Dreamweaver has preference settings that control the general appearance of the Dreamweaver user interface as well as options related to specific features such as layers, style sheets, HTML, external editors, and previewing pages in browsers. Information about specific preference options is provided throughout this help system in conjunction with the associated feature or topic.
See the following topics for information about the various preference options:
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General preferences |
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Style Sheet Format preferences (for CSS Style Sheet Format preferences) |
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Using an external text editor with Dreamweaver (for External Editors preferences) |
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Floating Palettes preferences |
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Fonts/Encoding preferences |
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Highlighting preferences |
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HTML Colors preferences |
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Setting HTML Format Preferences |
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HTML Rewriting preferences |
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Invisible Elements preferences |
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Layer preferences |
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Preview in Browser preferences |
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Setting the Quick Tag Editor preferences |
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Site FTP preferences |
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Status Bar preferences |
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Viewing server-side includes in Dreamweaver (for Translation preferences) |
| Note: Although Date appears in the list of translators in the Translation panel of the Preferences dialog box, the Date preferences are preset to operate correctly. Leave the Date preference set to In All Files to ensure proper functioning of the date mechanism. See Inserting dates. |
The General preferences control the general appearance of Dreamweaver. To change these preferences, choose Edit > Preferences, and then click General.
Update Links Determines what Dreamweaver does when you move, rename, or delete a document within your site. You can set this preference to always update links automatically, never update links, or prompt you to perform an update. See Managing links.
Dictionary Lists the dictionaries available in the Configuration/Dictionaries folder inside the Dreamweaver application folder. If a dictionary contains multiple dialects or spelling conventions (for example, U.K. English and U.S. English), the dialects are listed separately in the Dictionary pop-up menu.
Color Scheme (Windows only) specifies the colors of Dreamweaver palettes and inspectors. The Dreamweaver Two-Tone option adds gray to tabs; Desktop Two-Tone adds color from your system preferences to tabs; and Desktop Standard doesn't add any background color to tabs. (On the Macintosh, the only color scheme allowed is Desktop Two-Tone, so this option doesn't appear.)
Object Palette Lets you view the contents of the Object palette as Icons and Text, Icons Only, or Text Only.
Add Extension when Saving Sets the default file extension for the Dreamweaver documents you save. For example, if you set this option to .htm, and you later save a document without supplying a file extension, Dreamweaver will automatically add the .htm extension. See Changing the default file type for information about file types and extensions displayed in the File > Open dialog box.
Faster Table Editing (Deferred Update) Makes typing in tables faster by deferring some adjustment of column widths and row heights until you click outside the table. If this option is on, you can update the table while editing by pressing Control+Spacebar (Windows) or Command+Spacebar (Macintosh).
Open Files in New Window (Windows only) makes it easier to open several documents at once. When this option is off, each file you open appears in the current window, replacing the current document. Files always open in a new window on the Macintosh.
Show Only Site Window on Startup Displays only the Site window and open palettes rather than a new document when Dreamweaver starts up.
Show Dialog When Inserting Objects Determines whether Dreamweaver prompts you to enter additional information when inserting images, tables, Shockwave movies, and certain other objects using the Object palette or the Insert menu. If this option is off, the dialog box does not appear and you must use the Property inspector to specify the source file for images, the number of rows in a table, and so on. For rollover images and Fireworks HTML, a dialog box always appears when you insert the object, regardless of this option setting.
Enable Double-Byte Inline Input Enables you to enter double-byte text directly into the Document window if you are using a development environment or language kit that facilitates double-byte text (such as Japanese characters).When this option is deselected, a text input window appears for entering and converting double-byte text; the text appears in the Document window after it is accepted. See also Fonts/Encoding preferences.
Warn When Opening Read-Only Files Warns you when you open a read-only (locked) file.
Maximum Number of History Steps Determines the number of steps the History palette retains and shows. (The default value should be sufficient for most users.) If you exceed the given number of steps in the History palette, the oldest steps are discarded. See About the History palette.