This chapter will teach you how to add a navigation menu to the left hand column of your website. All this is covered in our comprehensive Dreamweaver course in Brighton, Sussex.
Website Structure
Before we add the navigation menu we need to look at the other pages that your site will contain. Whilst there aren’t any rules governing which pages your site must contain, many websites have the following pages:
Contact or feedback page
Visitors to your site use this page to send you a message.
Site Map
If your site has lots of pages it is recommended to have a ‘Site Map’. This is a list of all the pages on your site.
About Us
Most websites have an “About Us” section. This provides information about the people (or company) behind the website.
Price Lists
Price lists are common if your site is selling a product or service.
Order Form or “Buy Now” Page
Order forms are needed if your website accepts online orders.
Links
“Links” pages are a good idea, because you can link to other sites that have a relevance to yours, which is useful in building site traffic.
Privacy Policy
This is a good idea, particularly if you are collecting personal information from visitors, such as credit card payments. This page ensures users that their data is protected and reassures customers when making online orders.
This tutorial will concentrate on creating the following pages:
- Feedback Form
Name of page: “Feedback Form”
Filename: “feedback.html”
- Site Map
Name of page: “Site Map”
Filename: “sitemap.html”
- About Us (Optional)
Name of page: “About Us”
Filename: “aboutus.html”
(NB: Feel free to add to this list if you have other pages you want to link to.)
The Dreamweaver CS4 Spry Framework
The Adobe Spry Framework lets you add a variety of interactive features to your website. One of these features is a navigation menu bar, which you will be using in this tutorial. The Spry menu bar is designed to make it easy for you to insert and configure your menu. The next section will show you how to do this.
