You’ve worked a long time; created graphics, wrote text, built tables and layers. Now, the big moment has come... it’s moving day for your Web site. However, this is not like any moving day you’ve ever experienced. No packing of bags, or calling the movers, because Dreamweaver has taken care of all the little details.

Dreamweaver includes a number of features for managing files and transferring files to and from a remote site (also called the remote folder). When you transfer files between local and remote sites, Dreamweaver maintains copies of the file and folder structures between the local and remote sites. If you’re transferring files to the remote site, Dreamweaver will automatically create necessary folders when they do not exist. It’s even possible to synchronize the files between your local and remote sites; Dreamweaver copies files in both directions as necessary and removes unwanted files when appropriate.

Dreamweaver contains features to make collaborative work on a Web site easier. You can check files in and out of a remote server so that other members of a Web team can see who is working on a file. You can add Design Notes to your files to share information with team members about a file’s status and priority. You can also use the Workflow Reports feature to run reports on your site to display information on the check-in/check-out status, and to search for Design Notes attached to files.

Before you start transferring files from your local site to a remote site, you should specify site preferences to control the way files transfer over the Web. You can set FTP (File Transfer Protocol) connection options and firewall settings. If you’re not sure how to set these options, check with your ISP (Internet Service Provider). In addition to file transfer settings, you can also set preferences for the viewing of your files in the Files panel. You can indicate which site, either local or remote, you want to always display in the Files panel, whether to prompt for confirmation when you get/check out or put/check in files, and whether to automatically save files before being put onto the remote site.

Click the Dreamweaver (Mac) or Edit (Win) menu, and then click Preferences.

Click the Site category.

Select from the following options:

• Always Show. Indicates which site (local or remote) is always shown, and in which Files panel pane (left or right) the local and remote files appear.

• Dependent Files. Displays a prompt for transferring dependent files (such as images, external style sheets, etc.) that the browser loads when it loads the HTML file. The Prompt On Get/Check Out and Prompt On Put/Check In are selected by default.

• FTP Connection. Enter whether the connection to the remote site is terminated after the specified number of minutes has passed with no activity.

• FTP Time Out. Enter the number of seconds in which Dreamweaver attempts to make a connection with the remote server.

• FTP Transfer Options. Select whether Dreamweaver chooses the default option, after a specified number of seconds, when a dialog box appears during a file transfer and there is no user response.

• Firewall Host. If your site is behind a firewall, enter the address of the proxy server through which you connect to outside servers.

• Firewall Port. Enter the port in your firewall through which you pass to connect to the remote server. Leave Firewall host, and Firewall port blank, if you are not behind a firewall.

• Put Options. Select to automatically save files before being put onto the remote site.

• Move Options. Select to prompt you before moving files on the server.

• Manage Sites. Click to open the Manage Sites dialog box.

Click OK.

DW 2.3

Once a site is created, it’s important to work with and organize all of the files associated with the active working site. You can organize and manage your site files and folders whether they are part of a Dreamweaver site on a server you’ve connected to, or on your local drive or desktop. The Files panel gives you access to all of the files associated with the working site and allows you to work on files and locate files within the local and remote site.

Click the Window menu, and then click Files to display the Files panel.

To expand the Files panel into a split window, click the Expand button.

Use any of the following options in the Files panel:

• Click the Show button to display a listing of all active Dreamweaver sites.

• Click the Connect button to create a connection between the local and remote sites.

Note

If you have not set up the remote site hosting information, Dreamweaver prompts you to do so before continuing.

• Click the Refresh button to refresh the contents of the Files panel.

• Click the View Site FTP Log button to display the FTP Log tab in the Results panel.

• Click the Site Files button to display a listing of files on the site.

• Click the Testing Server button to display a listing of all files located on the testing server.

• Click the Repository Files button to display the repository of the file and folder structure of your site on the Subversion (New!) server. Subversion is a version control system that helps you maintain version histories of your site files.

• Click the Get Files and Put Files buttons to receive from or send files to the remote server, respectively.

• Click the Check Out Files or Check In buttons to check files in or out.

Note

This option requires you to enable the file check in and out option in the Site Definition dialog box.

• Click the Synchronize button to match up the files on the remote and local servers.

• Click the Collapse button to toggle between a split panel view (local and remote), and single view.

• Click the Log button to view a text log of activity performed in the Files panel.

Once a remote site has been established, the next step is to begin the transfer of files from the local (working) folder, to the remote site. Since you’ve already defined the remote server, it’s a simple question of deciding what files and folders you want to move. Dreamweaver lets you move files (Put) to the remote site, and it allows you to move files from the remote server, back to the local site (Get). The amount of time it takes to transfer your files is directly related to your bandwidth. If you’re moving a large site, it might be a good idea to perform the move at night. That way the site will be moved and ready the next day.

