Dreamweaver QuickStart

Follow the sequential steps below to begin creating your website.

1.  Create Website Folder
2.  Title and Save Home Page
3.  Define Your Site
4.  Page Properties
5.  Format Text
6.  Images
7.  Links
8.  Tables
9.  Create a Template (skip this step if you will not be using templates.)
10. Transfer Website Folder to the Web Server.
         

1. Create Website Folder

    1. Create a folder called website on your M: drive.

2. Title and Save Home Page

    1. Open Dreamweaver.
    2. From the Modify menu, choose Page Properties.
    3. In the Title field, type the title of your document.
    4. Click OK to close the Page Properties dialog box.
    5. From the File menu, choose Save.
    6. Locate and open the website folder on your M: drive.
    7. Name your homepage index.htm
    8. Click Save.
3. Define Your Site
    1. Choose Site > New Site and enter a name for your site in the Site Name field.
    2. Tab to the Local Root Folder field, click the folder icon, and browse to your website folder on the M: drive.
    3. Select both Refresh Local File List Automatically and Use Cache to Speed Link Updates.
    4. Choose Site Map Layout from the Category window on the left, click the folder icon, and browse to the index.htm file in the website folder.
    5. Select the file. Click Open and OK.
    6. Click Done.

4. Page Properties

    1. From the Modify menu, choose Page Properties.
    2. To change the text color, click the square next to the Text: field.
    3. Use the eye dropper to pick the text color.
    4. Use the same procedure in steps 2 and 3 to change the background color and to change the color of links, active links and visited links.
    5. When you have selected the desired text and link colors, click OK.
    6. Save your work. If you like, preview in Netscape.

5. Format Text

    1. You can change the appearance of your text by selecting the text and changing the formatting in the Property Inspector window.
    2. If the Property Inspector is not visible on your screen, from the Window menu choose Properties.

6. Images

    1. It is suggested that you store your image files in your website folder inside another folder titled images. To add an image to a web document, you need to point to where that image is located.
    2. From the Insert menu, choose Image.
    3. Locate and select the image in the website folder on your M: drive.
    4. Save your work. If you like, preview in Netscape.

7. Links

    1. Select the text that you want to link to.
    2. In the Property Inspector, click on the Browse for File icon (the yellow folder).
    3. Using the dialog box, locate and select your file.
    4. Save your work and preview in Netscape to check your links.

8. Tables

    1. Click your cursor below where you'd like to insert a table.
    2. From the Insert menu, choose Table.
    3. Choose how many rows and columns you want.
    4. Click OK. A table with the specified number of rows and columns appears.
    5. To change the width of a column (or row), place the cursor over the line dividing the columns.
    6. Click and drag the two-headed arrow to the right to enlarge the table.
    7. To add a new row (or column) to your table, click in one of the rows of your table.
    8. From the Modify menu, Table submenu, choose Insert Row. A new row appears above the row you selected.
    Save your work and preview in Netscape.

9. Templates

    Ideally, the template page should be created before any web pages for your website have been created.

    1. Select Templates from the Windows menu.
    2. In the Templates Palette, click on the small triangle to the right of the question mark, and select New Template.
    3. While the template is still highlighted, enter a name for this template.
    4. Create the elements of the page that you want to appear on every page. You will not be able to edit any of these elements when you create any subsequent new web pages based on this template.
    5. Highlight the section(s) of the page that you DO want to be able to edit on other pages.
    6. From the Modify menu select Templates > Mark Selection as Editable. This will open a new dialog box called Editable Region.
    7. Specify a name for each of these editable regions (for example, Insert Content).
    8. Save the template file. (If you are converting layers to tables, be sure to convert before you save the template.
    9. To create a new web page from a template, from the File menu, select New From Template and choose the desired template.
    10. Once you have edited all contents in the editable areas, save the file to your website folder.
    11. To edit a template, from the Windows menu, select Template. This will open up a Templates Palette window.
    12. In the Templates Palette, double-click on the name of the template that you wish to edit.
    13. Make any changes and save the file.
    14. You will be asked if you want to update the files that were created using the template. Select Update.

10. Transfer to the Web Server

    1. Locate your website folder on your M: drive and select it.
    2. Right click the mouse button and select Copy.
    3. Locate the K: drive and open the folder where you want to store your website folder.
    4. Right click the mouse button and select Paste.
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