Dreamweaver makes building server-side pages a breeze. It makes it possible for web developers to choose any one of five scripting languages: ASP, ASP.NET, PHP, JSP and ColdFusion. Although Dreamweaver does a great job of saving developers time by generating code which will add useful server-side functionality to pages, if you plan to develop an ASP.NET site, Dreamweaver may not be the best choice of development platform.

Back in 2007, Microsoft took the decision to release free “Express” editions of various elements within their industry-standard Visual Studio software. One of these free packages, Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition, is tailor-made for developing ASP.NET sites driven by SQL Server data sources. So, although Dreamweaver is great at what it does, the benefits of using the free Microsoft solution far outweigh anything offered by Dreamweaver.

The most convincing fact is that the latest version of Dreamweaver CS4 has abandoned support for ASP.NET completely. Secondly, in previous versions, only ASP.NET 1.1 server controls were supported. So, by using Dreamweaver, you will be missing out on all of the functionality which was introduced first with ASP.NET 2.0 and then ASP.NET 3.5. One key feature which almost every ASP.NET website can benefit from is the use of master pages which was introduced with ASP.NET 2.0. Dreamweaver also contains a feature called master pages but it is not nearly as powerful as the implementation of master pages in ASP.NET.

When creating a site in Dreamweaver, it is possible to build a template which contains the entire layout of the page and consists of locked and editable regions. When the template is applied to a page, only the editable regions of the page can be edited. Typically, locked regions will contain elements which are common to all pages in the site or to all pages in one section of a site, things such as logos, banners and navigation links. The editable region(s) will contain the main content of each page.

Each time a change is made to a Dreamweaver template, the user is offered the option of updating all pages based on that template. This makes the template feature a very powerful tool for updating a website and maintaining consistency across multiple pages.

ASP.NET master pages are not dissimilar to Dreamweaver templates, with the master page containing fixed regions and content placeholders. There is one key difference, however. In Dreamweaver, all of the markup in the master page is copied into each page based on the template with each update and each updated page must then be uploaded to the server. In ASP.NET, the pages based on the master (the content pages) contain a link to the master but do not repeat the markup found on the master. The ASP.NET engine generates the necessary markup at runtime. This means that to update the common elements of an ASP.NET site, you only need to update the master page(s). There is non need to update the content pages based on the master(s).

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One of the most important principles of effective web design is ‘Keep it simple’. This rule must be applied to all aspects of your website, including graphics, content and navigation. Use the following guidelines to implement simplicity in your website design and make your web pages stand out from the clutter of ineffective web pages on the internet.

1. Provide features and services with target audience in mind
Develop the habit of including only those features on your website that are relevant to the site functionality and carry some meaning for your target audience. Adding a feature that pleases you but does not carry any significance for your customers is a waste of time and bandwidth.

2. Minimize features that need high bandwidth
Bandwidth-consuming audio and video features must be used judiciously or they can considerably increase the time your web pages take to load, irritating customers and hindering usage of your website. Additionally, regularly monitor your web pages to check their loading time and repair any broken links.

3. Inform your customers but do not brag
Provide your customers with easy to digest information and not tall claims. When giving them information about your products and services, include references and customer testimonials to allow them to judge your performance. Successful web copies aim to initiate dialogue with customers to make them want to contact you and add to your client base.

4. Simplicity in language and clarity of thought
Use simple, concise and easy to understand language, and minimize the use of overly technical words and industry jargon, that can be understood only by a small section of people. Provide attention-grabbing headlines that encourage visitors to read on and establish a relationship with your company. All your ideas must be well thought and clearly expressed in the content. Ambiguity in language or expression can negatively affect the image of your site and company.

5. Develop good content
Developing good content for your website is very important as it can capture customer attention and help them better absorb what you have to offer. If you are on a budget, hire fresh interns or English marketing, advertising or journalism graduates, who are eager to get some real time experience, to write for your website. Effective content addresses your customers’ problems and provides efficient solutions for them. Additionally, avoid cluttering up your web pages with too much information about many products. Create a new page for each product or product category.

6. Provide your customers with unique and effective information
Your web pages should be designed to give unique information to customers. Providing information that visitors cannot find easily on other websites gives you a huge advantage. However, this information should be valid and backed by experience and knowledge. For instance, if your site sells accounting services, get an accountant to write an article on “10 biggest tax mistakes”.

7. Simplify search and navigation
Along with simplicity in content and graphics, it is important to design your pages in a way that facilitates quick and easy search of desired information. If customers do not easily find what they are looking for, and have to browse through several pages before reaching their search items, they get bored and turn their attention to other websites. Easy search capabilities make visitors’ browsing experience an enjoyable one. The faster your customers can navigate through your website and find what they are looking for, the more likely you are to get repeat visits from them.

