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WEB SUPPORT- Dreamweaver FAQ
1. How can I find a page in Dreamweaver if I know where it is on the Web?
1. How can I find a page in Dreamweaver if I know where it is on the
Web? |
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You can find a file in Dreamweaver's Site panel by looking at the page's address in your Web browser. The
portion of the URL after http://www.kentlaw.edu/ tells you where the file is
located on the server.
Here is an example (assume that you have access to the Career Services Office Web pages and that you want to edit the file graduate_survey.html):
In the address bar of Internet Explorer, you can see that the full URL for the survey is http://www.kentlaw.edu/depts/cso/alums/graduate_survey.html.
Everything in a URL that appears after the domain (kentlaw.edu here) indicates the path to the file from the server's root directory. Here that path is /depts/cso/alums/graduate_survey.html.
In Dreamweaver, the root directory of the Web site is /opt/content/web/sites/ck/docs/ (you will never see this in your Web browser),
so the path to the page in the example is
/opt/content/web/sites/ck/docs/depts/cso/alums/graduate_survey.html
In the Remote pane of Dreamweaver's FTP utility, look at the current working directory (highlighted in yellow
below).
In this example, we are in the Web server's root directory plus /depts/cso.
From there, we can open the alums folder and find the file named graduate_survey.html.
RELATED
INFO: Tutorial on transferring existing
files in Dreamweaver
2. How do I find the panel that allows me to drag files between my local site and the Web server?
2. How do I find the panel that allows me to drag files between my local site and the Web server? |
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You will access the panel for transferring files differently depending on the version of Dreamweaver you're using.
For newer versions of Dreamweaver (MX 2004 and later):
Click on the Expand/Collapse button ( in DW 8/9 or in DW MX 2004) in the Files panel. If you don't see the Files panel (it should be on the right side of the screen in Dreamweaver), select Window > Files from the main bar.
For Dreamweaver MX:
Click on the Expand/Collapse button in the Site panel. If you don't see the Site panel (it should be on the right side of the screen in Dreamweaver), select Window > Site from the main bar.
For Dreamweaver 4:
In Dreamweaver 4, the panel for transferring files opens in a separate window from the document editing window. If you are in the document window, you can open the Site Files window by selecting Window > Site Files from the menu bar. After both windows are open, you can switch between them by using the taskbar at the bottom of your screen.
3. Where is the Property panel, the panel I use for text formatting?
3. Where is the Properties panel, the panel I use
for text formatting? |
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To show or hide the Properties panel, choose Window > Properties from the menu bar.
This panel is very useful for many of the text, graphics, and formatting tasks you're likely to perform.
4. Where is the Insert panel?
4. Where is the Insert panel? |
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To show or hide the Insert panel, choose Window > Insert from the menu bar.
This panel has many tabs that reveal corresponding options for inserting HTML elements.
5. What is a "page title" and how do I make sure my page has one?
5. What is a "page title" and how do I make sure my page has one? |
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The page title appears in the title bar at the top of the browser window when a visitor is viewing your Web
page. It is also used for identifying the page in History, Favorites, and search engine listings. If you do
not title a page, it will be listed as "Untitled Document." If you are using an existing page as a template
for your new page and do not give the page its own title, it will retain the title of the original page. This
could be confusing for visitors and search engines.
To change the title of a page, do one of the following:
Choose Modify > Page Properties > Title/Encoding. Type the title in the Title text box and click OK. -OR-
Enter the title in the toolbar at the top of the Dreamweaver environment. If you do not see the toolbar,
choose View > Toolbars > Document.
NOTE: All pages in the Chicago-Kent Web site should start with "Chicago-Kent College of Law:" followed by
a short, descriptive title for the page. This page is titled "Chicago-Kent College of Law: Dreamweaver FAQ."
Note that giving the document a filename (by saving it) is not the same as giving the page a title.
