using dreamweaver..

[joey_205]

i need to create a quick site for a band (uni assignment)
im going to do it in dreamweaver, problem is i havnt used it before. so i need to learn..

anyhow whats the best way of going about building a site in it ?? ive been told not to use tables, but layers.. or is it easyer just using all divs and designing it through css ??

any help or info would be minted ! haha.
cheers

[djrem]

notepad.

www.lissaexplains.com or something.

[furioALm]

Watch the dreamweaver tutorial videos here:

http://www.wz2k.co.uk/index.php?catID=1&mod=listdl

I personally find it best to use tables.. to make sites in dreamweaver... and have made several successful sites using it

Gives us a shout if there is something you can't do...

Alex

[joey_205]

cheers man.. usually i would use notepad but im no html wizz i know basic shit really.. and i need to learn how to use it at some point just for the fact i can tell people i can. looks good on the cv i guess..

[furioALm]

Yeh, it is useful to know...

Dreamweaver is a decent piece of software if you know how to use it...

Good luck mate

[Craddock]

Hit me up on msn,

i'll help you code xhtml/css (tabless)

[KamRacing]

time to learn basic html

once you have done that you want to build your site in css
CSS basically separates the style of your site (fonts, colours etc) from your content (your text and framework)

Tables are now used for exactly what they were intended for - tabular data - nothing else

If you need a good book for learning css look for the books published by 'Friends of Ed'

[joey_205]

yea i already have a bit of knowledge in css and got a few books. ive got a dreamweaver book somewhere ill dig out.. ill let you lot know if i get stuck on anything

[Ste]

Imagine your using word..... just use the menus and look to other sites for reference....

If your building a site, just work until you get stuck then look for help. Some tutorials are badly put together and make you work alot to do a little

[Hopcraft]

Originally Posted by djrem

notepad.

www.lissaexplains.com or something.

pure jokes, this person asked help to make a website, i take it he has no history of this, and you say notepad. Mate, thats for the website designers of us all.

[joey_205]

ive started to build the site just using divs and css..
now ive created one image in photoshop which i was going to use as the template background.. ive heard its bad practice and ive got to consider usability issues and accesability.

anyway ive got the image in but im just wanting to know how you create your site to adjust to the size of the browser like many sites do. and will it still work if i use an image as the background..

thanks foir any help

[KamRacing]

i dont like to have a page stretch to the size of the screen. if you have a look at my site it is a set width and is always in the centre of the screen. This means I have more control over my design.

[furioALm]

Yup, i totally agree with kam ^^ ... make a table, that is always a set width, and always align centrally on the page... then set the image to the correct dimensions... like these sites i have made:

www.platinumexecutivecars.com

www.darknightsociety.co.uk

Alex

[joey_205]

yea. thats my intention, ive been trying to get the image places centrally on the page. seems the only way its working is just by placing the div in the design but still its not acurate and it sticks to one side of the screen when minimised.. i was just wondering how its done when it changes to the size of the page..

ur sites look good tho. you both do much other design work ?

[KamRacing]

no use divtags!

create a wrappper tag and set its width. The set the left and right margin to auto - it will then centre

heres an example site i did that is completely built using css
http://www.kam-racing.com/ambrit/ambrit3.html
and the css is I think http://www.kam-racing.com/ambrit/ambrit3.css

Kev

ps the best way to learn is to rip through someone elses code so feel free to grab it and have a play!

[joey_205]

ive got my basic template all sorted now, im just starting to add a drop down navigation bar for the left of the site and just simple role over buttons on the top of the site.. not quite sure how to do both tho..
the role over - is ther a better way of doing it than just swaping an image ? like one of the insert - media - roleover image option ( or something like that)
cheers

[KamRacing]

well you can use css to do it

you need two states in your css sheet like below

#waverightop a{
background-image:url(righttop.jpg);
background-repeat:no-repeat;
}
#waverightop a:hover{
background-image:url(righttop_roll.jpg);
background-repeat:no-repeat;
}

[Craddock]

Originally Posted by KamRacing

well you can use css to do it

you need two states in your css sheet like below

#waverightop a{
background-image:url(righttop.jpg);
background-repeat:no-repeat;
}
#waverightop a:hover{
background-image:url(righttop_roll.jpg);
background-repeat:no-repeat;
}

You have to define the other anchor tags,

#waverightop a, #waverightop a:link, #waverightop a:active, #waverightop a:visited {
background-image:url(righttop.jpg);
background-repeat:no-repeat;
}
#waverightop a:hover{
background-image:url(righttop_roll.jpg);
background-repeat:no-repeat;
}

[KamRacing]

true lol forgot about the other states. Mine was a simple rollover, i didnt want the rest
if you want loads of colour changes for the different states then you need to define these with extra tags

[joey_205]

lol i dont have a clue what any of that means, thanks tho
at first i wanted something fancy but ill settle with a color change on role over..
as for the drop down menu i havnt looked at that just yet