Creating Your First Web Site

Creating a Local Site

You define a web site using the Site Definition wizard. When defining the site, it isn't necessary to specify the remote settings for uploading your files; however, you will need to enter these settings before you can publish the site.

1. Open the Site menu and select Manage Sites, or click the Manage Sites link on the Files panel.

The Manage Sites dialog opens.

2. Click the New button and select Site from the menu that appears.

Tip:

You can also create a new site from the Dreamweaver Start page: Under Create New, select Dreamweaver Site.

The Site Definition wizard opens. The Basic tab leads you through the site definition process step-by-step; the Advanced tab lets you specify advanced settings.

3. With the Basic tab active, enter a name for your site. This name won't appear in the web browser window when the site is published, so it can be anything you like.

4. Click Next.

5. You can use Dreamweaver to create complex web sites that use advanced server technologies like ASP (Active Server Pages) and ColdFusion. However, this tutorial will focus on designing a basic web site using HTML. Select No, I Do Not Want To Use A Server Technology, then click Next.

6. In the next screen, select Edit local copies on my machine, then upload to server when ready (recommended), and then specify the location on your hard drive where your site files should be saved. You can click the folder icon to browse to the location.

Tip:

While you can edit site files directly on the server, it's generally better to edit them locally, especially if you have a slow connection speed.

7. Click Next.
8. The final screen lets you specify how you will connect to the remote server, and the location on the server where your site files will reside. If you have remote server information, enter it now; otherwise, select None.

Tip:

If you select None, you can enter this information later by selecting Manage Sites from the drop-down menu on the Files panel. In the Manage Sites dialog, click the Edit button. This reopens the Site Definition wizard.

9. Click Next.

A summary screen displays the site information you specified.

10. Click Done.

The Files panel now displays the root folder for the site you defined.