6. What are those funny yellow icons I see in my page layout in Dreamweaver?
6. What are those funny yellow icons I see in my page layout
in Dreamweaver? |
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The yellow icons that may appear
in your document indicate invisible HTML elements. These are used to represent necessary page elements that do
not display anything in the browser. In most cases, the icon represents a hidden form field or an anchor point for an
aligned image. Depending on the preferences that have been set for your software installation, you might also
see yellow icons for named anchors or JavaScript code. Do not delete an icon unless you are certain that you
don't need it. You can view the properties of an invisible element in the Properties
panel while the icon is selected.
7. Why can’t I edit the bulleted links on the far right section of the page?
7. Why can’t I edit the bulleted links on the far right section
of the page? |
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The navigation bar on the right side of the page is saved in a separate file called an "include"
file. The purpose of this file is to store a section of code that is reused across multiple pages. When something
in this section needs to be updated, it only needs to be changed once in the include file instead of on every
page that uses the include file. The change is reflected on all pages that reference that file.
If you need to edit the right-navigation include file, contact Darren Pritchett
in the Office of Public Affairs for instructions. Your Dreamweaver preferences may need to be adjusted as
well.
8. How can I add multiple spaces between characters?
8. How can I add multiple spaces between characters? |
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HTML only allows for one regular space between characters; to add additional space in a document you must insert a
non-breaking space.
To insert a non-breaking space, place your cursor where you want the extra space to appear and do one of the
following:
In the Insert panel, select the Text tab, then click on the button labeled "BR," and select Non-breaking Space. -OR-
Choose Insert > HTML > Special Characters > Non-Breaking Space. -OR-
Use the keyboard shortcut Control+Shift+Spacebar.
9. How can I add a single line break instead of a new paragraph?
9. How can I add a single line break instead of a new paragraph?
|
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When you press the Enter key in Dreamweaver, the cursor moves down two lines to insert a new paragraph by default.
To insert a single line break instead, place your cursor at the end of a line and do one of the following:
In the Insert panel, select the Text tab, then click on the button labeled "BR," and select Line Break. -OR-
Choose Insert > HTML > Special Characters > Line Break. -OR-
Use the keyboard shortcut Shift+Enter.
10. How can I make a link open in a new browser window?
10. How can I make a link open in a new browser window? |
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Select the hyperlink. In the Properties panel, set the Target option to _blank.
11. Why are some of my links different colors?
11. Why are some of my links different colors? |
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Links have four different states -- unvisited, active, visited, and hover -- and there are different colors
to show each state. On Chicago-Kent's Web site, unvisited links are bright blue. Active links (while you are
clicking on them) are red. Links that you have already visited are a different shade of blue. The different
colors can be helpful if there is a list of links and you can't remember which ones you have already visited.
(We don't designate the hover state on the C-K Web site.)
12. Why are some of my text boxes yellow when viewed in the browser?
12. Why are some of my text boxes yellow when viewed in
the browser? |
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Yellow text boxes are caused by the Google toolbar in your browser. If you have this toolbar installed, it
highlights form fields that can use its AutoFill feature. Name, address, phone, and e-mail are common fields
that are affected. Even though the fields appear yellow on your machine, they will look normal on a machine
that does not have the Google toolbar installed.
If you prefer not to see the yellow highlights, you can uninstall the toolbar or change its settings. To change
the settings, click on the Options button in the Google toolbar. Choose the Extras tab, and uncheck the option
called "automatically highlight fields that AutoFill can fill." Changing the settings in your Google toolbar
will not affect how other people see the Web page.
13. Where are my local files stored?
13. Where are my local files stored? |
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Your local
files could be stored on your C:\ drive or on the network (H:\). You can find out which by looking in the
Site panel in Dreamweaver. In the example shown to the right, the local files are stored on the C:\ drive
in a folder called CKTutorial. This local folder corresponds to the root directory of the Web server. The
files for this department's Web pages are in the depts folder, inside the cso folder. The full local path
is C:\CKTutorial\depts\cso.
