Dreamweaver

Jing Xie (Jean)

Sept. 29, 2003

Index

• Background

• Getting Started

• Editing Pages

• Site Management

• Advantage and Disadvantage

• Reference and Additional Resourses

Background

Two kinds of HTML editors:

• Text HTML Editors: provide a lot of control and speed for Web Developers. A Developer who

understands HTML can often edit Web pages much more quickly using a text editor than another developer can using WYSIWYG. If you're planning on doing Web Development professionally, use these editor.

• WYSIWYG HTML Editors: "What You See Is What You Get" HTML editors are very easy to use. Most

novices start out with a WYSIWYG editor because you can get a new Web page up quickly. But while WYSIWYG editors offer more design flexibility, they don't result in pages that are better looking - Designers can create beautiful pages with as easily as with Dreamweaver or Notepad.

What’s Dreamweaver?

• A very popular web authoring tool developed by Macromedia, which helps you build and maintain a website.

• A WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) HTML editor• A program that replaces the need to understand the basic

concepts of HTML and web page construction. • A member of DREAMTEAM together with Flash and Fireworks

which were especially designed for webpage construction

What if you know nothing about it?

• use Dreamweaver you MIGHT be able to build an OK website.

• use Dreamweaver you WILL build a GREAT website.

If you have knowledge of web page construction and HTML

Getting Started

Palettes

Objects Palette

This tool acts as a shortcut for inserting various objects and commands

Properties PaletteThis tool allows you to manipulate highlighted text,

images, frames and tables

Editing Pages• Setting page properties

• Formatting text

• Inserting table

• Inserting image

• Inserting forms

• Adding layer

three types of document paths:

Absolute paths are complete paths that include the server protocol (usually http:// for web pages). You must use an absolute path when creating a link to a file outside the current site. Root-relative paths always begin at the root of the current site. Root-relative paths begin with a slash that tells the server to start from the root. Document-relative paths are relative to the folder containing the current document.  Document-relative paths are often the simplest paths to use for links

to files that will always be in the same folder as the current document.

• Adding links

• Looking at and editing your HTML

“Insert Flash Button” in the objects palette

• Adding flash Nevbar

Site Management• Define a site

• Use site window

Advantage

• don't need to know HTML to put up a Web page. • Direct and easy-learning.• more built-in developer tools, support for more plug-ins, and transparent

support for other Macromedia products such as Fireworks.• It's more robust than FrontPage and could meet the requirements of

experienced web developers• Powerful capability for site management

Disadvantage

• Slower to edit HTML changes compared with Text HTML Editors• Not absolutely WYSIWYG

Reference:

• Melissa Pedersen & Lisa Waters & Eddie Gose, How to use Dreamweaver 4, Spring 2002

• http://webdesign.about.com/library/reviews/aabyb-htmleditors.htm• http://www.edtech.neu.edu/workshops/materials/dreamweaver/overview/• http://ccl.english.ohio-state.edu/handouts/defunct/dreamweaver/

Dreamweaver4_Intro.htm• http://www.webaim.org/howto/dreamweaver/• http://ag.arizona.edu/ecat/dreamweaver4/

Further information on the Dreamweaver program can be found at:• http://www.macromedia.com/support/dreamweaver/: official Dreamweaver

support page by Macromedia

• http://www.lynda.com/products/books/dw3hot/dw3movies.html: short online

training videos from web-design guru Lynda Weinman.

Additional Resources