Do I Have to Know HTML to Use Adobe Dreamweaver?
Every website is written, at least partially, in hypertext mark-up language (HTML), a universal language that is read by all Web browsers. The browser reads and interprets the HTML tags and attributes and transforms the data into a Web page. Although a website can't be created without HTML, you don't need to know it to make a website in Adobe Dreamweaver. The application does it for you, converting your simple, menu-driven commands into the underlying HTML that operates your website.
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Inside HTML
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The etymology of the acronym HTML explains how it works: Hyper means that you need not read in a straight line; you are able to jump from place to place on a website using clickable areas known as hyperlinks. Mark-up is what you do with the text, such as making paragraphs and headings, as in a word processor. HTML has two main components: tags and elements. Elements deal with the command itself, and tags are the labels that differentiate the beginning and end of an element in the format of an open tag "< [insert HTML command, URL or other data here]>" and an end tag, "</>". Although Dreamweaver does all the coding for you, you can absorb some knowledge of HTML simply by using this rich software tool.
HTML and CSS
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Although many other languages may be deployed by sophisticated sites, all websites use another main language besides HTML: Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), which is generally written in Extensible Markup Language (XML). HTML organizes the content, CSS defines the layout. Dreamweaver comes packaged with about a dozen CSS starter pages to help you begin work on your website without learning either HTML or CSS. Dreamweaver also provides a wide-ranging help library.
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Dreamweaver
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Dreamweaver has had many iterations; the latest, in the Adobe Creative Suite Five (CS5) package, is a robust tool that combines the "what you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG) view with an HTML view. WYSIWYG allows you to create your website without coding. Dreamweaver supplies you with starter pages and a large selection of website templates, especially useful if you're just beginning to design websites. With Dreamweaver, you can make your site as multifaceted as you like or keep it simple.
Dreamweaver Layout Options
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Dreamweaver has three convenient working interfaces: code, which shows only the HTML; design, which shows the WYSIWYG view; and split, which combines the WYSIWYG and HTML views, letting you see the effects of what the code creates in your website design. Using split view can be especially helpful if you want to become more familiar with HTML. As you select menu commands in the design section of the split view, you can see what HTML code is generated and learn how it is structured.
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