Adding text to a document using Dreamweaver

There are a number of ways to add text to a Dreamweaver document. You can type text directly in the Dreamweaver document window, or you can cut and paste or import text from other documents.

To add text to your document, do one of the following:

• Type text directly into the Document window.
• Copy text from another application, switch to Dreamweaver, position the insertion point in the Design view of the Document window, and choose Edit > Paste. Dreamweaver doesn't preserve text formatting applied in the other application, but it does preserve line breaks.

Importing text from other documents

You can import tabular data into your document by first saving the files (such as Microsoft Excel files or a database files) as delimited text files. For additional information on importing and formatting table data.

You can also import text from Microsoft Word HTML documents. For information on importing Word HTML documents.

To import tabular data:

1. Choose File > Import > Import Tabular Data, or choose Insert > Tabular Data.

The Import Table dialog box appears.

Browse for the file you want or enter its name in the text box.

2. Select the delimiter used when the file was saved as delimited text. Your options are Tab, Comma, Semicolon, Colon, and Other.

If you select Other, a blank field appears next to the option. Enter the character that was used as a delimiter.

3. Use the remaining options to format or define the table into which the data will be imported.
4. Click OK when you're done.

Adding space between characters

HTML only allows for one space between characters; to add additional space in a document you must insert a non-breaking space.

You can set a preference to automatically add non-breaking spaces in a document. To set this preference, choose Edit > Preferences or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Mac OS X) and in the General category make sure Allow Multiple Consecutive Spaces is checked.

To insert a non-breaking space, do one of the following:

• In the Insert bar, select Character, then click the Insert Non-breaking Space icon.
• Choose Insert > Special Characters > Non-Breaking Space.
• Press Control+Shift+Spacebar (Windows) or Option+Spacebar (Macintosh).

Adding paragraph spacing

Dreamweaver works similarly to many word processing application: you press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh) to create a new paragraph. Web browsers automatically insert a blank line of space between paragraphs. You can add a single line of space between paragraphs by inserting a line break.

To add a paragraph return:

• Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Macintosh).

To add a line break, do one of the following:

• Press Shift+Enter (Windows) or Shift+Return (Macintosh).
• In the Insert bar, select Character, then click the Line Break icon.
• Choose Insert > Special Characters > Line Break.

Setting and changing fonts and styles

Use options in the Property inspector or the Text menu to set or change font characteristics for selected text. You can set the font type, style (such as bold or italic), and size.

HTML font sizes are relative, not specific, point sizes. Users set the point size of the default font for their browsers; this is the font size that they will see when you select Default or 3 in the Property inspector or Text > Size submenu. Sizes 1 and 2 will appear smaller than the default font size; sizes 4 through 7 will appear larger. Also, fonts generally look larger in Windows than on the Macintosh, though Macintosh Internet Explorer 5 uses the same default font size as Windows.

To set or change font characteristics:

1. Select the text. If no text is selected, the change applies to subsequent text you type.
2. Choose from the following options:
• To change the font, choose a font combination from the Property inspector or from the Text > Font submenu.

Choose Default to remove previously applied fonts; Default applies the default font for the selected text (either the browser default font or the font assigned to that tag in the CSS style sheet).

• To change the font style, click Bold or Italic in the Property inspector, or choose a font style (Bold, Italic, Underline, and so on) from the Text > Style submenu.
• To change the font size, choose a size (1 through 7) from the Property inspector or from the Text > Size submenu.
• To increase or decrease the size of selected text, choose a relative size (+ or -1 to + 4 or -3) from the Property inspector or from either the Text > Size Change submenu.

Note: These numbers indicate a relative difference from the basefont size. The default basefont value is 3. Thus, a +4 value results in a font size of 3 + 4, or 7. The maximum sum for your font size values is 7. If you try to set them higher, they display as 7. Dreamweaver does not display the basefont tag (which goes in the head section), although the font size should display properly in a browser. To test this, compare text set at 3 and text set at +3.

Formatting paragraphs

Use the Format pop-up menu in the Property inspector or the Text > Paragraph Format submenu to apply the standard paragraph and heading tags.

To apply a paragraph or heading tag:

1. Place the insertion point in the paragraph, or select some of the text in the paragraph.
2. Using the Text > Paragraph Format submenu or the Format pop-up menu in the Property inspector, choose an option:
• Choose a paragraph format (for example, Heading 1, Heading 2, Preformatted Text, and so on). The HTML tag associated with the selected style (for example, h1 for Heading 1, h2 for Heading 2, pre for Preformatted text, and so on) is applied to the entire paragraph.
• Choose None to remove a paragraph format

 

Aligning text

You align text on the page using the Property inspector or the Text > Align submenu. You can center any element on a page using the Text > Align > Center command.

To align text:

1. Select the text you want to align or simply insert the pointer at the beginning of the text.
2. Click an alignment option (Left, Right, or Center) in the Property inspector, or choose Text > Align and choose an alignment command.

To center elements:

1. Select the element (image, plug-in, table, or other page element) you want to center.
2. Choose Text > Align > Center.

Note: You can align and center complete blocks of text; you cannot align or center part of a heading or part of a paragraph.

Indenting text

Using the Indent command applies the blockquote HTML tag to a paragraph of text, indenting text on both sides of the page.

To indent text and remove indentation:

1. Place the insertion point in the paragraph you want to indent.
2. Click the Indent or Outdent button in the Property inspector, choose Text > Indent or Outdent, or choose List > Indent or Outdent from the context menu.

Note: You can apply multiple indents to a paragraph. Each time you choose this command the text indents further from both sides of the document