Using Dreamweaver 8 on Netilla

*Please remember that all CVCC students signed an acceptable use policy regarding computers, technology and the Internet. If you are unsure about the appropriateness of something you are designing, check with your instructor before proceeding.

USING DREAMWEAVER:

I. Starting Dreamweaver (Creating a New Site for the first time)

· Start Dreamweaver, click “Create New Dreamweaver Site” (near bottom)

· Name your Site "yournamesite". Copy and paste the URL . FOR EXAMPLE: http://users2.nofeehost.com/student01 Click Next.

· Select No server side technology and Click Next.

· Select Edit local copies on my machine. Dreamweaver should create a folder at the following location Macintosh HD:Users:yourlogin:sites:yournamesite. Click Next

· Choose "FTP" from the drop down menu and enter the information that was emailed to you by the hosting service. FOR EXAMPLE-

HOSTNAME= ftp2.nofeehost.com

FOLDER = leave blank

PASSWORD = bigfun

Click Next.

· Click No for “Enable Check In and Out.” Click Next

· Click Done!

II. Creating and linking Web Pages.

· At the top menu bar go, File > New, choose Basic Page and click Create.

· File > Save As> “index”

· Fill in a title in the title bar with an appropriate title.

· Modify page properties (background, text and link colors)

· Type in a Heading like “My Web Site” and under it type the words “Link to Page2”

· File > Save

· Now do File > Save As and save the page again under a new name "page2"

· Change the title, change the heading, and create a link back to your "index" page. Do this by replacing the words “Link to Page2” with the word "Home" then highlight it. Place your cursor in the Link box of the Properties window near the bottom of your screen, then click on the little folder to the right. Choose your "index" page and click OK. Save

· Repeat this process and save several pages with new names , "page3" and "page4" etc… Place a link to each page on your home page, and a link home on every page. (if you know what the pages will be used for, you may want to save them with a relevant name like "aboutus" or "maps" or "contact").

· Start creating and linking pages as needed, try inserting images from your media folder where appropriate.

III.. Content Tips: Who are you designing for? If you are designing for a business the following info may be appropriate subheadings or pages:

· About us – overview of the company? How long in business? Who do you serve? What do you produce/sell?

· Location – Address and map to business (perhaps there are multiple locations)

· Products or Services (this could be a long or short list, but you should try to provide a virtual sample of your work on line with pictures, flash, audio or video)

· Contact – email and phone for sales, customer service, tech support, web master…

· Client Comments (letters or email endorsements from satisfied customers)

IV. Design Tips:

· Keep Navigation simple and consistent from page to page. You can place navigation buttons in a separate frame, or if not using frames, keep them consistently placed at the top, bottom or side of your pages. A table may also be used to accomplish this.

· Keep backgrounds from becoming too distracting.

· Keep text readable by choosing appropriate contrast between text and background color.

V. File Types. There are typically three characters (visible or not) at the end of a file name (after the period). These are called file extensions. They tell the computer what kind of file it is reading.

· .htm indicates that the file is a web page.

· .jpg, .gif and .png are image files most commonly used in web pages because they maintain good quality with a small file size. If you are using .tif, .psd, .bmp image files obtained from your digital camera, chances are they are too big for web use. Convert them with a photo editing program.

· .mid, .mp3, .wma, .ra indicates an file that is commonly used to play audio on the web. If using .wav or .aif audio files, try to keep them only a couple seconds long, since those formats have large file sizes.

· .mov, .wmv, .rv are common video formats. Be careful when putting video on your site! They tend to be large in size. You must scale videos down so they will stream easily on most computer systems.

VI. File Size. Always use the smallest file you can. Clients surfing the web do not want to wait for large files to load. Warn the user if you link to a big download, or give them options for smaller but similar files.

VII. File Organization. Do not move files around outside of Dreamweaver. The web pages you are designing expect to find the files in the same place every time. If you are in the finder and you move files to a different folder, the web page will likely show broken links to pictures and other pages etc…

LINKS