MIS 201 Web Design

Website Planning Before even considering the practical aspects of creating a website, there are some important fundamental questions you need to ask yourself first  What are we hoping to achieve?  Who's our target audience?  What catergory, if any, does our site fall into: ecommerce, informational, educational, social networking, etc.  How visually exciting does it need to be to be effective?  What tone do we want our content to convey, could it be serious or witty, complex or simple?

Site Content & Information Structure Probably the most important aspect of website 'structural design' is how you breakdown the content into logical sections (Main Areas, Pages, Headers, Sub-Headers, Lists, etc). You need to create a strong hierarchy for the site and breakdown content into small units. It is a good idea to create a graphical schema/flowchart/sitemap for the site. This can help you visualise a logical hierarchy.

Create a folder on your computer called website1 to hold all web pages and graphics. (example of what your link will look like when you set it up later: map.jpg) Optional: inside of the website1 folder create a folder called images to hold your graphics. ( All folders, webpages, and graphic names must be lowercase, no spaces, and no special characters for ease of linking later. Getting Start

Launch Dreamweaver Select HTML

New Page Appears

Or Select File>New

Select HTML, Create

Window>Insert, Properties, Files Have a Check Mark When Active

Setting Up a New Website Window>Files Checked You Will See The Files Palette on the Right

From the Pop Up Files Palette Window: Select Manage Sites

Select The New Button>Site

Set the New Site Definitions 1. Name Your Webpage 2. Click on the Folder Icon & Locate the website1 folder 3. Click on the Folder Icon & Locate the images folder inside of the website1 folder

The File Structure You Created

Begin Creating the index.html main webpage

Modify>Page Properties

Appearance, Set Font, Text, Background Color

Links, Set Link, Visited Link Colors

Click the Curser on the Page, Select Alignment, Type in Text Window> Properties Center Alignment Button

Highlight Text, Select Ariel Font Window> Properties Font Pop-up Menu

Highlight Text, & Select the Title Format Size Window> Properties Pop-up Format for Title Heading Size: Example 2

Or to Create a Title With a Graphic: Insert>Table or Select Table Icon Tables control object placement

Set Row, Column, Table Width, Border, OK Title Example: 1 Row 2 Columns

Adjust Column Widths Drag Table Column Line Left or Right to Adjust the Width

Before Adding Graphic Images go to File>Save As>name your file Remember to use all lowercase letters, no spaces or special characters

Click in the Left Cell, Insert>Image, or use the Image Icon, Locate.gif or.jpg File Window> Insert Menu To Insert Logo or Graphic in a Header

Click in the Right Cell & Type to Add the Title

Select the Table, Select BG to Add a Background Cell Color Window> Properties Menu

To Make Border Invisible, Select Table, Set Border to 0 Window> Properties Menu Select Edge of Table

To Add Navigation Table, Insert>Table or Table Icon 1 Row 7 Columns Maximum

Click Inside of the First Cell to Add a Flash Navigation Button

Insert>Media>Flash Button

Button Settings: Style, Text, Font, Link, Size, Apply, OK Remember when uploading your website to the server to add your.swf Flash buttons you created

Repeat to Add All Buttons If you need to edit the button after has been created or to check the links just double click on the button again, change the features, Apply, OK.

Example of Completed Title & Navigation Buttons You May Have Different Titles For Your Navigation Buttons

External Links: Type Text & Highlight, Type in Link URL & Press Return Key

Internal Links: Type Text & Highlight, Type in Link URL & Press Return Key index.html

Links: Type Text & Highlight, Type in Link URL & Press Return Key

Inserting Graphics and Text in Tables Control placement of elements in relation to each other Specify amount of space between each page element Always plan how your table will look with all the text and graphics in it Even a rough sketch will save you time

Click in the Left Cell, Select Insert>Image or Image Icon Locate Graphic Image:.gif.jpg Choose

Click in the Right Cell & Add Your Text May Need to Adjust Column Width Adjust Font to Ariel

Anchors Are Used to Jump Down on a Long Page of Text

Highlight Word, In the Link Box Type in #name #august

Highlight Text to Link To, Insert>Named Anchor

Type in Exact Name Match, Example: august, OK

Notice the Yellow Anchor, This Will Not Show When Posted

File>Save As, Provide Name & Location Example index.html or standards.html

Can Duplicate Pages  Once the index.html page is set up as desired with the logo, header, and navigation buttons it can serve as a template for creating new pages.  Just be sure to save each new page with new name.

File>Preview in Browser> Select the desired browser

Notice How the Browser Opens in Front To Preview What it Will Look Like When Uploaded to the Server When Finished Viewing Browser Red Button Close

Optional: File>Preview in Browser>Edit Browser List

For Selecting Primary & Secondary Browser Choices

Viewing Options: HTML Code

Viewing Options: Split Code & Design You Can Highlight Areas in Design Mode & See It in Code

Viewing Options: Design For Creating & Editing Web Pages

File>Save As, Provide Name & Location Example index.html or standards.html

New Folder: website1 (save webpage files inside of the folder) website1 website2 website3 website4 website5 Reminder: Lowercase, No Spaces, No Special Characters

Example of Files in Your website1 folder Must Have a Main Page Named index.html Your page names may be different from this example & will be an exact name match to your navigation buttons