Using Templates and Cascading Style sheets In Dreamweaver CS3

Methods for establishing Consistent House Style

Diagrammatic Representations of what they do. Consider updating loads of pages

Both do a similar Job but Templates are easier to set up and use and do not involve adapting any code. CSS results in simpler and cleaner HTML code, which provides shorter browser loading times.

Template or CSS

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Understanding Dreamweaver templates

A template is a special type of document that you use to design a “fixed” page layout; you can then create documents based on the template that inherit its page layout. As you design a template, you specify as “editable” which content users can edit in a document based on that template.

Using templates enables you to update multiple pages at once. A document that is created from a template remains connected to that template (unless you detach the document later). You can modify a template and immediately update the design in all documents based on it.

Dreamweaver templates are fixed (or uneditable) by default.

Editable Region

Non Editable Region or Fixed Region

Templates

Insert Table and reduce Border

Modify Table and Add Website Banner

Set up according to your Design Plan for House Style

Select the required font for the Heading and make it Editable.

Here is the final Template. Note the Banner region remains fixed.

Page based upon Template as follows

Another Template

Pages from Template

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a collection of formatting rules that control the appearance of content in a web page. Using CSS styles to format a page separates content from presentation. The content of your page—the HTML code—resides in the HTML file, and the CSS rules defining the presentation of the code reside in another file (an external style sheet) or in another part of the HTML document (usually the head section).

Separating content from presentation also results in simpler and cleaner HTML code, which provides shorter browser loading times, and simplifies navigation for people with accessibility issues (for example, those using screen readers).

CSS gives you great flexibility and control over the exact appearance of your page.

About Cascading Style Sheets

Cascading Style Sheets• Work in a similar way but use an external file rather

than a Template. This then calls the style into the HTML through the addition of a line referencing it to the code or attaching a style sheet.

<link rel=“stylesheet” href=“style1.css”> </head>

• See Example exercise and sample code.

Apply your formatting by using style sheets.Make sure these are in users’ folders before you start.

1. Use View, HTML to view the HTML coding.

2. Add the reference to the style sheet in the head section.

3. Save and preview.4. Edit the style sheet as

appropriate.

Style sheet one

Style sheet two

Style sheet three

Style sheet four

New Style Sheet

Replace td and th as h1 and h2

Change colour by clicking into each section and selecting background colour and then font-size and color for it.

Style sheet Applied

BasicStyleSheet Code

body {font-family: Arial, Helvetica,

sans-serif;background-color: #CCFFFF;

}

h1 {font-family: Arial, Helvetica,

sans-serif;color: #0000FF;font-size: x-large;

}

h2 {font-family: Arial, Helvetica,

sans-serif;color: #FFFF00;font-size: large;

}

AdvancedStyleSheet Code

h1{color:red;font-family: Arial,Helvetioca, sans-serif;font-size: xx-large}

h2{color:red;font-family: Arial,Helvetioca, sans-serif;font-size: x-large}

a{text-decoration:none:font-style:italic-transform:lowercase}

a:link(color:red;font-weight;bold}

a:visited {color:blue}

A:hover {color: green;text-transform:uppercase}

a:active{color:green}

Create a More Advanced CSS sheetSee

http://www.w3schools.com/CSS/css_examples.asp