Metatags in general

There are two parts to a web document, the HEAD area and the BODY area. Since Dreamweaver creates the HTML coding for you, you will probably not be aware of these two areas, unless you have worked with creating files from scratch or you have been looking at the HTML window option in Dreamweaver. The BODY area contains the text and images that make up your page. The HEAD area has coding used by browsers and search engines. In Lesson 1, I talked about the TITLE for the web document. The title is a short description of the web document, and it is one of the elements in the HEAD area.

Additional tags that can be put in the HEAD area are metatags. Metatags are important for two reasons:

• The description metatag may show below the title when your document displays in search engine results (this depends on the search engine). Having a good description will clarify the content of your document for people searching the web. (If there is no description metatag, then the search engine may just pull the first few lines of text from the document. This often is not the best "description" of what is important in the document.)
• Various search engines will use metatags as sources of important words for generating indexes. The use of metatags (by search engines) varies, but it does not hurt to have metatags to describe key concepts in your document.

You need to be careful in your keywords that you only use words which really reflect the content of your document or which reflect the overall content of your website. For example, if you have a site with information about watershed management in Arizona, it would not be fair to web users to also add as keywords terms such as "riparian habitat" or "controlled burning" or "snowpack management" if you do not have materials on your site related to these ideas.

Metatags in Dreamweaver

Although metatags are not required, I strongly encourage you to take a few minutes to add at least a description metatag to all of your web pages, and possibly a keyword metatag for the important, main pages on your site. There are two ways you can add metatags:

• You can enter description and keyword metatags by selecting Insert from the main menu, then HTML, then Head Tags, as shown below.
  
  The two primary options we will address that are shown here are description and keywords. If you can only do one, use description, since that can act as a textual enhancement to the title information, when a document displays in search engine results. If you use keywords, you will be entering important words describing your page (or site). Also it really serves no function for you to use the exact same keywords or the same description on every page on your site; in fact, this can be misleading to users, since they will see different pages with what appears to be identical content.
• Another way to enter metatags is to select one of the HTML view options on the Document window. Either "Split" or "Code" will let you see the HTML coding for the current document. You can enter coding manually here, if you wish. When you are through entering the metatags, you can select the "Design" option again.
  

A note of caution if you are working with a site created by someone else. The Insert description pop-up box or the Insert keywords box does not show existing metatags. If you have a site which was created by someone else, you need to first check the HTML code to make sure there are no existing description and/or keyword metatags. The metatags, if used, will be at the top of the document, as indicated in the screen capture above. I highlighted the description metatag to show you its location on the page.

If you pick the menu option for a description, a dialog box pops up for you to enter the text. The description should be one or more sentences or phrases that supplement the title information. The title tag for this "page" is "The Webinator search engine on the CALS server." This description provides more information.

 

If you pick the menu option for keywords, a dialog box pops up for you to enter the keywords. These can be single words or phrases, with a comma separating each keyword.

If you have not looked at the video clip about metatags, be sure to take the time to look at this video.

Adding a code which stops crawlers

Since I have been talking about the importance of metatags, I wanted to at least mention another tag you can consider using on "lower level" pages on your site. One of the most popular search engines is Google, which is a crawler. That means Google finds a site and "examines" all the of the page on the site, including older versions of pages still posted, draft versions that have not been removed, and second and third (and fourth) levels of pages. The larger your site is, especially if it has a lot of depth in subject coverage, you would possibly want Google or other search engines to find (and index) each page on your site. But this also means that second and third level pages on your site could be displaying in a listing of results higher than your main page.

When I post these tutorials about Dreamweaver (or other products), I really want the search engine to find the home page or key page(s) on the site. So I will often add this special code in the <head> area of the web document. It does not matter where it is, as long as it is in the head area.

<meta name="robots" content="noindex">

You can see that this is a meta tag, and it is telling robots, like Google, to not index this particular page.

This code has to be typed in in the head area, by working directly in either the split or code display.

Testing your pages

There are a few features in Dreameaver for testing or checking website features. One is Text, then Check Spelling. This feature is similar to those with word processing documents.

In the section about graphics (Lesson 4), you learned about the Load indicator on the status bar of the Document window. This is a constant reminder of how long a given page would take to load using various connections.

