Introduction | Opening the Program | Different Views | Program Layout | Panels: 1 - 2
The Insert Bar: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 | Creating a New Page | Opening a Page | Multiple Pages with Similar Styles
Page Properties | Text & Text Properties | Checking Spelling | Style Sheets: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7
Tables: 1 - 2 - 3 | Images: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 | Links: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5
Publishing: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 | Templates: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 | Collaboration: 1 - 2 - 3
Outside References

Opening a Page:
Websites are coded in what is known as HyperText Markup Language, or HTML. That said, the file types of web pages on the Internet are ".html." Web browsers take these HTML files (which we would see as coding), and display it as a graphical user interface, a web page, for users to navigate. To open a web page (an .htm or .html document) in Dreamweaver MX 2004, go to the menu bar and select "File," and then "Open."

Use the window that pops up to browse through your computer to open the file. When you find the file you want to open, click on the “OK” button.

NOTE: Dreamweaver MX 2004 is capable of opening any kind of website file, regardless of whether or not it was originally created in Dreamweaver MX 2004. For example, if you have an HTML file that you have coded yourself by hand, you can also open this in Dreamweaver MX 2004 and edit it in WYSIWYG fashion. If you are familiar with the technology involved, you can also open ".shtml" files, which may have been coded with SSI.

Saving a Page:
In Dreamweaver MX 2004 (and any other computer application), you should always make sure to save your work on a regular basis. To save a file in Dreamweaver MX 2004, go to the menu bar and select "File," and then "Save As."

Web Pages and Their Relation to Each Other:
The first page of a website is referred to as the "index page." It is given its name, actually, by the filename generally given to it. All main pages are named "index.html." Why is this? If you were to enter "http://www.yahoo.com" into your web browser, what you are actually telling it to look for is "http://www.yahoo.com/index.html". The index file is loaded, immediately, in all directories on the web. That's why it's important for you to make your main page an index file (by saving it as "index.html").

You can name whatever other pages you create however you like. For example, most pages that contain links to other websites are saved as "links.html" (or, alternatively, you can create a new folder in the same directory as your "index.html", name that new folder "links," and save your links page in the new directory as "index.html").

For example, your main page's URL might look like this:

http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~yourusername/index.html

(…where "yourusername" is the RCI name you signed up for). Again, alternatively, you could enter in "http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~yourusername" and it would still load up the "index.html" file.

Eventually, you'll have enough pages that you'll want to "link" back and forth between them all. Be sure to name files appropriately, and keep them all organized. Save all files in the same folder. Don't use special characters when coming up with file names: stick to the basics (lowercase letters, numbers, and the underscore ( _ ) character); definitely do not use spaces in filenames. This can seriously confuse some web browsing programs and servers.

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