6 Steps for working with Dreamweaver

1 If you haven't already done so, create and name a folder on your disk (using Windows Explorer (Windows) or the Finder (Macintosh) that will be used as the local root folder. Each site must have a separate local root folder.

Note: Do not use the Dreamweaver application folder as the local root folder.

2 Start Dreamweaver. Create a new document or open an existing one and save it in the new local root folder with the file name index.html. This file will be the home page of your site. (Check with your Internet service provider or your system administrator to be sure index.html is the correct file name to use. Some servers may require that the home page for the site be named index.htm or default.htm.) Don't worry about the contents of the file, you can change what's in the file later.

3 Choose Site > New Site.
In the Site Definition dialog box that appears, the Local Info category is selected.

4 Enter the following options:
In the Site Name field, enter a name for the site. The site name appears in the Site window and on the Site > Open Site submenu. Use any name you like since it will not appear in the browser and is only for your reference.

In the Local Root Folder field, specify the folder on your local disk that will contain all the files and folders for your site. Click the folder icon to browse to and select the folder.

Select the Refresh Local File List Automatically option if it isn't already selected. This indicates that Dreamweaver should automatically refresh the local file list every time you copy files into your local site.

In the HTTP Address field, enter the URL that your remote Web site will use, so that Dreamweaver can verify links within your site. For example, the URL for the Macromedia Web site is http://www.macromedia.com.

Select the Enable Cache option if it's not already selected. A site cache improves the speed of Dreamweaver for link and site management and lets you use the Assets panel. (For more information about the Assets panel, see the Dreamweaver documentation.) Unless you have a very large site, leave this option selected.

5 Click OK.
Dreamweaver creates a site cache.

6 If the Site window doesn't appear, choose Site > Site Files.
The Site window appears. The Site window provides two visual representations of your site (Site Map and Site Files) and can be used to open, add, and delete files. For more information about the site window and site management, see the Dreamweaver documentation.

You can now proceed to create your Web site. To modify the index.html file, double-click the file in the Site window. It opens in a Document window, where you can edit it.
If you right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) on your new index.html file, then select Set As Homepage, you can specify that index.html is the default home page. This lets you create site maps in Dreamweaver.
When you're ready to publish the site on a remote server, you will need to add information about the remote site.