Table dragging in hyperlinks to files no more? Tables cumbersome.

[AdobeLark2]

I am frustrated because I used to drag a local file into a table and it would take five seconds and I was done. The frustration extends past that, but let's focus on that.

Tables with hyperlinks have gotten super cumbersome. It's as if I have gotten a new editor with few things in common with the previous one.

I am doing my best to do work with a complicated editor to do something very simple.  It seeems the world has slipped away from me.  Where do I get continuing education on differences between the old Dreamweaver (CS5-2018) and the new one (2020).  Is there any info on how to recover, doing things that were so easy during some of my 10 years of Dreamweaver? I have Catalina so I think I need to cope in a recent Dreamweaver.

In particular, here are the things make my life worse:

1. I cannot drag a file over to a Table in design mode to make it into a hyperlink, without multiple steps in the HTML.
2. DW will not update a description in the <a> field, typed into the code mode. It just stays with the first word I typed into the table as a place holder for moving the arrow (in properties) over to a file.
3. DW inserts &nbsp; into cells that don't go away automatically, so I get cells with a leading space character unless I erase. I think trailing too.

I have found no tutorial on how to transition to this new html editor.  Could you please let me know if I can use tables with hyperlinks more efficiently.

Fred

[Jon Fritz · Accepted solution]

Are you sure you are in Design View?

1. On my Windows 10 machine, with the latest version of DW, dragging files from the Files window to a table cell will create a link using the file name (minus the extension) as the text, but only in Design View, not while working in the Live View Editor. Open the Document Toolbar under Window > Toolbars and verify you are not Live View. It should work fine from Design View.

2. I don't understand the issue here, what do you mean by "update a description in the <a> field"? There is no "description" or "<a>" field that I know of in DW's interface. Could you please explain exactly what you're attempting here and the specific steps you're taking in DW's interface?

3. Empty table cells will have an &nbsp; added to them to keep the cells from collapsing in the new Live View Editor, allowing for the addition of text. They disappear automatically if text is later added, while in Live or Design View (they need to be manually deleted if you are working in Code View)

[AdobeLark2]

Thank you. I indeed had the wrong setting. Code Split Design returns me to the way things were.

[Nancy OShea · Accepted solution]

Hi @AdobeLark2,

After 10 years, you have some catching up to do.  Both the web and DW have changed a lot since CS5 came out.

#1 Nobody uses tables anymore except for tabular data like spreadsheets and charts and only minimally because tables, especially complex ones, are not responsive on mobile devices. 

#2 As Jon said, LIVE and DESIGN view are not the same thing. The former gives more accurate rendering.  The latter is better for quick edits and working with Templates.

#3  I have no trouble dragging & dropping a file from Files Panel into Design view.  See screenshot.

#4 The resulting code looks fine to me.  Sometimes DW behaves erratically when confronted with critical code errors. For best results, ensure your code is error-free, denoted by a green checkmark in a circle.  If you see a red X beneath your document, check the Output panel or validate code and fix reported errors.  Window > Results > Validation.  Check Current Document.

Post back if you still need help. 

[AdobeLark2]

Thank you for the pointers on tables in general and for telling me the answer my question.   Code Split Design returns me to the way things were. Live view was tripping me up.  Your code validation tip caught a couple of errors too.  Much appreciated!

[Nancy OShea]

You're welcome.  Glad you got it sorted 🙂