Dreamweaver MX? HELP!

[Guest]

Hey guys,

So I've finally decided to make a website. This website is very important to me, and I've been wanting to do it for a long time. The only problem is that I have no idea how to get it started.

I bought some space on BlueHost.com for a considerably good price. I installed the program Macromedia Dreamweaver MX into my computer. I know how to use the program. Create images. Set background colors. Make buttons. I know how to do all of that. The only problem is that I can't figure out how to save a page! I keep trying to save my Index page after I work on it, and it never works. Worse, even if I knew how to save a full page, I have no idea how to upload it onto my site host. I have no idea what an FTP is, besides the fact that it seems very important to my process and most likely is.

Is anyone familiar with either the designer software (Dreamweaver) or the site host (Bluehost.com)?

If so, please respond either through this forum or private messaging. Maybe I can ask some questions that all of you geniuses out there can awnser. Thank you so much for looking at this, and hopefully I'll be talking to one of you soon.

Sati

 

[SweetErika]

Did you create a site in Dreamweaver?
To save a page, right-click on the tab that says the page name near the bottom of your screen, and select Save. The little star by the name should disappear.
To upload it, you need to put the FTP address of your webserver into Dreamweaver. Once you've done that, on the right side of your DW screen, there should be a list of pages you've created. Right click on the one you want to upload, and select Put. It will connect to the server, and the first time you upload it, say Yes, you want to include dependent files when the dialogue box pops up. You can say no from then on, as long as you don't add any images to the page.

Dreamweaver's help isn't that great for a novice, but it should give you a basic idea of the FTP procedure, uploading pages, and other simple stuff. Bluehost should have provided you with an FTP address and a username and password when you signed up. If you don't have good results with that provider, I've had really good luck with amhosting.com. If you get an account that includes support, their support team usually gets back to you in a couple of hours. I'm not advertising, just giving advice based on personal experience.

 

[SweetErika]

To create a site and put the FTP in:
1) On the menu at the top, select Site, New Site
2)Name it and specify where you want your files and where you're keeping your images. Check both boxes.
3)Click on Remote Info on the left side of the new site box
4) Fill in the info:
Access: FTP
FTP Host: The IP Address Blue gave you (e.g. 12.111.12.12)
Host Directory: I think it should be /public_html/...check with blue
Login: The username/login blue gave you
Password: the password they gave you
5) Click the Test button to make sure everything's correct. If it is, it will say something like "test successful". If it doesn't, some of the info you put in is wrong.
6) I don't think you need to check any of the other boxes
7) Click OK

 

[Guest]

Sweet Erika,

I appriciate all of your help, but there seem to be some problems with the advice you gave me. Some of things you mention in your instructions don't exist (that I can see) in the version of Dreamweaver I have. I go to New Site and put in the site name, but there are no 2 boxes to just check. There is no Remote Info option on the new site area for me.

Also, I don't see any page numbers or stars on any documents on dreamweaver.

Alright, I have an idea. Here's the process I would normally go through to create a page to save. Maybe I'm doing things even more completely wrong than I thought. Feel free to tell me "you suck" and correct me any way you can.


* * *

File. New.
Create Frames.
Fill in Background color(s)
Create layout table.
Put Layout cell inside layout table.
Create text.
File.
Save As "Index.html"

***
And from there, nothing saves. I'll keep on trying, but if you don't hear back from me, assume I'm still lost.

Thanks again for your help hun.

Sati

 

[SweetErika]

I might have a different (and older version of DW). I checked, and there are very explicit instructions with screenshots in Help. Go to Help>Using Dreamweaver>Getting Started (under Contents tab). Start with the first topic. There is even a help page on saving your pages. I think your problem is that you haven't created a site, so there's nothing to save your page to. So, you may have to go back and start at the beginning. I think there might be more tutorials and forums on the Dreamweaver website also, but start with Help.

 

[midwestyankee]

I'm still a bit of a novice with Dreamweaver myself, but have you defined a site yet? As I recall, DW wants you to have a site in place on your local computer so it can place your page files in the proper arrangement there.

While DW help is not excessively user-friendly, there is a good section on how to get started and I found it quite valuable.

 

[SweetErika]

I'm still a bit of a novice with Dreamweaver myself, but have you defined a site yet? As I recall, DW wants you to have a site in place on your local computer so it can place your page files in the proper arrangement there.

