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Responsive design using fluid grid layouts

  1. Dreamweaver User Guide
  2. Introduction
    1. Responsive web design basics
    2. What's new in Dreamweaver
    3. Web development using Dreamweaver - An Overview
    4. Dreamweaver / Common Questions
    5. Keyboard shortcuts
    6. Dreamweaver system requirements
    7. Feature summary
  3. Dreamweaver and Creative Cloud
    1. Synchronize Dreamweaver settings with Creative Cloud
    2. Creative Cloud Libraries in Dreamweaver
    3. Using Photoshop files in Dreamweaver
    4. Work with Adobe Animate and Dreamweaver
    5. Extract web-optimized SVG files from Libraries
  4. Dreamweaver workspaces and views
    1. The Dreamweaver workspace
    2. Optimize Dreamweaver workspace for visual development
    3. Search files based on filename or content | Mac OS
  5. Set up sites
    1. About Dreamweaver sites
    2. Set up a local version of your site
    3. Connect to a publishing server
    4. Set up a testing server
    5. Import and export Dreamweaver site settings
    6. Bring existing websites from a remote server to your local site root
    7. Accessibility features in Dreamweaver
    8. Advanced settings
    9. Set site preferences for transferring files
    10. Specify proxy server settings in Dreamweaver
    11. Synchronize Dreamweaver settings with Creative Cloud
    12. Using Git in Dreamweaver
  6. Manage files
    1. Create and open files
    2. Manage files and folders
    3. Getting and putting files to and from your server
    4. Check in and check out files
    5. Synchronize files
    6. Compare files for differences
    7. Cloak files and folders in your Dreamweaver site
    8. Enable Design Notes for Dreamweaver sites
    9. Preventing potential Gatekeeper exploit
  7. Layout and design
    1. Use visual aids for layout
    2. About using CSS to lay out your page
    3. Design responsive websites using Bootstrap
    4. Creating and using media queries in Dreamweaver
    5. Present content with tables
    6. Colors
    7. Responsive design using fluid grid layouts
    8. Extract in Dreamweaver
  8. CSS
    1. Understand Cascading Style Sheets
    2. Laying out pages using CSS Designer
    3. Using CSS preprocessors in Dreamweaver
    4. How to set CSS Style preferences in Dreamweaver
    5. Move CSS rules in Dreamweaver
    6. Convert inline CSS to a CSS rule in Dreamweaver
    7. Work with div tags
    8. Apply gradients to background
    9. Create and edit CSS3 transition effects in Dreamweaver
    10. Format code
  9. Page content and assets
    1. Set page properties
    2. Set CSS heading properties and CSS link properties
    3. Work with text
    4. Find and replace text, tags, and attributes
    5. DOM panel
    6. Edit in Live View
    7. Encoding documents in Dreamweaver
    8. Select and view elements in the Document window
    9. Set text properties in the Property inspector
    10. Spell check a web page
    11. Using horizontal rules in Dreamweaver
    12. Add and modify font combinations in Dreamweaver
    13. Work with assets
    14. Insert and update dates in Dreamweaver
    15. Create and manage favorite assets in Dreamweaver
    16. Insert and edit images in Dreamweaver
    17. Add media objects
    18. Adding videos in Dreamweaver
    19. Insert HTML5 video
    20. Insert SWF files
    21. Add audio effects
    22. Insert HTML5 audio in Dreamweaver
    23. Work with library items
    24. Using Arabic and Hebrew text in Dreamweaver
  10. Linking and navigation
    1. About linking and navigation
    2. Linking
    3. Image maps
    4. Troubleshoot links
  11. jQuery widgets and effects
    1. Use jQuery UI and mobile widgets in Dreamweaver
    2. Use jQuery effects in Dreamweaver
