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Thursday, November 02, 2006

Dreamweaver extensions (some free for download) from WebAssist

WebAssist just released an extension for Dreamweaver that does back-end coding for Google widgets. Whether you believe Google is a benign artifical intelligence that exists just to help us, or if you believe that Google is poised to buy the internet, your site visitors know Google’s look and feel.

WebAssist’s Google extension to Dreamweaver allows you to add site search, via Google to your site, as well as Google Maps and their payment module. The search addition is very straight-forward, with the extension walking you through a wizard to place the Google search box on the page. The search results page can be modified, including the addition of a logo instead of the Google logo. A little tweaking of the form code can make the search box harmonize with the rest of the page. I’ve added the search box to the links page.

Adding Google Maps is a bit more involved. The complexity doesn’t come with the extension, but that you have to get an Google Maps API key to use the map on your site. This is not difficult, but it does require you to set up a Google account in order to generate and download the key. Without the key, your web server won’t be able to pull the data off Google’s servers. In any case, you’d still need the key if you were going to do a mash-up of Google Maps and whatever it is you want to map without using the WebAssist extension.

And right now, there is no charge to download and install the extension, however registration is required. This is worth testing if you don’t mind becoming part of the Googleplex.

And while you are poking around WebAssist’s site, I’d also suggest taking a look at the Web Pro Resource, particularly if you are working with database driven sites in Dreamweaver. Joe Lowery is part of the WebAssist staff, and writes some of the content. Well worth the time spent.