While DW help is not excessively user-friendly, there is a good section on how to get started and I found it quite valuable.

Thanks, that's exactly what I was trying to say Midwestyankee!

 

[Guest]

Alright.

So I called my host support team, and figured out how to get my website server connected to dreamweaver. So that's all taken care of.

But still, I can't figure out how to save a whole page. I know I'm having problems because I'm using frames, but I don't want to give the frames up because I like how they look and in the long run it will be easier to keep them there.

Also, even when I do upload 1 or two things on to my server, I type in my website and instead of taking me to what I save, it takes me to an index list giving me links of what I saved.

I don't know. I just must be completely computer illiterate!

Thanks for everyone's help, though. I really do appreciate it.

 

[SweetErika]

Did you try going through Dreamweaver help step-by-step?

 

[Owlz]

Hi, folks. What is it you like about Dreamweaver that made you decide not to buy Adobe GoLive? Also, is the learning curve steep for Dreamweaver?

 

[SweetErika]

Hi, folks. What is it you like about Dreamweaver that made you decide not to buy Adobe GoLive? Also, is the learning curve steep for Dreamweaver?

Dreamweaver's the industry standard (kind of like using Microsoft Office instead of Corel Wordperfect). It's been around for a long time, so the bugs have been worked out from the stuff that a novice would use. There's also a lot of support for it...forums, articles, advice, etc. that could help you a lot.

If you buy Dreamweaver and just start trying to use it, you're going to have problems and be frustrated (I would suspect the same is true for GoLive). The Getting Started section of the Help is very easy to follow and understand, so you definetly need to use the Help section to set up your site. Help is also really good for basic things like making links, setting backgrounds, text, menus, etc. My complaint is that it's hard to find the solution to complex problems and the directions for these problems are definetly advanced.

I think Sati is having a lot of trouble because he hasn't gone through the Getting Started section of Help. If you go the same route, the trial-and-error learning curve is very steep. If you are willing to follow instructions, you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[Owlz]

Dreamweaver's the industry standard (kind of like using Microsoft Office instead of Corel Wordperfect). It's been around for a long time, so the bugs have been worked out from the stuff that a novice would use. There's also a lot of support for it...forums, articles, advice, etc. that could help you a lot.

If you buy Dreamweaver and just start trying to use it, you're going to have problems and be frustrated (I would suspect the same is true for GoLive). The Getting Started section of the Help is very easy to follow and understand, so you definetly need to use the Help section to set up your site. Help is also really good for basic things like making links, setting backgrounds, text, menus, etc. My complaint is that it's hard to find the solution to complex problems and the directions for these problems are definetly advanced.

I think Sati is having a lot of trouble because he hasn't gone through the Getting Started section of Help. If you go the same route, the trial-and-error learning curve is very steep. If you are willing to follow instructions, you shouldn't have a problem.

I'm very much a 'follow the directions' kind of guy, so with your suggestion & Dreamweaver's Help section (and the reference to it being the industry standard), I think that's the way I'll go (even though I own Adobe's Photoshop Elements).

Thanks, Erika. You're a sweetie.

 

[SweetErika]

You're welcome Owlz, and thanks for the compliment! Just so you know, I don't know anything about GoLive, so I wasn't giving you advice based on a comparison. I don't want to be misleading! But I do like dreamweaver, and was able to learn fairly quickly myself once I got the basics down. Happy web authoring!

 

[Owlz]

You're welcome Owlz, and thanks for the compliment! Just so you know, I don't know anything about GoLive, so I wasn't giving you advice based on a comparison. I don't want to be misleading! But I do like dreamweaver, and was able to learn fairly quickly myself once I got the basics down. Happy web authoring!

Now all I have to do is come up with the $$$ to buy a copy.

As for the compliment, you're most welcome.

 

[SweetErika]

Yep, it's very pricey. If you're just starting out and don't need anything too complex, you might be able to play with a free program (I haven't used this and am not endorsing it, but you may as well try):
http://www.download.com/3000-2068-10227198.html?tag=lst-0-11

I'm sure there are a lot of other free programs as well if you do a search.

OR, you can always hand code it in HTML

 

[Owlz]

Yep, it's very pricey. If you're just starting out and don't need anything too complex, you might be able to play with a free program (I haven't used this and am not endorsing it, but you may as well try):
http://www.download.com/3000-2068-10227198.html?tag=lst-0-11

I'm sure there are a lot of other free programs as well if you do a search.

