Adding and Changing Your Content

Dreamweaver starts up like any other application. Use the method you like to start programs and open Dreamweaver. To view a web page of the completed project follow this link to the completed project page.

  1. Figure 1: Main editing window

    Figure 1: Main editing window

    click in the text box to the right of "Title:" at the top of the main editing window (see Figure 1: Main editing window)
  2. name the document "[Your Name Here]'s Home Page"

This title shows up in the top of a Web browser and is also the name that will appear in the bookmarks of the browser. This is why it's important to name your page something meaningful in relation to its content.

Type these sentences into the editor:

This is my first web page so don't laugh too hard.

I'll be fixing it later so I can win some major awards. But for now, this will have to do.

By the way, here's a link to the UMD Home Page.

This is a link to my Favorite Recipes Page.

Pretty impressive, huh?

Center the first sentence:

  1. select (highlight) the first sentence
  2. go to the "Properties" panel (see Figure 2: Properties panel)
    Figure 2: Properties panel

    Figure 2: Properties panel

  3. click on the "Align Center" button (looks similar to a word processor button)

Take a moment to see a useful feature of many software programs. Move your mouse pointer over a button in the "Properties" panel and let it rest there for a second or so. A pop-up window called a "tool tip" identifies the function of the tool. Pretty neat payoff for having patience!

Now make a "Heading 1" out of the same sentence:

  1. select the sentence again if it's not selected
  2. go to the "Properties" panel
  3. find the "Format" drop-down menu (remember tool tips can help)
  4. click on the "Format" box to get a drop down menu
  5. choose "Heading 1" from the choices available

If the font size looks too large, you can change that too!

  1. select the sentence again if it's not selected
  2. go to the "Properties" panel
  3. find the "Size" box
  4. click the up/down button to the right to make the font size smaller

The next task involves creating a list. First the items are entered as paragraphs and then they are turned into a list.

Type these items into your Dreamweaver document:

candy

popcorn

pop

other essential food

Now make a bullet list of the items.

  1. select the list items
  2. go to the "Properties" panel
  3. find the "Ordered List" (bullet) button
  4. click the button

You can go back and insert a name for this list. Let's call it "Food Stuff of the Web gods:"

  1. click at the end of the previous paragraph
  2. hit "enter" (Windows) or "return" (Mac OS)
  3. type "Food Stuff of the Web gods:"

When changing text, you can change the format of text by selecting it and using the "Text" menu. All text changing options are available in the menu while only the most used are in the "Properties" panel. Try some of the options to see what they look like.

If you're ready for more, move on to "Absolute and Relative Links."