Defining a site in Dreamweaver & using the Site Map
Discuss the importance of flowcharting a web site before creating even
the home page. Discuss the La Bonne Cuisine site as well as Figure 4-4
on p. 134 and Figure 4-9 on p. 139. Discuss the use of image and/or assets
folders.
Create the necessary folder structure in our C:\WEB115Minich\Sites folder
for the lbc example. That is, create a folder named lbc in your Sites
folder using Windows Explorer (step #1 on p. 130). Create a new site within
Dreamweaver following the steps on pp. 130 & 131. Create the rest
of the necessary folders from within Dreamweaver's Site Editor by following
steps #1-6 on pp. 134 & 135. Follow steps #1-7 on p. 137 to finish
setting up the new site.
Practice closing Dreamweaver and then reopening it to edit one of the
files in the La Bonne Cuisine web site. Practice viewing the site locally
with the File/Open menu command in Internet Explorer. Discuss the possibility
of taking the lbc folder home and defining the same site on your copy
of Dreamweaver.
Discuss the importance of creating a complete folder structure at the
outset of a web site design project.
Discuss the Site Map view, and checking and fixing broken links with
the Site/Check Links Sitewide menu command. Follow the exercises on pp.
140+ to review this at home. There is one or more errors with step #4
on p. 141.
Navigation
Discuss different kinds of navigation within a site.
button bar - graphics, words, Javascript mouseovers, etc. It could
be created as a sliced graphic held together by a table or as seamless
graphics aligned next to each other. It can be placed at the top or
the left of the page.
icon bar - an icon is a 32 px by 32 px image
image map - one large graphic with hotspot areas
text links - plain words that are hyperlinked
other types of navigation?
Discuss the proper flowcharting of a site before the navigation element
is chosen and created. Also, remember the importance of white space, placement
of important navigation elements, and alt tags, since accessibility is
important these days.
Keep user interface (user-friendliness) central to the whole site and
page design process. Think like your audience. Include visual navigation
cues such as proper use of color to indicate which section of the iste
the user is currently in. Use icons such as arrows. Use metaphors as navigation
cues (ideographs & pictographs).
Review named anchors which are created by using the Insert/Invisible
Elements/Anchor menu command and linked to by typing the name of an anchor
directly after a # symbol in the Link area of the Property Inspector.
As a class discuss the Insert/Interactive Images/Navigation Bar menu
command and follow the steps on pp. 150-152.
Discuss the use of image maps within Dreamweaver and the addition of
the supporting Javascript. Follow the tutorial on p. 153 or watch the
instructor's example.
Explore Lynda Weinman's navigation
inspiration sites or identify your own favorite sites that have good
navigation
Discuss Case Project #1 on p. 161.
Homework Assignment:
Do Assignment #4 (Ch. 4 Case Project
#3 on p. 161), which is a typed analysis of a site map that you found for
a large company, by Tue Feb. 4.
Do as many of the Ch. 4 Hands-On Projects as time allows.
Begin Assignment #5 (Ch. 4 Case Project
#1 on p. 161) by Thu Feb. 4. Save the HTML file as mymap.htm
and save the graphic file as mymap.gif. Place these files on a blank floppy
disk.