Technology Schools Articles

Popular Technology Degrees

Learning a Popular Web Authoring Tool

By Martin A. David
martin.david@hqpublications.com
Technology Columnist

Professional web designers know how to write the markup languages such as HTML and XML that makes their sites function. They can use all the tags and tricks that bring words and images to life on the Internet. However, most of them prefer to use their time in more creative ways.

Professional web authoring tools such as the Dreamweaver program allow designers to turn out winning sites without reinventing the wheel each time.


HTML (hypertext markup language) is an easy code form to learn. The instructions, known as "tags" are fairly straightforward and simple to remember. An authoring tool is a program that will add the tags and insert the creative effects without you needing to write the code.

There are various authoring tools on the market, but let us look at one of the most popular, Macromedia's Dreamweaver and at the possibilities offered by Macromedia education.

Simple but Complex

One of the reasons that the tool is so popular is that it almost does the work for you. The key word here is almost. If you're happy with simplicity and a slightly homemade look, you can use the manual to learn the software. The documentation is clear enough.

However, chances are you invested in the product because you want to do professional websites. If that is the case, you really should think about Dreamweaver training. A Dreamweaver class can show you how to use the authoring tools in ways you'd take years to learn on your own.

Dreamweaver Training Opportunities

Almost every computer school will offer Dreamweaver training as part of its curriculum. The company that created Dreamweaver, Macromedia, also offers a full education program. There are also ample opportunities to take your Dreamweaver training online and complete the course at your own pace and in your own environment.


In this course, you will explore the basic elements of Dreamweaver, and define a Web site on your local machine. You will import text and clean Microsoft Word-generated HTML.You will then add structural elements to your HTML document and alter HTML tags using the Quick Tag Editor.

The target student is the professional who wants to use Dreamweaver MX 2004 to design and develop Web pages with a WYSIWYG application, but who also has the ability to understand and work with the architecture and coding of Web pages.

Students are those in small companies or departments within large companies who use Web technologies for electronic communication through the use of new technologies. Some examples of target customers are advertising agencies, marketing agencies, and intranet/extranet production.

About the Author

Martin A. David consults as a Senior Technical Writer for a number of Silicon Valley firms. He is also a translator, specializing in Danish, French and Spanish literary works. He has written numerous feature articles for publications including the Los Angeles Times. He has also published a novel, and a non-fiction book in the area of dance. Martin earned his B.A. in Liberal Arts from Brooklyn College in his native New York. He currently chairs the Santa Clara Cultural Advisory Commission in Santa Clara, California.