INTRODUCTION TO DREAM WEAVER Dreamweaver 8 combines powerful visual layout tools with text-based HTML editing features for

the creation, management, and maintenance of Web sites. It gives b eginners immediate access to the tools need for creating Web pages while allowin g experienced developers who are familiar with hand-coding to work directly with the code when needed. This flexible program makes advanced techniques accessibl e and easy to use. The integration of powerful design, code, and interactive fea tures provides a wealth of benefits to both beginners and advanced users.

PREPARING TO DEVELOP YOUR SITE INTRODUCTION A good Website should be intuitive and create a positive, unique user experience . The creation of an effective Website starts with tasks that include defining a nd summarizing the reason and need for the site and analyzing the competition, c reating an outline or flowchart, documenting how site features will function and designing the look and feel. For the most effective site, all these components should be coveredregardless of whether you are creating your own site, working for a client, or working as part of a team. PHASE 1:-RESEARCH you need to consider which technologies users are likely to have. What kinds of plug-ins(PLUG -INS is a module or piece of software which can be added to an exi sting system to give extra features.), browsers, and operating systems do the ma jority of your visitors use? PHASE 2:PLANNING AND STRUCTURE Websites rely on structure. A Website with a poor structure can be confusing to navigate, hard to use, and difficult to maintain. To create a site that is clear , communicative, and easy for visitors to use, you need to plan out the structur e of the site as well as the hierarchy of files and folders within the site comp letelybefore you begin to build any HTML documents. Phase 3: DevelopmentDesigning the Site Throughout this process, you should continue to take into account the responses to the questions asked in Phase 1 and the results of your research. The second s tep of developing your design is to fill out more detailed sketches from the bes t of your initial ideas. Finally, full mockup(s)(mockup is a replica or model us ed for instructional or experimental purposes.)of how the pages will look can be created for the chosen design.A style guide containing specific details on the look and feel, appearance, colors, and styles to be used throughout the site is usually created at this stage as well Phase 4: Testing Once you have finished designing your Website, it is important to test it, befor e you release it to the intended audience. Even the simplest of Websites should be tested in every conceivable (understandable)way. For example, you should test you Website with as many popular browsers as possible. Although Microsoft Inter net Explorer for Windows is the most common browser today, Mozilla Firefox, Oper a, and Safari maintain a large enough share of the market to be considered. Phase 5: Maintenance Adding pages, updating links, modifying content and replacing images are all no rmal parts of maintaining a Website. Dreamweaver 8 offers a number of features t o help make the process of maintaining a Website painless with Library items, te mplates and other tools. Creating Tables Tables allow you to present information in an organized manner; they contain row

s and columns that intersect to form cells in which you can place content. Cells can then be merged to create larger cells. Tables can be used to present a wide variety of content, from tabular data that needs to be presented spreadsheet st yle to visual treatments with combinations of graphics and HTML text. Tables can be used to control layout. Tables were one of the HTML elements that initially gave designers and developers control over the layout of their sites. Keep in mind, however, that using CSS can be a better method of developing the l ayout and design of a page because it provides a wider number of layout choices and appearance options. Creating Frames What is frames and frameset? Frames split the browser window into two or more panes; each pane contains inde pendent HTML content. Frames are commonly used to define navigation and content areas for a page. Typically, the navigation area remains constant, and the conte nt area changes each time a navigation link is clicked. This use of frames can b e extremely helpful to a user for navigation through a site. Using frames can al so make a site easier to modify because there is only one navigation page to upd ate. How to create a frameset in DW? There are two ways to create a frameset in Macromedia Dreamweaver: You can manua lly insert the frames or you can choose from several predefined framesets. If yo u choose a predefined frameset, the frameset and frames are automatically set up for you. The predefined frameset method is one of the quickest ways to create a layout using frames because most of the work is done for you. You just need to name the individual pages. In this exercise, you will use a predefined frameset to create a Web page that u ses frames. 1. Choose File > New and select Framesets from the Category list in the General portion of the New Document dialog box. 2.Select Fixed Right, Nested Top from the Framesets list and click Create. 3. In the Frame Tag Accessibility Attributes dialog box, use the Frame menu to select the frames and the Title text field to set the corresponding titles as fo llows:

Set the title of rightFrame to Right Navigation Set the title of topFrame to Title and Navigation Set the title of mainframe to Main Content