<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> COP 1822 _Final
Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
Elements
 
  Web design using standard HTML has become almost dated by the use of such programs as Macromedia Dreamweaver.
Although a basic understang of mark up language is necesssary to troubleshoot or tween aspects of a web page, Dreamweaver has made the process easy enough for most novice artists to create dynamic web content. With features such as the site menu, with which you can map a site, edit a site, manipulate form information and create reports. The Site menu makes site management less tedious than having to edit using the nesessary script language. Another advantage of using Dreamweaver is that it walks you through the structure of setting up a website. When defining a site, Dreamweaver allows you to create your root folder - the folder that your HTML pages will be kept, and one where you will keep the images your site will utilize. This type of structure helps to keep files organized and easy to keep track of.

  Dreamweaver enables designers to create pages quickly and with greater ease in programming. The Insert panel may be the most commonly used panel in the program. This panel allows you to insert elements into your web page. The text tab contains functions to edit font tags. Once you type your text, you can also do font formatting such as bolding, heading, ordered & unordered lists, and paragraph formatting from this tab. The Insert tab also allows you to insert images into your page. It is always good form to correct your image path by indicating the folder first, then the image name (Ex. images/pic_1.jpg). Paths are syntax codes that locate elements on a web page. There are three types of paths in web design; the document-relative path, which is implemented by using anchors to link selected text or images to sections of the document. Relative paths link selected text or images to pages in the site. There is also the absolute path, which is used to link to external site pages outside of the document.

  The formatting aspect of designing is also improved dynamically with Dreamweaver. The ease with which you can insert and format tables and their content is another major benefit of using the program. Tables are an essential tool for aligning and positioning elements on a web page. Using this approach in your design will ensure that your pages display similarly over a wide range of screen sizes. Dreamweaver also has file transfer capabilities which allow for easy posting and retreiving of pages from your remote site for editing on your local site. The Put and Get commands on the Site menu enable these actions. The Get command pulls a copy of the page from the remote site for local editing. Once the necessayr changes are made, the Put command uploads the updated page to the remote site and overrides the old copy .Because of the GUI interface of the program, all of the operations are point and click. Pop-up form elements instruct you on what information to enter into a text field to create the desired result.

  One of the more common methods used for transferring files in Dreamweaver is FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
This method uses arrow buttons to put and get files from the local and remote sites.Using the FTP with a browser window open pointing to the remote site will enable you to test your page for linking and navigation flow. while viewing your site in the browser window, you will also be able to check your image paths to make sure that they are pointing to the correct file.
These are just a few of the features of Dreamweaver which will aid in making web site creation a more enjoyable, less program based procedure.