Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 is a site creation and management tool, so you can use it to create complete websites, in addition to individual documents.

The first step in creating a website is planning. For best results, design and plan the structure of your website before you create any of the pages that the site will contain.

The next step is to set up Dreamweaver so that you can work on the basic structure of the site.

• About Dreamweaver sites
  
  
  • The local folder is your working directory. Dreamweaver refers to this folder as your "local site." This folder can be on your local machine or it can be on a network server. It is where you store the files you are working on for a Dreamweaver site.

    All you need to do to define a Dreamweaver site is set up a local folder. To transfer files to a web server or to develop web applications, you need to also add information for a remote site and testing server.

  • The remote folder is where you store your files, depending on your development environment, for testing, production, collaboration, and so on. Dreamweaver refers to this folder as your "remote site" in the Files panel. Typically, your remote folder is on the machine where your web server is running.

  Together, the local and remote folders enable you to transfer files between your local disk and web server; this makes it easy for you to manage files in your Dreamweaver sites.

  • The testing server folder is the folder where Dreamweaver processes dynamic pages.
    
    
• Setting up a new Dreamweaver site
  
  
  • Step One - you should define a site in Dreamweaver before you start developing. Setting up a Dreamweaver site is a way to organize all of the documents associated with a website.

    NOTE

    You can also edit files without setting up a Dreamweaver site.

    1. Select Site > Manage Sites.
       
       
    • The Manage Sites dialog box appears.
      
      
    2. Click the New button.
       
       
    • The Site Definition dialog box appears.
      
      
    3. Do one of the following:
       
       
    • Click the Basic tab to use the Site Definition Wizard, which steps you through the setup process.
    • Click the Advanced tab to use the Advanced settings, which enable you to set up local, remote, and testing folders individually, as necessary.

    --> 4. Complete the Dreamweaver site setup process:

• For the Site Definition Wizard, answer the questions on each screen, then click Next to advance through the setup process or click Back to return to a previous screen.
• For Advanced settings, complete the Local Info category, the RemoteInfo category, and the Testing Server category, as necessary.
  
  
• Editing existing websites in Dreamweaver
  
  
  • Steps to editing an existing local website:
    
    
    1. Select Site > Manage Sites.
       The Manage Sites dialog box appears.
    2. Click New.
       The Site Definition dialog box appears.
    3. Click the Advanced button, if the Advanced settings aren’t showing.
       The Advanced tab of the Site Definition dialog box displays the Local Info category options.
    4. Complete the dialog box.
       For more information, see Setting Local Info category options.
    5. Click OK.