Setting text property options

The text Property inspector displays the current formatting attributes of the text that is selected in the document. You can change the formatting by setting new options. The style is immediately applied to the text.

You can use the text Property inspector to apply HTML formatting or Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) formatting. HTML formatting lets you select text formatting options such as font, size, bold, and italic, while CSS formatting lets you apply a CSS class style to the selected text.

When you use the Property inspector to apply bold or italic style, Dreamweaver automatically applies the <strong> or <em> tag, respectively. If you are designing pages for viewers with 3.0 or older version browsers, you should change this preference in the General category of the Preferences dialog box (Edit > Preferences).

For information about creating a class style, see Creating a new CSS rule.

To set formatting options:

1. Open the Property inspector (Window > Properties), if it isn’t already open.
2. Select the text you want to format.
3. Set the CSS options you want to apply to the selected text:

   Format sets the paragraph style of the selected text. Paragraph applies the default format for a <p> tag, Heading 1 adds an H1 tag, and so on.

   Style displays the class style that is currently applied to the selected text. If no styles have been applied to the selection, the pop-up menu shows No CSS Style. If multiple styles have been applied to the selection, the pop-up menu is blank.

   Use the Style pop-up menu to do any of the following:

   • Select the style you want to apply to the selection.
   • Select None to remove the currently selected style.
   • Select Attach Style Sheet to open a dialog box that lets you attach an external style sheet.

   Bold applies either <b> or <strong> to the selected text according to the style preference set in the General category of the Preferences dialog box.

   Italic applies either <i> or <em> to the selected text according to the style preference set in the General category of the Preferences dialog box.

   For information about setting General preferences, see Setting General preferences for Dreamweaver.

To set HTML formatting options:

1. Open the Property inspector (Window > Properties), if it isn’t already open.
2. Select the text you want to format.
3. Set the options you want to apply to the selected text:

   Format sets the paragraph style of the selected text. Paragraph applies the default format for a <p> tag, Heading 1 adds an H1 tag, and so on.

   Font Combination applies the selected font combination to the text. Use the pop-up menu to select the font combination you want to apply, or select Edit Font List to create or edit a font combination.

   Size applies either a specific font size (1 through 7) or a font size (+ or –1 through + or –7) relative to the basefont size (the default is 3).

   Text Color displays the text in the selected color. Select a web-safe color by clicking the color box, or enter a hexadecimal value (for example, #FF0000) in the adjacent text field.

   Bold applies either <b> or <strong> to the selected text according to the style preference set in the General category of the Preferences dialog box.

   Italic applies either <i> or <em> to the selected text according to the style preference set in the General category of the Preferences dialog box.

   For information about setting General preferences, see Setting General preferences for Dreamweaver.

   Left, Center, and Right Align apply the respective alignment.

   Link lets you create a hypertext link of the selected text. Click the folder icon to browse to a file in your site; type the URL; drag the Point-to-File icon to a file in the Site panel; or drag a file from the Site panel into the box.

   Target lets you specify the frame or window in which the linked document will load:

   • _blank loads the linked file in a new, unnamed browser window.
   • _parent loads the linked file in the parent frameset or window of the frame that contains the link. If the frame containing the link is not nested, the linked file loads into the full browser window.
   • _self loads the linked file in the same frame or window as the link. This target is implied, so you generally don’t need to specify it.
   • _top loads the linked file in the full browser window, thereby removing all frames.

   Unordered List creates a bulleted list of the selected text. If no text is selected, a new bulleted list is started.

   Ordered List creates a numbered list of the selected text. If no text is selected, a new numbered list is started.

   List Item opens the List Properties dialog box. See Setting List Properties dialog box options.

   Indent and Outdent indent or remove indentation from the selected text by applying or removing the blockquote tag. In a list, indenting creates a nested list and removing the indentation unnests the list.

Related topics

• Formatting paragraphs
• Setting and changing fonts and styles
• Creating a new CSS rule
• Setting General preferences for Dreamweaver