So, let's say you're finally ready to set up a site to promote your latest cinematic masterpiece: "Incredibly Strange Zombie Hookers Meet the Skidrow Slimeballs in the Bowl-o-Rama of Death". In previous versions of Dreamweaver, you'd have to go through a rigorous—and if you're a newbie, confusing—setup process. Well, those days are over. All you have to do is launch the app, create a new Dreamweaver site, choose one of the new, enhanced CSS starter layouts (more on these later), and you're off and running. All the information needed for managing your site, naming your server, setting up FTP, and even version control using Subversion are all just-in-time.
So, if you don't feel like having to go through a litany of dialogue boxes requiring you to fill in information you don't even know yet, then don't. Just start a new project, name it, and get to work. Whenever you reach a step in the process where more information is needed (e.g. which server you're using for staging versus your live server), Dreamweaver will ask for it. It's that simple. But wait! What about those of you who don't know a server from a maître de? Well, fear not, because Dreamweaver was designed for the code-challenged, too.
After naming your new site, you'll set up the folder where you'll save your files. Then, you can choose the "more" link from Dreamweaver's splash page. Here you can choose from various fixed-width and liquid site layouts. And the best part? The basic CSS and HTML is already done for you, so you never have to touch the code if you don't want to. Of course, these basic layouts are just that, basic. So you'll need to know enough to customize the site to meet your needs. Regardless, these layouts will save you considerable time, providing the foundation for you to develop the perfect site to promote your film.
But Dreamweaver's ready-made layouts aren't all that will help you understand how to develop your new site. Adobe has taken the simple but brilliant step of replacing traditional "placeholder text" with something far more useful—like instructions! Gone are the days of "Lorem Ipsum" placeholders that mean nothing. Now, the placeholder text provides you with tips to help you continue setting up your site.
