• Dreamweaver
• • Setting Up
  • Create A New Page
  • Text and Colors
  • Links
  • Images

Dreamweaver makes entering text on web pages very easy. Simply enter the text as you'd like it to appear, as in the example shown.

If you'd like to spice up certain words, you should use the Text Properties Panel, which is located at the bottom of the screen. If you don't see it (see the sample picture), then you may need to pull down the Window menu and select Properties. That should cause the panel to show on your screen.

The Text Properties Panel has several of the familiar text controls, including size, bold, italic, justification, and color. Highlight some text and try out some of the different settings.

If you'd like to change the text style for the entire page, you should use the Page Properties Panel. To get to this panel, pull down the Modify menu and select Page Properties.

In this panel, you can set several properties that take effect for the entire page. For example, the Background property will set the color for the background of the entire page. Similarly, the Text property will set the color for all of the text on the page (unless overridden by other settings).

Additionally, you can alter formatting settings such as margin and title. If you aren't sure about the margins, just use the default values.

Finally, there are color settings for the various types of links. To help users recognize links on the page, you should make their color substantially different than the regular body text. There are three types of links: Regular Links which are links that the user has never clicked on, Visited Links, which are links that the user has been to recently, and Active Links, which are links that the user is currently holding down the mouse button on. (In practice, the color for active links does not matter too much, as it does not show up for long.)

Once you've set the page properties to your liking, click OK. Your changes should take effect immediately.

While it should be readily apparent, you should strive to use colors that are easy on the eyes. If you use a light-colored background, use dark-colored text (and vice-versa). Similarly, make sure your links stand out against both your background and your normal text color.

Poor choices in color can lead to difficult-to-read web pages, such as the example shown.

Good use of color can make for more dynamic and engaging web sites. Experiment and find a scheme you like! For more suggestions about color schemes and theory, check our design pages.