a Layer You have a couple options for inserting layers into a web page; the method you use depends on your needs and skill set. By far the easiest method for inserting a layer is to use the Layer option in the Insert, Layout Objects submenu. To use this method, follow these steps: 1. Create a new HTML page by choosing the New option from the File menu. When the New Document dialog appears, select the HTML option from the Basic Page category and click Create. 2. Place your cursor on the page and select Insert, Layout Objects, Layer. The new layer appears on the page similar to Figure 11.3. Figure 11.3. A new layer is added to the page using the Insert menu. [View full size image] Initially, you'll notice that the layer simply appears as a box with a 1-pixel border surrounding it. You can easily select the layer by rolling your cursor over the border of the layer until your cursor turns into the Move icon. Now simply click to select the layet. Notice that the layer highlights blue and displays small blue squares, otherwise known as resize handles, at each point and in the middle of each line. Also notice that a handle appears in the top-left corner of the layer, also shown in Figure 11.3. You can use the small black resize handles to click, hold, and drag out to resize the layer vertically, horizontally, or both. Furthermore, you can use the top-left handle to select and move the layer anywhere you want on the page. TIP Dreamweaver also allows you to select a layer by its border and move it around on the page. If you use this method, make sure that you don't accidentally select a resize handle, or you'll find yourself resizing the layer as opposed to moving it.   Drawing a Layer Another simple alternative to adding a layer to the page is to use the Draw Layer method. With this method, you can easily click and draw a layer in the page to any dimensions that you want. To use this method, follow these steps: 1. Switch to the Layout category in the Insert bar. 2. Select the Draw Layer icon, third from the left in the Layout category in the Insert bar. 3. Place your cursor on the page, click, hold, and drag out to draw the layer in the Document window. The layer is eventually created to look similar to the one created with the first method. The only difference is that by drawing a layer, you can set the initial dimensions to anything you want as opposed to setting them at the default 200 pixels by 115 pixels. We'll use this method, in conjunction with the Grid (explained later in the chapter) to draw layers when we build the table-less version of the Dorknozzle site. Inserting Content into Layers Inserting content into a layer is just as easy as it is to insert content into the cell of a table. To demonstrate this, I'll insert text into the first layer (the one at the top-left of the page) and insert an image into the second layer (the one on the center of the page). To insert text into the first layer, simply place your cursor into the layer and start typing the text Ada the Admin Assistant. Now let's insert Ada's headshot photograph into the second layer. To do this, drag the head_adatheadminassistant.gif image (located in the Images folder of our defined site in the Files panel) into the layer. When you've finished, the page will resemble Figure 11.4. Figure 11.4. Add text to the first layer and drag an image into the second layer. [View full size image]