Dreamweaver 8 Setup
This is a guide to help people set up Dreamweaver 8 for connecting to
the University of Rochester webserver. Note that this guide is meant to assist both Macintosh users and Windows
users, and there are differences in the layout of the two versions.
Introduction
Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 is a professional HTML editor for designing, coding, and developing websites, web pages, and web applications. Whether you enjoy the control of hand-coding HTML or prefer to work in a visual editing environment, Dreamweaver provides you with helpful tools to enhance your web creation experience.
The visual editing features in Dreamweaver let you quickly create 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, then importing them directly into Dreamweaver.
Dreamweaver also provides a full-featured coding environment that includes code-editing tools and language reference material on Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), JavaScript, and ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML), among others.
Dreamweaver also enables you to build dynamic database-backed web applications using server technologies such as CFML, ASP.NET, ASP, JSP, and PHP.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.
Dreamweaver 8 includes Secure FTP (SFTP) capabilities, supporting the OpenSSH 3.5p1 protocol. It has been tested with the following Secure FTP servers:
- Macintosh OS X Server
- RedHat Linux SSH
- SSH Secure Shell
- SSH Secure Shell for Windows
- Van Dyke VShell Server for Windows
When Dreamweaver 8 is properly set up, it can automatically update links and put things in the right place. If you are using the University templates (more information available at http://www.rochester.edu/Manual/), then Dreamweaver 8 will automatically understand those and not remove them from the code like Netscape would at times.
Things you will need beforehand
- You will need a website on www.rochester.edu (or one of its subdomains, like www.econ.rochester.edu). If you do not have one and would like one for a class or department page, you can apply for one at http://www.rochester.edu/its/forms/ipa_database.html.
- You will need to know your password so you can log in.
- Dreamweaver 8.
- A place on your computer to keep all of the files you are working on.
Setup
The important thing to remember when you set Dreamweaver 8 up is that you will make the files stored on your computer the exact same way as they are online.
The first thing to do when you open up Dreamweaver 8 is to set it up to use your website. Like MX 2004, as you start the screen, which appears when no document is open, gives you quick access to recently used files, and help and tutorial resources. For example if you want to create a new HTML page, click HTML and a new page is opened up for you.
The first step is to copy the sample files from the Dreamweaver application folder to an appropriate folder on your hard disk.
- Create a new folder called local_sites on your hard disk and save as or under
C:\Documents and Settings\your_user_name\My Documents\local_sites
- Locate your folder in the Dreamweaver application folder on your hard disk.
- local and remote "root" folders: The local "root" folder of your Dreamweaver site is often the main or top-level folder for your website. It usually corresponds to an identical folder on the remote site (web server). The root folder also usually defines the first part of your website's URL, following the domain name. When you create a local site, you can place any existing assets 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.
- Copy your folder into the local_sites folder.
- Then Go to the Site menu and choose Manage Sites. A window will pop up, and in that window click on New and then Site.
Now we have to fill that window with all of the correct information. Click on the advanced tab and enter an informative name like "Department Webpage" in the Site Name box. For the box that says Local Root Folder, enter the folder on your computer that will hold your work. You can click on the folder icon to browse to it, and click choose when you are in the folder you want to use (on a PC) or when you have the folder you want to use highlighted (on a Mac). For HTTP Address, enter the address of your website. If your homepage is http://www.econ.rochester.edu, you would fill the box with http://www.econ.rochester.edu. Or, if your homepage is at http://www.rochester.edu/ats/Documentation/Dreamweaver, you would put that address in the window. Do not type a file name after the address, such as http://www.rochester.edu/index.html.
Now you will have to tell Dreamweaver where the FTP server is. This is the server you connect to to put your files online. Click on the Category named Remote Info. Change the drop-down menu that says Access: to FTP. For FTP Host, type in www-ftp.rochester.edu. Leave the Host Directory box blank, we will fill that in later. Fill the Login box with your login name, and leave the Password box blank. Saving your password on your machine is a dangerous idea, and can allow other people to use your accounts.
Host directory is the location on the development server where your web pages are uploaded to. This is slightly different than the HTTP address. The host directory will always start with /usr/cwis/data/. Next, if your HTTP address starts with www.rochester.edu, type www-data/, otherwise, type the name of your department's data directory. Last, type the names of the directories leading to the directory that you want to edit. For this web page, I would add its/web/WebHelp/Dreamweaver/. If you have used a Secure FTP client, you may already know where your host directory is.While selecting your host directory make sure that you are the owner (or group owner) of the host directory. This means that you should have permissions to create and delete a folder in your host directory. If you do not have the appropriate permissions then Dreamweaver throws the following error Dreamweaver cannot determine the remote server time. The Select Newer and Syncronize commands will not be available. As a result the files on your local machine and on the server will not be syncronized and hence you might end up working on an old copy of the file.
Check the Use Secure FTP (SFTP) check box.
Now, click on the Ok button to save and close your settings. Click Done then click on the Connect button under the Files section. Give your password when prompted, and all of the online pages should appear. If they don't, check your settings and try again.
You should now be ready to update the web pages on your website.
Adding files and folders to your site
Make sure the Files window is open and Local view is selected. If you can’t see the files window, go to the Window menu and select Files.
Right-click the green Site folder and select New File. Name the untitled.htm file "index.htm". It is important to have an index file in each folder.
Next, add a new folder: Right-click on the green Site folder and select New Folder. Give the untitled folder a name.
Make sure the new folder is selected. Right-click the new folder and select New File. Rename the untitled file "index.htm". Additional pages in the same folder should be given different file names that are related to the topic or contents. |
