Defining a Local Folder

In addition to creating a root folder on the Web server, you must specify a local folder for your site. The local folder is the working folder for your Dreamweaver site and usually contains all the site files. Specifying the local information for your site also enables two Dreamweaver site-management features: link checking and site-cache building.

You define your site on the Local Info pane, which is found on the Advanced tab of the Site Definition dialog.

To define a local site:

1.	From the Site menu, choose New Site (Figure 2.7). Figure 2.7. Choose New Site from the Site menu. The Site Definition dialog appears (Figure 2.8). The Advanced tab and the Local Info pane are selected by default. Figure 2.8. The Advanced tab of the Site Definition dialog.
2.	Enter a name for your site in the Site Name text box (Figure 2.9). Figure 2.9. Use the Site Name field to assign a name that will help you identify the site. Make sure you assign a name that will help you identify the site later.
3.	Click the folder icon next to the Local Root Folder text box (Figure 2.10), and browse to the location of your root folder. Once you locate this folder, click the Select button to choose it as the local root folder (Figure 2.11). Figure 2.10. Click the folder icon to browse to the location of the local root folder. Figure 2.11. Click the Select button to confirm the location of your local root folder. If you use a local Web server, you can use the root folder for the Web server or choose a separate local folder that contains your site files.
4.	On the Local Info pane, click the folder icon next to the Default Images Folder field (Figure 2.12) and browse to the location of your site images folder (if you have one). Once you locate this folder, click the Select button to choose it. Figure 2.12. Click the folder icon to browse to the location of the Default Images folder. If you specify a default images folder, Dreamweaver will automatically open this folder whenever you insert an image on a page in this site.
5.	On the Local Info pane, in the HTTP Address field, enter the URL for your domain to facilitate Dreamweaver's link-checking features (Figure 2.13). Figure 2.13. Use the HTTP Address field to enter the URL of your site and enable Dreamweaver to verify site links. When you create a Dreamweaver site, Dreamweaver tracks every link on every page and ties this information into the site folders. If you move a file or rename a folder, Dreamweaver can automatically make the necessary changes in the links sitewide, if you have entered the URL for your domain above.
6.	When you're finished making changes to the site setup, click OK on the Advanced tab to save your changes. Otherwise, select another category from the Category list on the left of the dialog.