8 Benefits of Using Dreamweaver 8

Dreamweaver is an extremely useful tool for novice and expert webmasters alike.

Here are 8 great reasons why you might want to use Dreamweaver.

1. Manage many sites easily. Dreamweaver makes it as easy as possible to toggle between sites you are working on. If you build websites for a living, this ease of switching up projects is a definite must.

2. Easy to upload via built in FTP. The built in FTP features are great, not to mention the fact that you can update a page that you are working on using the keyboard shortcut 'CTRL + SHIFT + U'. In addition, the FTP system is capable of changing file permissions (CHMOD) which is nice.

3. Built in CSS features. One of the best things about Dreamweaver is the way it makes complicated coding processes easy for people who aren't hardcore coders. The CSS tools is a perfect example. Using the point and click CSS window, you can start adding CSS styles to your sites.

4. Rollover Buttons. Rollover buttons are super-easy to create in Dreamweaver, and Dreamweaver does all the behind the scenes coding for you. Also, if you don't want to create the buttons yourself, you can choose from a built in selection of flash buttons that have rollover effects, so you can have your rollover buttons right out of the box.

5. Pop-Up Menus: With the built in pop-up menus in the tag inspector, you can create the types of navigation links you see on professional looking sites. Dreamweaver does all the coding for you, all you need to do is point and click a few times.

6. Server Side Include Buttons: Server side includes are so essential to website building, but few WYSWYG editors include a special feature for them. Dreamweaver hits the mark perfectly with SSI and gives you several options to choose from. Understanding this key feature will save you time and help you build better sites.

7. Dreamweaver Template Files: This method of working with templates is easy to use, even for a beginner, and makes your websites more flexible. If you make a mistake when designing your site, but have use a dwt file, you can correct the mistake on hundreds of pages instantly. Also it is useful for updating site layouts.

8. Web forms creator. The web forms creator in Dreamweaver is exceptional. It is easy to create web forms, and with a small additional PHP script, you can have results of any form sent to any email address you want. Check out my site for more on the PHP form script.

So there are 8 good reasons why Dreamweaver is the webmaster's tools of choice. There are many other reasons, and you can learn about them and see step by step training videos at http://www.dreamweaverhowto.com