Advanced Topics

Dreamweaver uses Java script to automate creation of advanced features. A feature may be easy to create but difficult to implement. Different browsers support some features differently, or not at all. Some features will not work easily in a collaborative environment. When designing for a general audience or working in a collaborative environment, it is best to design for a common, lower level browser; test html pages in different browsers; test early and test often; and keep it simple.

Behaviors

Behaviors have their own window. Select the Behaviors window and then Show Events for to choose a browser. Window > Behaviors > + > Show Events for (choose a browser, lowest common denominator of users)

Select an object on your page (a link or image) to which the behavior will be attached, then click the + in the Behaviors panel to see which behaviors are available.

Here is an example: Mouse over the oval image to see a Popup Message, then watch Set Text of Status Bar.

Swap Image example: Mouse over the triangle to see the Swap Image and Swap Image Restore behaviors. Then double click the image to see Open Browser Window.

Now, for the easiest method of annoying users, click the image below and wait for the Play Sound behavior (nevermind if this does not work then this annoyance has been disabled). Use sounds with caution and only if they add to the experience.

POP-UP MENUS

Pop-up menus are best created in Fireworks and inserted (Insert > Fireworks html) into Dreamweaver documents. For troubleshooting pop-up menus, see Macromedia TechNote 18538, "Using Fireworks to create pop-up menus is certainly easier than hand-coding, but because of the complexity of the code, troubleshooting performance issues can be difficult. This TechNote provides a standard process for troubleshooting Pop-up Menus generated from either Fireworks 4 or Fireworks MX. The intent of this TechNote is not to provide answers to specific issues, but to help users understand where their code has gone wrong."

Insert a Flash Button

Use Insert > Media > Flash Button then use the dialog box to format the button.

Insert a Jump Menu

Use Insert > Form > Jump Menu then use the Insert Jump Menu dialog box to name menu items and assign urls. Note that you will not be able to see or test menu items until you preview the page.