Dreamweaver Library Item Etc.

I am starting work on a new website which will have an
extension navigation menu - up to 40 items and with many pages.
Each page on the site will contain this navigation menu. I
want to know if anyone has a work around for the following:
I want to have the ability to edit the navigation menu in the
future and have it populate on every page.
As you may know, the content of the navigation menu differs
slightly on every page (class='current' etc).
Does anyone have a work around to use a Dreamwaver library
item (or other tool) with variance per page?
Thanks,
Adi

> Does anyone have a work around to use a Dreamwaver
library item (or other
> tool) with variance per page?
Don't use Library items. Use Server-side includes. That way,
you can just
change the menu file, upload it, and the change appears on
every page
without any further uploads. With Library items, you have to
upload every
page again after each change.
> As you may know, the content of the navigation menu
differs slightly on
> every
> page (class='current' etc).
It's simple. Give each menu element a unique ID, and on each
page, just add
a tiny embedded stylesheet that selects the appropriate menu
'button', e.g.,
#button3 { ... }
<a id="button3">whatever</a>
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Adobe Community Expert
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
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==================
"AR_XASWQ" <[email protected]> wrote in
message
news:fs93kk$fgk$[email protected]..
>I am starting work on a new website which will have an
extension navigation
> menu - up to 40 items and with many pages.
>
> Each page on the site will contain this navigation menu.
I want to know
> if
> anyone has a work around for the following:
>
> I want to have the ability to edit the navigation menu
in the future and
> have
> it populate on every page.
>
> As you may know, the content of the navigation menu
differs slightly on
> every
> page (class='current' etc).
>
> Does anyone have a work around to use a Dreamwaver
library item (or other
> tool) with variance per page?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Adi
>

Similar Messages

Using SSI versus Dreamweaver Library items.

Murray pointed me at SSI -Server Side Includes in another
thread. But when I go to one of the books I have on Dreamweaver,
the author says that my hosting company won't like SSI much because
it uses more system resources. In response to that, Dreamweaver
created Library items.
Is there a reason to pick one method over the other?
Murray - Was there a reason you didn't recommend Dreamweaver
Library items for common elements across a lot of pages?
Thanks,
Tom

> Murray - Was there a reason you didn't recommend
Dreamweaver Library items
> for
> common elements across a lot of pages?
Micha touched on the highpoints. For me, the argument about
system
resources on servers is sooo 1980s, and the convenience of
making a change
to a single file which is uploaded as opposed to every local
file needing to
be uploaded swings the balance. Hosts nowadays accept that
SSI is the way
to go, and will never complain. If you have sources that
continue to press
that argument, you can be sure that the source is so out of
date as to be
useless....
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Adobe Community Expert
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
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==================
"tomwood2" <[email protected]> wrote in
message
news:g5nrav$t$[email protected]..
> Murray pointed me at SSI -Server Side Includes in
another thread. But when
> I go
> to one of the books I have on Dreamweaver, the author
says that my hosting
> company won't like SSI much because it uses more system
resources. In
> response
> to that, Dreamweaver created Library items.
>
> Is there a reason to pick one method over the other?
>
> Murray - Was there a reason you didn't recommend
Dreamweaver Library items
> for
> common elements across a lot of pages?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tom
>

Dreamweaver library item!

Hi all, just wondering, I've built a site which uses a couple
of library items, for consistent elements, namely right-hand Nav
and a page header. Once I've uploaded the pages how can I edit
something in a library item so that it changes on all of the pages
(now live online) ?
Thanks in advance,
Marc

Trouble is - the paths in the Includes won't necessarily work
from any page
in the site - I think? Also, using lots of includes will slow
the pages a
bit. OR am I behind the times? :)
"Murray *ACE*" <[email protected]> wrote
in message
news:erf3oo$hcr$[email protected]..
> Change the Library items as desired. Upload all changed
pages.
>
> The fact that Library items ONLY work from within
Dreamweaver, and require
> that you then upload all changed pages, puts them at a
severe disadvantage
> when compared to server-side includes....
>
> --
> Murray --- ICQ 71997575
> Adobe Community Expert
> (If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
> ==================
>
http://www.dreamweavermx-templates.com
- Template Triage!
>
http://www.projectseven.com/go
- DW FAQs, Tutorials & Resources
>
http://www.dwfaq.com - DW FAQs,
Tutorials & Resources
>
http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/
- Macromedia (MM) Technotes
> ==================
>
>
> "marc9987" <[email protected]> wrote in
message
> news:erf2i0$g1d$[email protected]..
>> Hi all, just wondering, I've built a site which uses
a couple of library
>> items,
>> for consistent elements, namely right-hand Nav and a
page header. Once
>> I've
>> uploaded the pages how can I edit something in a
library item so that it
>> changes on all of the pages (now live online) ?
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>>
>> Marc
>>
>
>

