9.4. Tag InspectorThe Property inspector is a handy tool. With it, you can adjust properties for all sorts of HTML tags, like a table's width or a paragraph's font. But even the Property inspector doesn't tell the whole story: Some HTML tags have additional properties that don't appear there, such as the tabindex property of the <a> tag, which lets you control the order in which links are highlighted as the Tab key is pressed. You can set this property with the Tag inspector. As with tabindex , the properties listed in the Tag inspector are less frequently used, but you don't have to go into Code view to add or edit them. For these hard-to-reach properties, turn to the Tag inspector (see Figure 9-13). Think of it as the ¼berProperty inspector. For hard- core HTML fanatics , it's the best way to set properties for every HTML tag. To display it, press the F9 key, or choose Window When you select a tag on the page (in either Code or Design view), all of its properties appear in the panel. You can choose one of two views for displaying these properties: one long list, or grouped into tidy categories (see Figure 9-13). You can edit any of these properties by clicking in the space to the right of the property name . You can type a new value or, for certain properties, use a pop-up menu to choose from a list of property values. For color properties, use Dreamweaver's ubiquitous color box to select just the right shade . Figure 9-13. Dreamweaver's Tag inspector lets you edit every property of every tag on a page. What it lacks in user -friendlinessyou need to know a lot about HTML to use it correctlyit makes up for in comprehensiveness. It has two faces: Category view (left) and List view (right.) The List view is just that: a list of all properties for the selected tag. The Category view imposes a bit of order on this mess, by organizing the different properties into related categories. You can even set a property value dynamically based on information retrieved from a database, using the lightning bolt button (circled). (Of course, you must first learn how to build dynamic Web sites by reading Part Six of this book.)![]() Unfortunately, you need to understand HTML fairly well to set the correct values; Dreamweaver doesn't make the process foolproof, leaving open the possibility that you could enter an invalid property. (To learn more about HTML tags and their properties, turn to Dreamweaver's built-in HTML reference, described on Section 9.6.) |