01 - Defining Your Dreamweaver 8 Website

To make a web site, there are a few things you must do before commencing work on the web pages.  The first is to make folders in which your website will sit. The importance of this cannot be ignored, or your web and the pictures within it may loose themselves cyberspace. 

The first folder is the Root folder, and it is this folder that the World Wide Web hunts out to link pictures and HTML pages to.  If you don’t follow this important file management protocol you will find yourself in a mess right from the start.

• Open Vista/Windows Explorer by tapping Windows Key + E.
• Open the drive where the website will be stored.
• Right-click in the drive, and select New.
• Create a folder called: My Website
• Open the My Website folder
• Right-click inside the folder and create a folder called images

If you are going to use cascading style sheets or templates, you could also create two more folders: css and templates.  This depends on how ambitious you are going to be and how much you know about Dreamweaver 8.  However, initially, My Website and the images folder will be enough.

Load Dreamweaver 8.  Click OK on the opening screen.  If you have other programs open this may default behind them so it this doesn’t appear, minimise all other screens.

Select Site from the toolbar at the top of the screen.  We are going to create a new site where our web pages will be stored.

Select New Site

to be continued