The Dreamweaver team has been hard at work since the launch of CS3 to bring you…drum roll please…CS4!

That’s right! A bright and shiny new version is available as a public beta. Also available are the Bridge CS4, Fireworks CS4, and Soundbooth betas.

The biggest changes are in the interface.  The OWL interface that you’ve come to know and love in Photoshop are now in Dreamweaver, as are a host of other refinements and improvements.  My favorite UI enhancements by far are the Vertical Split View and Split Code View–the combination of which finally lets you work on the header and body of a document at the same time the way God intended. After all, why would she give us wide-screen monitors if she didn’t want us to see two pages side by side?

Also notable in the new Dreamweaver CS4 are the following:

• Javascript Extractor - provides an easy to make your JavaScript unobtrusive by externalizing it and tying it to watcher events.  This is very cool.  (Note: Read all about Unobtrusive JavaScript in this post.)
• Integrated Subversion Client - ties an SVN client into the site functionality.
• Related Documents - provides instant access to any file that is immediately linked from the document you’re working in
• New Spry Validation & Widgets - new and improved are the Spry validation widgets for passwords and radio groups, along with integrated support for the latest version of Spry.

Click the links below to get your copy hot off the digital presses:

• The Adobe Labs Dreanweaver Beta home

Please direct any feedback, bug reports, and feature requests to the Dreamweaver Public Beta Forums.

Here’s a scenario: your client is hosted on a shared or dedicated server and is running their domain’s email through Postfix and Spam Assassin or, worse, the built-in email provided by the host. Your client complains constantly about the amount of spam that they get even though you put all that gee-whiz email address obfuscation code on their site.

What’s a neck-bearded web developer to do? Well, did you know you can run your domain’s email through Gmail for free? That’s free as in beer, kids.

Currently this service is buried under “Google Apps” found via an obscure link in the footer of your Gmail login page titled, “Google for Organizations.”

The free edition offers just about everything you’d need: IMAP (!), calendar, docs, and chat. The paid edition offers 25 gb (up from 6+ gb) and support for third party apps, 24/7 assistance, etc. A feature comparison chart can be found here.

Setting up my domain was pretty simple.

1. office furniture in BulgariaI signed up for the service
2. I validated ownership of my domain
3. I updated my MX records for my domain to point to Google’s servers
4. I set up my users
5. I turned on IMAP for my account just as I would normally through Gmail
6. I configured my Gmail filters (being sure to turn off my client-side rules)
7. I sat back and witnessed a spam-free inbox for the first time in ages.

An optional step that Google recommends is to update your SPF records to help prevent outgoing spam. To do this, I had my host (the most excellent A2 Hosting, fwiw) update my SPF record to the following:

v=spf1 include:aspmx.googlemail.com ~all

[UPDATE]
If you are currently using Postfix, you will need to ensure that it is not circumventing the MX records on your server because it is set to handle the email for certain domains under your control.  To do this, open a shell and type the following as root:

nano /etc/postfix/mydomains

Delete any domains that conflict with Google’s mail service.
Next, type:

/usr/sbin/postmap /etc/postfix/mydomains

This rebuilds your postfix database.  To verify the fix, type:

cd /etc/postfix
ls -lrt

Make sure mydomains.db has a later timestamp than mydomains.

That’s it. In all, it took about two hours to set up and get everything humming.

Now, Gmail takes some getting used to. For one, you have to get used to their use of labels instead of folders. This renders your main inbox as a sort of dumping ground for every piece of email–both incoming and outgoing–when you’re using a email client via IMAP. This notion of conversations makes a lot more sense when you’re using the web interface for Gmail, or if your email client supports a View by Thread mode.

But the benefit to Gmail is that they have somehow managed to trap 100% of my spam, whereas SpamAssassin was batting about 50-70% on a good day. If you’re using an iPhone or WAP enabled phone, you’re in luck, too, as Gmails mobile platform is extraordinary.

Check it out. This may not be right for every situation, but it’s saved my, uh, bacon. Oh, I slay myself…

Update: As of Mar. 21, 2008, Google has rolled out a fix to this problem. If you see the “Older Version” hyperlink in the upper-right corner of your Gmail window, you are using v2 of the Gmail app and should no longer experience the Shift Key problem on Safari 3.1.

Safari 3.1 and Gmail do not appear to be working and playing well together. This widely reported problem [link 1, link 2, link 3] seems to have reared its ugly head with the release of Safari 3.1 on Tuesday, and affects users who are using either v1 of Gmail or the version of Gmail that is hosted with Google Apps (when you host your domain on Google Apps [read my previous post on this useful and free-as-in-beer service]).

If you are one of The Affected, you probably have a nice dent in your desk where you’ve been banging your forehead repeatedly. Specifically, the symptom is that hitting a modifier key like Shift, Cmd, Option, etc. will jump you to the “to” field or will otherwise try to activate some keyboard shortcut even if keyboard shortcuts are disabled. This bug is enough to drive any normal human being to murder.

The Work-Around

If you’re on the standard version of Gmail, ensure that you have the “newer version” selected. This is a hyperlink that appears in the upper-right corner of your Gmail screen. If you see the link “older version,” you’re theoretically are good to go.

If you’re using the version of Gmail hosted by Google apps, the only published work-around I’ve come across is provided by the Gmail team itself: switch to plain-text formatting; the problem is specific to rich-text editing.

Of course, you can always type like ee cummings and avoid the use of capitals or punctuation. Oh, and the obvious solution is to slum it over in Firefox for the interim.