OR, you can always hand code it in HTML

*Hand-code*???? , indeed! Dat's just NUTS!

 

[Guest]

Erika,

Actually, I have used the help Getting Started program, but it's doing me little good. When I was trying to figure out how to save things, it would say something like, go to file, save frameset as, and name the frameset. The only problem was that I would go to file, and "save frameset as" wasn't even an option. That's mostly the holdup. It will say to do one thing, but the option of taking that advice isn't even available to me. This is just an example, of course, but it's happened on more than one occasion. I came here after I couldn't figure it out with that.

I'll just have to keep trying. LIke I said, I don't know much about computers or computer programs, so maybe it's just taking me a longer time than most to figure it out.

Sati

 

[Owlz]

Erika,

Actually, I have used the help Getting Started program, but it's doing me little good. When I was trying to figure out how to save things, it would say something like, go to file, save frameset as, and name the frameset. The only problem was that I would go to file, and "save frameset as" wasn't even an option. That's mostly the holdup. It will say to do one thing, but the option of taking that advice isn't even available to me. This is just an example, of course, but it's happened on more than one occasion. I came here after I couldn't figure it out with that.

I'll just have to keep trying. LIke I said, I don't know much about computers or computer programs, so maybe it's just taking me a longer time than most to figure it out.

Sati

Sati, don't beat yourself up so much about it. There are programs out there with terribly-written manuals & abysmal help within the application itself. It's not your fault.

 

[mm201]

Just for my 2 cents worth since I use Dreamweaver quite a bit, this is a pretty awesome program with lots of features but it is pretty intimidating when you first start, I would go out and invest $40 or so and get a Visual Quick Start manual, they are tutorial based and very easy to understand, also whoever else told you that you need to create a site on your local machine is correct, one other thing when you get to that point learn some ********** to manage your frames, it makes them a lot easier to manage over the long haul (I don't care much for frames myself, it just seems that there are a lot of better ways to manage page layout that are less confusing)

 

[mm201]

That should say "**********" in the post above, I guess the server didn't care much for me using it without quote marks.

 

[mm201]

I'll try one more time and maybe this will work (this has become an obsession) J-A-V-A-S-C-R-I-P-T

 

[SweetErika]

Sati,
Had you mentioned what you had already tried, it would have been a lot easier for us to make suggestions. However, my advice on re-reading and following the ENTIRE Getting Started section (not just the part on saving pages) from the beginning still stands...it's pretty obvious you've missed a critical step somewhere.
Did you try asking in the Dreamweaver forums? They've been helpful for me in the past.

 

[SweetErika]

My wonderful, super-intelligent husband Nick is much more experienced than I and has some advice for you Sati (everything below this is him talking):

The first question is did you configure a site in dreamweaver? To do this you would have gone into site menu on the top of the window and select new site... Click on the advanced tab, and follow Erika's instructions:
To create a site and put the FTP in:
2)Name it and specify where you want your files and where you're keeping your images. Check both boxes.
3)Click on Remote Info on the left side of the new site box
4) Fill in the info:
Access: FTP
FTP Host: The IP Address Blue gave you (e.g. 12.111.12.12)
Host Directory: I think it should be /public_html/...check with blue
Login: The username/login blue gave you
Password: the password they gave you
5) Click the Test button to make sure everything's correct. If it is, it will say something like "test successful". If it doesn't, some of the info you put in is wrong.
6) I don't think you need to check any of the other boxes
7) Click OK

Once you've done this/answered that you have done it, I can probably help you.

 

[Maistre]

Why use frames at all? You can have the same look and feel with tables just as easily. Frames are clunky and do not behave all too well.

Search engines do not like frames so if that is important... you may want to reconsider.

 

[Guest]

To Erika's husband, Nick (And thank you both for investing so much time into this!)

Nick,

Yes, I have configued a site into dreamweaver. I called the techies at Bluehost and they helped.

I'm just having problems saving. I can save the content part of the frameset as Index, but not all of it. Also, I have tried not using frames at all, but I can't get a layout table where I want it. It always starts from the upper right left corner no matter what. Also, I've tried using just a layout cell, but I can't make that a special color so it seems. I'll keep dinking around with it.

Over all, even when I do upload (or try to upload) my INdex into my server and then type in my website, only a index list of files I've uploaded appears, not the actual site. Also, it says something like Parental Directory no matter what I do.

Sati