Web server basics
A web server is software that serves web pages in response to requests from web browsers. A web server is sometimes called an HTTP server.
Suppose you use IIS to develop web applications. The default name of your web server is the name of your computer. You can change the server name by changing the name of your computer. If your computer has no name, the server uses the word localhost.
The server name corresponds to the server’s root folder, which (on a Windows computer) is most likely C:\Inetpub\wwwroot. You can open any web page stored in the root folder by entering the following URL in a browser running on your computer:
http://your_server_name/your_file_name
For example, if the server name is mer_noire and a web page called soleil.html is stored in C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\, you can open the page by entering the following URL in a browser running on the local computer:
http://mer_noire/soleil.html Read More...

Troubleshoot the remote folder setup (optional)
A web server can be configured in many ways. The following list provides information about some common issues you may encounter in setting up a remote folder, and how to resolve them:
• The Dreamweaver FTP implementation may not work properly with certain proxy servers, multilevel firewalls, and other forms of indirect server access.
If you encounter problems with FTP access, ask your local system administrator for help.
• For the Dreamweaver FTP implementation, you must connect to the remote system’s root folder. (In many applications, you can connect to any remote directory, and then navigate through the remote file system to find the directory you want.)
Be sure that you indicate the remote system’s root folder as the host directory.
If you have problems connecting, and you’ve specified the host directory using a single slash (/), you might need to specify a relative path from the directory you are connecting to and the remote root folder.
For example, if the remote root folder is a higher-level directory, you may need to use ../../ to specify the host directory.
• File and folder names that contain spaces and special characters often cause problems when transferred to a remote site.
Use underscores in place of spaces, and avoid special characters in file and folder names wherever possible. In particular, colons (:), slashes (/), periods (.), and apostrophes (‘) in file or folder names can cause problems. Special characters in file or folder names may also sometimes prevent Dreamweaver from creating a site map.
• If you encounter problems with long filenames, rename them with shorter names. On Macintosh, filenames cannot be more than 31 characters long.
• Many servers use symbolic links (UNIX), shortcuts (Windows), or aliases (Macintosh) to connect a folder on one part of the server’s disk with another folder elsewhere.
For example, the public_html subdirectory of your home directory on the server may really be a link to another part of the server entirely. In most cases, such aliases have no effect on your ability to connect to the appropriate folder or directory; however, if you can connect to one part of the server but not to another, there may be an alias discrepancy.
• If you encounter an error message such as "cannot put file," your remote folder may be out of space. For more detailed information, look at the FTP log. Read More...

Insert images
After you create your page layout, you are ready to add assets to the page. You’ll start by adding images. You can use several methods to add images to a web page in Dreamweaver. In this section, you’ll add four different images to the index page for Cafe Townsend, using various methods. Read More...

Set up your project files
When you create a local site, you can place any existing assets (images or other pieces of content) in the local site’s root folder (the main folder for the site). Then when you’re ready to add content to your pages, the assets are there and ready for you to use.
The sample files included with Dreamweaver contain assets for the sample website you’ll build using these Getting Started with Dreamweaver tutorials. The first step in creating the site is to copy the sample files from the Dreamweaver application folder to an appropriate folder on your hard disk.
1. Create a new folder called local_sites on your hard disk.
For example, create a folder called local_sites in either of the following two locations:
o In Windows: C:\Documents and Settings\your_user_name\My Documents\local_sites
o On the Macintosh: Macintosh HD/Users/your_user_name/Documents/local_sites Read More...

Tutorial: Setting Up Your Site and Project Files
This tutorial introduces you to the concept of a Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 site and shows you how to set up the project files for the Cafe Townsend sample website. In Dreamweaver, a site generally consists of two parts: a collection of files on a local computer (the local site), and a location on a remote web server that you upload the files to when you’re ready to make them publicly available (the remote site). You use the Dreamweaver Files panel to manage the files for your site.
The most common approach to creating a website with Dreamweaver is to create and edit pages on your local disk, and then upload copies of those pages to a remote web server for viewing on the web. In this tutorial you’ll only learn how to set up the local site so that you can begin building web pages right away. Later, after you’ve completed the website, you’ll learn how to create a remote site so that you can upload your files to a web server. Read More...

Hiding and displaying the Start page
The Dreamweaver Start page appears when you start Dreamweaver and anytime that you do not have any documents open. You can choose to hide the Start page, and then later display it again. When the Start page is hidden and there are no documents open, the Document window is blank.
To hide the Start page:
• Select the Don’t Show Again checkbox on the Start page.
The Start page will not appear when you start Dreamweaver, or after you open and close a document.
To display the Start page:
1. Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
The Preferences dialog box appears displaying the General preferences category.
2. Select the Show Start Page checkbox.
The Start page appears when you start Dreamweaver, or after you open and close a document. Read More...

