Even though it's a large program, Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 took only minutes to install. Once installed, Macromedia Dreamweaver 8's interface resembles that of MX 2004. On hand are the same familiar design and code layouts in the right-hand work space, as well as the left-side tool palettes and the bottom Properties box. However, subtle but welcome changes begin to surface once you dig into this program. To start, unlike with previous versions of Dreamweaver, you're not stuck with the default layout. Within the interface, it's possible to drag and arrange windows or save and load customized layouts through the Window menu. Dreamweaver 8 also introduces tabbed file browsing to its Mac edition.
Don't know where to start? Wizards within Dreamweaver walk you through starting either a Basic or an Advanced Web site from scratch. While the Web savvy will find this process breezy, design newbies might get confused even by the Basic queries, starting with a question about server technology.
After using Dreamweaver 8, we noticed numerous work flow improvements. If you're a coder, the new formatting toolbar and the collapsible code are a real boon, allowing you to show and hide select sections of HTML and other code. This tweak allows for much faster navigation than in Dreamweaver MX 2004, and it allows you to get an overview of a large project. The collapsible function isn't intuitive, however; you must select the code you want to collapse instead of just highlighting the head of the section.
Design View now allows you to zoom into a page for a close-up view. And alignment guides from the rulers at the edge of the screen let you position elements with precision. A new hand tool lets you rearrange objects without having to grab their thin borders. Dreamweaver 8 now groups Cascading Style Sheet functions on their own panel for easier access, with color-coded and nested views of divs.