Active Content solution with Library items

Does anyone know how I can get Adobe's Active Content
solution (the Multiple Occurrences one) to work with Dreamweaver
Library items?
It works fine for inline <object> tags, but when pages
include Library items (which have the same solution applied to
them) it doesn't apply the fix to these items.
Thanks.

yeah, its annoying. i just made a suggestion for a ¨purge¨ command in the ideas section.
i´ve managed to clean my library, had to delete one by one though and it took forever.

Using Dreamweaver Library and ICE

I'm curious about site pages created with a Dreamweaver (DW)
library, like a news box that is displayed on every page. A DW
library allows you to update a region of duplicate content on every
page / instance once and all the pages are updated.
Is there a way to update the library in ICE so all the pages
are updated? Or do you have to update each and every page.

Hello xodMediaDotCom,
The Dreamweaver Library items only update in the pages they
are included in
within Dreamweaver. So even if you could edit the library
file (.lbi) file with InContext Editing, the pages that link to the
library element would not update automatically. You would have to
update each page individually.
You might look into using Spry for any dynamic elements you
wish to include amongst multiple pages. Take a look at the
following thread which has some more information about Spry:
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/webforums/forum/messageview.cfm?forumid=82&catid=859&threadid =1416324&enterthread=y
Best regards,
Corey

Dreamweaver Teamplate with Library Item for Navigation/Sidebar not updating editable classes

I have a Dreamweaver Template that contains two Library items. One Library item is my navigation bar, the other is a sidebar that shows different content depending on what page you are on. I'm assigning an editable class "active" to the navigation bar to show you are on a particular page, and also assigning the editable class "active" to the sidebar to reveal a portion of the sidebar with links pertaining to that specific page. The default value for the class is "hidden". So what is happening is when I open a page I have created and "edit" the Library Items in it to edit these classes, it resets resets all the other pages on the site to the default class values. How am I able to use editable classes and Library Items to achieve this kind of functionality? The idea is to only have ONE navigaton bar to update on the site and to only have ONE sidebar item to update. Here is an example of the sidebar and navigation in action so you can see what I'm going for. Notice the green button in the navigation bar (that is a list item with the class "active" which is an editable class in the Library Item, also notice the tan links in the sidebar, that is an unordered list that has an editable class of "active" in the Library Items --- these editable classes reset to their defaults when updating the Library Item on the website).
http://www.brumleve.org/joe/temp/CAP/mission.html

In my understanding, whenever you edit the contents of a library item, it will update all other occurances of this library item on the rest of the site. That's "working as designed" as far as I know, unless you break the link by telling it to not update - which kinda defeats the purpose I think.
But theres another way to do this using template properties, i#ve been using this approach myself a couple of times:
Write your navigation bar in the template (.dwt) file itself, then select the class= of your first menu item and choose .. (names might be off, I am using a non-English copy of DW): "modify > template > make attribute editable" from the main menu. Do so for all your menu items and name these new template properties something like "item_x_class"
You'll end up with something like this in your template source:
<div class="@@(item_1_class)@@">
and a matching
 in the header
Now, on each page, you can set the class within the template properties dialog ("modify > template properties"). If your main menu changes, it won't overwrite your template properties, but still update all pages when you do make a change to the menu.
If you're using multiple templates for your site, consider nesting templates, so the master template already includes your navbar and all subsequent templates will "inherit" changes to the navbar code (sans the editable class property).
Hope this helps.. or at least gives you an idea for further experiments..
Stephan

Library Item: Where is the Library Item feature in Dreamweaver CC?

I recently downloaded my trial of DW CC. I've looked in the Assets Panel, but I have yet to find where the Library Item feature is?
Thanks for the tips.

You have to define and Save a library item before you'll see it in your site's Assets panel.
Adobe Dreamweaver * Working with library items
Nancy O.

Dreamweaver quits when updating library item

Sometimes it works fine for a week or so but suddenly it
starts crashing Dreamweaver (CS3) every time I'm updating a library
item throughout a local site. Any ideas why and how to avoid this?
Thanks,
Hanna

> I really need to understand why library items crash my
Dreamweaver...
This may not be possible for you right now. At least SSI
would get you
going. But so be it.
Library item updates do not crash my DW. Sorry.
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Adobe Community Expert
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
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"HannaB" <[email protected]> wrote in
message
news:g4tkc4$nc1$[email protected]..
> Because I'm a slow learner and Library items work well
for what I do.
> Besides,
> server-side includes are confusing as I can't see them
on the local site,
> only
> when uploaded to the remote server (but please, don't
get into that at
> this
> point. I really need to understand why library items
crash my
> Dreamweaver...)
>

Dreamweaver Stopped asking if I want to update Library Items and Templates

Hi All,
Using dreamweaver on a new project. Set up my Templates and library items and everything was fine - when I changed one a saved it a dialogue popped up and asked me if I wanted to update files. Suddenly the dialog box has stopped appearing and now I have to instigate it manually by going to modify->templates->update pages which is annoying and more time consuming.
Why has the automatic dialogue disappeared and how do i get it back?
Thanks

Sorry for the late reply. I'm still having the problem and appreciate the help. Attached is the requested screen shot. Everything is in order I think. Its a big site though and the whole thing won't fit in one screen shot. What are you looking for specifically?

Dreamweaver CC Library Item with rollover link produces two body tags. Why?

I have a library item which is used in two pages and works correctly if it does not contain a rollover arrow with a link taking you to the top of the library item. This produces the following near the top of each of the containing pages:
</head>
<body class="indexpage">

<p><a id="top"></a></p>
Note that the Library Item does not itself have a <body> tag in this original, working version.
The problem arises when I insert an image rollover with a link up to #top (which is defined as above).
First, the Library Item has the following near its top:
<script ...>
... various functions to handle the rollover
</script>
<body onLoad="MM_preloadImages('../images/uparrowred2.gif')">
<p><a id="top"></a></p>
Secondly, the containing pages now have the following near the top:
</head>
<body class="indexpage" onLoad="MM_preloadImages('images/uparrowred2.gif)">

<script ...>
... various functions to handle the rollover
</script>
<body onLoad="MM_preloadImages('../images/uparrowred2.gif')">
<p><a id="top"></a></p>
It can be seen (shown in red) that the Library Item has correctly transferred the onLoad instruction to the containing page's <body> tag and at the same time altered the address of the GIF image from '../images/xxx.gif' to 'images/xxx.gif'. [The root folder with the various html pages has a number of subfolders including 'images' and 'Library']. But now, unfortunately, the containing pages have two <body> tags with the second one pointing to the wrong location for the GIF image.
Would someone please explain what is going on. I can think of three possibilities: (1) I may be doing something really stupid, (2) there may be a bug in Dreamweaver CC or (3) Library Items may not be allowed to contain anything "complicated" like a rollover. I did see a very old (2007) discussion in this forum suggesting that Library Items were rather limited in what they could contain, but over the intervening six years I would have expected things to have improved.

Thank you, but in that case I'm not sure I understand the purpose of Library Items. Before I added the Library Item, there was nothing to preload. When I add a rollover to the Library Item, Dreamweaver creates the preloader instruction within the Library Item. Then when I include the Library Item in an html page, Dreamweaver controls where the preloader is put.
Do I then need to manually edit what Dreamweaver has done? In this instance it would have been almost as quick to have ignored the use of a Library Item and copied and pasted the relevant code into the two pages and manually created the revised <body> tag with a preloader. In my relative inexperience with Dreamweaver, I just thought that using a Library Item in multiple pages would save me some effort when I wanted to change the content of the Library Item. As I said, the Library Item worked OK until I added a rollover within it.

Using CSS instead of or with library item

I built my site using Dreamweaver 8. I used the design view
exclusively. I made a navigation bar as a library item. Utilizing
rollovers, etc. Now I have learned I should build my site utilizing
CSS and as was pointed out on this forum to me, to learn CSS and
HTML.
I am having a brain freeze. The logic escapes me as to how I
would build a navigation bar and put it on each page as I did
utilizing the library function before.
I am sure for all you pro's this is a really dumb and obvious
thing but I just don't seem to figure out the logic how to do it. I
am not talking about the CSS for the behaviors such as hover,
visited, active. This I know how to do. It is just the ability to
have a properly designed navbar and be able to put it on every page
I make.
Murry "ACE" told me not to use AP and the dreaded mm_menus so
I am trying to figure this out and build a better more code
efficient site. Mine works but is quite trashy in the code.

It can be a bit daunting.
Try going through this tutorial completely. It's a bit out of
date (using
an older version of DW), and still covers the use of tables,
but it's worth
reinforcing your basic understandings -
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/dreamweaver/articles/first_website_pt1.html
Then I would suggest you do this tutorial -
Taking a Fireworks comp to a CSS-based layout in Dreamweaver
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/fireworks/articles/web_standards_layouts_pt1.html
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/fireworks/articles/web_standards_layouts_pt2.html
Finally, to get a grip on how to manage menus across an
entire site, use
DW's F1 help about how to use Templates, and server-side
includes.
Templates do make your life much easier. I use the following
scheme....
First, I mentally separate the page layout into three
sections:
1. Stuff that will not change for the life of the site (i.e.,
the basic
structural elements)
2. Stuff that *could* change from time to time (e.g.,
navigation elements,
burst advertisements, section-specific navigation, etc.)
3. Stuff that *will* change from one page to the next
Then I create a template containing all class1 elements. Next
I create
server-side include files containing all class 2 elements and
place them on
the template as needed. Note - some of the class 2 elements
may be
"section-specific elements", and their placement on the
template will be
subject to the next item. Finally, I insert editable regions
to cover the
class 3 items, INCLUDING the section-specific navigation.
This allows me to just cookie-cut the rest of the site. I
estimate that
even for fairly large sites, about 80% of my work goes into
planning and
creating this template file.
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Adobe Community Expert
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
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"craigmini" <[email protected]> wrote in
message
news:[email protected]...
>I built my site using Dreamweaver 8. I used the design
view exclusively. I
> made a navigation bar as a library item. Utilizing
rollovers, etc. Now I
> have
> learned I should build my site utilizing CSS and as was
pointed out on
> this
> forum to me, to learn CSS and HTML.
>
> I am having a brain freeze. The logic escapes me as to
how I would build a
> navigation bar and put it on each page as I did
utilizing the library
> function
> before.
>
> I am sure for all you pro's this is a really dumb and
obvious thing but I
> just
> don't seem to figure out the logic how to do it. I am
not talking about
> the CSS
> for the behaviors such as hover, visited, active. This I
know how to do.
> It is
> just the ability to have a properly designed navbar and
be able to put it
> on
> every page I make.
>
> Murry "ACE" told me not to use AP and the dreaded
mm_menus so I am trying
> to
> figure this out and build a better more code efficient
site. Mine works
> but is
> quite trashy in the code.
>

Working with library items

This question was posted in response to the following article: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/dreamweaver/cs/using/WSc78c5058ca073340dcda9110b1f693f21-7e49a .html

Personally, I don't like library items as any changes need to be applied to the document the library item is used in, then each document that uses it needs to be uploaded to the live server, and you might just miss a file or two that uses it leaving you with inconsistencies across your site.
My preference is to use a server side include (SSI) file which are for all intents and purposes, the same thing, but when you update it, you simply upload that one file and it automatically populates the changes across your site whereever it is used on all pages that use it. Much simpler and cleaner.
The only drawback is that you need to be using php, asp etc rather than html... or atleast that's the case in my experience.

Page persistence indicator and Library item

What is the best way to create page persistence indicators on
a
navigational array using div elements, in which the nav array
is stored
as a Library item and stretches across multiple Templates?
I am trying to follow the instructions as in this article:
http://www.communitymx.com/content/article.cfm?cid=F1394
However, this method uses template parameters wherein the
navigational
array is stored in the .DWT template file, and not in a
Library item
which stretches across Templates as in my situation. I am
looking for a
solution which will allow the Library to dynamically create
the
persistence indicators.
Oh, and also the nav array is made up of graphical elements
(not
text-based CSS) so the persistence needs to swap out
individual
graphical elements for each div.
Thanks, -CC

