Testing Your Site
With your hyperlinks set to each of your pages and your library item updated, you now have a web site! It's small; it needs more contentbut hey, it's a start. And what you've seen in this chapter is a microcosm of the process for building much larger, much more sophisticated web siteswhich you'll learn how to do throughout the rest of this book. But for now, are you ready to test your new site? To test your new site, follow these steps:
1. | Choose File > Open; then navigate to and open your 83 file. When the page opens, you'll noticesomewhere in all that yellow highlightingthe changes that you made to your library item. Ooh and ahh as you feel appropriate. | 2. | Choose File > Preview in Browser; then select a browser to view your page in. The browser launches, and your page opens. There are the changes you made to your library item, but now for the moment of truthyour hyperlinks! [View full size image]
| 3. | In your browser, click the About Us link. The About Us page opens. Even if you haven't added new content and graphics to the new pages and all your pages look the same, you can tell that your hyperlink worked by the title you added just below the Breadcrumb text. | 4. | Try out your other two links to make sure they work. |
Now if you really want to see your site in action as your visitors would see it, you could upload it to your remote web space. However, for you to do this, a number of things will need to be in place. The biggest issue you'll need to resolve is how you will be connecting to your remote site. Recall the remote access options discussed in Chapter 4. Typically, you'll connect via FTP, but that depends on the type of site you're working on. Of course, you'll also need remote space to publish to. If you're connecting via FTP, for example, you'll need space on a remote web server to transfer your site toagain, as discussed in Chapter 4. But if you know your connection type and if you do have remote space, go for itupload your site and see how it will look for your visitors. Just follow the steps in Chapter 4 to set your site's remote info, and you're away. And remember: It's imperative to test your live site not just on your computer, but on other machines, too, to make sure everything runs smoothly. So there you go: a simple, straightforward web site. It isn't a terribly exciting one just yet, but in the coming chapters, you'll learn much more about the topics introduced here, as well as some new ones, such as controlling your page layouts, working with multimedia, adding interactivity, and managing your site once it's complete. There's lots more to see, so stick around for more Ten Ton Dreamweaver!
Just the Gist
Defining a Site and Setting Up Structure Your first step is to define a site in Dreamweaver. You can build a structure for your siteand reorganize your site's filesdirectly in the Files panel.
Using Design Files Design Files are pages that have already been laid out with text and graphicsperfect for newbies. Most Design Files use dependent filesthat is, files that are required for the page to be displayed properly. Usually, dependent files are graphics and style sheets.
Previewing Your Page Dreamweaver's Design view only approximates what your page will look like online. It's much better to preview your work in an actual browser. Keep your browser open as you work, so that you can periodically save your pages and preview them to see how they're rendering.
Inserting and Formatting Text Typing text in Dreamweaver is no different than typing text in a word processor. Most basic text formatting can be done with Dreamweaver's Property Inspector. Flash Text allows you to use artsy or decorative text for headings without having to worry about fonts not displaying properly.
Working with Graphics Normally, you insert graphics by choosing Insert > Image. A faster way to insert graphics is through the Assets panel (Window > Assets).
Using Libraries You can save any page element as a library item and use it on other pages in your site. Library items highlight in yellow, helping you differentiate between them and other sorts of page objects. To edit a library item, double-click it in the Assets panel. When the changes are complete and the library item is saved, any pages that use it are automatically updated.
Hyperlinking Hyperlinks can be set for either text or graphics using the Property Inspector. To set a basic hyperlink, click the Browse for File icon beside the Link field in the Property Inspector.
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