Starting Dreamweaver 8 and Exploring the Workspace

In this tutorial, we will explore the Dreamweaver^R workspace in preparation for starting a new project. The workspace may seem intimidating at first glance but after we take a look around you will see that it is made up of easy-to-use controls.

Workspace Setup

Once you have installed Adobe^R Macromedia^R Dreamweaver 8 and open the program for the first time, the first thing you will see is the Workspace Setup dialog box which offers two choices for the type of layout you wish to use. The Coder layout is an advanced feature for those who wish to work with the raw HTML code. The Designer layout is a WYSIWYG editor which is a good choice if you are unfamiliar with Dreamweaver and creating webpages. We will use this layout for these beginning tutorials. Choose Designer and click OK.

Start Page

Next, you will see the Dreamweaver Start page. From this page, you can open an existing project or start a new project. You have several options for starting a new project. You can start with a new blank webpage, set up an integrated, multi-page website or create a new dynamic website with PHP, ASP or ColdFusion^R. You can also choose to start from prebuilt samples.

At the bottom, you will see a few useful links. The Dreamweaver Exchange link will take you to the Dreamweaver Exchange section on the Adobe website. This is where you can explore and download Dreamweaver extensions, custom tags, mini-scripts and other goodies to extend the features of Dreamweaver. These extension are created by the Dreamweaver community and vary greatly as to the what they can do. You can find an extension for just about any task you have in mind. Most of these are free and some, those with a buy icon, are reasonably priced. You can also upload your own Dreamweaver extensions to share with others.

Other useful links on the Start page include an online video tour of Dreamweaver, documentation in PDF and LiveDocs formats and training options such as courses, books, seminars and more.

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Adobe^R product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Adobe Systems Incorporated. Adobe^R, Bridge^R, Illustrator^R, InDesign^R, Photoshop^R, Photoshop^R Album^TM, Dreamweaver^R and Flash^R are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.

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