Macromedia Dreamweaver 8.02 Update

Macromedia Dreamweaver provides the productivity of a visual Web page layout tool, the control of an HTML text editor, and support for Dynamic HTML in one professional, easy-to-use package.
Dreamweaver can be used seamlessly with Macromedia Flash, Fireworks, and Director to develop engaging Web content. Develop sites collaboratively, separating content from design with XML and Dream Templates. Make complex site-wide changes quickly with a site map, global search and replace, and automatic link management.
This latest release includes: Macromedia Flash text and buttons; a JavaScript debugger; a Site Reporter to quickly identify and fix errors, and more.This is a 30-day trial version of Dreamweaver.
Dreamweaver MX will sport an improved layout, sources said, and will also show off the new interface that is visible in both Flash MX and Fireworks MX.. Like those apps, Dreamweaver will have docking panels, but also will be able to take the layout of its previous release, version.
Macromedia Dreamweaver will also include a new feature called the Snippets panel that allows users to easily add pieces of HTML and Javascript code. It will be able to store and draw upon any piece of code -- even server-side code -- sources said.
The CSS styles panel will also show improvements, with design-time style sheets to make page editing easier. In addition, Dreamweaver MX will distinguish between locally-defined styles and those defined externally. Enhancements will also be visible in Dreamweavers templates, which will show tweaks in the MX release.
Coders will also see several time-saving benefits of Dreamweaver MX, which will provide lists of tag attributes and parameters, object properties, and hints for custom tags.
In code view, Dreamweaver MX will enable the editing of properties of each tag using tag-editor dialog boxes. Finally, Dreamweaver MX will feature improved support for ColdFusion, PHP, JSP, and ASP.NET.
Main features:
Best Practices
- Visual authoring with XML data
Integrate XML-based data, such as RSS feeds into web pages using a simple drag and drop workflow. Jump to code view to customize the transformation, using improved code hinting for XML and XSLT.
- New, unified CSS panel
All the CSS functionality is consolidated into one panel set and enhanced to make working with CSS easier and more productive. The new interface makes it easier to see the cascade of styles applied to a specific element and easily identify where attributes are defined. A property grid allows for quick edits.
- CSS layout visualization
Apply visual aids at design time to outline CSS layout borders or color CSS layouts to reveal complex nesting schemes and improve selection. Click on the CSS layout for valuable Tooltips, such as ID and padding and margin and border settings.
- Style rendering toolbar
View content the same way end-users will see it, no matter what the delivery mechanism, with new support for CSS media types in Dreamweaver 8. Use the style rendering toolbar to toggle to design view and see how it will look in print, on a handheld, or on a screen.
- CSS rendering improvements
Match how complex CSS layouts will render in most browsers, with substantial improvements in design view accuracy. Dreamweaver now fully supports advanced CSS techniques, such as overflow, pseudo-elements, and form elements.
- Accessibility: Support for WCAG/W3C priority 2 checkpoints
In addition to the integrated accessibility evaluation tool for Section 508 and WCAG Priority 1 checkpoints, Dreamweaver now supports both CSS and accessibility with an updated evaluation tool that includes WCAG Priority 2 checkpoints.
- Improved WebDAV
WebDAV in Dreamweaver 8 now supports digest authentication and SSL for secure file transfer and offers improved connectivity with a wider array of servers.
Get more done
- Background file transfer
Stop waiting and keep working while Dreamweaver 8 uploads files to the server. New functionality enables users to work with files in their local machine while Dreamweaver communicates with the server.
- Zoom
Get great control over design with zoom. Pan in and inspect an image or work with a complex nested table layout. Zoom out to review how a page will look overall.
- Guides
Compare the page layout to comps with pixel perfect accuracy using guides to measure page layouts. Great visual feedback helps measure distances accurately and supports intelligent snapping.
- Coding toolbar
The new code toolbar surfaces common coding operations in a gutter bar along the side of the coding surface. No more hunting through menus and panels to find code snippets. New coding features include comment/uncomment.
- Code collapse
Focus only on the code in use. Hide and expand blocks of code by selection or by tag to stay organized.
- Workspace layouts
Customize and save workspace configurations. Dreamweaver 8 ships with four different configurations that are tailored to the needs of designers and coders. Pick and choose, or easily build a custom workspace.
- Tabbed documents for the Mac
New document tabs on Mac help simplify the user interface and make it easier to select documents.
- New starter pages
Get started with web design in a snap. Beautiful new layouts and designs allow users to go from installation to full site in no time flat.
- Improved site synchronize and check in / check out
Manage sites with increased reliability and confidence. Improved site synchronization features help ensure that the file in use is the latest version. Prevent accidental overwriting of others’ work with improved check-in/ check-out functionality to track who is working on which files.
- Compare files
Quickly compare files to identify what has changed, whether it is two local files, a file on the local and remote, or two files on the remote server. Dreamweaver 8 now integrates with diff utilities on both the Mac and Windows platforms.
- Paste special
Spend less time wrestling content from email and Microsoft Word into formats. With new pasting options in Dreamweaver, retain all the source formatting created in Microsoft Word, or just take the text and apply the CSS already attached to the page.
- Site relative references
Work seamlessly with server-side includes at design time and run time by ensuring that references are relative to sites instead of local files.
- Code editing improvements
Gain greater control over how the tool hints and completes tags to fit with your coding style.