
If you've been doing web development for years and you've decided to take finally a look at "all this CSS stuff" you've been hearing about, it will likely require a bit of a paradigm shift. If you're a new developer and you're starting out by learning how to separate the structure of your document from its presentation and behavior, you likely won't find it quite so difficult.
Using CSS to position the elements on your page is a very powerful thing. In this article I'll review a simple page layout, show you how to create it in Dreamweaver CS4, and discuss some of the things you need to consider as you build it.
Note: If you're just starting out with Dreamweaver CS4, you'll likely find the resources linked in the Getting Started area of the Dreamweaver Developer Center helpful in understanding the new tools available to you.
To complete this tutorial you will need to install the following software and files:
Basic familiarity with the Dreamweaver workspace, building HTML pages, and site management in Dreamweaver, as well as CSS terminology and practice.
In demand by top U.S. firms, Stephanie Sullivan is a world-class web standards, Dreamweaver, and accessibility expert whose razor-sharp CSS and (X)HTML skills make her company, W3Conversions, a peerless authority for training corporate web teams and transforming in-house designs into efficient, standards-based websites. Sullivan created the CSS layouts for Dreamweaver CS3 and is coauthor of the respected project-based book Mastering CSS with Dreamweaver CS3 and Mastering CSS with Dreamweaver CS4. She's co-leader of the influential Web Standards Project Adobe Task Force, a partner at Community MX, and a speaker who engages audiences around the world with her dynamic presentations. When she's not coding or talking to the little people inside her computer, she escapes to play squash or beach volleyball. Yes, she loves 80s Wave music.