DreamWeaver Tutorial

I.  Obtain and Install Dreamweaver 8 or MX 2004

At the moment Georgetown University does not provide licensing for Dreamweaver. You can purchase the student version from the Leavey Center Bookstore.

Once you have obtained Dreamweaver MX 2004 or Dreamweaver 8, install according to the defaults.

NOTE: This tutorial was written for Dreamweaver MX 2004, but it applies to Dreamweaver 8 as well. The steps in initializing the connection to the servers have not changed in Dreamweaver 8.

II.  Reset your NetID password

If you have never logged into the new servers, you must reset your NetID password. This will automatically activate your permissions on the new servers. Click here to change your NetID password.

III.  Open Dreamweaver 8/MX 2004

To open Dreamweaver MX 2004 you can double click on the icon on your desktop if you selected that option during the install (it does by default). Otherwise, you can click on Start, Programs, Macromedia, Dreamweaver MX 2004.

IV.  Setup your connection to the development server using Dreamweaver 8/MX 2004

From the main page in Dreamweaver. Click on the Dreamweaver Site link under the Create New heading.


This will open the Site Definition window. On the first page, enter the name of your Web site and click the Next button.


You will then be given the option to use a server technology. If you are building an HTML/Javascript only site you can select the No option. If you are planning on using ColdFusion, you will want to select Yes. The Georgetown University web servers do not support other server-side languages like ASP or PHP. Click on the Next button to continue.


Select the Edit local copies on my machine, then upload to server when ready option. Also select a directory on your PC where your files will be stored. Click on the Next button to continue. If you are utilizing ColdFusion you should also select the edit locally, then upload to server option. However, if you have ColdFusion server installed on your PC, you may select the Edit and test locally option.


Setup the Secure FTP connection

  • Under How do you connect to your host server, select FTP
  • Use www7.georgetown.edu as the hostname/FTP address of your web server
  • The folder on the server where you will store your files should be the full path of your directory, for example web/students/NetID If this is a new account it will be in the email you received from webmaster@georgetown.edu
  • Your FTP login will be your NetID
  • Your FTP password will be your NetID password
  • Check the use Use Secure FTP box


You will also want to click on the Test Connection button. If everything is setup correctly, a pop-up window will appear and inform you that you connected to your web server successfully. Click the Next button to continue


On the next page select No, do not enable check in and check out. Then click the Next button to continue.


A summary will of your site settings will then be displayed. Click on the done button to finish the setup. This will close the Site Definition window.


V.  Open the Files panel in Dreamweaver 8/2004 MX

You should see the Files panel at the upper right of Dreamweaver. If you do not see the Files panel, press the F8 key to make it visible.


If the black arrow to the left of the Files panel is pointing to it, click the arrow to open the Files panel. The arrow should then point down and you should see the following below it:


VI.  Navigating the Files panel in with Dreamweaver 8/2004 MX

Just below the Files tab you should see the name of your Web site You can click on that drop down box  to select different sites.

Just to the right of the Web site drop down box you should see the view box. Clicking this box  will allow you to select local view (the directory on your PC where the Web site is stored) and remote view (the directory on the web server)

Below the Web site drop down box you will see a Connect to remote host button.  Click this to connect to the web server.

To the right you will see the Get File(s) button.  Click this (with Remote view selected) to download files from the web server to your PC. To download multiple files, highlight them using Shift-left click or Control-left click.

To the right of that you will see the Put files(s) button.  Click this (with local view selected) to upload files from your PC to the web server.

The URL of your development page will be the development server followed by your directory. You will notice that there will be a floating red TEST SERVER on the page.

For example:

Your development server is www7.georgetown.edu. If your home folder is web/students/NetID, the URL for your page will be www7.georgetown.edu/students/NetID

VII.  Differences between the Development (test) server and the Production (live) servers

Please remember:  there are to be NO production applications hosted on www7.georgetown.edu - this server is ONLY for development purposes. The development server is where you will develop, test, or upgrade your application before publishing to a production server.  Your application must comply with production standards before you can publish to a production server.

The production server(s) are where your applications can be viewed by visitors. Your production server number will be on the email sent to you by webmaster@georgetown.edu.

The reason we have a development and production server is that these servers run ColdFusion. While it does not happen often, ColdFusion errors can bring down the entire server. This is why we ask everyone to test their sites on www7.georgetown.edu first. If an application causes www7 to crash, no live Web sites are brought down. However, if untested ColdFusion applications are placed on a production server and cause that to crash, ALL of the live applications and Web sites on that server will be unavailable.

VIII.  Connect to the development server and publish your site

To upload your files and folders to the production servers, you will follow all of the same steps in this tutorial with the exception of the server number you enter as the Host Name. If this is a new account, your production server number will be in the email sent to you by webmaster@georgetown.edu.

To open a connection to the production server, follow all of the same steps (starting at step IV) as when you setup your connection to the development server. However, you will want to name your site something different such as "My Web site (Development)", and you will use the production www# as the hostname address of your web server. You should select the same location to store the local files as you did for your Production site. Please ignore the popup regarding synchronization (you can check the box that says never ask me again). The folder structure on the production server is also exactly the same as it is on the development server. The URL of your page will be the production server followed by your directory.

For example:

If your production server is www12.georgetown.edu and your home folder is web/students/NetID, the URL for your page will be www12.georgetown.edu/students/NetID