We will create a div for these 2 areas combined called ‘middle’ and then individual divs for the submenu area called ‘submenu’ and the content area called ‘content’ within the larger ‘middle’ div.

The ‘middle’ div:

• Place the cursor after the ‘menu’ div
• Insert > Layout objects > Div Tag > ID: middle
• Click the ‘New CSS Rule’ button > Click OK
• CSS Rule Definition for # middle:
  • Box > Width: 100%
  • Click OK
• Insert Div Tag screen > Click OK

The ‘submenu’ div:

•  Delete the default text in the ‘middle’ div “Content for id “middle” Goes Here”
• Make sure your cursor is still within the ‘middle’ div tag.
• Insert a div called ‘submenu’
• In the Rule definition for #submenu specify the following:
  • Box > Width: 25%
  • Box > Float: left

The ‘content’ div

• Position the cursor after the ‘submenu’ div.
• Make sure your cursor is still within the ‘middle’ div tag.
• Insert a div called ‘content’
• In the Rule definition for #content specify the following:
  • Box > Width: 75%
  • Box > Float: left

The ‘submenu’ and ‘content’ divs will appear side by side.

We will work on the submenu area later. The content in the content area will differ from page to page so we will make this a Dreamweaver Editable Region in the next step.

You will notice that the default font used is Times New Roman which does not look very nice on the web.

We can change this default font by editing the redefined ‘body’ tag within our styles.css stylesheet.

• Open the CSS Panel [Window > CSS Styles]
• Select the ‘body’ style and right click > Select ‘Edit’
  
• In the ‘CSS Rule Definition for body’ screen select ‘Type’ and specify the font-family ‘Arial, Helvetica, sans serif’ and the font-size 14 px. Click OK.
  

You will see that the fonts change for all the text on th page.

The ‘footer’ div

Now let us complete the basic layout by creating the footer area as well.

• Make sure your cursor is right after the ‘middle’ div
• Create a new div called footer
• Give the #footer style rule the following properties:
  • Box > Width: 100%
  • Box > Height: 33 px
  • Box > Clear: both
  • Block > Text align: Right
  • Background> Background-image: footer-bg.jpg
  • Type > Color: #FFF
  • Click OK
• In the document window you will see the ‘footer’ area with the background image and other properties specified in the stylesheet.
• Replace the default footer div text ‘Content for id “footer” Goes Here’ with ‘© 2009 Company Name. All Rights Reserved.’

Your basic layout template is ready.

Save your template and styles.css stylesheet. [File > Save All]