Updating Your Site

Dreamweaver has several options for synchronizing the local and remote versions of your site (both uploading to and downloading from the remote server). The Remote Files pane in the Site window shows the remote version of your site and the Local Files pane shows the local version. Files can be transferred manually in either direction or synchronized automatically based on the file dates.

The first time you upload your site, be sure to upload all documents, images, and scripts used to create the web pages. After that, you need to upload only the documents that have changed.

When you Get (download) or Put (upload) files, Dreamweaver ordinarily asks if it should include all dependent files (such as GIFs and JPEGs). If you enable the Don’t Ask Me Again checkbox and click Yes, Dreamweaver always copies the dependent files between the local folder and remote server. This copying slows uploads and downloads dramatically.

Tip

To force the Dependent Files request dialog to reappear, hold down the Alt key (Windows) or Opt key (Macintosh) when you transfer a file. Under Edit Preferences Site Dependent Files, configure the Prompt on Get/Check Out and Prompt on Put/Check In options to change this setting permanently.

To upload your file to a remote site, you must connect to the server specified under the Remote Info category of the Site Definition dialog box (as described earlier in this chapter). Configure the server options, often an FTP server, before proceeding. Test ...

Get Dreamweaver in a Nutshell now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.