Displaying tabbed documents (Macintosh)
On the Macintosh, Dreamweaver can display multiple documents in a single Document window by using tabs to identify each document. Dreamweaver can also display them as part of a floating workspace, in which each document appears in its own window.
To open a tabbed document in a separate window:
• Right-click or Control-click the tab and select Move to New Window from the context menu.
To combine separate documents into tabbed windows:
• Select Window > Combine as Tabs.
To change the default tabbed document setting:
1. Select Dreamweaver > Preferences, and then select the General category.
2. Select or deselect Open Documents in Tabs, and click OK. Read More...

In Windows, you can choose between the Designer and Coder workspace layouts. The first time you start Dreamweaver, a dialog box lets you choose a workspace layout. You can switch to a different workspace at any time.
To choose a workspace layout the first time you start Dreamweaver:
1. Select one of the following layouts:
Designer is an integrated workspace using MDI (Multiple Document Interface), in which all Document windows and panels are integrated into one larger application window, with the panel groups docked on the right.
Coder is the same integrated workspace, but with the panel groups docked on the left, in a layout similar to that used by Macromedia HomeSite and Macromedia ColdFusion Studio, and with the Document window showing Code view by default.
NOTE You can dock panel groups on either side of the workspace in either layout.
2. Click OK.
To switch to a different workspace after you’ve chosen one:
• Select Window > Workspace Layout, and select the workspace layout you prefer.
In addition to selecting Coder and Designer, you can select Dual Screen Right or Dual Screen Left. If you have a secondary monitor to the right of your primary monitor, Dual Screen Right puts all panels on the right monitor, and keeps the Document window on the primary monitor. If you have a secondary monitor to the left of your primary monitor, Dual Screen Left puts all panels on the left monitor, and keeps the Document window on the primary monitor. Read More...

The following typographical conventions are used in this guide:
• Menu items are shown in this format: menu name > menu item name. Items in submenus are shown in this format: menu name > submenu name > menu item name.
• Code font indicates HTML tag and attribute names as well as literal text used in examples.
• Italic code font indicates replaceable items (sometimes called metasymbols) in code.
• Bold roman text indicates text that you enter verbatim Read More...

1. Insert the Dreamweaver CD into your computer’s CD-ROM drive.
2. Do one of the following:
o In Windows, the Dreamweaver installation program starts automatically.
o In Macintosh, double-click the Dreamweaver installer icon that appears on the desktop.
3. Follow the onscreen instructions.
The installation program prompts you to enter the required information.
4. If prompted to do so, restart your computer. Read More...

What's new in Dreamweaver 8
Dreamweaver 8 includes many new features that help you build websites and applications with a minimal amount of time and effort. Dreamweaver makes complex technologies simple and accessible, helping you accomplish more in less time.
Following are a few of the key new features in Dreamweaver 8:
• Zoom tool and guides
• Visual XML data binding
• New CSS Styles panel
• CSS layout visualization
• Code collapse
• Coding toolbar
• Background file transfer
• Insert Flash Video command Read More...

The visual editing features in Dreamweaver let you quickly create web pages without writing a line of code. You can view all your site elements or assets and drag them from an easy-to-use panel directly into a document. You can streamline your development workflow by creating and editing images in Macromedia Fireworks or another graphics application, and then import them directly into Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver also provides tools that make it easy to add Flash assets to web pages.
In addition to drag-and-drop features that help you build web pages, Dreamweaver provides a full-featured coding environment that includes code-editing tools (such as code coloring, tag completion, a coding toolbar, and code collapse) and language reference material on Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), JavaScript, ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML), and other languages. Macromedia Roundtrip HTML technology imports your hand-coded HTML documents without reformatting the code; you can then reformat code with your preferred formatting style.
Dreamweaver also lets you build dynamic, database-driven web applications using server technologies such as CFML, ASP.NET, ASP, JSP, and PHP. If your preference is for working with XML data, Dreamweaver provides tools that let you easily create XSLT pages, attach XML files, and display XML data on your web pages.
Dreamweaver is fully customizable. You can create your own objects and commands, modify keyboard shortcuts, and even write JavaScript code to extend Dreamweaver capabilities with new behaviors, Property inspectors, and site reports. Read More...