I've tried asking this on a couple other boards and haven't recieved a reply yet, so i thought i would ask it here.

To any of you who use Dreamweaver regularly:

Is there a way to automatically generate a text navigation bar that updates automatically? FrontPage has this feature, where you organize your pages in a flow chart and it will automatically generate a text or graphical navigation bar.

I've been using Dreamweaver for a couple years now but could never seem to find a comparable feature or extension to do that. It's probabbly something right in front of me that I havent noticed, but I figured I'd ask anyway. Anyone know?

Tom said:

You need to head over to the Dreamweaver exchange on Macromedia's site--there's probably a few components like that up there (though I've never looked). I don't think anything like that is included in the package.

Personally, I prefer to code that stuff up myself--gives you total control over it's behavior.

Try using flash. Then you can update the nav bar from a simple text or xml file. Have a look at the computer arts site for tutorials on dynamic flash sites.

Tom said:

The Flash suggestion looks a possibility, and if you have purchased Studio you will have access to it.

Assuming, however, that you are just working in Dreamweaver for the present, there is one extension available from the Macromedia site under the extension downloads section (under the navigation heading) but it only rates 1 out of 5, and there is some feedback suggesting the solution is flawed. Perhaps browse the extension home a bit more, but likewise I've never come across anything.

Do you belong to the Dreamweaver newsgroup, where you can ask such questions and read replies from many people? I have found this resource very helpful in the past. I would add that, like Teller, I'd design and code the bar myself so I can change the thing when I want or need to.

If I understand your question correctly, the only other thing I can think of that gets near it is by using templates in Dreamweaver MX. If you then change your template, Dreamweaver automatically detects all pages built based on the template and asks if you want to update. Its a breeze to do this.

However. and it's a big one, it will only update the pages on your own PC - you still have to upload each page individually to whichever server your site sits on. I have asked about different ways around this, and it was suggested I investigate Server Side Includes ... but the stage I had reached in the project I was working on, it just prompted me to think very very carefully about the design of my navigation tool bar and menus in my template, in the knowledge that any changes might be relatively simple on my own PC, but loading it to the server was going to be a chore and a half.
.
[This message was edited Fri Dec 13 12:16:24 PST 2002 by langebleu]

Funny...I found MX's FTP to be fairly robust and able to put the entire site.

teller said:

teller - you've probably detected a weakness in the way I love to 'put' - I just adore sitting and watching them tick over one by one!

Seriously, the site I had in mind had three separate templates so I suppose what I could have done was to highlight the pages I wanted to FTP up and let them run - but uploading the whole of the site wasn't usually the quickest solution.

Anyway, with the site I am currently running solely based on a single template (apart from the index page) putting the whole site when I change the template is the best solution - and I hadn't even seen that glaringly obvious benefit - thanks!