Whether you prefer PHP, ASP or ColdFusion, Adobe Dreamweaver and a set of extensions from WebAssist can turn an ordinary website into a dynamic database-driven workhorse that rivals those from professional developers costing tens of thousands of dollars.
Dreamweaver is a great tool for designing websites, even though “hardcore” programmers may bash it’s WYSIWYG approach to web design. The ability to design in both code-view and design-view simultaneously makes it simple to make adjustments to your design on the fly without having to continuously preview your page in a browser.
Dreamweaver’s real strength comes in the ability to increase the function of the software through extensions. Dreamweaver extensions are installed in the extension manager (pretty obvious) and once installed allow easy access to primarily wizard-driven features that can be built into your webiste.
Dreamweaver + WebAssist = Professional Dynamic Websites
Just like a professional carpenter, the right set of tools can make all the difference in the finished product. In Dreamweaver, having the right set of extensions can not only allow you to build more extensive, usable websites, but they can also save you an immense amount of development time and frustration. WebAssist is an Encinitas, California company that specializes in developing professional extensions for Adobe Dreamweaver. Their Super Suite extension package covers everything from website security, user administration, user login, site cookies, sessions, database administration, email processing, dynamic dropdowns, a full ecommerce shopping cart, a website import tool, Eric Meyer’s CSS Sculptor, a full-featured text editor, dynamic Flash charts, dynamic Google map integration and a whole lot more.
Super Suite – The Power to Build Anything
The WebAssist Super Suite collection advertises itself as having “The Power to Build Anything”, and that’s about right. This set of extensions gives Dreamweaver users the tools to create every facet of a functional content management system, full featured forums with access-level rights, complete website database administration tools including search, add, edit, update and delete fuctions, full digital file upload and download features, and a complete ecommerce shopping cart system with fully customizable storefronts. All this is achieved through an extremely simple wizard interface which walks you through each step in simple, intuitive fashion.
Super Suite can be easily integrated into your current site Dreamweaver template. The wizards take your through the steps needed to configure your options, you choose your template, and Super Suite creates all necessary pages, navigation, recordsets, CSS and javascript. You simply upload the new pages and files to your server, and the new functionality is live, with the look and feel of your existing website.
WebAssist has very active and supporting developer forums, with over 200,000 registered members. If you have a question or problem, simply post it to the forums and you will likely have a solution in a short time. WebAssist also provides excellent Flash tutorials on how to implement the various extensions included in Super Suite. Sample starter databases are included for PHP and ASP, so you can install the data and have a framework upon which to build.
The WebAssist Super Suite package is an all-inclusive Dreamweaver toolkit which provides developers with all the necessary tools to make dynamic database-driven websites in Adobe Dreamweaver. The extensions are compatible with Dreamweaver MX 2004, Dreamweaver 8 and Dreamweaver CS3. PHP, ASP and ColdFusion scripting languages are supported, so if your website host is Linux or Windows, you’re covered.
View more information about the WebAssist Super Suite Dreamweaver extension package.