Another problem faced by site managers is keeping links up-to-date, especially links to sites outside of your site. You can do link checks by going to File, then Check Page , then Check Links or Site, then Check Links Sitewide. The first option checks only the open web document, and the other option looks at the entire site. The link checker looks at links within your site, and it also will list links to external sites, giving you an option to save the resulting report. Dreamweaver does not check links external to your immediate site (the site that has been defined). Tip #12 describes a program you can download and run locally to look for (external) links which are no longer valid, but you have to have an Internet connection when you run this program.

This screen capture below show a sample results page when checking site files for broken links. A broken link is one whose document cannot be found (by Dreamweaver).

The last checker worth mentioning is to find out browser support for your pages. HTML coding is dynamic and standards change. Plus browsers are not the same in what features are supported (like border colors in Netscape not displaying, or variations in how style sheet codes are treated by different browsers, previous HTML codes which are depreciated). Dreamweaver gives you a way to check your pages for different browsers. Before you begin a browser check, in the Site window, you should be sitting on either the file, the folder, or the site folder you want checked. Then select File, then Check Page, then Check Target Browsers. In the results panel, as shown below, if you click on the triangle, there are various options.

If you select Settings (as shown above), you can specify through the dialog box (shown below) which browsers to check against and how far back in terms of versions to check.

Once you have selected the various browser releases to check against, select the option you want (for example, current page or entire site or all selected files). Dreamweaver analysizes your HTML code for the various versions of Netscape and Internet Explorer (in this example), and then produces a report in the Results panel with the line number and the error and the browser version for which this is an error. For example, in a couple of the files I checked, the IMG tag is missing an ALT tag. Whether or not you correct these errors is your decision. It depends on your projected audiences and what browsers you think they will be using.

Site management in Dreamweaver

Here I am addressing options of search and replace, deleting files (which may be linked to other files on your site), changing a link sitewide, changing filenames, and moving files. I refer to all of these as site management issues. This is not a feature that has to be used, but it is a powerful tool, as your site gets larger and you restructure or change items on the site. Several of these are demonstrated in the video File Management using Dreamweaver .

You can search for particular text or HTML code and replace it with other text or code. The dialog box displays if you select Edit, then Find and Replace. If you have used this feature with word processors, you already know how much of a time-saver this is. You can search the selected file(s), the current open document, the entire site, or a folder. You can search for text in the text itself or text within coding.

If you are deleting a file, the major problem you can encounter is having other documents on your site link to the file you want to delete. If that is the situation, in the Site window, if you highlight a file and then press the Delete key, you will see this type of warning box appear.

This dialog box refers to changing a link sitewide. This option is found under Site, then Change Link Sitewide. This dialog box appears.

Once you have changed links to a document you were planning on deleting, you can then delete the file. Deleting a file only deletes the file locally on your hard drive. You would still need to delete the corresponding file on the remote site (on the server).

An advantage of deleting files locally through Dreamweaver becomes apparent if you have inherited a site from someone else. If you select a file and delete it, and you don't see a warning message, you can be sure this file is not needed for your site anymore. Sometimes site managers will quit linking to files or have older versions of a file (under another name) and will not delete the file locally or on the remote server.

Other update options include changing filenames or moving files. To rename a file, while you are in the Site window, click once on the file to highlight it and then click again. The cursor should be inside the filename itself and you can enter a new name. You can also right click on the selected file, pick Edit from the listing, then Rename from the list of options.

To move a file, click once on the filename in the files/site window and then drag the file to its new location. If there are references to files renamed or moved, from other pages, you will get a warning message from Dreamweaver, if you have asked for prompts.

Therefore, before you start deleting, renaming or moving files, you need to check the settings under Edit, Preferences, and be sure that General is selected as the category.

The choices under Update Preferences are Always, Never, Prompt. If you choose Always, Dreamweaver automatically updates all links to and from a selected document whenever you move or rename it. If you pick Never, then no updates are allowed. If you choose Prompt, Dreamweaver first displays a dialog box that lists all the files affected by the change. Click Update to update the links in these files, or click Don't Update to leave the files unchanged.

Below is an example of the warning dialog box which would appear, if you are making changes that would affect other documents on your site.

Remember that renaming, deleting, or moving files (with the corresponding updating by Dreamweaver) only occurs on the local copy of your website. Corrected files would still need to be posted to the remote server.

