getting started with dreamweaver
creating a new site
1.
Start Dreamweaver
2.
In the toolbar menu at the top go to Site > Define Sites
3.
Click "New"
4.
Click on "Local Info" on the left hand pane
o
In "Site Name" type "Your web site's name "
o
In "Local Root Folder" click on the yellow folder icon to browse for the
folder containing your local web site files. Create a new folder if necessary.
o
Under "HTTP Address", type "http://www.yourwebsite.com"
o
Check the cache "Enable Cache" box
5.
Click on "Remote Info" on the left hand pane
o
Under "Access", choose "FTP"
o
Under "FTP Host", type "the ftp host details from your hosting provider"
o
Leave "Host Directory" blank, unless you have been given one
o
Enter the details you were given by your hosting provider under
login/password
o
Check the "Save" box
o
Check the "Passive FTP" box
o
Under "Check In/Out", check "Enable Check In and Check Out" and "Check Out
Files when Opening"
o
Enter your details under "Check Out Name" and "Email Address"
6.
Click OK
7.
Your site structure should be viewable now
n.b.: If you do not have ftp details, just leave Access
as none. You don't need to check in/check out files if it's just you working on
the site.
connect to your web site
1.
While in the "Site" view, click the icon of two plugs (highlighted in
pink below):
2.
This will connect you to your web site
to create a new page
-
Go to File > New Window
-
Use the Properties (Window > Properties) floating palette to select the
format of the text, add bullet points and numbered lists
-
To link a word or phrase, highlight the section you wish to link (use the
mouse to select it)
-
To link to a page within your site, click the folder icon to the
right of the box called "link" and browse for the file
-
To link to a web page not within your site, type the full web site
address in the "Link" box (including the http://)
-
To include images, go to "Insert > Image"
-
To include tables go to "Insert > Table"
-
To edit the html source, click on the <> icon in the very bottom right of
Dreamweaver's interface
Dreamweaver
Properties
In the Properties floating palette -- do not change the font from "Default
Font", or use any of the size or color attributes. Also, avoid using the
background color (Bg) and border (Brdr) color attributes on tables. This is
because all attributes dealing with appearance should be in the
style sheet.
If all your pages are going to have the same design, the best idea is to
create a template. How to create a template is detailed in the
next section.
dreamweaver templates
Once you have set out the page how you want it, you will
need to save it as a template.
creating a template
-
Create a page, as described in the
previous page
-
Go to "File > Save as Template"
-
Create a name for the template, but do not change the file extension - it
must remain as .dwt
-
Dreamweaver automatically saves the template in a folder called
/Templates
-
The template needs to have editable regions, so that pages created from
it will be able to be edited
-
Select an area,
usually a table cell, that will contain editable content
-
Go to "Modify > Templates > New Editable Region"
-
Name the region
-
Continue doing this until all your editable regions are formed
-
n.b.: It's best to keep this to a minimum, or it defies the point of
having a template
-
It is also a good idea to use
server side includes
to help minimise download time and site maintenance
creating pages from the template
-
Go to "File > New from Template"
-
Select the template you wish to use
-
Go to "File > Save As" and save the file where the new page will live
-
Add content
to the new page
-
If changes are made to non-editable areas of the template from which this
page was created, Dreamweaver will ask if you want to update the page
applying a template to an existing web page
This information is relevant only when you have an existing html web page
which hasn't ever had a template applied to it, or had a different template
applied.
-
Open
the page
-
From the top toolbar go Modify > Templates > Apply Template to Page
-
Choose
the appropriate template
-
Dreamweaver may ask you where you would like orphaned content to go, if
there is any
-
Select the editable area you want the content to go in
-
You may have to remove any extraneous content manually
n.b.: If the page you are applying the template to was
hand coded, or created in another application, make sure the html is clean (free
from font formatting etc) before applying a template
See also - adding meta tags to pages made from
Dreamweaver templates
w
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