University of Central Florida

Teaching Online

Webcourses@UCF

Using WebDAV from Dreamweaver

Note: These directions were written based on the Dreamweaver CS3 software. If you have another program or version of Dreamweaver these directions may differ with your software. If you have any questions or need assistance regardng these directions, please contact the Instructional Technology Group at (407) 823-0407 or itg@mail.ucf.edu

When editing pages for your course you will want to transfer the files from the Remote Site (UCF’s servers) to the Local Folder (your computer), edit them, and then upload them back to the server. To do this in Dreamweaver, you will first need to perform a task called Defining your site.

Before you Begin:

You have to create a folder on your local computer to store working copies of your files.

How to create a new folder on the Windows Operating System:

To create a new folder on the desktop:

  1. Right click on the desktop and select New, then Folder. A folder called New Folder will appear.
    If you are using a mouse that only has one button, you can hold Ctrl on your keyboard and click in the window alternatively.
  2. Replace the highlighted text with a new name for the folder.

To create a new folder in a location other than the desktop:

  1. Click on the Start menu.
  2. Select My Computer from the menu.
  3. Navigate to the location you would like your project folder to be located.
  4. Right click in the window and select New, then Folder. A folder called New Folder will appear.
    If you are using a mouse that only has one button, you can hold Ctrl on your keyboard and click in the window alternatively.
  5. Replace the highlighted text with a new name for the folder.

How to get the WebDAV URL from your course

To get the WebDAV URL you will need for the settings in Dreamweaver, log into your course and:

  1. Under the Build tab, select File Manager from the Designer Tools menu on the left-hand side.
  2. Next to the File Manger header, click the large Action Link icon and select View WebDAV Info.
  3. In the WebDAV Info dialog box that appears, take note URL that appears in the Folder Path box. We will need this URL later in the setup process.
  4. Webcourses has a security feature that causes the browser to time out after 90 minutes of inactivity so if you feel setting up your WebDAV connection will take a while make sure to save this URL so that we can get to it later. You can copy and paste it into a text editor such as Notepad, Wordpad, or Microsoft Word.

Defining Your Site

  1. Open the Dreamweaver software.
  2. In Dreamweaver, click Site, then New Site from the menu to open the Site Definition dialogue box.
  3. If the wizard (basic tab) is showing, click the Advanced tab.
  4. Then select Local Info from the Category list (it should be the default).
  5. In the Site Name box, enter a descriptive name for your Dreamweaver site.
  6. In the Local Root Folder box, specify the folder you created from the Before you Begin section.
    Note: You can enter a path or click the folder icon to browse to and select the folder.
  7. Select Remote Info from the Category list. The Remote Info dialog box appears.
  8. In the Access drop-down menu, choose WebDAV. A form to adjust your settings will appear below.
  9. In the URL text box, enter the Folder Path URL that you retrieved earlier from your Webcourses@UCF course section under WebDAV Info.
  10. You will need to use your NID and your NID password for the Username and Password to connect. If you are unsure of what your NID is you can look it up at the PID/NID Lookup Page, and if you are unsure of what your NID Password is you can check at the NID Password Reset page. After you've entered the correct credentials you can use the Test button to make sure everything was entered correctly. You can also choose to save your credentials on the machine so you do not have to enter them every time you connect to the server. Note: Do not save your credentials on a public machine. Never allow anyone to access UCF servers without their own username and password.
  11. Advanced users can make further setting changes to their WebDAV connection but for anyone else we recommend keeping the default settings.
  12. Click OK to complete setting up your WebDAV connection

Downloading, Editing, and Uploading Files

Downloading Files

  1. In the Dreamweaver workspace under the Files panel, select the site name we added a WebDAV connection for.
  2. Click the Connect to Remote Host button in the Files panel.
  3. To view both the files you have on your computer and those files on the server select the Expand/Collapse icon from the site work space.
  4. On the Remote Site (left column) you will see your pages appear. Select the pages you wish to download from the Remote Site by clicking on the filename with your mouse.
    Note: If you wish to move more than one file, hold the Shift key down while selecting files with your mouse.
  5. Click the Get arrow from the menu bar. This will move the files to your Local Folder on the right.

    Note: When downloading, Dreamweaver may ask if you wish to include Dependent Files. Click Yes if you will be editing images and other content added to the page. Click No if you will only be editing the file. Dependent Files are files that are dependent on the file you are downloading (images, linked pages, video, etc.).
  6. Click the Disconnect button when you are done downloading files.

Uploading Files

  1. From the Local Folder double click the file (page) you wish to edit.
  2. Your page will open and you can edit your content. (The editing window in Dreamweaver is similar to that of MS Word.)
  3. When finished editing, make sure you save your work by clicking File, then select Save and close the window.

Uploading Files

  1. In the Dreamweaver workspace under the Files panel, select the site name we added a WebDAV connection for.
  2. Click the Connect to Remote Host button in the Files panel.
  3. To view both the files you have on your computer and those files on the server select the Expand/Collapse icon from the site work space.
  4. On the Local Site (right column) the pages you downloaded and edited will appear. Select the pages you wish to upload from the Remote Site by clicking on the filename with your mouse.
    Note: If you wish to move more than one file, hold the Shift key down while selecting files with your mouse.
  5. Click the Put arrow from the menu bar. This will move the files to your Remote Server on the right.
  6. Dreamweaver will again ask you if you wish to include Dependent files. Click Yes.
  7. Click the Disconnect button.
  8. Now you may visit your course to insure changes have taken place.