Dreamweaver 8[c] The Missing Manual

This menu controls which panels and windows are visible or hidden at the moment. (A checkmark in the menu denotes open panels.)

• Insert . Opens the Insert bar, from which you can insert various types of objects (such as images, layers , or forms) into your document. The Insert bar also contains options for switching between Layout and Standard table views, and accessing options for dynamic Web pages.

• Properties . Opens the Property inspector, where you can edit the relevant properties for a selected object. The options in the Property inspector depend on which page element's selected.

• CSS Styles . Opens the CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) Styles panel, from which you can define and edit CSS styles, or apply existing ones to selected text.

• Layers . Opens the Layers panel, which lists all the layers created using Dreamweaver's layer tool, or all absolutely positioned elements . See Chapter 8 for more details.

• Behaviors . Opens the Behaviors panel, which lets you associate behaviors (such as swapping images in a rollover or checking for needed plug-ins) to selected page elements (see Chapter 11).

• Databases . Opens the Databases panel for working with dynamic Web sites. This panel lets you connect your site to a database, view the structure of a database, and even preview data currently stored in the database.

• Bindings . Opens the Bindings panel, which lets you create database queries for working with dynamic sites. In addition, the panel displays and lets you add dynamic data to a Web page.

• Server Behaviors . Opens the Server Behaviors panel, the control panel for viewing, editing, and adding advanced functionality to dynamic Web pages.

• Components . Opens the Components panel, for use with ColdFusion MX and JSP sites, as well as Web Services. This advanced feature lets ColdFusion and JSP developers take advantage of prewritten, self-contained programs, which makes building complex dynamic sites easier.

• Files . Opens the Files panel. From this window, you can open any file and transfer files between your computer and the remote server.

• Assets . Opens the Assets panel, which conveniently groups and lists all of the assets (such as colors, links, scripts, or graphics) you've used in your site.

• Snippets . Opens the Snippets panel, which contains snippets of HTML, Java-Script, and other types of programming code. You can create your own snippets to save your fingers from having to retype frequently repeated code.

• Tag Inspector . Opens the Tag Inspector panel, which provides a listing of all properties available for the currently selected HTML tag. This ¼ber-geek option is like the Property inspector on steroids.

• Results . Lets you open Dreamweaver's many site tools, such as the Find and Replace command, Link Checker, and Reports command. Pick the type of sitewide action you'd like to perform using the submenu.

• Reference . Opens the Reference panel, a searchable guide to HTML tags, Cascading Style Sheets, and JavaScript commands. The guides are culled from the popular O'Reilly reference books and include an explanation of what specific tags do, when you can use them, and what additional components are required, as well as tips for getting the most out of them.

• History . Displays the history panel for viewing a record of actions performed in the current document.

• Frames . Displays the frames panel for selecting frames and framesets for editing.

• Code Inspector . A window displaying the HTML code for the current document. You can edit the code directly in the window, while still looking at the Design view. It's often easier to just use Dreamweaver's "Code and Design" view (View Code and Design).

• Timelines . Opens the Timelines panel, in which you can set up and refine animations within Dreamweaver. This feature was added in Dreamweaver MX and then removed in Dreamweaver MX 2004 and then put back in with the Dreamweaver 7.01 updater (available from the Macromedia Web site). This feature's a bit archaic and adds lots of JavaScript code to your page, so this edition doesn't include details on how to use it. You can, however, download the chapter from an earlier edition of this book that describes how timelines work: www.sawmac.com/dwmx2004/DWmx_Ch12.pdf.

• Workspace Layout . Lets you save the position and size of Dreamweaver's panels and windows in any arrangement you like.

• Hide Panels . Closes all currently open panels. Choosing Show Panels reopens only those panels that were displayed before you selected Hide Panels.

• Cascade . By default, when there are multiple documents open, you switch from page to page by clicking on tabs that appear at the top of the document area. If you prefer to have all open documents floating and resizable within this space, this and the next two options let you " undock " the current documents. The cascade option resizes each open document and places them one on top of the next . Windows users can redock pages by clicking the Maximize button on any currently opened document. Mac users can select the Combine As Tabs option.

• Tile Horizontally (Windows Only) . Places all open documents one on top of the other. The documents don't float on top of each other; rather, they fill the available document area as row upon row of thin, horizontal windows. With more than a few documents open, this option displays so little of each page that it's difficult to work on any one page.

• Tile Vertically (Windows Only) . Just like the previous command, except that documents are placed vertically like stripes going across the screen.

• Tile (Mac Only) . This has the same effect as Tile Vertically above.

• Combine As Tabs (Mac Only) . Returns documents that either tile or cascade (see those options above) on the screen into the single, unified tab interface.

• Next document, Previous document (Mac Only) . This pair of commands let you step through all your open documents, bringing each document in turn to the front of the screen for editing.

• List of Currently Open Documents . All the documents that are currently open are listed at the bottom of this menu. Selecting a document brings it to the front for editing. But with the easy document tabs, why bother?