Dreamweaver CS6 Basics - Web Design Essentials

Overview

This concise, hands-on overview presents practical workflows for building clean, accessible websites with Dreamweaver CS6. It highlights how to combine visual editing and source-level control—using Design, Split, and Code views—to speed layout tasks while maintaining precise, maintainable HTML and CSS. Emphasis is placed on semantic markup, stylesheet-driven presentation, responsive layout techniques, and pragmatic testing strategies to ensure consistent rendering across devices and browsers.

What you will learn

Through task-focused demonstrations and compact code examples, you’ll learn how to structure pages with semantic HTML, separate content from presentation using external CSS, and apply layout techniques that replace table-based designs. Expect practical guidance on typography, spacing, color systems, optimized image use, and embedding media with accessibility in mind. Responsive design principles are taught with simple, repeatable patterns so pages adapt smoothly from phones to desktops.

How the content is organized

The guide avoids isolated tips and instead uses short projects to show how concepts fit together in real pages. Interface sections explain which Dreamweaver view is best for each task and outline workflows for creating templates, managing site files, and synchronizing local and remote resources. Code snippets are intentionally compact and ready to copy, enabling quick iteration and customization for client or personal projects.

Core skills and practical focus

Instruction centers on front-end essentials: semantic HTML that improves accessibility and search visibility; CSS selectors, specificity, and external stylesheets for scalable styling; and modern layout approaches for headers, multi-column content, footers, and sidebars. The material presents fluid layout strategies, relative units, and straightforward media-query techniques to support responsive behavior. It also covers multimedia handling, graceful fallbacks, and when to add external scripts or assets for interaction.

Learning outcomes

• Apply semantic HTML patterns to improve accessibility and code maintainability.
• Use external CSS to control typography, color, spacing, and layout consistently.
• Move effectively between Design, Split, and Code views to blend WYSIWYG and hand-coded workflows.
• Build responsive, multi-column page layouts that adapt to different screen sizes.
• Optimize images and embed media with descriptive attributes and fallback approaches.
• Preview, test, and troubleshoot cross-browser and cross-device display issues using practical validation tips.

Who this guide benefits

Ideal for beginners and intermediate learners, the material serves students, freelancers, small business owners, and designers who want a pragmatic workflow that blends WYSIWYG convenience with robust code practices. It’s a solid primer for creating client templates, simple portfolio sites, or reproducible project starter files, and offers quick refreshers for experienced practitioners seeking dependable, client-friendly processes.

How to use the guide effectively

Start by experimenting with Dreamweaver’s views and create a minimal page to practice structured content, navigation, and media. Progress from visual layout to Split and Code views to build confidence editing markup. Regularly preview pages on multiple devices and browsers, adopt consistent file-naming and versioning, and treat the included examples as templates to adapt for real projects. Short, focused exercises accelerate skill retention and build a reusable workflow.

Suggested practice projects

• Create a two-column site with header and footer to practice structure and responsive columns.
• Build a reusable sidebar navigation template that enforces consistent typography via an external stylesheet.
• Assemble a simple portfolio page: optimize images, write descriptive alt text, and verify layout on phones and tablets.

Final notes

Grounded in clean, maintainable code and practical Dreamweaver workflows, this overview guides you to produce professional-looking, dependable websites. The examples bridge visual design and hand-coded refinement so you can apply skills immediately and progress toward modern HTML and CSS techniques with confidence.