  12. Coding websites
    1. About coding in Dreamweaver
    2. Coding environment in Dreamweaver
    3. Set coding preferences
    4. Customize code coloring
    5. Write and edit code
    6. Code hinting and code completion
    7. Collapse and expand code
    8. Reuse code with snippets
    9. Lint code
    10. Optimize code
    11. Edit code in Design view
    12. Work with head content for pages
    13. Insert server-side includes in Dreamweaver
    14. Using tag libraries in Dreamweaver
    15. Importing custom tags into Dreamweaver
    16. Use JavaScript behaviors (general instructions)
    17. Apply built-in JavaScript behaviors
    18. About XML and XSLT
    19. Perform server-side XSL transformations in Dreamweaver
    20. Performing client-side XSL transformations in Dreamweaver
    21. Add character entities for XSLT in Dreamweaver
    22. Format code
  13. Cross-product workflows
    1. Installing and using extensions to Dreamweaver
    2. In-App updates in Dreamweaver
    3. Insert Microsoft Office documents in Dreamweaver (Windows only)
    4. Working with Fireworks and Dreamweaver
    5. Edit content in Dreamweaver sites using Contribute
    6. Dreamweaver-Business Catalyst integration
    7. Create personalized email campaigns
  14. Templates
    1. About Dreamweaver templates
    2. Recognizing templates and template-based documents
    3. Create a Dreamweaver template
    4. Create editable regions in templates
    5. Create repeating regions and tables in Dreamweaver
    6. Use optional regions in templates
    7. Define editable tag attributes in Dreamweaver
    8. How to create nested templates in Dreamweaver
    9. Edit, update, and delete templates
    10. Export and import xml content in Dreamweaver
    11. Apply or remove a template from an existing document
    12. Edit content in Dreamweaver templates
    13. Syntax rules for template tags in Dreamweaver
    14. Set highlighting preferences for template regions
    15. Benefits of using templates in Dreamweaver
  15. Mobile and multiscreen
    1. Create media queries
    2. Changing page orientation for mobile devices
    3. Create web apps for mobile devices using Dreamweaver
  16. Dynamic sites, pages and web forms
    1. Understand web applications
    2. Set up your computer for application development
    3. Troubleshoot database connections
    4. Removing connection scripts in Dreamweaver
    5. Design dynamic pages
    6. Dynamic content sources overview
    7. Define sources of dynamic content
    8. Add dynamic content to pages
    9. Changing dynamic content in Dreamweaver
    10. Display database records
    11. Provide and troubleshoot live data in Dreamweaver
    12. Add custom server behaviors in Dreamweaver
    13. Building forms using Dreamweaver
    14. Use forms to collect information from users
    15. Create and enable ColdFusion forms in Dreamweaver
    16. Create web forms
    17. Enhanced HTML5 support for form elements
    18. Develop a form using Dreamweaver
  17. Building applications visually
    1. Build master and detail pages in Dreamweaver
    2. Build search and results pages
    3. Build a record insert page
    4. Build an update record page in Dreamweaver
    5. Building record delete pages in Dreamweaver
    6. Use ASP commands to modify database in Dreamweaver
    7. Build a registration page
    8. Build a login page
    9. Build a page that only authorized users can access
    10. Securing folders in Coldfusion using Dreamweaver
    11. Using ColdFusion components in Dreamweaver
  18. Test, preview, and publish websites
    1. Preview pages
    2. Preview Dreamweaver web pages on multiple devices
    3. Test your Dreamweaver site
  19. Troubleshooting
    1. Fixed issues
    2. Known issues

