Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 has been empowering computer users to build their own web sites for over ten years now. In that time, it has grown to become a feature-packed and complex piece of software which can be a little scary for new users. This article aims to show users the key steps necessary to creating a basic Dreamweaver web site and the essential tools they should be using.

It is very important that you design and sketch out how you want the site to work and what information will be available for users to navigate their way through. It is also a good idea to keep your first project simple. Once you have completed a basic version of your site, you can look to expand your knowledge and expertise and then add enhancements to the site.

The second important pre-Dreamweaver operation is the creation of a "local root folder". This is Dreamweaver jargon for the folder that contains all of the files which form part of your site. You can create it anywhere: your desktop, your hard drive, a network volume, etc. However, it is important that you only put your site files in this folder and nothing else.

You should also add an images folder inside the "local root folder". It can have any name you like but later, when you set up the Dreamweaver site, it will be designated as the default images folder and will help to ensure that your visitors don't see any blank image icons on your pages.

Now, finally, we launch Dreamweaver and create a new web site by choosing New Site from the Site menu. Click the Advanced tab ("Advanced" here simply means manual, so don't be intimidated.) You will notice a series of categories on the left of the screen. Only the first two categories need to be completed: Local Info and Remote Info.

The first element required in the "Local Info" section is a name for the new site. This goes in the top box. Next, use the folder icons to browse and locate the "Local Root Folder" and "Default Images Folder" respectively.

Next you need to click on the Remote Info category on the left of your screen. This is where you tell Dreamweaver how to connect to the server that contains your web pages. For a public website, choose FTP as the access method and ask your web hosting company for the other details required. For an intranet, choose Local/Network as the access method and navigate to the server and sub-directory containing your company intranet.

The next step is to create all of the pages in your website arranged in the appropriate sub-directories. Don't put any content in the pages at this stage, just create and save each page into your local root folder. This is done, so that later, when you create links on any page, the page that you link to will already exist, so you can just point to it and automatically create the correct link.

There's still one more step that you should do before you are ready to actually start work on the page content; you should create at least one template. Templates allow you to maintain a consistent look and feel throughout the site. It consists of fixed elements, such as logo and navigation links and what Dreamweaver calls "Editable Regions". These are the areas of the page which can be altered each time you use the template.

When you have finished your template, you can finally begin entering content into your web pages. When you open each page, begin by applying the template to the page. Then enter the page content into the editable regions. If you spot an error on the main layout, just go back to the template to correct it.