Knowing where your files are stored is important if you need to upload a file other than an HTML document.
If you want to upload an image or a PDF, you will have to save that file in the local directory where your
other Web site files are located. After the file is saved in the correct location, you will be able to upload
it the same way that you would upload an HTML file. (Drag and drop from your local side to the remote side.)
RELATED
INFO: Tutorial
on transferring existing files in Dreamweaver
14. How can I add a picture to my Web page?
14. How can I add a picture to my Web page? |
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Before you can use an image, it must be saved in the same location as the other files in your site. (Refer
to question 13 if you do not know where your local files are stored.)
If you try to insert an image that is not inside the current site, Dreamweaver will ask if you want to copy
the file into the site.
To insert the image, place your cursor where you want the image to appear on your page and do one of the following:
In the Insert panel, select the Common tab, then click the Image icon. -OR-
Choose Insert > Image from the menu bar.
In the dialog box that appears, browse to the file you want to insert. Choose "Relative To: Site Root." Click
OK.
Set properties for the image in the Properties panel.
15. How can I upload a PDF or MS Word file to my directory on the Web server?
15. How can I upload a PDF or MS Word file to my directory on the Web
server? |
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Before you can upload a PDF, MS Word, or other non-HTML file, it must be saved in the same location as the
other files in your site. (Refer to question 13 if you do not know where
your local files are stored.) After the file is saved in the correct location, you will be able to upload
it the same way that you would upload an HTML file. Drag the file from your local side to the appropriate
directory on the remote side. Remember to create a link to the new file from one of your existing Web pages
so that visitors will be able to locate it.
NOTE: The best practice is to avoid uploading MS Word or Excel documents to the Web server. Some users do
not have Microsoft Office installed on their machines, so they will not be able to view the file. Differences
in software versions or browser settings can prevent your document from displaying. There are also security
risks involved with putting these types of documents on the Web. An alternative is to copy the content into
a new HTML page or to convert the document to PDF.
16. Why does my picture look distorted?
16. Why does my picture look distorted? |
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If an image looks distorted on your Web page but the original looks correct, the width and height settings
in Dreamweaver are probably wrong. With the image selected, click on the Reset Size button in the Properties
panel. ( in newer versions or
in previous versions) This will bring the image
back to its original size and should correct the problem.
Changing the width and height properties in Dreamweaver does not change the size of the actual image file.
These properties only tell the browser to shrink or stretch the image when it's rendered on your page. The
result is a distorted picture. If you need to change the size of an image, you should edit the file in a graphics
program like Fireworks or Photoshop. See the tutorial on
basic photo editing.
17. The display in Dreamweaver seems wrong. What's going on?
17. The display in Dreamweaver seems wrong. What's going on? |
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Sometimes Dreamweaver does not refresh its Design view properly when you make a change. If you think that
the display looks wrong, press F5 if you have a recent version of Dreamweaver. If you have an older verion,
try selecting Commands > Apply Source Formatting from the menu bar. You can also
refresh the view by closing and reopening the file. (Save your changes first!)
18. I had Dreamweaver reinstalled, and now I can't work with
my site. What do I do?
18. I had Dreamweaver reinstalled, and now I can't work with my site. What do I do? |
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Contact Darren Pritchett in the Office of Public Affairs. Your new installation
will need to be configured to connect to the Web server, and your preference settings will need to be adjusted.
RELATED
INFO: Instructions for Dreamweaver reinstallations
19. Why am I getting an error message when I try to upload a file to the Web server?
19. Why am I getting an error message when I try to upload a file to the Web server? |
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The most common error message in Dreamweaver when transferring files is "An FTP error occurred - cannot
put [file name]. 533 [filename]: Permission denied." If you receive this message, it means that you do
not have permission to edit that particular file. If you believe that you should have permission, contact
Darren Pritchett in the Office of Public Affairs.
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