Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 for Windows and Macintosh Visual QuickStart Guide

by Towers, J. Tarin

• ISBN13: 9780321213396
• ISBN10: 0321213394
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-08-18
• Publisher: Peachpit Press

Summary

Even if you've never used Macromedia Dreamweaver before, this Visual QuickStart Guide will have you up and running with Macromedia's popular Web authoring program in no time. In this completely updated edition of our best-selling guide to Macromedia Dreamweaver, everybody's favorite Dreamweaver guru, authorJ. Tarin Towers, returns with her trademark crystal-clear instructions and friendly prose to introduce users, both veteran and new, to the brave, new world of Dreamweaver MX 2004. Using step-by-step, task-based instructions and loads of visual aids, Tarin explains how to use all of the program's visual layout tools, application development features, and code editing support to create stunning, accessible Web sites. Along the way, you'll find extensive coverage of all the program's new features: dynamic cross-browser validation, improved CSS support, built-in graphics editing, and more. Whether you're using Macromedia Dreamweaver MX as a WYSIWYG page-layout tool or a sophisticated text editor, you'll find this guide the key to it all.

Author Biography

J. Tarin Towers, based in San Francisco, wrote Peachpit's previous editions of Dreamweaver Visual QuickStart Guide, and has contributed as a writer and technical editor to more than a dozen books about computers and the Internet. As an editorial consultant, she has worked with such companies as Netscape Communications, Microsoft, Informix Software, Infoseek, and IDG. She is a published poet, fiction writer, and essayist, and her web site resides at www.tarin.com.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xiii
What's New?	xiv
QuickStart Conventions	xxi
What's in This Book	xxii
Special to Mac Users	xxvi
About Application Servers and Dynamic Sites	xxix
Chapter 1: Getting Started	1	(28)
Dreamweaver Tools	2	(1)
The Dreamweaver Environment	3	(3)
Arranging Your Workspace	6	(6)
Planning Your Site	12	(2)
The Document Window	14	(2)
The Document Toolbar	16	(1)
The Insert Bar	17	(1)
Dreamweaver Objects	18	(2)
Measuring in the Document Window	20	(3)
Looking at Code	23	(2)
Selecting Objects and Code	25	(1)
The Property Inspector	26	(1)
Invisible Elements	27	(1)
About History	28	(1)
Chapter 2: Setting Up a Local Site	29	(38)
About the Files Panel	31	(2)
The Files Panel	33	(3)
Setting Up a Local Site	36	(7)
If You're Upgrading	43	(1)
Importing and Exporting Site Information	44	(2)
Editing and Deleting Local Sites	46	(2)
Files Panel Tips and Shortcuts	48	(3)
Moving Files	51	(1)
Managing Assets	52	(2)
Kinds of Assets	54	(1)
How Assets Work	55	(3)
Previewing and Inserting Assets	58	(2)
Using Favorites and Nicknames	60	(3)
Editing and Sharing Assets	63	(4)
Chapter 3: Basic Web Pages	67	(38)
Creating New Files	68	(4)
Getting a Head Start	72	(2)
Opening Files	74	(1)
Creating Content	75	(6)
Page Properties	81	(3)
Modifying the Page Color and Background	84	(4)
Saving Your Work	88	(2)
Saving a Copy of a File	90	(1)
Previewing in a Browser	91	(3)
Printing Documents	94	(2)
Colors and Web Pages	96	(2)
Colors and Windows	98	(2)
Colors for the Mac	100	(5)
Chapter 4: Editing Code	105	(46)
About HTML	106	(1)
Learning HTML	107	(3)
Working with Code	110	(2)
About Code View and Split View	112	(2)
Code Options	114	(2)
Using the Code Reference	116	(2)
Using the Quick Tag Editor	118	(5)
More Code-Editing Tools	123	(2)
Using the Edit Tag Dialog Box	125	(3)
Hand Coding in Dreamweaver	128	(2)
About the Hints Menus	130	(1)
Selecting Parent and Child Tags	131	(2)
The Insert Tag Command and the Tag Chooser	133	(2)
The Snippets Panel	135	(5)
The Tag Inspector Panel	140	(2)
Inserting Comments	142	(2)
