Extracts >
Dreamweaver and HTML
From Chapter 3: Editing Web Pages
HTML is a markup language used to create documents designed to be accessed across the World Wide Web using browser software such as Internet Explorer or Firefox. The version of HTML in current use is known as XHTML, a stricter, rationalized version of the original HTML specification. One key thing to note about HTML and XHTML pages is that they describe the content and structure of the page rather than the presentation of the elements on the page.
Although you do not need to write HTML code when using Dreamweaver—since the program generates the necessary code as you work visually, it is still necessary to be aware of the elements that make up your pages. This requirement will become apparent when you come to style and position your page content. At this point, you will need at the very least to know—or to know how to find out— the name of an element. (This is where the Tag Selector becomes so useful.)
The <head> element
A web page consists of two main areas: the <head> and the <body>. The <body> contains all of the elements which will be displayed in the browser window and the majority of which will be visible to the user. The <head> element, by contrast, contains information about the web page; meta information as it is sometimes called.
The <title> element
The <title> element is contained within the <head> and should provide a broad heading which reflects the content of the page. It is extremely important that each page should have a title and that the title be pertinent to the page that contains it. Dreamweaver automatically adds a title element to every new page containing the text "Untitled Document".
The easiest way of modifying the default title in Dreamweaver is simply to enter a title in the Document Title box of the Document toolbar which is normally displayed at the top of the page.
Figure 3-8: Entering a title in the Document toolbar
The <body> element
The <body> element contains the visible elements of a web page; the part that visitors to your site will see in their browser. Clicking on the <body> tag in the Tag Selector will therefore select everything on the page.
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