Defining your site

When creating a site for the first time, there are two very important steps: create your index.html (or in some cases, index.htm) file, and define your site.

Create a new html document and type something, then save it (command S) and name it index.html. Save it to your site folder. (If you want to see what it will look like in a browser, press option F12.)

Then, go to Site > manage sites to open the site window. If other people have been using Dreamweaver, you may see some sites already listed. To create a new site, click on the “new” button and choose “site.”

The next series of dialog boxes require you to type in the information that allows Dreamweaver to list your site files, connect to your server, and update links (very important!!) when you make changes.

Make sure you have your SU user name and password handy. The following images illustrate what you should type in each area—panels not included here are ones you can safely ignore for now. (Select the Advanced tab, it's actually easier to work with!)

LOCAL INFO

Site name: you can call this anything you want; it's the name Dreamweaver will display in the Files panel.

Local root folder: use the folder icon to browse to, and select, the folder you're using to save all your site files. This should be located on your hard drive or removable media (iPod or usb stick).

HTTP address: type in the absolute URL for your site here, including your username.

REMOTE INFO

Access: typically, you'll be accessing the remote server via FTP (file transfer protocol).

FTP host: the name of your server - in the case of the SU servers, your choices are several, including gamera, mothra, and rodan.

Host directory: this is always public_html when you're working with an SU server.

Login: your SU user name.

Password: your SU password.

If you type in your password here, Dreamweaver will automatically save it. This is handy when you are working on your own machine, but perhaps a bit dangerous when working in the cluster.

It’s a good idea to click on the “test” button to make sure you’ve typed everything correctly, then erase your password if you're on a public machine.

Once these two panels are filled out, and you’ve tested your server connection successfully, you can click the OK button at the bottom of the dialog box.

The next step is to move your "index.html" file from your site disk to the server.

Press F8, or go to Window > files to open the Files panel.

Separate it from the other panels from the top left corner by using the submenu and choosing Group Files with > New panel group. Then click the "expand" icon at the top right of the files panel.

You should be able to see all the files in your site disk to the right, and a note that you can connect to your server in the left side.

Make sure your site is visible in the "show" popup menu, and then click on the connect icon just to the right of that.

You may have to type in your password.

You'll then be connected to your server, and will see a list of files, if there are any, or just a folder icon called "public_html."

This is the folder where all your files will go once your site is together.

To move files, simply click and drag them from the right pane to the public_html folder in the left pane.

Click and drag your "index.html" file over to the server.

You can open a browser and type in your url, which is http://web.syr.edu/~(your user name).

If you get an error message, you need to set your permissions—that is, tell the server it's ok to show people what's in your public_html folder. If this is the case, see me. It's something we will do together as a class.

Or go to the CMS website and follow the instructions.