Safari 3.1 has been released for both the Mac and the Windows. The update is available via the automatic Software Update on the Mac, or via a manual update on Windows. Of course, you can download a fresh clean install here.

Included in the update is a new Develop menu which contains various web development features, allows access to the web inspector and the network time line, allows CSS editing in the web inspector, and allows user agent spoofing.

On the standards side, Safari 3.1 adds support for CSS 3 web fonts, CSS transforms and transitions, HTML 5 <video> and <audio> elements, offline storage for Web applications in SQL databases, SVG images in <img> elements and CSS images, and SVG advanced text. (Ironically, none of these things are standards yet, but whatever.)

The full release notes can be read here.

Since the launch of Leopard and Safari 3, I’ve been using Safari as my primary development browser. The only thing I miss from firefox is the ability to view the source code on selected text. Other than that, Safari 3 with the debug menu enabled has been the best browser for development on the market, hands-down. With 3.1’s update, this will only improve.

Okay, I’m a little late to this party. Back in mid-December, the fine folks at Coffee Cup released the audio from the various (and excellent) sessions from the WJS2k7.

The sessions were unusually good for a conference–assuming you’re either a web developer or a designer (or a slashie, I suppose). The audio versions are very helpful and informative.

For details on the WJS conference, check this archived post: “Webmaster Jam Session 2007 Wrap-Up.”

Also be sure to visit the Webmaster Jam Session site itself for updates on next year’s conference.

Subscribe to the Webmaster Jam Session 2007 Audio Podcast feed here.

Apple announced today the introduction of the iPhone SDK and the iPhone Developer Program.

The iPhone SDK is free and includes the Xcode IDE, Instruments, iPhone simulator, frameworks and samples, compilers, Shark analysis tool, and more. This will let you tinker and develop.

However, if you want to sell or distribute your app, you will have to shell out $99 to become a member of the iPhone Developer Program.

The iPhone Developer Program provides a complete and integrated process for developing, debugging, and distributing your free, commercial, or in-house applications for iPhone and iPod touch. Complete with development resources, real-world testing on iPhone, and distribution on the App Store, you have everything you need to go from code to customer.

The Developer Program comes in two flavors: 1) the Standard Program for $99 is for developers who are creating free and commercial applications for iPhone and iPod touch. 2) the Enterprise Program for $299 is for developers who are creating proprietary, in-house applications for iPhone and iPod touch.

More details here:

http://developer.apple.com/iphone/program/

As of the iPhone 1.1.3 update, users can save a bookmark to the desktop of their iPhone or iPod touch. Creating this icon is similar to creating a favicon. You create a file, save it to the root directory of your site, and the iPhone takes care of the rest.

1. Create a 57×57 image in your favorite image editor
2. Save it as a PNG (not ico!)
3. Name it “apple-touch-icon.png”
4. Upload it to the root of your site
5. Test it in your iPhone
6. Relax on the beach and call the bankers to tell them where to put the wheelbarrows of cash your clients will throw at you just because this is so damn cool.

Step #6 is not guaranteed.

I realized it’s been over a month since my last post. This is due to a combination of deadlines, deadlines, and s’more deadlines.

No worries, though. I’ll be back in action waxing prophetic on all things webish in no time.

No, really…stop laughing…they mean it this time. Honest. IE8 will be standards compliant.

Bwaa-ha-ha-ha! Oh, that’s rich! I can’t keep a straight face when I say that. Microsoft really must think we’re idiots. We’ve heard this tune before with IE7. Now we’re in a morass of backwards compatibility.

It would be one thing if Microsoft forced the upgrade to the latest version just as, oh, EVERY SINGLE OTHER BROWSER DOES. But they don’t. So I, for one, am dreading IE8 as yet another browser that I have to support. Build it for Safari and Firefox, and smile. Check it in IE and weep silent tears for the angel that just lost its wings.

Until Microsoft honestly and truly dumps their coprporate mindset of dragging the last 10-15 years of technology along with backwards compatibility because some fortune 500 IT department doesn’t want an upgrade is ridiculous. Nay, reCOCKulous.

Now, I hope I’m wrong. Let’s hope the 8th time is the charm.

I actually started this post for a reason. Ars has an interesting article on IE8’s standards compliance. Check it out here:

Wisdom and folly: IE8’s super standards mode cuts both ways

With little fanfare, the Google Analytics team replaced the venerable Urchin code with a fancy new tracking engine called ga.js. Google recommend upgrading from Urchin to the new, faster ga.js. To do so, go to your Analytics page and get the snippet where you previously got your Urchin snippet.

Why upgrade? What’s in the new version? Not much yet, but development on Urchin has halted apparently in favor of the new tracking engine (that I wish had a name!). As new features are added to Analytics, ga.js will be able to take advantage of them. In their own words…

We are also rolling out the new ga.js page tag which we recommend you use for all new accounts and new profiles for new domains. Although your existing urchin.js page tags will continue to work, you may wish to update them to ga.js anyway. This will allow you to take advantage of the most up-to-date tracking functionality as it is added to Google Analytics. An immediate benefit you’ll notice is that the ga.js tags allow you to track ecommerce transactions in a more readable way. And, we’ve created a special resource on the ga.js javascript for power users who want more control over Google Analytics tracking. If you do choose to update your site to ga.js, please note that the old tracking code (which uses urchin.js) and the new tracking code (which uses ga.js) will not work if placed on the same page together.

Check out your Analytics home page or the Analytics Blog for more details.