Dreamweaver 8[c] The Missing Manual

You can use the Commands menu to apply advanced features to your Dreamweaver document. Some menu items, such as the Record commands, eliminate repetitive tasks ; others, such as the Clean Up HTML command, fix common problems in a single sweep:

• Start/Stop Recording . Records a series of actions that can then be reapplied to other parts of the document (Chapter 18). When you select the Start Recording command, Dreamweaver records each of your actions until you choose Stop Recording. Note that Dreamweaver only retains one recorded command at a time.

• Play Recorded Command . Reapplies the most recently recorded command.

• Edit Command List . Opens a list of all saved commands. You can rename the commands or delete them permanently.

• Get More Commands . Opens the Macromedia Exchange for Dreamweaver Web site in a new browser window so that you can search for and download new extensions or commands. Extensions are downloaded to your Extension Manager (see Chapter 19).

• Manage Extensions . Opens the Extension Manager, a program that lets you manage extensions you download from the Macromedia Exchange Web site (Chapter 19). The Extension Manager helps you install, delete, and selectively disable extensions.

• Apply Source Formatting . Changes you make to Dreamweaver's HTML source formatting (which is defined in the Preferences window and the SourceFormat.txt file) apply only to newly created documents. This command, on the other hand, offers a way to apply these formatting preferences to existing HTML documents.

• Apply Source Formatting to Selection . Same as the previous command, "Apply Source Formatting," but applies only to whatever you've selected. In this way, you can make sure the HTML for a <table> is nicely formatted (by selecting it and applying this command), while the rest of your finely crafted HTML is left alone.

• Clean Up HTML/XHTML . Opens a list of options for correcting common HTML problems, such as empty tags or redundant nested tags. Once you've selected what you'd like to fix, Dreamweaver applies those changes to the current document and, if requested , provides a log of the number and type of changes made. (See Chapter 15.)

• Clean Up Word HTML . If you import HTML that was generated by Microsoft Word, you often end up with unnecessary or cluttered HTML tags that can affect your site's performance. This command opens a list of options that can correct formatting problems common in Microsoft Word's HTML. Dreamweaver applies your selected changes to the document and, if requested, displays a log of the number and type of changes it made.

• Add/Remove Netscape Resize Fix . This command lets you insert JavaScript code into your document that counteracts a bug in version 4 of Netscape Navigator (the bug causes pages that use layers to display incorrectly when the browser window is resized). The inserted code makes the page reload every time a browser window is resized. Does anyone still use Netscape 4?

• Remove Flash Video Detection . If you've added Flash Video to your page as described on Section 12.3, Dreamweaver inserts some JavaScript code used to help make sure your site's visitors can view the video. Unfortunately, if you just delete the movie from your page, the JavaScript code is left in the page. This command removes it.

• Optimize Image in Fireworks . Opens the selected image in Macromedia Fireworks' Optimization window, where you can experiment with different compression settings to find the best balance between file size and image quality. If you used Fireworks to create the image in the first place, you can choose to use the original Fireworks PNG file or the selected image (GIF or JPEG file) as the source image. Dreamweaver then replaces the selected image with the newly optimized image.

• Create Web Photo Album . Lets you turn a folder of images into a Web-based photo album. The Create Web Photo Album window appears; specify a title for your album, the source folder, and so on (see Chapter 18).

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  Note: This command requires Macromedia's Fireworks image-editing program, which creates thumbnail and full-size versions of each image. Dreamweaver then creates a Web site with one page displaying all of the thumbnail images. The thumbnails are linked to individual HTML pages containing the full-size images.

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• Format Table . Opens a list of preset formatting options for your HTML table, including color schemes, text alignment and style, and border measurements. (Unavailable when a table is in Layout mode.

• Sort Table . Sorts the information in a selected table. You can choose to sort alphabetically or numerically , in ascending or descending order. This command cannot be applied to tables that include rowspans or colspans .

• Insert Mark of the Web . This is applicable only to Windows XP with Service Pack 2. This software update inserted code into Internet Explorer to "protect" it from malicious Web page code. Unfortunately, this also had the effect of preventing you from previewing JavaScript effectslike the image rollovers discussed in Chapter 5or Flash movies. Strangely, this happens only when you preview a local page, not when you view a page on the Internet. This menu option lets you overcome that peculiar problem.

• Attach an XSLT Stylesheet . This menu option, available only when working on a XML file, lets you attach an XSL file, which miraculously transforms cryptic XML into a beautiful, browser-viewable page. This feature is discussed in Chapter 24.