Activity 6 - What I Learned About Using Dreamweaver MX

Activity 6 - Using Advanced HTML Editors
Marna Kitzmiller
 

To illustrate what I learned to do using Dreamweaver MX, I have made a simple version of the home page for my final project.

1. Interactive Images - Move the mouse pointer over the "Home" or "What I Learned" button. You should see the color of the button change. I drew these buttons using Microsoft Paint, saved them in a site folder in Dreamweaver, then selected them for the "on" and "off" forms of the interactive image. Selecting the "What I Learned" button will bring up a page giving you a cost-benefits analysis of Dreamweaver MX.
2. Opening a link in a separate window - Selecting the "Home" button will open the home page of my final project in a separate window. It shows you the full version of the examples you are seeing in this activity. The advantage of opening a page in a separate window is that it keeps the current page open making it easier to return to. I would use this option for any link that would take you outside the site that you are viewing. I also used this option at the bottom of this page for the links to my classmates' sites.
3. Interactive Image Maps - I knew how to insert images and use an image for a single link. This advanced HTML editor allowed me to add several links to a single image. In my final project, I inserted 10 different links into one image, but in this example I will only use 2 links. Below the numbered list you are currently reading you will find a map of the United States. Move the mouse pointer to Illinois to see the pointer change form. Selecting any of the following states, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, or Kansas, will link you to a page giving information for responses from those four states. Next select Florida. You will notice that you will navigate to a different page.
4. Tables - I had previously used Netscape Communicator to design webpages. I was able to insert tables, but had limited options. With Dreamweaver MX I was able to split and merge cells in a table. This can be seen on the table located below the USA map. Although this is a very simple table, one can see the advantage of using this function. I started with an 8x4 table, then merged the first 2 cells in the top row. I did the same with the other 3 sets of cells across the top to get the form that you see. I could also have started with a 4x3 table and then spit the desired cells vertically to get the same results.
5. Code Snippets - I also learned how to use Dreamweaver to create and insert code snippets. A snippett is a block of HTML code that you would want to use many times in a site. It is used when you want an entire website to look consistent, but you don't want to create every page from scratch. On the pages you linked to in the Interactive Image Maps section, you saw the data in table form. I created only one table, used that table to make a code snippett, then inserted that snippet for the rest of the tables.
6. Layout - This was actually the simplest of the items I learned about in Dreamweaver. I worked through one of the tutorials and learned how to take an existing page or template and then delete unwanted frames and add extras. In my opinion, this method gave the page a cleaner and more professional look than I could possibly have done on my own.
7. Inserting Links - I already knew how to insert links using Netscape Communicator. I found that it was slightly easier with Dreamweaver.
8. Cost - I found that Dreamweaver MX is availabe at a reduced price for educators. To see a more complete cost-benefits analysis, click here.

1999 2000 2001 2002 D P D P D P D P 14 3 6 15 24 10 6 4

Results Click on any area of the map to the left to veiw the results for that region Below the map you will find a compilation of the first results from Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska.