Getting Started

Using the Dreamweaver template, follow these basic steps to start building a website that integrates Portland State's visual identity:

1. Unzip the template and premade example pages to an appropriate location on your computer or network file space.
2. Establish a site in Dreamweaver with settings appropriate for your local and server environments.
3. Open the template file (Templates/page.dwt.php) in Dreamweaver.
4. Customize the following required global elements in the template that will appear on every page in your site:
   1. Site Header
   2. Main Navigation Toolbar
   3. Site Footer
5. Customize the following optional global elements in the template that you can choose to use on specific pages in your site:
   1. Quick Links
   2. Vertical/Right Column Windlets
6. Customize or delete the premade example pages and/or make new pages from your customized template. Remember to supply a proper page title for each page and choose which optional template elements each page will show (in Dreamweaver under Modify > Template Properties).
   1. Home Page (index.php)
   2. Contact Us (contact.php)
   3. Sitemap (sitemap.php)
   4. Example Pages (start.php, advanced.php, php.php)
7. Add links to all pages on your site and any external links you need in appropriate places in the global navigation file (includes/navigation.php) that will generate your sitemap element/page and the dropdown menus on the main navigation bar. Make sure the links in the top level of the global navigation file match the main navigation toolbar in your customized template file.
8. Ensure your customized template has been applied to all pages on your site using Dreamweaver.
9. Publish/upload your pages to your web server environment.
10. Review your site content and navigation and make any necessary changes to the template and/or pages. If necessary, reapply your template and republish/upload any changed pages.