Setting HTML Preferences	144	(3)
Cleaning Up HTML	147	(4)
Chapter 5: Working with Images	151	(36)
Placing an Image	152	(3)
Inserting Images with the Assets Panel	155	(2)
Selecting an Image	157	(2)
Image Formats	159	(1)
Image Properties	160	(2)
Appearance Properties	162	(4)
Layout Properties	166	(3)
Page Loading Properties	169	(3)
Editing Images in the Document Window	172	(6)
Working with Fireworks and Dreamweaver	178	(2)
Optimizing an Image for File Size Using Fireworks	180	(1)
Image Optimizing Details	181	(3)
Resampling an Image After Resizing	184	(1)
Inserting an Image Placeholder	185	(2)
Chapter 6: Working with Links	187	(26)
Kinds of Links	188	(2)
More About Relative Links	190	(4)
Making Links	194	(1)
Making Relative Links	195	(2)
Image Links	197	(2)
Pointing to a File	199	(2)
Linking to an E-mail Address	201	(3)
Linking to a Section of a Page	204	(3)
Opening Links in a New Window	207	(1)
Changing Link Colors	208	(1)
Additional Link Options	209	(1)
Smart Linking Strategies	210	(3)
Chapter 7: Inserting & Playing Media	213	(34)
Image Rollovers	215	(2)
Using Navigation Bars	217	(5)
Using Sound and Movie Files	222	(4)
Sound File Parameters	226	(3)
Netscape Plug-Ins	229	(2)
Shockwave and Flash	231	(2)
Creating Flash Objects in Dreamweaver	233	(8)
Java Applets	241	(1)
ActiveX	242	(2)
Extra Parameters	244	(3)
Chapter 8: Fonts and Characters	247	(52)
Placing Text	248	(2)
Things to Know About Text	250	(5)
Dealing with Legacy Pages	255	(3)
Meet the Property Inspector	258	(2)
Creating and Saving CSS Text Formatting	260	(8)
About Fonts and Typefaces	268	(3)
Setting a Text Face	271	(2)
Creating a Font Group	273	(2)
Coloring Text	275	(2)
Changing Text Size	277	(5)
Using Text Styles	282	(2)
Physical Text Styles	284	(2)
More Physical Text Styles	286	(1)
Logical Text Styles	287	(1)
About Special Characters	288	(1)
Inserting Special Characters	289	(4)
Find and Replace	293	(3)
Replacing Text Strings	296	(1)
Checking Your Spelling	297	(2)
Chapter 9: Paragraphs and Block Formatting	299	(18)
Paragraphs vs. Line Breaks	300	(1)
Breaking Lines Without Adding a Blank Line	301	(1)
About Paragraph Tags	302	(1)
Creating Headings	303	(1)
Using Preformatted Text	304	(2)
Formatting Lists	306	(5)
Aligning Paragraphs	311	(1)
Indenting Text	312	(2)
The Nonbreaking Space	314	(2)
Inserting Ruled Lines	316	(1)
Chapter 10: Working with Word and Excel Files	317	(48)
Creating a Word Text Style	318	(2)
Linking to Microsoft Word and Excel Files	320	(3)
Importing Data from Microsoft Office and Other Documents	323	(7)
Importing Spreadsheet Data	330	(2)
Exporting Table Contents into Spreadsheets	332	(4)
Special Text-Pasting Tools	336	(12)
Saving Word or Excel Files as HTML	348	(12)
Cleaning Up Word HTML	360	(5)
Chapter 11: Stylin' with Style Sheets	365	(62)
In This Chapter	367	(1)
How Style Sheets Work	368	(1)
Using the CSS Styles Panel	369	(1)
Getting a Head Start	370	(2)
Kinds of Styles	372	(2)
Kinds of Style Sheets	374	(2)
Creating a Style	376	(2)
Redefining an HTML Tag	378	(3)
Creating a Style Class	381	(2)
Applying a Style Class	383	(2)
Renaming, Removing and Deleting Styles	385	(3)
Defining New Selectors	388	(7)
Using External Style Sheets	395	(2)
Attaching an Existing External Style Sheet	397	(1)
Adding Styles to an External Style Sheet	398	(1)
Exporting Internal Styles into an External Style Sheet	399	(2)
Editing Styles	401	(6)
About Conflicting Styles	407	(2)
Style Definitions	409	(2)
Type Attributes	411	(3)
Background Attributes	414	(3)
Block Attributes	417	(3)
Box Attributes	420	(2)
Border Attributes	422	(2)
List Attributes	424	(2)
Extensions	426	(1)
Chapter 12: Setting Up Tables	427	(42)
Creating Tables	428	(2)
About Layout Tables	430	(2)
Getting Help Starting Your Page Layout Table	432	(2)
Inserting a Table in Standard Mode	434	(2)
Drawing a Layout	436	(3)
Selecting Elements	439	(3)