Follow the above-mentioned steps and it will definitely help you to improve your credibility and search engine rankings, build customer trust and loyalty, attract more customers and build your client base.

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XSLT is an XML-related technology which is used to transform XML data. XML file are used to set out the ground-rules for a given body of data and to describe the data itself. XSL allows us to take the original XML data and convert it into information which can be displayed in a web browser window or opened with a text editor. XSL can also be used to create an XML file which is a modified version of an original XML file.

When displaying XML elements in a browser window, the XSL elements which enable looping through an XML tree and decision-making really come into their own. One of the key methods used in XSL for looping through elements in an XML file is the the “For-each” element. This requires the “select” attribute to specify which element is to be used in the loop. The “For-each” element normally requires both an opening and a closing tag and any lines of markup placed between the opening and closing tags will be repeated each time the element specified in the “select” attribute is encountered in the XML file.

For example, suppose we have an XML file containing a list of companies and the addresses of their websites. Suppose, as well, that the element which we will be targeting in the XSL “For-each” statement is called “company” and that, within each company element, we have a “name”, “telephone” and “website” element. Before starting our “For-each” loop, we could place the opening tag of an HTML “ul” element (an unordered or bulleted list).

Inside the “For-each” loop, we could output an HTML “li” element and, between its opening and closing tags, output the contents of the “name” and “telephone” elements from the XML file. The data in the “website” element in the input XML could be used to convert the “name” into a clickable link.

As to the appearance of the data in the resulting HTML output, this would be controlled by a linked CSS file. CSS can be used to format the output in any way we desire, so our bulleted list can take on pretty much any appearance we desire.

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Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX is one of the hottest internet technologies around. One of the easiest ways to understand Ajax is to get an idea of what you can achieve with it, what it can do for your web development. Principally, Ajax can help you develop web pages and websites that function and respond like desktop applications. The Ajax technology achieves this by working away in the background, grabbing data from a server and then displaying it as it’s needed. As internet access speeds continue to increase, there will come a time when the user will not be able to perceive any difference between the performance of a web application and that of regular desktop software.

So, if you are already engaged in web development but have not started to delve into the world of Ajax, now is a good time to seriously consider finding some form of Ajax training.

Ajax-powered webpages differ from classic server-side pages in one important regard: with the classic page, to retrieve data from the server, the user normally has to submit information via the form and then wait for the page to reload and display a set of search results. With Ajax, interaction with the server can take place in a much more subtle manner, often without a form having to be submitted or the page having to reload.

The name Ajax is an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML and Ajax involves the use of several web technologies. First of all, we have HTML and CSS, the raw material of which web pages are constructed. HTML defines the structure of the page content while CSS controls the layout and formatting of those elements. Next, we have XML data sources residing on a server. XML is a neutral standard for describing and storing information. Then there is JavaScript, the main scripting language used to add interactivity to web pages, which is used to fetch data from XML sources and use it to update the web page.

The most important element in JavaScript’s Ajax capabilities is the use of the XMLHttpRequest object which is used to send requests to the server without the need of refreshing the page. The key feature of this process is that it is asynchronous. This means that when a request is made for data from the server, the browser doesn’t need to wait for the data to come back. Therefore the page continues to function and when the data has been retrieved, the necessary parts of the page are updated.

Are you a web developer looking to expand you skill-set? If you are, you need look no further than Ajax. Ajax training will definitely enable you to take your web development expertise to a new level.

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The ASP.NET environment includes a number of useful server controls which can be used by developers to quickly add sophisticated functionality to a web form. The validation controls found in ASP.NET are used to check the information entered by visitors to your site into form fields and display error messages if there are problems with the entries. This process is referred to as validation and is an essential part of the information gathering process. Validation requires that you lay down some ground rules for each of the key fields in your form. How strict these rules are how strictly you enforce them is up to you. You will probably want to strike a balance between rules which are not so lax that they allow users to submit rubbish via your form and not so strict that they put users off.

Not all controls found in forms require the same type and degree of validation. For example, text boxes in which the user can choose to enter any information they like is likely to require more checking than a check box which can be checked or unchecked and nothing else. In addition, some fields will require multiple validation checks while others will require only one or perhaps none at all.

ASP.NET’s validation server controls offer developers both server-side and client-side validation. Server-side validation takes place on the server and is usually implemented using one of the two main languages used in ASP.NET web development: VB.Net or C#. Client-side validation takes place in the user’s browser and is usually done using JavaScript, before the form is sent to the server.

