How to Get Help in/about Dreamweaver

Agenda:

• Goal for this lesson
• Helpful resources
• Activity

Goal for this lesson

After you have completed this lesson, you will know how to use Dreamweaver's online help system, the Macromedia web site, and other web sites to help you to learn Dreamweaver.

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Helpful resources

The CD you received as part of your WIT registration packet contains:

• The complete Using Dreamweaver manual. (go to Help|Using Dreamweaver)

• An HTML reference book (go to Help|Reference)

• Guided Tour (go to Help|Guided Tour)

• Lessons, go to Help|Lessons:

  • Creating an image map
  • Opening a page in a new window
  • Creating a disjointed rollover
  • Inserting tabular data
  • Creating a page with frames
  • Using Cascading Style Sheets
  • Adding Flash objects

In addition, you can get help or answer specific questions using the following resources:

• There is a tutorial as part of Using Dreamweaver, and the files to use with the tutorial are installed when you install Dreamweaver. (The tutorial is also available at http://www.macromedia.com/support/dreamweaver/documentation/dreamweaver4_tut.html.)

• The Macromedia Dreamweaver site has excellent resources, http://www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver/, including:

  • A feature tour, at http://www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver/productinfo/features/

  • A Frequently Asked Questions file (FAQ), at http://www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver/productinfo/faq/

  • The Dreamweaver support center, at http://www.macromedia.com/support/dreamweaver/, contains lots of information, including Technotes that describe solutions to common problems

  • A news forum, at news://forums.macromedia.com/macromedia.dreamweaver. (You'll need Netscape News or another news reader to participate.)

  • A showcase of sites displaying excellent design using Dreamweaver, at http://dynamic.macromedia.com/bin/MM/showcase/scripts/showcase_cs_listing_by_query.jsp?product=Dreamweaver

  • Some "Tips and Tricks" for using Dreamweaver, at http://www.macromedia.com/support/dreamweaver/basics/tips_and_tricks/

• There are some great books, especially Dreamweaver 4 Hands on Training, by Green and Weinman, available from Amazom.com

• There is a great CD-ROM, Learning Dreamweaver 4, available directly from Lynda.com

• You'll often find great resources just using a search engine to search for Dreamweaver and other words describing your problem.

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Activity:

Choose a partner. Then, choose one of the following questions to work on together.

1. How do I change the background color of a page?
2. How do I insert a link to an external site?
3. How do I add a column to a table I've created in Dreamweaver?
4. What is the "site cache" and what does it do for me?
5. How do I change the background color of one cell in a Dreamweaver table?
6. How do I center a table in Dreamweaver?
7. What's the "layout view" and how does it differ from the "standard" view?
8. How can I find out how many seconds it will take to download the page I'm working on?
9. How do I use Flash buttons in Dreamweaver?
10. Where do I get additional Flash buttons to use in Dreamweaver?
11. How can I create a Table of Contents for my page? (Hint: see extending Dreamweaver lesson)
12. How do I change the color used for links?
13. How do I make a pop-up window containing a larger version of an image? (Hint: see behaviors lesson)

Open a Word document to type your "findings." Use this window to keep notes during this activity. Be sure to list the SOURCE for any information you find.

Use the resources listed above to find all you can about this topic.

Use Google.com to search the web for information about your topic. Try putting 'Dreamweaver' in the search string along with words describing your topic.

Be ready to "report out" on your findings to the larger group, or use the homeroom listserve to send your findings.

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Developed by Craig A. Cunningham