I'm overwhelmed and don't know where to begin. Help?!
1)Have an idea of what you want on your page and how you would like it to look. Web pages should not contain too much text--in general people do not like to scroll down.
2) Have URLs of potential links written down or in a text file so you can find them easily.
3) Remember nothing is written in stone. You can put together a page and modify it later. (As long as you give yourself enough time)
4) Remember there will be public access to this page. It is important that you evaluate your links (not all sites are good), that your site is factually correct , that your site contains the disclaimer required by my class and that whatever you post is tasteful.
5) Leave yourself plenty of time. Don't be intimidated. Dreamweaver has lost of options but the basics are relatively easy
6) After you get started KEEP ALL YOUR FILES IN ONE FOLDER-- you will accumulate pages, image and background files. They all need to be able to 'talk' to each other in the same folder and they all need to be transferred to the server.
7) All pages need to be saved in html format (with a file name that ends in '.html'). All images need to be saved in a gif or jpg format (with filenames that end in '.gif' or '.jpg'. More on this later
8) MAKE A BACKUP of your files. Periodically
saving them on LOUISE and on a disc may seem paranoid but it could save
you alot of stress and "I lost my files" is not a valid excuse for late
assignments.
1) One of the easiest ways to begin is to type out the text portion of your page in a 'regular' wordprocessing program. Do not use tabs to indent (Dreamweaver doesn't know what to do with them). Use tables to place things in columns and space them evenly across the page.
2) Save the file as an 'html' file by going under the FILE menu in the SAVE AS... function. In the dialog box 1) change the 'file type' to "html" (usually at the very bottom) and 2) make sure that the filename ends in ".html" or '.htm'. The computer will tell you that it is going to change formatting and that odd things may happen to the file--continue saving the file.
3) Open Dreamweaver. You will have to 'Define a site' so check out this page to find out how. Open your newly saved .htm file in Dreamweaver and check out your site.
4) There is a good chance that Word will have changed
some formatting, perhaps added some bold text or italics. Correct these changes
by selecting the text and using the symbols in the toolbar or the choices under
the MODIFY menu. Remember to periodically save your changes.
How do I add color or change the background?
Keep your color choices under control. Class pages should have a light background and dark text so that they are easily read. You have more leaway with your personal page but remember it is really annoying to read fluorescent colors!
Making changes in text color that effect the entire page
1) Open your page in Dreamweaver
2) Under the MODIFY menu choose PAGE PREFERENCES
3) Click on the square next to the name of the part of the page you want to change (ex background) Choose the new color and click on OK to close the boxes.
4) Text for links (unused or previously 'clicked') can be changed in the same manner
5) Save your file
Making text changes that only effect certain
words (for emphasis)
1) Open your page in Dreamweaver.
2) Select and highlight the text.
3) There is a dialogue box at the bottom of the page. The top row controls shortcuts to changing text properties. Find and click on the gray square, choose the color you want and hit return.
4) Save your file.
Making changes in background pattern
1) To do this you must have saved a file containing
the pattern you want. Make sure the pattern will not overwhelm the text
(think subtle!)
2) The file can be any image but it must have been saved
as a '.gif' or a '.jpg' file. Save the file in your Dreamweaver/project folder.
Some possible backgrounds can be found at the
University
of Michigan's Graphics Resources site
3) Open your page in Dreamweaver
4) Under the MODIFY menu choose PAGE PREFERENCES
5) Click on the BROWSE button next to the background image box.
4) Find the file name of the background you want to use.
5) Save your file
9) THE IMAGE FILE MUST ALSO BE SAVED INTO YOUR SERVER FOLDER when you move your page onto the server.
NOTE: If you are using a small pattern it may
be repeated many time so that is covers the screen. Make sure that the
pattern still looks good if you scroll down or make the page wider.
1) The file can be any image but it must have been saved
as a '.gif' or a '.jpg' file. You must give credit and have permission to
use any image that you did not draw/take yourself. Getting permission takes
time so don't put it off.
Make sure that the image file is saved in your Dreamweaver/project folder.
2) Open your page in Dreamweaver
3) Place your cursor where you want the picture.
NOTE: You can't just drag a picture around the screen. You must insert it in a particular spot. It often helps to put the figure in a table so you can have text in other columns
4) In the INSERT menu, choose INSERT IMAGE, find the filename of the image, select it and hit ok.
5) Your image will be inserted.
6) Save your page.
The image is there but its HUGE, what do I do?
1) Open your page in Dreamweaver.
2) Click on the image to select it.
3) You can either--click on the corner of the picture and drag it smaller or the dialogue box at the bottom will show the dimensions of the picture and you can change the numbers for height and width. Be careful to keep things in scale though-- just changing width can make some odd looking pictures.
4) Save your changes.