Many people, not just Web designers and Web developers, want or need to create Websites, but few have the desire or the time to learn how. Whether you hand-code (write the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript from scratch, typing each line of code manually, one at a time), or whether you use a sophisticated Web design program (such as Adobe Dreamweaver), both methods are complicated and take some time to learn—unless you use a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) design program, such as Adobe Muse, that is. Muse lets you create professional-grade Web pages and Websites without having to know how to (or having to) compose HTML or any other code. Muse makes each step of the design process, from planning to publishing, easy. In the planning stage, for instance, you layout your site’s basic structure with Muse’s master pages, a concept Adobe borrowed from hardcopy page layout, or desktop publishing, programs, such as Indesign. In the design phase, Muse does all the heavy lifting. All you do is place your site elements—text, graphics, photos, digital video, menus, photograph galleries, and so on—on your pages, and Muse does the rest. This exciting new design program does everything from creating links and menus automatically to resizing images and making sure content fits properly on various-size screens—the smallest smartphones displays, tablet screens, and huge, high-definition desktop computer monitors. Adobe Muse helps non-professional Web designers create professional-looking sites quickly and economically, and it provides professional designers a utility for performing their craft without a lot of tedious, hard-to-learn, programming.
Applicable Job Roles: web designers, print media designers, professional designers, web app developers, content managers, office managers, novice Web designers
Outline
Week 1: Getting Started with Muse
What is Muse?
Designing Websites in Muse – an Overview
WYSIWIG Design versus Hand-Coding
What You can do with Muse
The Muse Interface
Creating Your First Muse Web page
Week 2: Planning a Site in Muse
The Plan Mode Interface
Master Pages – an Overview
Planning Site Structure with Master Pages
Managing Metadata with Master Pages
Laying Out Master Pages
Managing Master Pages
Week 3: Designing a Site in Muse
The Design Mode Interface
The Tools Panel
The Control Panel
Other Mission Critical Panels
Drawing and Formatting Boxes
Typing and Formatting Text in Muse
Using Web Fonts
Week 4: Working with External Content
Importing and Formatting Word Processor Text
Understanding Paragraph Styles
Placing Graphics and Images in Your Pages
Formatting Graphics and Images
Working with Graphic Styles
Digital Video and Animation
Week 5: Content from other CS6 Programs
Muse’s Creative Suite Integration
Using Photoshop Images in Muse
Creating Buttons in Photoshop
Using Illustrator Graphics in Muse
Using Fireworks Graphics in Muse
Using Edge Animate Content in Muse
Week 6: Creating Interactivity
Simple Buttons and Hyperlinks
Mouse States
Interactivity Triggers
Page Navigation with Targets
More Advanced Interactivity with Edge Animate
Week 7: Creating Content with Widgets
A Template by any other Name…
The Composition Widget
The Forms Widget
The Menus Widget
The Accordion Panels Widget
The Slideshow Widget
Third-Party Widgets
Week 8: Publishing Muse Websites
Designing for Today’s Multiple Screen Sizes
How Muse Helps
Back to the Planning Stage….or not?
Designing for Smartphones
Designing for Tablets
Creating Screen-Specific Versions of Your Site
Uploading and Managing Your Muse Site Files
Hosting and Managing Sites on Adobe’s Business Catalyst
Prerequisites
None.
Knowledge of computer graphics, digital video, HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript would also be helpful, but by no means required.
Requirements
Software: Aside from Adobe Muse program itself, there are no other required software applications to complete this course; however, you'll find the following software useful:
Full or trial versions of Photoshop CS6, Fireworks CS6, Illustrator CS6: You can download the latest trial version from adobe.com, but if you do, since the trial version is good for only 30 days, do not install it until the fifth week of the course.
Adobe Edge Animate CS6: A Web content animation and interactivity utility, free to all Adobe Creative Cloud members.
Web space: You'll need a website to which you can upload your assignments. There are several free Web hosting sites available. However, many of them place ads on your pages. This can be very annoying, but if you can live with it, so can I. Muse comes with a subscription for hosting one domain on Adobe’s Business Catalyst Web hosting and management service, though. If you have a choice between a free site and Business Catalyst, I suggest you use the latter.
Books:
No Textbook Required
Additional information:
Your place in the course is confirmed by your payment. Introductory courses are intended for students with no experience in the subject matter and are seeking beginner level training.
Refund Policy: Please read our Terms and Refund Policy before registering for this course.
Additional Cost: Book and software might be required for the course. Read the Requirements and Book section for more information. Course fee does not include the book and software cost .
How eClasses Work:Instructors post lectures (text-based, no video or audio), reading selections, and hands-on assignments once a week in the online classroom. Students can discuss the assignments with the instructor and amongst themselves in the classroom area. This format has no set meeting time, which allows students to attend class at a time most convenient to them, yet still provides logically organized communication between class participants. Students can apply for the completion certificate after finishing the class.
Open Courses:
No other sessions are scheduled for this course. You can add to your wish list and you will be notified when other sessions are scheduled.
Instructor's Profile
William Harrel has owned and operated a design firm, WilliamHarrel.com, for nearly 25 years. WilliamHarrel.com has designed and maintains hundreds of websites for several notable clients, such as the California Spine Institute and Communications Technology Watch. Harrel has written 20 books and hundreds of magazine articles on digital design and computer technology in general. He created and currently instructs six online Flash courses offered at over 2,500 colleges and universities, as well as the popular Mobile Web Design and Introduction to CSS3 courses at eClasses.org. His latest book, HTML, CSS and JavaScript Mobile Development for Dummies, focuses on developing Web content for mobile devices. Currently, he is a Contributing Editor at ComputerShopper.com.
Before you register for this class, please read the Outline, Prerequisites, Requirements, Books, and Refund Policy sections carefully.
This page is part of a preserved archive of eclasses.org. The site is no longer active and its content is not maintained. For enquiries about this archive, write to archive(at)iwanet.org.
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