How to Make a Website With Macromedia Dreamweaver 8

Create a professional website with Dreamweaver 8.

Use Adobe Dreamweaver 8 web development software to design, code and launch your website. Dreamweaver contains the necessary code, style, script and layout functionalities you need to make a professional website without in-depth knowledge of HTML or PHP code. Although these skills are necessary to build more advanced websites, they are not necessary in all circumstances, as Dreamweaver provides a "What You See Is What You Get" (WYSIWYG) interface that allows you to insert design and layout objects without creating new code yourself. To upload your site to the Web, you must own a domain and pay for Web hosting.

Instructions

1. Create a root directory for your website on your computer hard drive or local server. This folder will contain every element of your website. Give it a descriptive title, preferably one that matches the name of your new website. Do not use spaces in the title.

2. Make a new folder under the root directory of the website and name it "images" (no capitalization.) Store all your graphics, logos, background images and website photos here.

3. Open Adobe Dreamweaver and navigate to "Site -> New Site" command on the menu toolbar. Select the "Advanced" tab and click the "Local Info" category on the left side of the dialog box.

   Under "Site Name" give your website a descriptive title. This can be anything you choose. Locate the root directory on your computer in the "Local Root Folder" field and insert the file path of the images folder in the "Default Images Folder" field.

   Type your web domain URL in the "HTTP" address field. It should look something like this: http://www.mynewsite.com.

4. Select the "Remote Info" category on the left of the dialog box. Specify "FTP" under the "Access" menu and insert the name of your web domain without the "http://www." prefix.

   Plug your login name and password of your web domain in the appropriate fields and click "Test" to make sure Dreamweaver can connect to the remote server.

5. Choose "File -> New" from the menu toolbar to create the home page and any subsequent web pages. Always name the home page "index" with the proper extension. For example, if you choose an HTML page, save it as "index.html."

6. Insert design objects using the "Common" and "Layout" tabs found at the top of the workspace. You can add images, buttons, tables and other graphic elements.

7. Paste text into the appropriate locations in the web page. Dreamweaver is not a text editor, so use an external editor, such as Microsoft Word, to type your text before copying and pasting it into Dreamweaver.

8. Use the "Properties" tab at the bottom of the workspace to define page preferences. You can specify a default font, font size, background color, background image, link colors and much more.

9. Upload your website to the remote server when you're finished editing. Select "Window -> Files" from the menu toolbar to open the Files category to the right of the workspace. The root directory folder is listed at the top of the pane. Right-click this folder and select "Put" to upload your website.

References

• Mark Fletcher, Adobe Dreamweaver Specialist: Getting Started with Dreamweaver