Dreamweaver cs6 templates don't work, sometimes

[Guest]

Hello All,

Dreamweaver cs 6.

I am having a problem with design it shows the page like it has no css and things are missing and all in the wrong places as well.

These are downloaded templates from different sits.

Oddly enough when I open them  for the first few times it works.

Thank You

[ALsp]

There is no way to hazard a guess without seeing the actual page. Know also, that reputable Template sites are the exception and not always the rule.

[Jon Fritz]

That sounds to me like you may not have Defined a Site in DW before working with the templates...https://helpx.adobe.com/dreamweaver/atv/cs5-cs55-tutorials/gs-01-defining-a-new-site.html

GS-01: Defining a new site

[Nancy OShea]

After defining a local site folder, your Files Panel (F8) should look something like this screenshot.

[Guest]

I have it setup correctly.

I am a new be to this group, can I give a link to where I downloaded from or a download link from mine?

Tony

[Guest]

I have it setup correctly

This is the template even in view mode it is messed up

http://asghosting.net/tempo.zip 

[Guest]

This is the original download link'

http://www.templatemo.com/tm-393-fantasy

I missed something   due to my lack of knowledge.

Thank you

[Jon Fritz]

Have you extracted the 4 .html pages AND all three sub folders into your DW site's root folder?

It should look like this in DW's Files window with your site selected from the dropdown menu (where my image says Unnamed...) before you make any modifications or additions...

Also, your pages will not look right in Design View. If you are in Design, Switch to Live View for a mor accurate representation of your page. To do that, make sure the Document Toolbar is active. Go to Windows > Toolbars > Document and ensure a checkmark is next to Document. Once that is done, you will see the following toolbar...

Click the small triangle next to Design and choose Live...

That should make your template look much more like it does on the template site. You really do need to preview it in the actual browsers for the most accurate view of the design though.

[Guest]

This is how I have it setup

[Jon Fritz]

Click "Live" in your second screen shot to see your site as rendered by DW's watered down Webkit browser.

You will get more accurate results by hitting F12 (Preview in Browser) and opening your pages in your modern browsers though. The one that shipped within CS6 is pretty outdated now and will not show you the same thing you'll see from the latest versions of the real things.

[Guest]

The thing is that I use design to make changes write text Chang headings highlight sections then go to the code and the code is highlighted and then I know where I'm at.

In this case the design is all messed up, and in the view of this particular template has the menu missing.

From my screen shots does it look like I have it setup correctly.

My work hours are sporadic I cant always respond quickly.

Thank you all

Tony 

[Nancy OShea]

CS6 does not support all the latest and greatest advances in CSS.  So don't expect perfect page rendering in Design view.   At best, it's an approximation of what you might see in some very old browsers. 

Option 1:  Find a different Template.

Option 2: Switch to Live view.

Option 3:  Disable CSS.  Go to View > Style Rendering > untick Display Styles.   Design view will show an unstyled page.  It's not pretty but you can work with the content.   This does not effect Live view or Preview in browsers.

[Guest]

It's the template I downloaded Dreamweaver cc 18 trial version  and it still is bad.

In my C6 I opened a different downloaded template and it works fine, baffling.

Maybe there is some code error like a Div not closed 'I'm not that good with code I could muttel my way through the code trying to find an error but when there is a bunch of closed Div's like 5 one under the other 5 times I Cant figure  which start Div is associated with the end Div .

I downloaded CSS HTML Validator professional trial (11 days) ran it and it found like 30 different errors.

It runs perfect in a browser.

[Nancy OShea · Accepted solution]

If you want  quality CSS page layouts (templates), look at Project Seven. 

Responsive Web Design Extensions, Apps, Add-ons and Plugins for Dreamweaver

[Jon Fritz]

Design View is a bit of a misnomer, you'll almost never see what your design actually looks like, unless it's extremely simple, in Design View. Only the actual browser will show you how your page will appear online. There's no fix for it in DW, however, code errors will generally make it worse. Run the validation tool under File > Validate > Current Document (W3C) or go to http://validator.w3.org/nu to get a listing of your errors. Cleaning them out of the code may help somewhat, but again, Design View just doesn't work that way. It won't show you advanced css or any kind of javascript.

It's just the way it works in DW. Design View should have been renamed years ago to "framework view" or "mostly there but not correct view". Live View is better, but in CS6, there's a lot that won't show because the built-in browser is a watered down version of a now archaic webkit rendering engine.