mindgraffiti

GoLive Users: Migrating to Dreamweaver doesn’t have to be a headache. Quickly make Dreamweaver look less intimidating and reclaim your workflow with these handy tweaks.

1. Break the File Panel out of the box.

In the Files Panel, Files tab, look for this button: Now it will look reminiscent of GoLive’s Site File View.

2. Change the View. Don’t like the backwards interface on the Files panel? Keep yourself from accidentally downloading files instead of uploading them by changing the view. Dreamweaver -> Preferences… -> Site. Always Show: Local files on the Left

Starting to look familiar now?

3. Arrange your workspace. I have a 20 inch monitor with a 16:4 aspect ratio, so the properties panel and toolbars panel docked to the absolute left makes my workspace feel scattered.

Scoot your panels, open, close, or resize them. Whatever makes you feel more comfortable with Dreamweaver. To save it: Window -> Workspace Layout -> Save Current.

4. Turn on icons for invisible elements such as BR tags, Coldfusion, Comments, or for any other items you prefer have visual cues. Dreamweaver ->Preferences… -> Category: Invisible Elements. Check all that apply.

5. Track your orphaned files. Miss the feature in GoLive that tells you if a file is used or not? Dreamweaver has that. Site -> Check Links Sitewide. Show: Orphaned Files. But be careful not to delete files willy-nilly: relative Coldfusion links, relative external links in a .swf, and a few other imported files may be miscategorized as orphaned. Notice the expressinstall.as file I import into my intro.swf is listed here.

Want more? See the complete GL2DW FAQ page for all posts related to migrating.