Dreamweaver CC: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition

Chapter 7. Working with HTML

Dreamweaver started life primarily as a visual web page editor, but over the years, its code-editing tools have evolved to rival those of the best text editors, including those that hard-core hand-coders use. Some people bypass Dreamweaver’s Design view entirely and use only its Code view, where they edit their HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files directly. In fact, you can use Dreamweaver to edit any text-based file, including XML, Java, ActionScript, and just plain text itself.

Dreamweaver’s code editor includes professional features like customizable syntax highlighting, auto indenting, line numbering, and code hints; code collapse, so you can concentrate on just the code you want; and the Code view toolbar, which provides one-click access to frequently used hand-coding commands. Many of Dreamweaver’s recent improvements were aimed at those who use Code view to edit pages built with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and the server-side programming language PHP.

In Dreamweaver CC Release 2014, Adobe added HTML tools for designers. In this chapter, you’ll see how to create web pages in Live view, and then, in the tutorial at the end, you’ll build a page from scratch in that view.

Controlling How Dreamweaver Handles HTML

Unlike many other visual HTML editors, Dreamweaver has always graciously accepted HTML written by hand (and even by other programs). This openness lets you write code the way you want, without worrying that Dreamweaver will change it. For example, suppose ...