Adding Columns and Rows in Standard Mode	442	(3)
Resizing Table Elements	445	(3)
Dragging Columns and Rows in Standard Mode	448	(1)
Moving a Layout Element	449	(1)
About Width Settings in Layout Mode	450	(5)
Merging and Splitting Cells	455	(2)
Adding Content to a Table	457	(1)
Aligning Tables and Content	458	(2)
Adjusting Table Spacing	460	(1)
Working with Table Borders	461	(1)
Coloring Tables	462	(2)
Setting a Background Image	464	(2)
Sorting Table Contents	466	(2)
Expanded Tables Mode	468	(1)
Chapter 13: Framing Pages	469	(34)
Frames and Navigation	470	(2)
Setting Up a Frames Page	472	(1)
Creating Frames by Dragging	473	(2)
Quick and Dirty Frames	475	(3)
About Nested Framesets	478	(2)
Selecting Frames and Framesets	480	(2)
Modifying the Frame Page Layout	482	(1)
Deleting a Frame	483	(1)
Setting Exact and Relative Sizes for Frames	484	(3)
Setting Content Pages	487	(1)
Creating Content Within a Frame	488	(1)
Saving Your Work	489	(3)
Frame Page Options	492	(3)
Setting Margins	495	(1)
Targeting Links	496	(2)
Setting Targets	498	(2)
Testing Your Targets	500	(1)
Creating No-Frames Content	501	(2)
Chapter 14: Layers and Positioning	503	(36)
CSS Positioning	505	(1)
Absolute vs. Relative Positioning	506	(1)
Positioning Properties	507	(2)
About the Layers Panel	509	(1)
About the Grid	510	(1)
Creating Layers	511	(1)
Selecting Layers	512	(1)
Renaming a Layer	513	(1)
Moving Layers	514	(2)
Resizing Layers	516	(2)
Overlapping and Nesting	518	(3)
Changing Layer Visibility	521	(1)
Stacking Order	522	(3)
Content and Layers	525	(1)
Layers and Styles	526	(1)
The Clipping Area	527	(2)
Content Overflow	529	(1)
Setting a Background	530	(1)
Layer Preferences	531	(2)
Converting Layers to Tables (and Vice Versa)	533	(4)
Using a Tracing Image	537	(2)
Chapter 15: Filling Out Forms	539	(34)
Creating a Form	540	(2)
Formatting Forms	542	(1)
Adding Form Objects	543	(1)
Names and Values	544	(1)
Text Boxes	545	(5)
Checkboxes	550	(1)
Radio Buttons	551	(3)
Menus and Lists	554	(2)
Editing Menu Items	556	(1)
Creating a List Box	557	(1)
Jump Menus	558	(3)
Hidden Form Fields	561	(2)
Submit and Reset Buttons	563	(2)
Image Fields	565	(2)
Organizing Forms Using Fieldsets and Legends	567	(3)
Making It Go	570	(3)
Chapter 16: Behavior Modification	573	(54)
JavaScript Concepts	574	(2)
Adding Behaviors	576	(3)
Deleting and Editing Behaviors	579	(3)
Common Objects	582	(2)
Event Handlers	584	(2)
Common Actions	586	(1)
Setting Status Bar Message	587	(1)
Going to a New URL	588	(2)
Popup Message	590	(1)
Opening a New Browser Window	591	(2)
Using Behaviors with Jump Menus	593	(5)
Checking the Browser for Plug-in	598	(2)
Checking Browser Version	600	(2)
Complex Rollovers	602	(2)
Preload Images	604	(1)
Restoring Swapped Images	605	(1)
Using Play Sound	606	(1)
Using Control Shockwave or Flash	607	(1)
Using Show or Hide Layers	608	(2)
Using Validate Form Data	610	(2)
Changing the Content of Frames and Layers	612	(3)
Setting Text in a Form Field	615	(1)
Using Change Property	616	(2)
Making Layers Draggable	618	(5)
Adding New Scripts and Behaviors	623	(2)
Adding More Actions	625	(2)
Chapter 17: Managing Your Web Sites	627	(60)
Preparing to Put Your Site Online	629	(1)
Docking or Expanding the Files Panel	630	(2)
Setting Up Remote Site Info	632	(6)
Remote Sites: Connecting to Your Server	638	(1)
Remote Sites: Getting and Putting Files	639	(2)
Site-less File Editing	641	(12)
Saving Files Directly to the Server	653	(2)
Using Check-in Names	655	(3)
Checking Out Files	658	(2)
Checking In Files	660	(2)
Enabling Automatic Uploads	662	(1)
Cloaking: Preventing Files From Uploading	663	(2)
Synchronizing Modified Files	665	(2)
Refreshing and Switching Views	667	(1)
Using the Site Map	668	(3)
Site Map Icons and Tips	671	(3)
Drawing Links in the Site Map	674	(2)
Managing Links	676	(6)
Changing a Link Site-wide	682	(1)
Site FTP Preferences	683	(4)
Index	687