Hey, you lookin’ ta save some time—save some time in Dreamweaver? Cool, you’re in the right spot! So check this out: Here’s a list of 10 super-slick tricks to save time while managing your websites in the titan of web design, Dreamweaver. Now this list assumes that you’ve got a good foothold in Dreamweaver, and that you’ve gone through the site definition process as well (that’s Site > New Site), cuz many of these features simply won’t work without a defined site. Kay, enough blabbin’! Grab a snack, lean in close, and let’s take a look!

Time-Saver #1: The Ass Haulin' Starts With Assets!

Assets are one of the coolest parts of the Dreamweaver interface. Within a defined site, open up the Assets panel (Window > Assets), and you’ll see a column of icons down the left-hand side of the panel, which categorize all the materials you have at your disposal in your site, including images, video files, flash content, and even things like colors and external links. Pop open a category; then take a look at whatcha have. For example, go into the Images category, and you’ll see a list of file names in the bottom half of the panel, and a thumbnail view of the image in the top half. This means you’ll never lose another image again. Sweet!

Time-Saver #2: Mach-10 File Transfer With Dreamweaver's Files Panel!

Forget about using third-party FTP clients—didja know Dreamweaver’s Files panel has everything you need built right in? Just click the Expand To Show Local And Remote Sites button in the panel’s top-right corner, and the panel maximizes to show your remote site on the left, and your local site on the right. Then what? Drag ‘n drop, baby! Or even better—and this is my favorite part—select a file in one view; then at the top of the panel, click either Put (in the case where you’re uploading a file to the remote site) or Get (to pull a file down to your local site). The reason why this is my favorite part is cuz if the file resides within a sub-folder or two, Dreamweaver will actually build the folder structure for you on the other side, so all your links and paths remain intact. How cool is that?!

Time-Saver #3: Light-Speed Link Management With Change Links Sitewide

Ya goofed on a link throughout your site, huh? No need to throw in the towel just yet. Dreamweaver’s Change Links Sitewide command will getcha outta your jam. To give it a try, just choose Site > Change Link Sitewide. In the dialog box that appears, use the two fields to correct your link—although the language used in the dialog box might twist your brain for a sec. In the Change All Links To field, type in the old link—that is, the link that you want to change; then in the Into Links To field, type in the new link that you’d like to use to replace the old links. Make sense? Kay then, let ‘er rip! Just one word of caution: Before doing any sitewide command, including Change Links Sitewide, it’s a real good idea to take five seconds and back up your site, just in case you royally goof.

Time-Saver #4: Rapid-Fire Find And Replace!

Dreamweaver’s nuclear-powered Find And Replace is the freakin’ bomb. You’ve used Find And Replace in other programs, right? But have you ever used one that’s on mega-steroids? Check out this juicer by choosing Edit > Find And Replace (in a rush? Hit Ctrl+F in Windows, or Cmd+F on the Mac). At first glance, it doesn’t look like anything special, right? Well, pop open the Find In menu and have a gander at all the different places you can search. Current Document, Open Documents, Entire Current Local Site, and so on. Next, whadda ya wanna search for? Pop open the Search menu and make a choice. This is where things get real heavy. Source Code, Text, Specific Tag, or my fav, Text (Advanced). Go nuts, have fun, and be careful!

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