DreamWeaver Setup

If you're not hand coding every line of your HTML, then chances are you're using DreamWeaver as your web authoring software. There are others out there, but Dreamweaver is the industry standard. Here is a quick look at how to properly setup your site in DreamWeaver for the best use. If you're using some other program and need help with proper configuration, let us know and we'll do our best to help. 

MasterPage Fix

First of all Dreamweaver won't visually render the the system MasterPages without some help. To help it along, you'll need to add the ".master" extension to the list of recognizable file types Dreamweaver likes. This is done in the configuration file MMDocumentTypes.xml within the Dreamweaver application files.
Mac Users can find this file here: 
Macintosh HD\Applications\Adobe Dreamweaver CS3\configuration\DocumentTypes\MMDocumentTypes.xml

Windows Users can find this file here: 
C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Adobe Dreamweaver CS3\Configuration\DocumentTypes\MMDocumentTypes.xml

On line 3 of the xml file, you'll see definitions for the winfileextension and the macfileextension. Within the properties of each of these, add "master" to the list. Save this change and restart Dreamweaver. Now you can render files with a ".master" extension. It's that simple. 


Site Setup

Next you're going to need to configure Dreamweaver to manage your site. The steps below detail the configuration for Local Info and Remote Info. Once these are setup, you should be good to go.


  1. Site Name - This is an internal reference, so it's completely up to you. We like to use the domain of the site for easy reference.
  2. Local Root Folder - This is where Dreamweaver will keep up with files related to your website on your local machine.
  3. Default Images Folder - This is where you keep your image files for the site you're working on. It's completely optional, but it does help Dreamweaver help you.
  4. Links Relative To - This helps Dreamweaver know how it should write links (and paths) in your HTML. Because the system actually pulls the MasterPage from your files and loads it at the root of the application when a page is called, linking relative to the document doesn't work. You want to go with "Site Root" here.
  5. HTTP Address - This is used in conjunction with the previous choice. It's important that you put in the full domain of your site (doesn't matter if it's "Live" yet) along with "/sitefiles/[siteid]". This helps Dreamweaver write paths appropriately to your local resources like stylesheets, images, flash files, etc.
  6. Case-senstive links - leave unchecked. Case-sensitive links aren't so big a deal anymore.
  7. Cache - leave checked. This will allow Dreamweaver automate changes for you and warn of link breakage if you move or edit files.

  1. Access - go with FTP here.
  2. FTP Host - this is the address Dreamweaver will use to find our FTP server. "apollo.sitewrench.com" is what you need here.
  3. Host Directory - this is the folder on the server Dreamweaver should start in. This should simply be your Site ID.
  4. Login - your FTP username.
  5. Password - your FTP password.
  6. Use Passive FTP - not required.
  7. Use IPv6 transfer mode - not required.
  8. Use firewall - not required.
  9. Use secure FTP (SFTP) - not required.
  10. Maintain synchronization information - not required, but a good practice.
  11. Automatically upload files to server on save - not required,
  12. Enable file check in and check out - not required.
That's it! You're ready to go.