Site Management and Collaboration > About the Site window > Using Site window controls

Using Site window controls

To open the Site window, choose Window > Site Files. Use the following buttons and options on the Site window toolbar to set what the Site window displays and to transfer files back and forth between a local and remote site:

Site Files view displays the file structure of the remote and local sites in the panes of the Site window. (Which site is displayed in which pane, right or left, is determined by preference settings; see Site preferences.) Site Files view is the default view for the Site window.

Site Map view displays a graphical map of your site based on how the documents are linked to one another. Hold this button down to choose Map Only or Map and Files from the pop-up menu.

The site pop-up menu lists sites you've defined. To switch sites, choose a different site from the list. To add a site or edit the information for an existing site, choose Define Sites from the bottom of the menu (see Setting up a remote site).

Connect/Disconnect (available with FTP and WebDAV protocol and SourceSafe) connects to or disconnects from the remote site. By default, Dreamweaver disconnects from the remote site if it has been idle for more than 30 minutes (FTP only). To change the time limit, choose Edit > Preferences and select Site.

Refresh refreshes the local and remote directory lists. Use this button to manually refresh the directory lists if you deselected either Refresh Local File List Automatically or Refresh Remote File List Automatically in the Site Definition dialog box (see Associating a remote server with a local site). For example, if you mount a drive that contains a remote site after you open the Site window, you won't see that remote site's directory list until you click the Refresh button.

Get File(s) copies the selected files from the remote site to your local site (overwriting the existing local copy of the file, if any). If Enable File Check In and Check Out is turned on, the local copies are read-only; the files remain available on the remote site for other team members to check out. If Enable File Check In and Check Out is turned off, getting a file transfers a copy that has both read and write privileges. Note that the files copied are the ones selected in whichever pane of the Site window is currently active. If the Remote pane is active, the selected remote files are copied to the local site; if the Local pane is active, the remote versions of the selected local files are copied to the local site. See Getting files from a remote server.

Put File(s) copies the selected files from the local site to the remote site. Note that the files copied are the ones selected in whichever pane of the Site window is currently active. If the Local pane is active, the selected local files are copied to the remote site; if the Remote pane is active, the local versions of the selected remote files are copied to the remote site. See Putting files onto a remote server.

Note: If you are adding a file that doesn't already exist on the remote site and Enable File Check In and Out is on, the file will be added to the remote site as "checked out." Choose the Check In Files option instead to add a file without the checked out status.

Check Out File(s) transfers a copy of the file from the remote server to your local site (overwriting the existing local copy of the file, if any) and marks the file as checked out on the server. This option is not available if Enable File Check In and Check Out is turned off for the current site. See Checking in and checking out files on a remote server.

Check In File(s) transfers a copy of the local file to the remote server and makes the file available for editing by others. The local file becomes read-only. This option is not available if the Enable File Check In and Check Out option in the Site Definitions dialog box is turned off for the current site. See Checking in and checking out files on a remote server.

Stop Current Task aborts any current activity, including getting and putting files. The button, a red stop-sign (octagon) shape with a white X, appears in the lower right corner of the window only when a task is in progress. Note that it may take a little time for the server to process the stop request, so the file transfer may not halt immediately. This button appears only when a task is in progress.

The collapse/expand triangle button in the lower left of the Site window lets you collapse or expand the Site window to display one or two panes.