Copyright issues

Copyright laws apply to all materials found on the Internet just as they do for other traditional materials (textbooks, magazines, etc.). The instance a web document is placed on the Internet, its content and images are copyrighted. Absence of a copyright notice does NOT mean that the web document is not copyrighted. Particularly because web documents are available to the entire world, unless you place documents in a password protected directory, you cannot use materials from others without their permission.

Just because you own something does not necessarily give you the copyright or privilege of placing it on your website. For instance, if you purchase a photograph and want to scan it and place it on your web page, you must first have permission from the copyright holder (normally the photographer).

The UA Copyright Librarian has commented in presentations about copyright that people ask her if it "okay" to use this or that item on a web page. There are no simple "yes" and "no" answers in most situations. If you want to use published materials in your website, follow the same types of rules as if you were writing a traditional paper. You cannot extract a substantial portion of someone else's work without crediting them and without getting permission. The same is true about images or photographs you find on the web. Being on the web does not make something "public domain."

The safe and prudent policy to follow is, if you want to use someone else's textual material or images (whether they are on the web or not), you should check with the copyright holder of the material or the webmaster at a particular site. If you get permission to use materials, keep a copy of the documentation giving you permission.

Now what about the reverse? Can you protect your own web materials? Although it is not required to have a copyright statement on your own materials you create for the web, if you want to make it clear that you do not want your materials, images, photographs, etc. used by others without them asking, add a copyright statement to your main page.

For those working for the University of Arizona, for anything created through your job with the University of Arizona, normally this statement would be used: © 2004 The Arizona Board of Regents. All contents copyrighted. All rights reserved. If you put materials on any University owned web server, the Arizona Board of Regents (as the legal entity behind the University) is the owner of the materials. If you create materials that you want to copyright yourself, then you have to put those on a non-University server. It is not necessary to have this statement on all your pages. Putting it on your main page is sufficient, as long as your other documents link back to this main page.

Now, will just adding a copyright statement "stop" someone from stealing your material? Obviously, no. And it is doubtful that you nor the University nor institution have the resources and time to track down violators. But having this statement is better than not having any statement at all.

Conversely, if you create original materials, images or spreadsheets that you want to be used by anyone without restriction, indicate that on your main web page or where it seems appropriate. You can also put restrictions such as this: These items (or photos or exercises, or whatever) can be used by any person for educational and non-profit use.

If you would like to read more about the complicated issue of copyright on the web, take a look at the Copyright Website's at www.benedict.com/. This site keeps current on all the Internet copyright issues so you can keep current without taking hours of researching time to find the information you need.

Advertising your site

Whether or not you even need to worry about promoting your web pages depends on the purpose of your site and your primary audience. However, the comments here are largely aimed at people who have created a work-related web page, a class-related website, or a department or work project website.

Some people will accidentally stumble onto your website or page, especially if your site is part of a website already being indexed. However, if you have a class website or department web site, take some time to think out appropriate advertising techniques to let other people know about your new website.

There are various ways to tell people about your site.

• Notify people about your site. For example, if you have created a class website, tell your students about the site. If it is a new class, put up fliers in appropriate departments where potential students will see the flier.
• If the site deals with an upcoming event or project, include the URL in notices in newsletters, newspapers, or other methods of advertising.
• Create bookmarks about your site that are distributed at meetings or with letters.
• Add the URL to your business cards.
• Include the URL on your letterhead.
• Create mousepads, pencils, magnets or other gadgets which are given to users which include your web address.
• Include your URL when you distribute handouts at professional presentations.

Depending on how much material you have on your site, and if your site is aimed at the general public, not just people at the University of Arizona, you can submit your URL to various search engines.

Be leary of "free services" that claim they will link your site to "over 100 search engines". Some search engines block any robot submissions such as this. Plus there may be hidden fees and the engines registered are obscure engines. It is better to pick out a few search engines and submit your URL personally to those engines.

Be sure to determine if your site has enough content and would be useful to persons outside your organization before submitting your URL to an international search engine. If you put up a site and list it in national and international search engines, be prepared to get questions from all over.

This document is part of a series of lessons on Dreamweaver Basics for the 2004 release, given by Linda Ffolliott, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Arizona.