Adobe Dreamweaver is a website creation program available from Adobe and part of their Creative Cloud software suite, available for purchase directly or as a trial option on their website.
Dreamweaver stands out from other web design programs thanks to its special features, like code completion which assists the user by suggesting possible commands, and collapsing which makes the code easier to read by hiding unnecessary parts of code.
Creating Websites
Dreamweaver makes the first step of website creation easier by helping to define a site. To do this, select “Site” from the menu bar and choose “New Site…” option – this will bring up a dialog box saying something like: “Site Definition for Unnamed Site 1.” It doesn’t serve any real purpose but can set an agenda for what lies ahead.
Once your site has been defined, the next step should be creating some web pages. Dreamweaver offers an accessible solution with its drag-and-drop features and preloaded templates; its live view feature enables the program to generate HTML for content you are placing on pages, showing it exactly as it will appear when viewed in a web browser – an invaluable feature for both novices and veterans who prefer traditional working methods.
Dreamweaver is an effective tool for designing the basic layout of web pages, but does not provide full functionality to support ecommerce or advanced features. However, Dreamweaver can still serve as the front end of an integrated ecommerce platform which handles payment processing and other back-end functions.
Dreamweaver also boasts the handy capability of creating QR codes which can be scanned with mobile phones to access web pages on mobile devices. This can be invaluable when testing how a website will appear on mobile phones; saving both time and frustration when manually typing URLs into mobile browsers.
Adding Text
Adobe Dreamweaver makes adding text to websites incredibly straightforward. You can type your own words or copy and paste from another document or source, using its text editor for changes and creation. In addition, Dreamweaver features several useful tools that make working with text easier such as inserting special characters like trademark and copyright symbols easily as well as viewing pages live on screen while designing area – this feature being especially valuable to newcomers learning code.
Dreamweaver makes adding text to web pages easy by opening a new document in Dreamweaver and selecting either an existing file location, browsing through, or clicking Edit to start working with it. Dreamweaver also gives you the option of directly opening its Document Toolbar by clicking its icon; this toolbar contains buttons designed to perform tasks such as linking or formatting text.
If you are using Dreamweaver to build a website for someone else, they likely provided the text as a word-processing document or other file format that can be easily copied and pasted into Dreamweaver’s Design view.
Dreamweaver does not automatically retain formatting or line breaks from an imported document when pasting text into Dreamweaver, so to achieve the most accurate results it is wise to follow these steps:
Adding Images
When adding pictures or drawings that would enhance your website, the first thing you’ll need is digital versions of each picture – typically as JPG or GIF files, although BMPs tend to be larger file types. Once these digital copies are in hand, drop them into Dreamweaver’s “Images” folder so it can find and insert them more quickly.
As soon as your cursor is in the location where you wish to insert a picture, select “Insert | Image.” When the Image Tag Attributes dialogue box opens up, fill out and enter alternate text for that picture if necessary; this short description of its content will appear if graphics are disabled in browsers, read aloud by screen readers, and indexed by search engines – making your site accessible for those with impaired sight and search engines alike. Although Dreamweaver does not require this step of accessibility enhancement, making sure your website can make accessibility for everyone.
Once your modification is complete, click the preview button to preview what the page will look like and if satisfied with its appearance click “File | Save Page”. When saving, Dreamweaver will prompt you whether you would like Dreamweaver to store local files with an “Yes” button allowing it to automatically upload revised pages back onto your website using A href=”#”> tags while copying pictures you may have uploaded into their respective places on web pages.
Adding Video
Dreamweaver allows you to easily embed video on websites, but first ensure it is in an accessible format for viewers – either converting it to FLV format using Adobe Flash or uploading it via an online video-sharing service such as Vimeo.
Dreamweaver makes creating videos easy. Simply use the Insert Video dialog box or control-click [PC: right-click] on any empty area on your page and select Video; alternatively use Media Toolbar or Media Library for other formats of video addition; finally use Video Property inspector to configure its settings.
As an example, you can select the size of your video in the Parameters dialog box using one of four options – Full screen, Fit to window, Autosize or Custom. Furthermore, playback controls and text captions can also be set.
By using inline frames, it’s simple and cost-effective to embed YouTube videos onto any website, saving on hosting costs. To embed a YouTube video on your own domain, navigate directly to its page in your browser and click “Share or Embed This Video,” which opens a pane below the video containing code which can be copied easily.
Dreamweaver automatically generates two files when inserting an FLV file into a web page: a video player SWF file and skin SWF file which identify its format, both stored in the same directory as your HTML file that contains video content. If you upload this HTML file to a server, Dreamweaver adds these dependent files (as long as yes was selected in the Put Dependent Files in Destination Folder dialog box), essential for proper display of video on that page.
Adding Flash
Adobe Flash technology is an extremely effective and widely utilized method for adding interactive elements like intro movies and eye-catching buttons to Web pages. Dreamweaver 4 makes using Flash easy by offering two helpful tools – Flash Text and Flash Buttons – which allow designers to seamlessly insert these movie files directly onto pages using these types of movies without needing to code their own files, providing greater flexibility while working with Flash movies.
Dreamweaver is a software program developed and published by Macromedia that allows users to design websites using a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interface, as well as providing a fully featured code editor supporting various programming languages including HTML (hypertext markup language), XML (extensible markup language) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Adobe acquired it later that same year.
Dreamweaver software has a well-earned reputation of being difficult for those without prior web design experience to master, and thus it is highly advised that beginners take a course before beginning Dreamweaver use. Many schools provide courses covering numerous web design subjects including HTML & CSS skills – Noble Desktop for example offers such classes.
Dreamweaver’s live view provides a quick way to edit web content quickly without switching between editing modes, but can be challenging if you are unfamiliar with web standards and best practices – particularly if working with HTML and other non-Swift languages that don’t support its visual editor.