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peter marsh
Known Participant
March 15, 2023
Question

Manual inconsistencies

  • March 15, 2023
  • 5 replies
  • 892 views

I am new to DreamWeaver and having a tough time getting familiar with the whole HRML/CSS -> web page way of doing things.  I licenced this tool because it looked like a fully featured application that got around the limitations I found when using more crude "free" web page design tools. 

 

My biggest problem is inconsistencies in the documentation.  My installation is version 21.3 build 15593.  I'm not sure what the manual version online relates to but there are areas which have a reference in the manual but I cannot see where they exist in the application.

 

For instance: The area the describes formatting lists into Ordered Lists {numbered} or Unordered {Bulleted} lists is missing a dialogue that would turn a string of text into numbered/bulleted lists.  That is a basic requirement and if I cannot do that then I am going to have a big problem grappling with this tool.   

 

Is there a repository for the manual that actually relates to the version that I have?  That would be a good start. 

 

Thanks. 

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5 replies

Nancy OShea
Community Expert
Nancy OSheaCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 15, 2023

(Ctrl + F3).  Properties panel has two tabs -- HTML and CSS.  Select HTML tab.

 

 

Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
Nancy OShea
Community Expert
Nancy OSheaCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 15, 2023

I suggest you bone up on basic HTML and CSS first.  Dreamweaver is only as good (or bad) as the person using it. It's not a DIY web authoring solution for anyone who has no experience with web authoring.  And it's nothing like desktop publishing with MS Word.  So put those thoughts behind you. 

 

Dreamweaver is a coding and site management tool. In the right hands, it can jump start new projects and greatly reduce your production time.

 

Start here:  Read chapters, do code exercises and take quizzes at the end.
- https://www.w3schools.com/html/
- https://www.w3schools.com/css/
- https://www.w3schools.com/bootstrap/

 

Getting back to your Navigation Element, you can jump start this with Emmet Keyboard Shortcuts:

To demonstrate, type this code in CODE View panel followed by the TAB key.

nav>ul>li*4>a

 

RESULT:

<nav>
<ul>
<li><a href=""></a></li>
<li><a href=""></a></li>
<li><a href=""></a></li>
<li><a href=""></a></li>
</ul>
</nav>

 

What does all this mean?  You've created an Unordered list element <ul> </ul> wrapped around

List item <li> <li> *4

+ anchor tags <a href="#"> </a>

 

Hope that helps. Post back if you have more questions.

 

Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
P
peter marshAuthor
Known Participant
March 28, 2023

Deaer Nancy, thanks for your advice and help.  I have taken your suggestion at getting some familiarity with HTML and am following my way through the tutorials on W3 Schools.  It is a well presented learning structure.  Hopefully I can then turn to what I want to achieve much easier.  

 

Its a bit disturbing the comments about DreamWeaver looking at becoming end of the line.  I have followed so many Adobe products to their demise over the years, all of which had some promise at the beginning but because they fell out of favour, died in the dust of extinct software products. That doesn't mean that they were not still useful, just that some executive didn't feel like maintaining them.  Maybe its because they personally have never made an investment in anything they don't feel a sense of loyalty to any product. 

BenPleysier
Community Expert
BenPleysierCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 28, 2023

Asking Bing Chat your original question, I get this response:

 

 

Maybe you could ask Bing a few more questions to help you. This is another example:

 

 

 

Wappler is the DMXzone-made Dreamweaver replacement and includes the best of their powerful extensions, as well as much more!
Jon Fritz
Community Expert
Jon FritzCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 15, 2023

In the latest version of DW, the buttons for Ordered and Numbered Lists can be found in the Properties window (Ctrl + F3 if it's not open). Under the HTML option on the left side...

 

First, click HTML to highlight it, then highlight the text you want to convert, and click the corresponding button.

If you're not seeing the buttons at all, it would point to an installation problem. Restoring Preferences (even on a fresh install) could bring them back.

B
Community Expert
Ben MCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 15, 2023

If you are not comfortable with the code, have you considered looking to online drag and drop builders like a Wix, or is that what you are referring to by having limitations?

P
peter marshAuthor
Known Participant
March 26, 2023

Dear Ben, my ISP gave me access to WordPress which I didn't like.  It seemed like a tool for people to make a single page web site quickly but within the straightjacket of the person who wrote the plug-in.  I did look at Wix in the past when I chose Muse over it.  I'll have another look but am happy to continue on with DW and the huge learning curve writing in HTML is.  

 

What does make it difficult is when I try to follow the online manual and get inconsisent information.  For instance, today I am playing with images.  The manual says that having selected an image I can use "Edit -> Image" and get a dialogue box that allows me to optimise, resize, crop, brightness and contrast, sharpen etc.  None of that is there but a sub-menu to choose a third party image editor.  I am wondering if the manual does match the APP somewhere and that I am unfortunately looking at an older revision. 

O
osgood_
Legend
March 26, 2023

I can't help thinking if youre going to put the effort and time into learning a program at least choose one which is still being actively developed. Seems counter productive to me to jump aboard something that is in rapid decline.

 

Thats just my opinion because you may not know that currently DW has no long term prospects of being developed any further, according to Adobe's latest information.

 

Once you have the facts that will allow you to make more subjective decisions. DW is still a good editor and that's all you may personally require but you may wish to consider something else which may be better suited if youre looking to take the ride in what is a rapidly changing space.

 

Going back to WordPress, you are completely incorrect in your assessment. It's not my cup of tea and maybe not yours either BUT it's being actively developed and with its new recently introduced workflow l can see it becoming an even  more popular choice than what it already is. That being said if youre going to use WordPress then you need to become a WordPress developer which a completely different animal to a developer. This can be said for most niche solutions, such a webflow, wix, wappler, bubble, etc. Get to know how they work and youre flying, with little skill or knowledge other than the program itself.

BenPleysier
Community Expert
BenPleysierCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 15, 2023

This is the main page for tutorials: https://helpx.adobe.com/dreamweaver/tutorials.html

 

Create bulleted and numbered lists: https://helpx.adobe.com/au/dreamweaver/using/text.html or use Bing to search for `dreamweaver ordered lists`.

 

Wappler is the DMXzone-made Dreamweaver replacement and includes the best of their powerful extensions, as well as much more!
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