 

 

Looking to create responsive websites for multiple screens? Learn how to use fluid grids in Dreamweaver to design websites for mobile devices and desktops.

The layout of a website has to respond and adapt to the dimensions of the device on which it is displayed (responsive design). A fluid grid layout provides a visual way to create different layouts corresponding to devices on which the website is displayed.

For example, your website is going to be viewed on desktops, tablets, and mobile phones. You can use fluid grid layouts to specify layouts for each of these devices. Depending on whether the website is displayed on a desktop, tablet, or mobile phone, the corresponding layout is used to display the website.

More info: Adaptive Layout versus Responsive Layout

Inspect mode is not available for Fluid Grid Layout documents.

Create a fluid grid layout

You can edit existing fluid grid layouts in Dreamweaver 2017. However, you cannot create fluid grid layouts. 

Instead, use bootstrap to create responsive layouts in Dreamweaver 2017. For more information on Bootstrap, see Work with Bootstrap files.

  1. Select File > Fluid Grid (legacy).

  2. The default value for the number of columns in the grid is displayed in the center of the media type. To customize the number of columns for a device, edit the value as required.

  3. To set the width of a page as compared to the screen size, set the value in percentage.

  4. You can additionally change the gutter width. The gutter is the space between two columns.

  5. Specify the CSS options for the page.

    When you click Create, you are asked to specify a CSS file. You can do one of the following:

    • Create a new CSS file.
    • Open an existing CSS file.
    • Specify the CSS file being opened as a Fluid Grid CSS file.

    The Fluid Grid for mobile phones is displayed by default. Also, the Insert panel for Fluid Grid is displayed. Use the options in the Insert panel to create your layout.

    To switch to designing the layout for other devices, click the corresponding icon in the options below the Design view.

  6. Save the file. When you save the HTML file, you are prompted to save the dependent files  such as boilerplate.css and respond.min.js to a location on your computer. Specify a location, and click Copy.

    The boilerplate.css is based on the HTML5 boilerplate. It is a set of CSS styles that ensures consistency in the way your web page is rendered across multiple devices. respond.min.js is a JavaScript library that helps provide support for media queries in older versions of browser.

Edit fluid grid documents

You can edit fluid grid documents directly in Live View to:

You can also visualize the HTML DOM structure of a fluid grid document using Element Quick View.

Insert fluid grid elements

The Insert panel (Window > Insert) lists the elements that you can use in a fluid grid layout. While inserting the elements, you can choose to insert them as fluid elements.

  1. In the Insert panel, click the element that you want to insert.

  2. In the dialog box that appears, click Before, After, or Nest to position the element with respect to the reference element highlighted in the document.

  3. Select a class, or enter a value for the ID. The Class menu displays classes from the CSS file that you specified when creating the page.

  4. Select the Insert As Fluid Element check box.

  5. When you select an inserted element, the options to hide, duplicate, or delete the Div are displayed. For Divs layered on top of each other, the option to swap Divs is displayed.

    Option

    Description

    Swap Div

    Swaps the currently selected element with the element above or below.

    Hide

    Hides the element.

    To unhide an element, do one of the following:

    To unhide ID selectors, change the display property in the CSS file to block. (display:block)

    To unhide class selectors, remove the applied class (hide_<MediaType>) in the source code.

    Move up a row

    Moves the element up by a row

    Duplicate

    Duplicates the currently selected element. CSS linked to element is also duplicated.

    Delete

    For ID selectors, deletes both the HTML as well as CSS. To delete HTML only, press Delete.
    For class selectors, only HTML is deleted.

    Align

    For class selectors, the Align option acts as a zero margin button.
    For ID selectors, the align button aligns the element to the grid.

    Note:

    Elements on a page can be traversed cyclically using the up and down arrow keys. Select the element boundary and then press the arrow key.

Nesting elements

To nest fluid elements within other fluid elements, ensure that the focus  is inside the parent element. Then, insert the required child element.

Nested Duplication is also supported. Nested Duplication duplicates the HTML (of the selected element) and generates the relevant Fluid CSS. Absolute elements contained within the selected element are positioned appropriately. Nested elements can also be duplicated using the duplicate button.

When you delete a parent element, the CSS corresponding to the element, its children, and associated HTML are deleted. Nested elements can also be deleted together using the Delete button (Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+Delete).

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