Client-side and server-side validation both have their benefits and drawbacks. From the user’s point of view, client-side validation is quicker and also frees up the server to perform other tasks. However, it is in no way secure. It is easy for the user to look at the source code of the page and see what type of validation is being performed. It is also possible for the user to disable the execution of JavaScript within their browser’s preferences.

The main problems with server-side validation are that it is slightly slower and uses more of the server’s precious processing power. However, it is secure and allows developers to set up validation procedures which users cannot side-step.

Given that client-side and server-side validation both have definite benefits, it is usually best to implement both of them when creating forms. The validation server controls found in ASP.NET make this very doable and very easy.

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The ASP.NET environment offers a number of built-in solution for displaying information from a database. In ASP.NET, placing a GridView control on your page is one of the simplest ways of displaying databound data. The GridView can be created simply by opening the Database Explorer and dragging the table or view that from which you want to display information. However, the default GridView which is automatically generated in this way almost always needs some tweaking. One typical change you may want to make is to change some of the BoundFields elements to TemplateFields elements.

By default, the GridView displays data using the BoundField object which displays data from a given column in the data source with no real modification. By contrast, any content you desire can be placed inside a TemplateField element. This makes it ideal for setting up validation through the use of validation controls.

TemplateFields offer great flexibility by allowing you to include a variety of templates to cater for the different states of the conditions arising within the GridView. There are several types of template which may be added inside a TemplateField object; the main ones are described below.

Use the HeaderTemplate to customize the information which will be displayed in the header of the column in which the TemplateField is located.

Use the ItemTemplate to hold the information which you want displayed for each row of data when the GridView object is not selected for editing.

The EditItemTemplate is used to display the information which you want displayed for each row of data when the GridView object is in edit mode. It is here that you would place the controls necessary for validation.

Typically, you would display the information currently held in the database by adding a TextBox control inside the EditItemTemplate and databind it to the appropriate column from the data source using a statement like Bind(“FirstName”). Inside the same EditItemTemplate, you would then place the necessary validation control. For example, if you want to ensure that the field is not left blank when the form is submitted, you would insert a RequiredFieldValidator control.

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The PHP web development environment is probably the first solution most people think of when they consider server side coding. Developed initially on a home page and now blanketing the web on at least 200 million sites, the Perl extensions have grown up to become PHP Web Development.

PHP is not without its flaws. Unfortunately version 6 does not run in as many languages as version 3. Creating in PHP is not necessarily easy because you are creating something that normally will not work on server that you can control.

Two important steps when developing in PHP are required for success.

You do not have to build on a Linux but it is highly recommended. A Linux system is similar to what is used on servers where your project will be sent to. For the most part, local servers are Windows based. As stated previously, web based creations run on a Linux server. It may not seem like much an issue but it is. Windows based servers are not case sensitive. Linux servers are. Using a link like http://name.com/folderName/ on a Windows server may seem great. You check it and it works. So, you send it to the webserver. All of a sudden, it does not work anymore. When you select the link, the message page not found shows up. You know the page is there.

Linux provides more stability.

If, for some unknown reason, you just feel like you have to use Windows, try to get the development environment as close as you can to Linux.

SVN and CVS is pretty much the same thing. Both save your work to a system that enables you retrieve to preceding versions of your work if you need to. Being able to retrieve the information is very important. There are those that believe that SVN is only useful for projects that more than one person are working on. Each person can retrieve and use the file at the same time. Any problems that develop are handled by SVN by merging all the information into one file when possible. Using SVN as an individual is good because you are able to look at preceding versions and restore to that point if necessary.

Hopefully you can tell just how relevant this information is developing as well as PHP. It is suggested that to do these two things in the order listed when getting started in developing your application that will be in a structured and controlled environment.

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Microsoft ASP.NET is the server-side technology ‘par excellence’. Server side technology is already a powerful tool but with Asp Dot Net training, you can learn just how powerful this can be. It is used to develop the most dynamic web pages, it is flexible, powerful and contains a series of classes which may be used for every programming need. The set of classes is found in the Microsoft. Net Framework which encompasses a huge amount of technology to assist in web design.

Essentially this framework training was developed to solve certain fundamental problems that programmers often face. These include reliable time saving for the building of large applications; Allowing various languages to operate on these applications. A cheaper, faster and easier way to get the applications into the hands of the user, no complex codes with complicated languages are required, and programmers are also able to unify the architecture/applications to operate locally on a machine from web accessed applications.

In short you get impressive results with far less complex programming. This is very important when you are required to have many different programming languages, for example, C++ and visual basic. Often these languages overlap, and each of them require different methods for working with data bases, accessing file systems and manipulating strings.

