Section 9.1. Design View la Mode

9.1. Design View à la Mode

To begin, go the Files panel, and double-click the file index.html from Chapter 8. Dreamweaver loads this file into a document window.

Now, to draw a layout table, you want to enter Layout mode. Layout mode is a special mode of Design view that offers table-drawing tools. Normally, when you add a table in Dreamweaver, you get a dialog box that is better suited for data tablesthe kind with rows and columns of data. In Layout mode, you literally draw a new table directly in the document window, which makes more sense for page layout.

TIP

Layout mode places a rectangle with an Exit link across the top of the document window, partially concealing the tracing image. The annoyance factor of this notwithstanding, it can throw off the pixel measurements of the layout that you draw.

The heights of your areas aren't as important as the widths, so any distortions in sizing that Dreamweaver enables won't lead to serious problems down the road. At the same time, it is a bother, and if it's too much of one for you to overlook, you can remedy the issue easily enough. Go to the top of the document window, and click the Visual Aids buttonthe one with the eye icon. Choose Hide All Visual Aids from the menu that appears. After you draw the layout, be sure to unhide the visual aids by opening the Visual Aids menu and choosing Hide All Visual Aids again.

To enter Layout mode, go to the Insert panel and select Layout from the menu of objects on the left, as Figure 9-1 shows, and the clickable objects in the Insert panel change. If you don't see the Insert panel, choose Window Insert from the main menu.

TECHTALK

Layout mode is a special mode of Design view that offers table-drawingtools.

Figure 9-1. Choose Layout from the Insert panel's menu

HOTKEY

Press Ctrl- F2 or Command-F2 to toggle the Insert panel.

Now click the button that says Layout, and Dreamweaver enters Layout mode, which Figure 9-2 shows.

Figure 9-2. Dreamweaver's Layout mode

HOTKEY

Press Ctrl-F6 or Command-F6 to enter Layout mode.