Help

I have just completed a Dreamweaver Beginner course..One Issue which was not
entirely discussed was "Multiple Pages" in the files panel.

If I wanted to create multiple pages would the additional page have its own
folder, which would then have all the elements of that page ie; images,text
inside it.

For example, Page A is my homepage. I have a PAGE A folder which includes an
Image folder, Frames folder etc, Then that page is linked to PAGE B. Would I
need to have a separate Images folder for the images in PAGE B.

I wouldn't do that. It would seem to cause too much confusion with that logic.
Also, if Page A is like Page B or uses the same images in it, then you would
just be saving the same image twice on your server taking up more space than
necessary and it would also cause the end user to load duplicate images in that
case.

Even if the images are different I would still recommend against it.

And before anyone tries to read into my next statement too much I noticed you
said "frames" in your response. I would recommend that you don't look into
them too much in the beginning because they can be a bad habit to break. I'll
leave it at that and you will probably get comments from others about frames.

What is the issue with Frames?

I only ask because the class I just completed had an entire lesson dedicated to the use of frames.

I guess if one is teaching HTML in it's entirety, one has to cover frames
because they are still being used here and there.

There are many reasons not to use frames, much of which has to do the
awkwardness in using them. There are many reasons that frames are considered
"evil".

The main reason is that the W3C has deprecated them, which means have
recommended that they not be included in future revisions of the (X)HTML
specification going forward. IFRAMES, on the other hand are an exception.

You're sites will work with frames and they won't go away soon. Many thing
they should be avoided along with the dreaded FONT tag and using tables for
layout (rather than tabular data), which is more recently becoming a taboo, in
favor of CSS.

..oO(CW3567)

What is the issue with Frames?

Many. They cause a lot of usability and accessibility issues. You can
find details by searching the Web for "frames are evil" or something
like that.

I only ask because the class I just completed had an entire lesson
dedicated to the use of frames.

Ugly. While you have to know some HTML and CSS in order to build good
websites, you can safely ignore frames. They can be useful in some very
rare cases, but on a normal website you won't need them.

Micha

Hi CW,

What is the issue with Frames?

I only ask because the class I just completed had an entire lesson
dedicated to the use of frames.

Most of the time people use frames (those poor unenlightened ones that do
;o)) to set up a menu system or header that will apply to all the pages of
the site. There are much better ways to do that - I recommend you look into
server-side includes. This techinque basically separates the parts of your
page that you want to have appear on multiple pages into single files that
then get called into each page. This is very useful to you as a web
designer - you change one file and the whole site reflects that change,
without any of the inherent problems associated with using frames.

As far as your original question, see your site as a whole, and set up the
folder structure that way. For a simple site, you would put all your pages
in the root of the site, and then have one folder for the images. If you're
using Flash movies, you might want to have a folder for them. On more
complex sites, you might want to have a folder for each section of the site,
where the pages in that section would go.

It's really up to you, go with whatever seems like a good organizational
structure, always keeping it a simple as possible.

--
Aloha,

Jerry
http://MauiWebDesigns.com

Thanks-for the Info..

At this point I dont really have enough experience w/ DW to differentiate
between good practice and bad practice.

I took an Online Intro to DW class. One of the lessons was Frames, along w/
Files,Assets,Flash Buttons etc,etc..Right now I am just getting my feet wet and
playing with the program. I just created a page using one of the Templates in
DW and I am using Frames, along w/ Flash Buttons, building a Navbar etc.

There is so much too know, that its daunting. So, I am just trying to get in
it and see what happens. I do know that the future is going to be CSS and I
plan on using it, however I am starting where I am most comfortable, and will
then begin to incorporate CSS.

Hi CW,

I took an Online Intro to DW class. One of the lessons was Frames, along
w/
Files,Assets,Flash Buttons etc,etc..Right now I am just getting my feet
wet and
playing with the program. I just created a page using one of the Templates
in
DW and I am using Frames, along w/ Flash Buttons, building a Navbar etc.

This is a great moment for you - just starting out. The key here is to start
on the right foot - this means no frames, no Flash buttons. Flash buttons
are not a good idea because you need your navigation to ALWAYS be there, and
legible to the search engines - Flash isn't always there for everybody, and
you will be losing the search engine optimization advantages of text links.

There is so much too know, that its daunting. So, I am just trying to get
in
it and see what happens. I do know that the future is going to be CSS and
I
plan on using it, however I am starting where I am most comfortable, and
will
then begin to incorporate CSS.

You're right, there is a lot to learn, but it's all goodies for you! A bunch
of cool goodies, waiting for you to discover them! So take your time, have
fun, and concentrate on doing it right from the start - don't waste your
beginner's enthusiasm on bad practice!

If I were you, I would: put all your content in one page (no frames),
replace your Flash buttons with text links, and use server-side includes for
your menu and header, so you can easily update your site (that just means
removing the code for the menu section into a separate file and then using a
very simple bit of code in your pages to call the menu in).

Then, as you learn about style sheets, you will be able to make a cool menu
bar out of your set of text links, and wind up with a great-looking site
that also functions well and you can be proud of.

--
Aloha,

Jerry
http://MauiWebDesigns.com

Sounds to me like this lesson was written a long time ago. Frames are not
recommended in the majority of pages or sites and flash buttons are never
recommended..

I would steer away from both frames and flash buttons, Both will cause you
plenty of frustration. and instead concentrate on learning html and css.




"CW3567" <webforumsuser (AT) macromedia (DOT) com> wrote

Thanks-for the Info..

At this point I dont really have enough experience w/ DW to differentiate
between good practice and bad practice.

I took an Online Intro to DW class. One of the lessons was Frames, along
w/
Files,Assets,Flash Buttons etc,etc..Right now I am just getting my feet
wet and
playing with the program. I just created a page using one of the Templates
in
DW and I am using Frames, along w/ Flash Buttons, building a Navbar etc.

There is so much too know, that its daunting. So, I am just trying to get
in
it and see what happens. I do know that the future is going to be CSS and
I
plan on using it, however I am starting where I am most comfortable, and
will
then begin to incorporate CSS.

Sounds to me like the class was a DW one NOT an HTML one. Too bad.

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Adobe Community Expert
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
==================
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==================


"GarryCT" <webforumsuser (AT) macromedia (DOT) com> wrote

I guess if one is teaching HTML in it's entirety, one has to cover frames
because they are still being used here and there.

There are many reasons not to use frames, much of which has to do the
awkwardness in using them. There are many reasons that frames are
considered
"evil".

The main reason is that the W3C has deprecated them, which means have
recommended that they not be included in future revisions of the (X)HTML
specification going forward. IFRAMES, on the other hand are an exception.

You're sites will work with frames and they won't go away soon. Many
thing
they should be avoided along with the dreaded FONT tag and using tables
for
layout (rather than tabular data), which is more recently becoming a
taboo, in
favor of CSS.