Adobe Dreamweaver Remote Site Setup

Html

The Remote Info tab of the Dreamweaver Site Setup dialog box allows you to supply details of the remote web server. This will be used by Dreamweaver to connect to the server hosting the site so that information can be uploaded and downloaded. For internet sites, Dreamweaver uses file transfer protocol (FTP) to connect to the server, as shown in the QuickTime example. For intranets and sites being developed on a local server, the Local/Network option is used.

The FTP host is simply the host name or IP address of the FTP server associated with your domain. The name usually takes the form ftp.yoursite.com or www.yoursite.com. If in doubt, consult your internet service provider (ISP).

Host Directory is the name of the directory on the web server in which internet files need to be uploaded if they are to be visible on the web. Check with you ISP to see whether files should be uploaded to the root directory or into a sub-directory.

The next section allows you to enter the login and password which have been allocated to allow you FTP access to the server hosting your site. Note that Dreamweaver activates the save password option. If you think this is a security risk then click the checkbox to deactivate this option. Again, this information will be available from your ISP.

The machine on which you are running Dreamweaver may use a firewall to block access to their intranets and to control how their own workers access the Internet. If you or your company uses a firewall then you must enter the relevant information in Preferences. Once you have done so, the Use Firewall option will be automatically selected. If your company uses a firewall, check with your network administrator to see whether it uses passive FTP, a system whereby the FTP connection is initiated by the client rather than the server.

Dreamweaver's Check-in/Out facility should be used when several team members are working in collaboration on the same site. When a team member is working on a particular file, Dreamweaver will place a check mark next to the file in the remote listing in site files view as well as the name and email of the person editing the file, so other users can email him or her. If you activate this option, you must enter your name and email in the appropriate boxes.

You can find out more about Dreamweaver training courses, visit Macresource Computer Training, an independent computer training company offering Dreamweaver Classes at their central London training centre.

Html

Dynamic Website Development With Adobe Dreamweaver Server Behaviors

Adobe Dreamweaver is one of the best visual web development tools around and one of the most widely used. It allows both experienced and inexperienced developers to build standards-compliant web sites without having to become fully conversant with all of the underlying technologies. On the client-side, it contains tools for adding sophisticated JavaScript and Ajax functionality. On the server-side, it allows for easy connection to data sources and has visual tools for creating data-driven search and results pages.

Dreamweaver offers the developer a choice of five scripting languages: ASP, ASP.NET, PHP, JSP and ColdFusion. This is specified as part of the site definition process: in the "Testing Server" category, the user must enter the parameters which will enable Dreamweaver to connect to a server which has the necessary scripting software. Either a local or remote server can be used.

The server-side development tools offered by Dreamweaver are very much the same, regardless of the scripting language chosen. First, you are able to connect to a data source which can be a database server such as Microsoft SQL Server or MySQL, or a desktop database file such as an Access database.

Having connected to your data source, you can retrieve a set of data, using a SQL command. Dreamweaver offers a limited amount of help in building the SQL statement but the developer will need to acquire a basic knowledge of SQL syntax in order to retrieve the required data.

Dreamweaver then allows you to populate the page with elements from the dataset using simple drag and drop and other visual techniques. A number of useful "server behaviors" are also available to add functionality to the page. For example, the "Repeat Region" server behavior will automatically repeat a given page item (such as a DIV or table row) as many times as there are records in a dataset.

Similarly, a "Recordset Navigation Bar" can be automatically inserted which will contain link to the first, last, next and previous pages of search results. The code generated by the server behavior will also cause the correct links to be visible or hidden; thus, for example, the first and previous links will not be visible when the first page of results is being displayed.

Because Dreamweaver's legendary ease of use applies equally to client-side and server-side development, making the transition to building dynamic, data-driven web sites can be a fairly painless process, even for inexperienced web developers.

To learn more about Dreamweaver training courses, visit Macresource Computer Training, a UK IT training company offering Dreamweaver training courses at their central London training centre.

