson assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the server behaviors. Conclusion: use them for prototyping and learning the principles of working with a database, but don't use them in a production environment unless you're willing to do a lot of customization.
Lesson 7: Validating Input on the Server
Server-side validation of user input is vital in maintaining the security of your website. This lesson uses modules of the Zend Framework, a powerful third-party library of PHP tools, to check data from an online form, displaying error messages and preserving user input when problems are detected. By the end of the lesson, you have created a secure and user-friendly user registration system. This chapter is available as a free download from the Peachpit site (1.7MB PDF file).
Lesson 8: Zending Email
This lesson continues exploring the Zend Framework with the help of Site-Specific Code Hints. You'll learn how to send email from an online form in plain text and HTML. Dreamweaver's Server Behavior Builder is put to good use, creating frequently used PHP code snippets that can be easily inserted into any online form. The lesson concludes with a project that uses email to create a secure way for users to reset their passwords in the user registration system from Lesson 7.
Lesson 9: Uploading Images and Other Files
Again with the help of the Zend Framework, this lesson teaches you how to upload images and other files securely through a web interface. You'll also learn how to send attachments by email.
Lesson 10: Inserting Data into Multiple Tables
This lesson and the next one show how to build a content management system for a travel website that uploads images and inserts records into four interlinked tables. The project brings together many techniques from previous lessons: validation, file uploads, and inserting, updating, and deleting data.
Lesson 11: Updating and Deleting Files in Related Tables
Continuing from the previous lesson, you complete the CMS for the travel website, learning how to reuse and adapt existing scripts wherever possible.
Lesson 12: Using Ajax to Refresh Content
This lesson introduces the Adobe Widget Browser, which is closely integrated into Dreamweaver CS5, and shows how to customize a jQuery lightbox gallery and populate it dynamically from a database. The gallery is then adapted to use Ajax to refresh its content without the need to reload the page. There's also a brief explanation of how to use Apache mod_rewrite to create clean URLs.
Lesson 13: Deploying Your Site Online
Everything you need to know to get your site online. You'll learn how to export data from a local database to a SQL file, and then import it into the database on you remote server.