Making a Website With Dreamweaver

 


  Dreamweaver is the ideal software package for creating your own Website if you are in a gaming clan for example. This Masterclass tutorial takes you back to the basics of creating a Website with the Dreamweaver package. Dreamweaver is an excellent package for creating sites, as it is very simple to use.

Part 1: Index page
As soon as you decide to set up a site in Dreamweaver you will need to set up an Index page. The Index page is the most important page on the site as this is where the links are to all the other pages on your site. The next most important part of creating a site in Dreamweaver is the Route Folder, this is where all the pages and links are stored almost in a type of bucket you might think. The use of this is that it gives your site and the Internet Service Provider (ISP) a single place for all the information.

Open Dreamweaver Go to the 'File' menu and select 'New Site' In the dialogue box name the site in the 'Site Name' panel Click on the folder icon next to 'Local Route Folder' In the new dialogue box click on the 'New Folder' icon Name the new folder and then click on 'Open' and then 'Select'

You must go into the folder as otherwise it will not work. You will then be asked whether you 'cache folder' for the site, this is the computer asking if it should store all the information, this is an automatic system, so just click yes. As you create a site you will constantly be asked this, just keep clicking on yes.

C lick 'OK' You will now be presented with a new split screen called 'Site - and then the name of your site' Right mouse click in the screen Select 'New File'

Every new page on a Website is file and the Index page is highly important, as this is where all your links will go from.

Toppers' tip: First set up a Local Route Folder

Part 2: Adding an Image
Before you get too involved in creating your site it is advisable that you contact your ISP and ask them what they like Index pages to be called, with most it is Index page, but some have a different perspective.

Click on the 'Site Map' button, the Index page will appear on the left hand side of the screen

When you are naming anything that is to be on your site always use lower case letters as Dreamweaver can be a little difficult when it has to deal with capitals.

To rename items click on them Then right mouse click and select 'rename' from the menu Rename the items with lower case letters Go back into Dreamweaver and double click on the Index page icon A new blank page appears

Dreamweaver works in layers, some people don't like this, but we think it is good. Some of the older browsers do not work with layers, but there are very few people that are left using these so it is not really a great worry.

In the new blank page go to the 'Insert' menu Select 'Layer', click inside it Go to the 'Insert' menu, select 'Image' Select the 'Image' and click on 'Select' Click on 'yes' to save it to the Route Folder and then 'Save'

Toppers' tip: Ensure all file names are in lower case

Part 3: Saving
When the image opens it will be in one box and the layer another.

Make the layer fit the image

As well as images you can save media, a piece of media can be a Flash file.

In the new blank page go to the 'Insert' menu Select 'Layer', click inside it Go to the 'Image' menu and select the type of media Go to the 'File' menu and select 'Save As' and save the page Go back into the 'File' menu and select 'Preview in Browser' Select a type of browser and preview it

Toppers' tips: Use Frames for greater flexibility