Adobe Dreamweaver’s Very Useful Document Toolbar

Dreamwaver has a huge arsenal of floating palettes known as panels. Some of these contain options that are duplicated both in the main and context menus or which can be accessed with keyboard shortcuts. You will therefore find that you do not need to keep all of Dreamweaver's panels open.

As a new Dreamweaver user, the first document view keyboard shortcut you should learn is F4. This is the shortcut for Window - Hide/Show Panels (or View - Hide/Show Panels). This very useful toggle causes all of Dreamweaver's panels to disappear or reappear at their original positions.

Most of the options for showing, hiding and manipulating the various panels are to be found in the Window menu. However, in addition to the panels, Dreamweaver has two other tools palettes which are referred to as toolbars. One of these, the Document toolbar, is normally displayed at the document window. To make this toolbar visible, choose View-Toolbars-Document.

The first three icons on the Document toolbar are perhaps the most frequently used: Code, Split and Design views. The document title box is used to set the title which will appear in the title bar of the user's browser (as opposed to the document's file name). The file management pop-up menu contains options for uploading and downloading the document as well as commands to be used when working in collaboration. (These options are also available in the Site menu.) The browser preview pop-up menu allows you to preview your page in any of the browsers you specify using the Edit Browser List command.

Dreamweaver's document toolbar is only visible if you are working in document view. To be working in document view simply means to be editing an HTML, or other, document. If you are not in document view then you are normally working in the Files panel. There are three ways of entering document view from Files view.

1. Open an HTML document by double-clicking its name or by choosing File - Open.

Secondly, you can create a new blank file by choosing File - New.

3. Activate a document which is already open by clicking its button in the Windows Taskbar or by choosing its name from the bottom of the Window menu.

You can find out more about Web development training courses, visit Training Company . Com, a Computer training website offering Dreamweaver training courses at their central London training centre.

Testing A Website In Adobe Dreamweaver CS4

Whenever you build a new website, you can almost guarantee that you will make mistakes and that there will be errors within the site that need to be fixed before it goes live. Adobe Dreamweaver has a number of tools for helping you to locate such errors and correct them. The program allows you to perform browser compatibility checks, locate broken links, orphaned files and locate syntax errors within your code.

Site testing is an ongoing process: it should be an integral part of building a web site rather than an isolated step which is performed after the site has been built. Every page that forms part of the site should function correctly in all its aspects in all of the browsers which the site is designed for. Using Adobe Dreamweaver's various reports is a great way of ensuring that your site is error-free.

One of the first things you should do is to preview your pages in as many browsers as possible. Dreamweaver's Preview in Browser feature allows you to set up primary and secondary browsers and then add as many other browsers as you like. Each time you choose File - Preview In Browser, you can choose any of the browsers you have configured. You should also try to preview your web pages both on PCs and Macs. This multi-browser testing is particular important for testing that CSS and JavaScript is functioning correctly. What works well in one browser does not always work in another.

It is also important to check both the text and the markup of each page. A simple omission made by many web developers is to check spelling. Naturally, this can be done in a word-processor such as Microsoft Word, prior to bringing the text into Dreamweaver. However, even in this scenario, it is quite typical to make further changes to your text within Dreamweaver. It is always a good idea, therefore, to run the spell-checker on every page. In Design mode, simply choose Check Spelling from The Command menu.

Then there is the question of broken links. These are, if nothing else, a potential cause of annoyance to your website visitor. Dreamweaver's Link Checker will look for any links to pages that do not exist as well as locating orphaned pages; i.e., pages that do not have any links pointing to them and which will therefore not be found by your website visitors. To access Dreamweaver's Link Checker, choose Check Links Sitewide from the Site menu.

If you would like to learn more about Web development training courses, visit Training Company . Com, a Computer training website offering Dreamweaver training courses in London and throughout the UK.