Editing HTML in Dreamweaver > Editing an HTML tag in the Design view

Editing an HTML tag in the Design view

Use the Quick Tag Editor to quickly inspect and edit the HTML source of a single tag from within the Design view, without having to switch to the Code view and back again. The easiest way to open the Quick Tag Editor is to press Control+T (Windows) or Command+T (Macintosh).

The Quick Tag Editor has three modes:

	Insert HTML, used to insert new HTML code
	Edit Tag, used to edit an existing tag
	Wrap Tag, used to wrap a new tag around the current selection

The current selection in the Design view determines the mode in which the Quick Tag Editor opens. In all three modes, the basic operation of the Quick Tag Editor is the same: you open the editor, enter or edit tags and attributes, and then close the editor.

If you use any invalid HTML in the Quick Tag Editor, Dreamweaver attempts to correct it for you by inserting closing quotation marks and closing angle brackets where needed.

To perform more extensive HTML editing, use the Code view (or Code inspector).

To open the Quick Tag editor in Insert HTML mode:

1	Click in the Design view to place the insertion point where you want to insert code.
2	Press Control+T (Windows) or Command+T (Macintosh), or click the Quick Tag Editor button in the Property inspector.
	The Quick Tag Editor opens.
3	Enter the HTML tag, then press Enter.
	The tag is inserted into your code. Press Esc to exit without making any changes.

To open the Quick Tag editor in Edit Tag mode:

1	Select the text or object that you are editing in the Design view.
	You can also select the tag you want to edit from the tag selector at the bottom of the Document window.
2	Press Control+T (Windows) or Command+T (Macintosh), or click the Quick Tag Editor button in the Property inspector.
	The Quick Tag Editor opens.
3	Enter new attributes, edit existing attributes, or edit the tag's name; then press Enter.
	The edited tag is inserted into your code. Press Esc to exit without making any changes.

To open the Quick Tag Editor in Wrap Tag mode:

1	Select unformatted text or an object.
	If you select text or an object that includes an opening or closing HTML tag, the Quick Tag Editor will open in Edit Tag mode.
2	Press Control+T (Windows) or Command+T (Macintosh), or click the Quick Tag Editor button in the Property inspector.
	The Quick Tag Editor opens.
3	Enter a single opening tag, such as <font="verdana">, and press Enter.
	The tag is inserted at the beginning of the current selection, and a matching closing tag is inserted at the end. Press Esc to exit without making any changes.

To apply your changes immediately:

After editing a tag, press Tab or Shift+Tab. The change you made is applied immediately, rather than when you exit the Quick Tag Editor.

If you want to prevent this behavior, deselect the Apply Changes Immediately While Editing option in Quick Tag Editor preferences. (See Setting Quick Tag Editor preferences.)

Note: When the Apply Changes Immediately While Editing option is deselected, multiple changes that you apply at once appear as a single step in the History panel and are undone with a single Undo operation.

To cycle through the Quick Tag Editor's modes:

With the Quick Tag Editor active, press Control+T (Windows) or Command+T (Macintosh).

The Quick Tag Editor changes modes each time you use the keyboard shortcut, cycling among Insert HTML mode, Edit Tag mode, and Wrap Tag mode.

To move the Quick Tag Editor on the screen:

Drag the editor's handle (where the mode name appears).