Design View
Design View can be used for files that have been newly created in the Microsoft Script Editor or for files that have been opened in the editor from a disk or network server. To select Design View, click the Design tab at the bottom of the document window.
Design View provides a graphical environment within which you can design and edit Web documents. This WYSIWYG environment uses the customary drag-and-drop editing conventions to add, format, size, and position text, objects, and tables. When you select an element on a page, the Properties window displays the attributes that apply to the selected element. The Document Outline window enables you to navigate to specific objects within a document.
Note Design View displays only the body of a document—the portion between the <BODY></BODY> tags. Although you can edit some properties of the <HEAD>, such as <TITLE>, in the Properties window, you must switch to HTML View to edit most properties of the <HEAD>.
How Design View Differs from Viewing in a Web Browser
A document displayed in Design View differs from one displayed in a Web browser in these ways:
- The user can do drag-and-drop operations on HTML elements in Design View.
- Character and paragraph formatting can appear different (each Web browser implements some formatting differently).
- Hyperlinks are not functional.
- Client scripts do not run.
- Marquee elements do not scroll.
- Elements that support alternate text (such as images) do not display the alternate text in ToolTips when the pointer passes over them.
- Design View displays symbols for some elements, such as HTML comments or scripts, that are not normally visible in a Web browser.
To display the current document in your Web browser, right-click on the document in Design View and select View in Browser from the shortcut menu.
When you choose to show details, the following symbols represent invisible elements on your page.
| Symbol | Represents |
|---|---|
 |
HTML comment |
 |
Client-side <SCRIPT> block, or server-side script block in .asp page (<%%> or <SCRIPT RUNAT="Server">) |
 |
<STYLE> block |
 |
<DIV> tag |
 |
<SPAN> tag |
 |
<P> </P> (visible only in Linear Layout) |
 |
Unrecognized HTML tag |
 |
<FORM> tag |