Note

• In some instances, I found that selecting the page description and clicking within the text box in the Property inspector revealed the keywords rather than the page description. If this happens, you can select the Description icon and then edit the description in the Code inspector or Code view.

Figure 6 Edit your page description in the Property inspector.

Inserting a Refresh Tag

A refresh tag can reload your page or send the viewer to another page. You often see refresh tags used when a page has moved, to send the visitor to the new, correct URL. You can also use refresh tags with JavaScript or CGI scripts to reload the page and make it use a new color, say, or play a new song.

To insert a refresh tag:

1. From the Document window menu bar, select Insert > HTML > Head Tags > Refresh. The Refresh dialog box will appear (Figure 7).

   

   Figure 7 Create your refresh tag in the Refresh dialog box.

2. In the Delay text box, type the number of seconds after the page has finished loading before the refresh action will occur. Five seconds is often enough to let the user see the current page before the new one loads.

3. If the action is to reload the current page, click on the Refresh This Document radio button.

   or

   If the action is to have the Web browser open a new page, click on the Go to URL radio button. Then, type (or paste) the URL for the new page, or use the Browse button to open the Select File dialog box and locate a page in your local site.

4. When you're finished, click on OK. Dreamweaver will add the Description icon to the Head Elements toolbar, and the code will look like this:

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="5;URL=http://www.digitalsf.org/">

To edit your refresh tag:

To insert a special meta tag:

1. From the Document window menu bar, select Insert > HTML > Head Tags > Meta. The Insert Meta dialog box will appear (Figure 9).

   

   Figure 9 Create your meta tag in the Meta dialog box.

2. From the Attribute drop-down menu, select either Name (meta information about the page) or HTTP-equiv (for page transferring attributes; this is what refresh uses).

3. In the Value text box, type the kind of Meta tag this is. Examples include Author, Language, CreationDate, and so on. There is no list of valid values; these are used differently on different pages.
4. In the Content text box, type (or paste) data content of the attribute. For example, you could include PICS rating data, information about the page author, or information for a specific database or search engine.

5. When you're finished, click on OK. Dreamweaver will add the Keywords icon to the Head Elements toolbar, and the code will look like something below:

   <meta name="author" content="Joe Brainard">
<meta name="CreationDate" content="June 2, 2006">
<meta name="language" content="American English">

Keep in mind that Meta name tags for description, keywords, and refresh each have their own dialog box in Dreamweaver.

To edit a special meta tag:

1. Click on the Meta icon in the Head Content toolbar; the first is for HTTP-equiv and the second is for Name. The Property inspector will display Meta properties (Figure 10).

   

   Figure 10 Edit your meta tag in the Property inspector.

2. Make any changes to your keywords, and click elsewhere on the Property inspector to apply your changes.

Inserting a Base Href

A Base Href tag indicates the location of the central page in the site that relative links are based on. Generally this is the index.html page (or other default page) that is the central content page for the entire sit. When you want to set a different base target for a special group of pages, you use this base reference tag to do so. When you insert this tag on different pages throughout a site, each one will indicate its document-relative location to the base page.

You can also set this for pages in a frameset to indicate which frame is the usual, or base, target, so that you target only those links that differ from the base.

To insert a base href:

1. From the Document window menu bar, select Insert > HTML > Head Tags > Base. The Base dialog box will appear (Figure 11).

   

   Figure 11 Create your base href tag in the Insert Base dialog box.

2. In the Href text box, type the location of the base target page; or, click on Browse to open the Select File dialog box and choose a file from your local site. In the latter case, Dreamweaver will code the correct document-relative link path for you.

3. The target attribute sets a base location in which all the links on the page should open. This can be a frame, a new window, or a JavaScript window. Using targets is fully described in Chapter 13. To make all links open in a new window, select _blank. To make all links open in the current window, select _top.

4. When you're finished, click on OK. Dreamweaver will add the Refresh icon to the Head Elements toolbar, and the code will look like this:

5. <base href="../appendix/index.html" target="_blank">

To edit your Base Href tag:

• Click on the Base icon in the Head Content toolbar The Property inspector will display Base properties (Figure 12).

  

  Figure 12 Edit your base href tag in the Property inspector. I'm doing two things here: First, I'm setting a base that's different from my index page; I don't need to set a base for my index page, unless it's an index page in a different part of my site. Second, I'm setting a base target of "_blank" -- that means that every link on my page will open its target in a new browser window.

• Make any changes to the base page location or the target, and click elsewhere on the Property inspector to apply your changes.