Click the Site menu, click Manage Sites, select the site you want to use, and then click Done.

Click the Window menu, and then click Files to display the Files panel.

Click the Expand button to show local and remote sites.

Click the Connect To Remote Host button to gain access to the remote site.

Select files (in the right window) using one of the following options:

• Site. Click the site folder to move the entire site to the remote folder.

• Files. Ctrl-click (Win) or -click (Mac) to select the non-contiguous files for moving to the remote folder.

Click the Put button.

If prompted, click Yes to save a file or click No to use the existing one.

If prompted, click Yes to upload dependent files along with the selected files, or click No to not upload dependent files.

Dreamweaver moves the entire site, or selected file/folders to the remote site.

To stop a file transfer, click Cancel.

Click the Site menu, click Manage Sites, select the site you want to use, and then click Done.

Click the Window menu, and then click Files to display the Files panel.

Click the Expand button to show local and remote sites.

Click the Connect To Remote Host button to gain access to the remote site.

Select files from the remote site (left window) using one of the following options:

• Site. Click the site folder to move the entire site to the local folder.

• Files. Ctrl-click (Win) or -click (Mac) to select the non-contiguous files for moving to the local folder.

Click the Get button.

If prompted, click Yes to download dependent files along with the selected files, or click No to not download dependent files.

Dreamweaver moves the entire site, or selected file/folders to the local site.

To stop a file transfer, click Cancel.

If you have a third-party file comparison tool, also known as a diff tool, installed on your computer, you can use it with Dreamweaver to compare versions of the same file located on your local and remote sites. If you’re not sure whether two files are the same, a file comparison tool can save you a lot of time. You can compare local and remote site versions of the same file as well as different versions of the same file on the local or remote site. Before you can use a comparison tool, you need to select it in Dreamweaver preferences. File comparison programs are designed to compare text files, not binary files, such as images. You can compare the text files you can edit in Dreamweaver, including HTML, CSS, XML, ASP.NET, ColdFusion, and PHP.

Click the Dreamweaver (Mac) or Edit (Win) menu, and then click Preferences.

Click the File Compare category.

Select from the following File Compare options:

• In Windows, click Browse to select the comparison program you have installed on your computer.

• On the Macintosh, click Browse to select the comparison tool or script (typically located in the user/bin folder) that starts the file comparison program from the command line. Some of the tools include FileMerge, BBEdit, and TextWrangler.

Click OK.

• Two Local Files. In the Files panel, select the two files on your local site, right-click the selected files, and then click Compare Local Files.

• Two Remote Files. In the Files panel, select the two files on your remote site, right-click the selected files, and then click Compare Remote Files.

• Local File With Remote File. In the Files panel, right-click a file on your local site, and then click Compare With Remote.

• Remote File With Local File. In the Files panel, right-click a file on your remote site, and then click Compare With Local.

• Open File With Remote File. Open the file in the Document window, click the File menu, and then click Compare With Remote.

DW 3.3

It’s important to understand that if you’ve enabled File Check In and Check Out, you can put files from the local site to the remote site without changing the file’s checked out status. Checking out a file prevents other designers from working on the same file at the same time. When a file is checked out, Dreamweaver displays the name of the person who checked out the file in the Files panel, along with a red check mark (if a team member checked out the file) or green check mark (if you checked out the file) next to the file’s icon. When you or another designer has finished with the file, checking in makes the file available for other team members to check out and edit.

Click the Window menu, and then click Files to display the Files panel.

Click the Expand button to show local and remote sites.

Click the Connect To Remote Host button to gain access to the remote site.

Select the file or files that you want to checkout in the remote site window on the left.

Note

A red check mark indicates that another team member has the file checked out and a lock symbol indicates that the file is read-only (Win) or locked (Mac).

Click the Check Out button in the Files panel toolbar.

If prompted, click Yes to download dependent files along with the selected files, or click No not to download dependent files.

Click the Window menu, and then click Files to display the Files panel.

Click the Expand button to show local and remote sites.

Click the Connect To Remote Host button to gain access to the remote site.

Select the file or files that you want to check in.

Click the Check In button in the Files panel toolbar.

If prompted, click Yes to upload dependent files along with the selected files, or click No not to upload dependent files.

Click the Site menu, point to Manage Sites, select a site, and then click Edit.

Click the Advanced tab.

Click the Remote Info category.

Click the Access popup, and then select a remote site type.

