Contents

By now you should have a rough mental picture of your web site, its typical pages, and the navigation between the pages. The rest of this book will show you how to use Dreamweaver to refine and realize that vision.

The book is separated into five parts.

Part I: The Content Objects

Part I introduces all the core elements you'll use to create pages, insert objects, and navigate Dreamweaver's user interface.

Chapter 1

Gives a quick orientation to Dreamweaver's Document window and major user interface (UI) panels including the Objects panel, Property inspector, and Launcher.

Chapter 2

Explains the core objects you'll use throughout your development, including page options, meta tags, hyperlinks, images and image maps, text, lists, and hidden elements.

Chapter 3

Covers tables and forms, including importing tabular data, form objects, and jump menus.

Chapter 4

Whether you like or dislike HTML frames, this chapter details their use within Dreamweaver. Likewise, it covers layers and their appropriate usage. See Chapter 14 for more information about using layers with JavaScript behaviors.

Chapter 5

Covers working with external resources, such as those created in Flash, Shockwave, Fireworks, and Generator. It also covers server-side includes, ActiveX controls, plugins, and Java applets.

Part II: Managing Dreamweaver

Part II covers the broader issues of site management and document management using templates, libraries, and stylesheets.

Chapter 6

Covers site management, including FTP access, Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) file tracking and manipulation systems, Design Notes, and File Check In/Check Out. The chapter also covers file synchronization, updating links, and checking for broken links and orphaned files.

Chapter 7

Covers document management features, including cleaning up poor HTML code, using the Quick Tag Editor, performing browser checking, and automating tasks with the History panel.

Chapter 8

Covers using templates to create multiple documents that share a uniform layout. The chapter also discusses important tips and traps to keep in mind when using templates.

Chapter 9

Covers the benefits and traps of the Library feature, including details on updating items and sharing items with a development team.

Chapter 10

Covers using Cascading Style Sheets to format documents, with special attention paid to their use in Dreamweaver.

Chapter 11

Covers HTML styles to format commonly used elements—such as headings, copyright notices, paragraph text, and other elements of your own creation—that can be used to standardize style and reduce page creation time.

Part III: Behaviors and Interactive Elements

Part III covers the use of JavaScript behaviors to perform commonly needed functions.

Chapter 12

Covers the use of JavaScript within your HTML documents. The chapter includes a general discussion of behaviors and the use of standard behaviors to identify the browser and manipulate browser windows.

Chapter 13

Covers built-in image-related behaviors, such as image rollovers, image preloading, and image swapping, that are useful for navigation bars and other effects. The chapter also covers how to create effects in Fireworks and import them into Dreamweaver.

Chapter 14

Covers creating multidimensional HTML documents with layers. The chapter details built-in behaviors used to move, set, and change the properties associated with layers.

Chapter 15

Discusses behaviors that manipulate the text content of objects in your document or in the browser's window.

Chapter 16

Discusses strategies for using behaviors with links and covers miscellaneous built-in behaviors.

Chapter 17

Covers the configuration of frames, keyframes, behaviors, and objects to animate page content over time using the Timelines panel.

Part IV : Configuring and Extending Dreamweaver

Part IV covers ways to configure, customize, and extend Dreamweaver to meet both your needs and your work style.

Chapter 18

Covers all Dreamweaver preference settings.

Chapter 19

Explains how to customize menus and keyboard shortcuts and how to add objects to your Objects panel.

Chapter 20

Covers modifying the default document template and dialog boxes in the Dreamweaver interface.

Chapter 21

Discusses Dreamweaver's support for and integration with the predominant server-side programming languages.

Chapter 22

Covers extending Dreamweaver by using the Macromedia Dreamweaver Exchange. The chapter also covers some useful extensions.

Chapter 23

Covers the CourseBuilder extension, including installation, configuration, and use of CourseBuilder interactions.

Part V : Appendixes

Part V includes reference information you'll need throughout site development.

Appendix A

Lists keyboard shortcuts, sorted by function for easy reference.

Appendix B

Lists the HTML character entities supported by the primary web browsers.

Appendix C

Aggregates a list of information you'll need when developing a web site. Includes a Dreamweaver checklist to create a well-functioning site, plus tips on creating graphics and getting your site listed in search engines.