Working with Text

This week you will be adding and formatting text on web pages. There are many aspects of Dreamweaver that are "like" a word-processing program, however, it's imporant to note that Dreamweaver is NOT a word-processor! You can not type and format text the way you do in a program such as Microsoft Word. The browsers that render your pages would not know how to handle all the numerous variances that exist amongst word processed documents. As a web designer, you want your web pages to look good (or at least acceptable!) in all web browsers across multiple devices. There are some simple steps to follow in order to make your text look good on your web pages:

1. Input the text:
   The first step is getting the plain text onto your page. Many times you will receive content from an outside source and you will need to paste it onto your web page. Dreamweaver has some features that can help you with this copy/paste process. Later on, you will be experimenting with the Paste Special feature which allows you to control how the text gets pasted. If you are the content writer for your website, you may find yourself creating your own content. Working in Design view is an easy way to type your text. My recommendation would be to simply type your text first - then go back and format it. Which leads us to the next step...
   
   
2. Format the text:
   Plain text can be a bit boring and you will most likely want to spruce it up a bit. The text itself is contained in the HTML file, within HTML tags such as a paragraph, a heading, or a list. The HTML file contains the content and structure, but if you want to make it look "pretty" you will need to use some CSS. The CSS contains the code that will format your web pages. CSS can reside either in the Head section of your HTML file (this is called an Internal style) - or it can reside in a separate CSS file (this is called an external style). The beauty of using external styles is that all pages on your website can use the same styles which will create a consistent look and feel throughout your site.
   
   
3. Preview the text:
   Always preview your web pages in multiple browsers, on multiple computers, and on multiple devices. Just because it looks good on one, does not guarantee that it will look good on all of them. Dreamweaver has some features that can help with this process which we will learn about later in the term.

In your assignments this week, you will be reading A LOT from your textbook. Don't skip this! It is important to know how to work with text. The exercises will give you some hands-on practice working with text.