Trustworthy Online Dreamweaver Courses?

[janeller316]

I'm looking for Dreamweaver courses. My end goal is to eventually take the certification for professional (not Youtube video) Dreamweaver, but I want to learn more about it first. Does anyone know of any trustworthy companies that offer courses in Dreamweaver?

[Nancy OShea]

My advice is to learn all you can about Web Design Theory, HTML, CSS and JavaScript first.   The ACE exam will ask you things that are not entirely specific to Dreamweaver.   Keep in mind that the ACE exams probably have not been updated in a while.  So you may be asked questions relating to previous versions (2014 or 2015) which are very different from the current release version.

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Unless you plan to teach at an Adobe Authorized Training Center or write books on the software, I see no personal or professional gain from taking ACE exams.  IMO,  ACE proves nothing other than your ability to prep & take tests.   My clients have never once asked for it and never will.  Dreamweaver is only one of the tools I use in my profession.

Good luck!

Nancy

[Nancy OShea]

If you just want to learn how to use Dreamweaver, I can recommend Lynda.com.  Their online subscription courses are peer reviewed for accuracy and quality.

Nancy

[EbaySeller]

janeller316  wrote

My end goal is to eventually take the certification for professional (not Youtube video) Dreamweaver

That's a terrible end goal. Keep in mind that professionally-speaking a Dreamweaver certification will do absolutely nothing for you, unless you want real professional developers to laugh at you when you proudly say "I'm Dreamweaver Certified!". That's what I come here for though: the laughs.

Dreamweaver != professional

If you want to get a certification that is widely-recognized by the professional development community then I would recommend working on obtaining your AWS Developer Certification. I have all 3 associate level certs - now working on obtaining the 2 professional certs - and they have served me well in terms of being recognized in the professional development community (lots of recruiter emails, job offers, higher pay, etc.). Or get one of the many java certifications. Dreamweaver cert is nothing but a waste of time and money though.

[rayek.elfin]

I would have to agree with the others here: the ACE exams are pretty much worthless*. Perhaps if you want to get a teaching job it might help a bit, but you are far better off learning the actual technologies behind web development.

ACE is a money cow milked by Adobe. Instead, if you really need to, get some properly recognized certification, just as EbaySeller suggested.

* my own experience: I was certified for four Adobe products. An absolute waste of time and money. Luckily the training company where I worked paid for the expenses.

[osgood_]

janeller316  wrote

I'm looking for Dreamweaver courses. My end goal is to eventually take the certification for professional (not Youtube video) Dreamweaver, but I want to learn more about it first. Does anyone know of any trustworthy companies that offer courses in Dreamweaver?

Why take a course in Dreamweaver, it's pretty pointless unless you want to limit yourself to jobs that only require someone that can use Dreamweaver or if you intend to persue a career as an Abobe program tutor.

As has been mentioned youre better off looking for classes that teach you general html/css/javascript/jQuery/php. Much of the learning can be done via Youtube. There's some better FREE learning channels on that than you can find in a College or Online rip off merchants, who possibly are 2 or 3 years behind the curve.

[pziecina]

If you must do a course, and obtain certification, then at least don't make it product specific.

As has already been said a Dreamweaver course is only good if your future employers wish you to use Dw, (not many do). AWS certification is only any good if they wish you to use AWS. Similarly an MS course for C# is only any good for C# developers.

Start with learning the basics for yourself, and possibly obtain a 'general' W3C certification such as -

https://www.edx.org/professional-certificate/front-end-web-developer-9

Follow that by a back-end development course in the language of your choice, but be carefull as the most popular languages are not always the highest paid, or the ones most required.

No matter what you do though, you will require 2-3 years experiance before anyone will employ you as a professional developer. Until then you will be 'learning the trade'.

Then if you wish to be promoted, there is always managment courses to consider.

[EbaySeller]

pziecina  wrote

As has already been said a Dreamweaver course is only good if your future employers wish you to use Dw, (not many do). AWS certification is only any good if they wish you to use AWS.