The syntax for both C++ and Visual Basic is written differently but basically functions the same, and this is the case with the majority of programming languages. Variable data in respect of strings and integers is similar and. Net framework is designed to work with this and simplify matters.

Access to database, manipulating text, generating graphics, and handling system files is all taken care of by the organized structure of classes in the. Net framework. Training encompasses learning all about these classes and how they can be applied to programming expression and network protocol management.

Bytes, arrays, integers, strings and characters are all basic data types and this is explained in your training. This training is virtually on the job also as you can access the. Net classes while you are working on a real life scenario, essentially, when you are busy building web pages.

This framework consists of more that three thousand five hundred classes which are structured into namespaces. You are taught to understand namespaces as this is integral to the success of your training. Namespaces are organized logically and grouped together, as jumbling them up would make it difficult to relate them to working with system files.

Before you install and run ASP. Net, you have to understand the difference between this and “ASP”. ASP creates web pages only using script language and ASP dot NET allows the use of any programming language that is supported by Net.

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PHP is a great open source solution for creating interactive, data-driven websites. Building a website is not easy. There are a lot of things that you have to know before you can start your own page, which is why so many people find it easier to simply get a website build for them, or some people just use free templates, which is just so much easier. There are many different types of website out there these days, where in the beginning there was just HTML, now there is PHP web development and flash web sites, among other things.

If you start out with web design you will usually use HTML. This is the basic to start with and is easiest to understand in terms of the code. When you are ready to move on to the next level, the PHP is ideal. It will give you more to work with and can offer a lot more for your clients too.

It is also a lot faster and you can study it in your own time. It is best to choose a few PHP programs and tutorials to go through because you will find that you like some better than others or there might be some items that one does not have but that the other one shows in detail.

It all depends on the type of website you want to build as to how detailed you need the PHP tutorial to be. You can use the PHP scripts for many different things and build the best kinds of interactive websites. You can choose if you want to use flash with this or if you want to add any other elements in the coding.

Once you know these details then PHP becomes easier. You will also find that a lot of the tutorials cover similar topics, but there are those that do cover some different things. This is why you should try to get more than one tutorial that you can use to give you the best possible learning experience.

Many web designers and developers study for years at a college or university to learn PHP and other website languages. You can easily learn all you need to make a brilliant website just by going over a few tutorials and practicing your skills.

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The ASP.NET environment is the premier development environment for creating dynamic server-side content a key element of which is the display of information from data sources. Displaying data on a web page which is bound to information in a database is a very common requirement in web applications. In ASP.NET version 1, the main control for achieving this was the DataGrid. In the current release of ASP.NET, version 3.5, the DataGrid is conspicuously absent from the Toolbox in Visual Web Developer. In fact, although the DataGrid can still be used in ASP.NET pages and will work fine, it is now deprecated. The good news is that there is a good choice of more powerful new controls which have taken its place. Four of these controls (GridView, DataList, Repeater and List View) are suitable for displaying multiple records from a data source and then there are another two (FormView and DetailsView) which are used to display only one record at a time.

Perhaps the most widely-used of ASP.NET’s DataBound controls is the GridView. It displays data items in an automatically-generated table and has a rich set of easily-configurable options. Options include the ability to customize columns and to include custom content in columns such as images or any other relevant HTML column. Command columns can also be added containing links which will enable the user to edit and delete records. The control also supports paging and sorting.

The DataList control also automatically generates a table when it produces its output. However, unlike the GridView control, it allows the display of more than one record per row using its RepeatColumns property. The DataList is also template-driven, requiring the use of an ItemTemplate containing dynamic data. The elements placed inside the ItemTemplate are rendered once for each item in the bound data.

ItemTemplate elements are also used by The Repeater Control to format its output. However, since it does not automatically generate a table, the Repeater offers considerable flexibility of layout. Output can be rendered as paragraphs, as a series of DIV elements, an ordered list, an unordered list or a customized table.

ASP.NET 3.5 introduced us to the ListView control, which also uses templates for displaying its output. However, it is far more sophisticated, allowing the use of a variety of templates, for example: a LayoutTemplate for specifying the overall container for the data; an ItemTemplate for specifying the rendering of each item of data; an ItemSeparator template, used to specify the content displayed between items of data; and so on. The ListView control also supports paging, sorting and editing records as well as the creation of new records.

ASP.NET 3.5 offers a choice of two controls for displaying single items of data: the DetailsView and the FormView. The DetailsView resembles GridView in that it displays its output in an automatically-generated HTML table. The other single record data bound control, the FormView, resembles the ListView control, in that it is entirely template driven. Both of the single record controls support paging and sorting and allow you to edit and delete records as well as adding new ones.

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