Select the Enable File Check In And Check Out check box.

Select the Check Out Files When Opening check box to automatically check out files when you double-click to open them.

Enter a check out name and an e-mail address.

Click OK.

Click Done to close the Manage Sites dialog box.

Subversion (New!) is a version control system that works along with Dreamweaver to help you maintain version histories of your site files. Subversion maintains a repository of the file and folder structure of your site on the Subversion server, which is the normal installation (software available at http://subversion.tiggris.org), however, you can set it up on your own computer. The files and folders are not actually stored on the server; Subversion maintains a database of changes. Before you can use Subversion, you need to define server settings in the Site Definition dialog box. You can access Subversion in Dreamweaver from the Files panel. When you change a file, a plu sign (+) appears next to the file name. If you want to keep your changes, click the Check In button, where you can view your changes and commit to them. When you commit to your changes, they are sent to the Subversion server and unmarked in the Files panel.

Click the Window menu, and then click Files to display the Files panel.

Click the Expand button to show local and remote sites.

Make changes to files on your site.

A plus sign (+) appears next to the file name that you have modified.

Select the file or files that you want to commit to your changes.

Click the Check In button in the Files panel toolbar.

To change an action, select a file, and then click one of the change buttons.

When you’re ready to commit your changes, click Commit.

Click the Window menu, and then click Files to display the Files panel.

Click the Expand button to show local and remote sites.

Select one or more files that you want to manage and view changes.

Click the Site menu, and then point to Version Control.

Select any of the following commands on the submenu:

• Get Latest Versions. Access the latest versions of files from the Subversion server.

• Update Status. Refreshes the current status of files on your system.

• Mark as Resolved. If there are conflicts with the server version, it marks your local copy as current. The command is greyed out if there are no conflicts.

• Show Revisions. Displays a history of changes for a file or set of files where you can compare different versions.

• Lock and Unlock. Locks and unlocks files from changes by other contributors.

• Go Offline. Disconnects you from the server.

• Clean Up. Cleans up of the server.

DW 3.2

In Web development, sometimes it can get confusing managing versions of files. Where is the most recent file? This question is one that you’ll probably ask yourself more than once throughout the development of a site. Dreamweaver solves this problem with an option called File Synchronization. This feature compares files between the local and remote site and will determine which is the latest version. If the latest version lives on the local site, it will upload that file accordingly. File Synchronization can also delete files on either the local or remote site, if the file doesn’t appear in both versions of the site. You can apply the synchronize command to selected files, or apply it site-wide.

Click the Window menu, and then click Files to display the Files panel.

Select the file or files that you want to synchronize (local or remote).

Click the Synchronize button.

Timesaver

Click the Site menu, and then click Synchronize Sitewide.

Select from the following synchronize options:

• Synchronize. Select between synchronizing the entire site, or only selected files.

• Direction. Select Put Newer Files To Remote (default), Get New Files From The Remote, or Get And Put Newer Files (wherever they exist).

• Delete Remote Files Not On Local Drive. Select to allow Dreamweaver to delete any files found on the remote server, but not on the local drive.

Click Preview to view the proposed changes.

Select a file or files, and make modifications using the following options:

• Mark selected files to get the remote version.

• Mark selected files to put the local version.

• Mark selected files for deletion.

• Ignore selected files during this synchronization.

• Mark selected files as already synchronized.

• Compare the local and remote versions of the selected files.

Note

If no synchronization is required, Dreamweaver prompts you with a dialog box, asking if you want to see a list of the files, and then change them manually.

Click OK.

Once the synchronization is complete you can save a log of the actions performed by pressing the Save Log button.

DW 3.2

Cloaking files hides the selected files from many of the file transfer commands, such as: Get, Put, Check In, and Check Out; however, it doesn’t protect files when using Synchronize. For example, you have a folder on you local site that contains original uncompressed source documents, such as Photoshop and Flash. There would be no need for these files to be uploaded to the remote server, so you cloak them. Any file format you cloak remains in your local folder and will not be uploaded unless you manually override the cloak setting. In addition, cloaked files do not appear in the Assets panel. Cloaked files can be controlled by extension, such as all FLA files, or they can be controlled individually, regardless of their extension. You can cloak specific folders, even multiple ones; however, you cannot cloak all folders or an entire site.

Click the Window menu, and then click Files to display the Files panel.

Click the Expand button to show local and remote sites.

Select the files or folder within the site files, right-click (Win) or control-click (Mac) the selection, point to Cloaking, and then click Cloak or Uncloak.

A red line through the folder icon appears or disappears, indicating the folder is cloaked or uncloaked.