Why do we have to define a site in Dreamweaver before creating our web pages?
We have to define a site in Dreamweaver before creating web pages so the program can keep
track of the links between web pages and dependent files. In the site definition process we
create a root folder for the site and save all the files for the website in that folder. We should
create a folder inside the root folder to store all the images used on the site. You can also
create folders to store CSS files, templates, and other special files. The home page, which is
always named index.htm, or index.html, is also stored in the root folder, never in one of the
subfolders.
Site Definition in Dreamweaver 8 – Step 1
1. Select Site > New Site from the
menu bar at the top of the
Dreamweaver workspace.
2. The first Site Definition dialog
box opens.
Tip: You can also define a new site
by selecting Manage Sites from the
menu in the Files panel group on
the left side of the Dreamweaver
workspace.
Site Definition – Step 2
1. Think of a catchy name for your
site and type it in the text box. The
site name may contain spaces.
2. The HTTP address or URL of your
site at ACC always begins with
http://www.austincc.edu.
3. After “edu,” type a forward slash
(/), followed by the user name or
login id assigned to you by ACC Web
Services. The URL of my ACC
website is:
http://www.austincc.edu/jdclark .
4. Click Next. The third Site
Definition screen opens.
Site Definition – Step 3
1. You are not going to work with a
server technology such as ASP or PHP,
so make sure the “No” button is selected.
2. Click “Next” to open the next Site
Definition screen.
Site Definition – Step 4
1. In this step we tell Dreamweaver the
name of the root folder of our site. This is
the folder in which we are going to store
all the files for our site. Navigate to this
folder and click the “Open” button at the
bottom of the dialog box.
2. Click Next. Dreamweaver will ask you
where you are going to store the images
for your website.
Site Definition – Step 5
1. If you have not already created a folder
named “images,” create one now.
2. Select the images folder and click
Next.
Site Definition – Step 6
1. The next screen will ask you how you
want to work with your files during
development. Select the first option,
because you are going to create your files
and edit them, and then upload them to
the ACC server.
2. In the next text box, browse for the
folder you created to store your files in
and select it. The complete path from the
drive on which your files are stored should
now display.
Example: C:\My
Documents\sallyswebsite\
3. Click Next to begin step 7.
Site Definition – Step 7
In this step of the process we are going to
tell Dreamweaver how we connect to the
ACC server, the FTP address of the Web
server, the folder on the server where our
web files will be stored, and our login and
password.
1. Click the black arrow to the right of the
first message box and select FTP.
2. The FTP address is the same for all
faculty and staff web pages. Type
www.austincc.edu.
3. Our website are always stored in the
public_html folder on the server.
4. In the next two boxes type your login
and password.
5. Test the connection if you wish, but it
isn’t necessary. Click Next.
Site Definition – Step 8
The next screen asks if you want to check
in and check out files. Sometimes when a
team of web designers are developing a
web site they use this feature which
prevents more than one person working
on the same web page at the same time.
1. Click “No, do not enable check in and
check out.”
2. Click Next to complete the Site
Definition process.
Site Definition – Step 9
The last Site Definition screen
shows you the name of your
website, where your files are stored,
and the URL of the ACC website.
Click Done to close the Site
Definition dialog boxes.
Site Definition – Step 10
This screen shot shows the Files panel
which displays on the right side of the
Dreamweaver workspace. At this stage
the only items that will display are the
toplevel,
or root folder and the images
folder. When you create your
index.htm/html file, or home page, it will
display in the list of files.
Congratulations! You are now ready to
create your home page.
