Dreamweaver Sites

Dreamweaver sites are central to everything that Dreamweaver does.
Not setting up Dreamweaver sites is guaranteed to mess up your files.

Preparation

First, you need to have a folder on your computer that is a copy of files on your website. Check the "Connecting to Server" section of this tutorial for a refresher on how to do that.

* Important - the contents of your local folder must be EXACTLY they same as your account on the web server. *

Setting up the Site

In Dreamweaver, click on "Site" from the menu at the very top of the page. Select "New Site" .

New Site Window

Select "Advanced" at the top center of the pop up screen.
Select "Local Info" from the category list on the left.
"Site Name" Enter a name for this site. It can be anything you want, but it's generally a good idea to name it after the site you're working on.
"Local Root Folder" - click on the small folder icon to the right of the text field. Use the window to select the folder on your computer that holds the copy of your website.
Select nothing else, edit nothing else.
Select OK.

The "Files" window on the right should load, and display the files from your local folder.

Now that sites are set up, you can do things like change file names, folder names, move the files and folders around, and Dreamweaver will automatically update the links in the other files. Just make sure you make all those kinds of changes inside Dreamweaver's Files window for the automatic functions to take place.