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Defining a Local Site in Adobe Dreamweaver
About defining a local site
While you can use Dreamweaver to create and edit individual web pages, to access much of Dreamweaver's functionality you must define a local site.
When working with web sites, you usually create and keep a local copy of the site, either on a local hard drive or on a network drive. You edit and test this local version before uploading files to the live web server. This local copy is a mirror image of what is on the web server.
When defining a local site you must create or locate a local root folder. This folder, which can be named anything you like, contains all the files in your site.
If you have an existing web site sitting on a server, you can create a new local root folder then use Dreamweaver to download a copy of your site into that folder. You can also create a new local root folder and build a site from scratch, adding in files as you go.
Creating a Local Site
You can create a local site two ways:
- In the Welcome screen, click the Dreamweaver Site button in the Create New column.
- Go to Site > New Site.
You can then enter options in the Site Setup window.
Site Setup
To begin working on a website in Dreamweaver, you simply need to enter a Site Name and choose a Local Site folder in the Site category of the site setup window.
The Site Name is for your reference only within Dreamweaver.
The Local Site Folder can be an existing folder, or you can create a new folder. Click the folder icon to locate or create your local folder.
The Servers category of the Site Setup window is where you specify remote and testing servers to upload files to. This is often an FTP server. These settings are covered later in the course and do not have to be entered to begin working on a site.
The Advanced Settings in the Site Setup window allow you to set preferences for each site that determine how Dreamweaver works with it. Some of these settings will be covered as needed. All should be left to default settings unless a particular functionality is required.
Learn more by registering into the Dreamweaver Level 1, 2-day training course delivered by Alpha Computer Consultants www.alphacc.com.au.
