Configuring Dreamweaver's Preview In Browser Preferences by Dwight Davidson
When working on your web pages in Adobe Dreamweaver you constantly need to check them in a web browser. to make this process smoother Dreamweaver allows you to configure several browsers for previewing your pages. You can specify which browser is your primary or main browser; you can then elect a secondary browser & as many further browsers as you want.
Naturally the first step in this procedure is to ensure that all the browser software is installed on your computer. Next on Windows go to the Edit menu & choose Preferences; on a Macintosh go to the Dreamweaver menu & choose Preferences.
The various types of Preferences are displayed on the left of the window. Click on the Preview in Browser section. If you already have a browser configured as your primary browser & possibly another as your secondary you may wish to change these. to do so simply click on the appropriate checkboxes to specify which is primary & which is secondary.
To add an additional browser just click on the plus sign + locate the browser software & double click to open it. You can repeat this procedure as many times as you like.
To preview a page using one of your configured browsers click on the preview icon the globe located on the Document toolbar which is normally displayed at the top of the document window. From the drop down menu choose the browser that you'd like to use. You can also use the keyboard shortcuts to preview using your primary browser press Shift F12 on Windows or option F12 on a Macintosh; to preview in the secondary browser press Control F12 on Windows or Command F12 on a Macintosh. Alternatively simply choose the name of any other browser.
Once you've looked at the preview to return to Dreamweaver simply close the browser window.
It is also possible that sometimes you'd like to preview pages without saving the changes you've made to your document. Dreamweaver makes this easy but first let's have a look at what normally happens when you preview a file that has been modified.
Dreamweaver displays a dialogue box asking us if we'd like to save the changes. If we click "No" it gives us a preview of the last version that we saved rather than the version that we're currently working on naturally if we click "Yes" Dreamweaver will save our changes before previewing the file. This can sometimes be inconvenient since you may not be ready to save your changes.
If you want to be able to preview a file at any time without saving your changes go back to your Browser Preview category of Dreamweaver's Preferences & switch on the option "Preview Using Temporary File". When this option is selected Dreamweaver creates a temporary file containing the latest version of your document & then shows you a preview of it. If you examine the URL displayed in the address bar of your browser you will notice that the file name does not correspond to the name of your document it a temporary file name generated by Dreamweaver.
The The writer of this article is training consultant with Macresource Computer Solutions macresource. co. uk a UK IT training company offering Adobe Dreamweaver Classes macresource. co. uk courses dreamwvr. htm in London & throughout the UK. Configuring Dreamweaver's Preview In Browser Preferences