E Michael Brandt wrote:
>
>> Here's how you handle that - call the host and ask
them to server
>> parse ALL extensions on the site. Most will do this
(many are set
>> this way by default).
>
> Yep, I've done that in the past. But it may contribute
in part to what
> CC is referring to as lost time. Just trying to be
Solomonic.
>
Yes, this is exactly what I'm trying to say.
When I do a five page static site for a client who I know is
probably
going to make changes to universal elements once every year
(if that) it
really doesn't matter if I choose Library or SSI. Often I
will choose
Library items in this case, simply because they're easy to do
and I'm
used to doing things this way. And when I do have updates to
make?
Dreamweaver makes it a snap to update those Library items,
then compare
the changed files on the server. It can all be done in under
a minute.
SSI? Could have used that, too, but to preview the site I
either have to
set up a testing server environment or make the include live
before
showing the client. And I can't drag and drop the file from
the desktop
onto my browser, have to go through Dreamweaver. These may
not seem like
big deals (and may seem inefficient to some) but I manage
between 15-20
sites all through Dreamweaver, some requiring extensive
updates, many
requiring only a few tweaks quarterly, and I can tell you
that on the
sites I've built Libraries around, they take me maybe a few
additional
minutes longer to update than with the sites I've built with
SSI. It's
all about which sites make the most sense to build SSI or
Libraries around.
Of course the argument has been made: why not plan better in
advance to
use SSI in the first place when it may save you time in the
future? Good
point. However, again, the sites I choose to use Library
items versus
SSI were usually smaller sites, with no dynamic pages, etc.
And for
whatever reason I chose not to rename all my extensions to
SHTML ...
didn't want to jump through hoops setting up a testing server
environment ... or upload everything to FTP everytime I
changed the
include file just to preview the one pixel move I made on a
photo ...
and the client may see the include file live on his server
before I am
ready to demo the whole site, which is on version 4 at this
point ...
and now I have to change the path of the include on the
Template to a
new one so he doesn't see parts of version 3 ... and I don't
want to go
back to my client and ask for additional hours to call the
client's
dumb-*** hosting company to set up SSI that should already be
setup ...
don't have time to wait three hours for the webhosting
company to get
back to me with a "we're working on it" response ... and
we're already
overbudget due to that fancy CSS menu I already spent way too
much time
on and isn't looking quite right in IE6 still ... and I've
got to get
going on four other website updates before 6 PM ... it's now
5 PM ...
and I'm probably going to be up all night again.
Given all of that, I can't see why there appear to be so many
Library
hating comments on this thread. Reading through, it would
appear that
Library items are utterly useless -- which is just not the
case. I'm
surprised at the comments, actually, because the power in
Dreamweaver
lies in its ability to make the business of building websites
easier for
users with a wide range of skill levels, for almost any kind
of job.
Some of its tools (like Libraries) have overlap with SSI
perhaps to give
the user as many options as possible depending on
circumstance. Whether
one chooses to use Library items or SSI, the results are
often the same
in my experience, and I feel Libraries have even saved me
time in
situations where includes were simply not the wisest choice.
Who knows,
maybe it's because I've grown so used to them over the years
is why I
defend them so. But any rate, Libraries at least serve some
of us well.
-CC

Library items not working properly (DW CC)

Hi
Working with Dreamweaver CC library items has been easy before. Now, suddenly, something is wrong, and I hope someone has the solution. Example:
I select a piece of a document, click on New Library Item button (in Assets tab) - a new library item is made, but it jumps the part where I make a name, just automatically names them Untitled1, 2 etc. Right clicking and then Rename is impossible (???).
And making a library item from scratch is the same - DW automatically gives it a file name Untitled 1, 2 etc. and renaming is impossible.
What on earth is happening? Please advise

Once you add a new Library item in the Assets panel, DW gives you the option to name it. See below:
And even after choosing the default name (Untitled), you can always edit the item by single-clicking it or pressing the Edit button.
Let us know if you need more help.

Can users edit Library items?

Hi everyone. I'm almost done with my first Contribute site
and I had a question. My client has a small piece of text that is
shown in the header of every page and this text is something that
they want to change regularly. I added a Library item for this
chunk in Dreamweaver thinking that this would be the proper way to
allow them to edit it in one place in Contribute.
I found where I can grant permissions for editing the various
types of shared assets, but I don't see that they can edit the
Library item. Is there a way to do this or do I need to set this up
differently (server-side include, etc.)?
Thanks in advance,
Jason

I think you should use a SSI in your Template and provide
your user with a link to that include-file, so they can edit it in
Contribute.
gtrz.
Hayo

Dreamweaver Library Item Etc.

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