How do I stop Dreamweaver from creating self-closing tags, especially for IMG?

[Fred Brack]

Dreamweaver creates a self-closing tag when it inserts an image (and maybe elsewhere). How do I stop this outdated behavior? Example:

<img src="images/updated.gif" width="87" height="12" alt="Updated"/>

That closing slash causes a validation warning. Thanks.

Fred

[Nancy OShea]

I'm not losing sleep over this.  😉  

See screenshot from W3C's Validation service.

Edit HTML.htmlhintrc from Preferences > Linting.

"tag-self-close": false,

[Fred Brack]

Neither am I, Nancy, but it is an outdated practice that should be able to be suppressed. Also, you didn't comment on the rest of the Info message which says "interacts badly ..."!

Fred

[Nancy OShea]

---

@Fred Brack wrote:

Neither am I, Nancy, but it is an outdated practice that should be able to be suppressed. Also, you didn't comment on the rest of the Info message which says "interacts badly ..."!

Fred

---

=======

No need to.  Info only, neither a warning nor an error.  It only interacts badly with "unquoted attributes."   Do you use unquoted image attributes?  I don't.

Dreamweaver is not receiving updates except minimal security & compatibility updates.   No new features are being added.  It's been that way since Fall 2020.

[Fred Brack]

Nancy, off-topic from the original question, but to your second paragraph ...

If Dreamweaver is not being enhanced in any way, are they still charging the same fee? And with Microsoft Expression Web long gone (but free now if you can find a download), is there ANY website creator software similar to those two products available today?  (I use both.) Thanks.

Fred

[Nancy OShea]

The fee is the same regardless.

Creative Cloud subscribers pay for the ALL apps plan to keep using discontinued apps like Muse, Fireworks, Dimension and XD.  It's the only way to get them now.  

[Nancy OShea]

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[L e n a · Accepted solution]

Dreamweaver creates a self-closing tag when it inserts an image (and maybe elsewhere). How do I stop this outdated behavior? Example:

<img src="images/updated.gif" width="87" height="12" alt="Updated"/>

That closing slash causes a validation warning. Thanks.

By @Fred Brack

Some tasks aren't configurable from preferences, but if you want to remove the IMG ending slash luckly DW's architecture, which dates back to Macromedia, is still fairly flexible.

At least as far as dialog boxes (all in HTML) and commands (all in Javascript) are concerned, so the user interface remains accessible, one can still adapt and modify as one likes.

However, don't forget to always make a security copy, just in case...

1. Quit DW
2. Open the folder 
   

   C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Dreamweaver 2021\Configuration\Objects\Common

3. Locate the file Image.js file (that is where you have to make a backup copy)
4. Open it with a NotePad++ editor (avoid NotePad, especially not WordPad, etc.)
5. You should encounter a string of type 
   

   rtnStr = rtnStr + 'alt="' + '"/>';

6. Just delete the ending slash
   

   rtnStr = rtnStr + 'alt="' + '">';

7. Save and close the file
8. Restart DW,
9. Now, when you insert the image from the main menu, the slash should have disappeared in the code

[Jon Fritz]

Thanks, this works perfectly Lena.

Just two minor details I figured I would add...

1. In order to make changes to the Image.js file, the user will need Admin rights on their system
2. Like all of this kind of program file modification, the process needs to be repeated for every new version of DW going forward (if any).

[L e n a]

You're welcome, @Jon Fritz , I'm glad if it can help in some way.

Yes, you're right, you've raised two key points. Firstly, one need administrator rights to be able to modify this type of file, and secondly, when updating the program, one need to remember to carry over all these modifications.

Here at the studio, we generally use Ultra Compare, which is highly effective in monitoring these kinds of razor-edged adaptations.

[Fred Brack]

Thank you so much, Lena! While it is unlikely users will run validation on my pages, I would much rather have them see "No errors or warnings to show" than even an "Info" message. I've marked your answer correct!

Fred

[L e n a]

You're welcome, thank you for your feedback!
I'm glad to see that this workaround can help you. However, you'll need to repeat the operation for each of the singlet tags (LINK, META, BR, HR,...). If you have trouble to find the files you need to modify, please let us know.

[casidoug7]

Thanks for sharing this solution, Lena. Do you know the path to images.js on a Mac? (using Dreamweaver 21.3 on Sonoma). I tried looking in library/application support/adobe/Dreamweaver 2021/en_US but can't find it.

[Nancy OShea]

On Windows, the Configuration folder is hidden.  You have to check a box to show hidden files & folders from your file manager. And to save file changes, you'll need a computer user profile with administrative permissions.

[casidoug7]

Thanks for the response, Nancy. I was actually asking if anyone knew how to make the change on a Mac. 

[BenPleysier]

See https://www.dmxzone.com/go/16740/clearing-dreamweaver-s-cache/

[casidoug7]

I'm not clear on what clearing the cache has to do with my question

[BenPleysier]

Pardon me, I did not want to upset you, I merely wanted to answer your question on where to find the Configuration file on a Mac.

[Nancy OShea]

We can lead them to water but we can't make them drink it.

[Jon Fritz]

To modify the program file necessary, you need to go to DW's main configuration folder, NOT the personal configuration folder that you have already found.

On a Mac, I believe all you should need to do is swap out "Library" for "Applications" in the file path you used and you should see it there.

[L e n a]

Thanks for sharing this solution, Lena. Do you know the path to images.js on a Mac? (using Dreamweaver 21.3 on Sonoma). I tried looking in library/application support/adobe/Dreamweaver 2021/en_US but can't find it.

By @casidoug7

Sorry, I didn't catch your question. In fact, I think @BenPleysier  was telling you about this URL, as many of the paths are often referenced and can provide leads.

In any case, I don't have access to a virtual machine from where I am at the moment, and it's difficult for me to check for myself, but I'd say that if it's a question of application settings, and as @Jon Fritz propose I'd look at :

/Applications/Adobe Dreamweaver 2021/Configuration/Objects/Common