You're right! AWS Certification is only good if companies use AWS, and many (if not almost ALL - including Adobe, mind you) enterprise-level companies use AWS! AWS is far and away the leading provider of cloud infrastructure services and they're not going anywhere. But you shouldn't try to obtain an AWS certification. It leaves more of the job market open for me to maintain a position as the highest paid IT certification of 2016 according for Forbes. Those Forbes numbers don't lie, BTW.

[pziecina]

EbaySeller  wrote

But you shouldn't try to obtain an AWS certification. It leaves more of the job market open for me to maintain a position as the highest paid IT certification of 2016 according for Forbes. Those Forbes numbers don't lie, BTW.

As my main responsibilities are specialist project management, i won't bother with AWS certification as i do not want a pay drop

[EbaySeller]

pziecina  wrote

EbaySeller   wrote

But you shouldn't try to obtain an AWS certification. It leaves more of the job market open for me to maintain a position as the highest paid IT certification of 2016 according for Forbes. Those Forbes numbers don't lie, BTW.

As my main responsibilities are specialist project management, i won't bother with AWS certification as i do not want a pay drop

*retired, former specialist you mean?

That's what I come here for though: the laughs.

[pziecina]

EbaySeller  wrote

*retired, former specialist you mean?

Wrong, i work part time, at the request of the companies involved, with the same position. From 6th Jan 2018 my main topic of interest will be good food and wine

One thing i would like to point out to the OP though, is that they should decide on just where they wish to be in a few years time.

If it is working as an employee, then a good grounding in the web techs is required.

If it is freelance then quite possibly it would be better to go for a specialised qualification such as AWS, or MS .net.

If it is self employed, I'm hoping someone else can suggest, but i would think that they should also look at some form of design qualification plus web techs.

Also don't forget that experiance in a specialist field, such as engineering or marketing helps in all the above, and considered essential in some cases.

[EbaySeller]

pziecina  wrote

As my main responsibilities are specialist project management, i won't bother with AWS certification as i do not want a pay drop

That's weird. AWS developer average salary is more than specialist project management average salary according to glassdoor and yet you believe it's higher pay? Perception is one's reality I suppose. Sounds Nerf ball to me . Maybe we should get a tape measure and see whose is bigger?

You missed one on the list of ifs though: if you want to work for little dinky ma and pop shops that don't know WTF they're doing and pay minimal compensation then stick primarily with Dreamweaver and this forum as your technical resources.

Mic drop

[osgood_]

EbaySeller  wrote

pziecina   wrote

As my main responsibilities are specialist project management, i won't bother with AWS certification as i do not want a pay drop

That's weird. AWS developer average salary is more than specialist project management average salary according to glassdoor and yet you believe it's higher pay? Perception is one's reality I suppose. Sounds Nerf ball to me . Maybe we should get a tape measure and see whose is bigger?

You missed one on the list of ifs though: if you want to work for little dinky ma and pop shops that don't know WTF they're doing and pay minimal compensation then stick primarily with Dreamweaver and this forum as your technical resources.

Mic drop

Been there, done it, seen it, got it, it's really quite boring until you decide to grow up. I realised money isn't everything a while back, job satisfaction is, even if its lower paid. You'll probably burn yourself out really quickly - keep chasing that rainbow - happy days!.

[Nancy OShea]

I'm not taking anything away from AWS certification for the right person who develops in the Amazon Web Services architecture.  But how many average DW users do you think that includes? If these forums are any indicator, I think that number is very low but I could be wrong.

The ACPs & MVPs have had several backroom discussions about the current state of ACE exams.  Disgust is the prevailing opinion.  If you don't need to take it for career reasons, don't waste your time.  And if you do need it, good luck with renewing as the ACE renewal process has become more time consuming, difficult & costly than it was before.

To the OP, I would concentrate less on certifications and focus more on learning and creating a respectable portfolio of projects that you can show prospective clients / employers.  Reach out to non-profits, churches and charities who need a web site.  You won't get rich doing it but you will learn new skills and develop some experience.   You have to start somewhere.

I also urge you to read the Job Postings on Behance to get a feel for what employers are looking for.  This is a good indicator of the things you should be learning to become a marketable Web Designer / Developer.

Behance

Nancy

[janeller316]

Thank all of you!

[Nancy OShea · Accepted solution]

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