an overview, with highlights on whats new in version 8, as well as descriptions of the toolbars, menus, and panels that make up Dreamweavers interface. In Chapter 2, you dive right into setting up your Web site, creating your first Web page, and adding text, images, and links. Chapter 1 Introducing Your New Best Friend In This Chapter _ Introducing the new features of Dreamweaver 8 _ Examining your Web site objectives _ Finding your way around in Dreamweaver Welcome to the wonderful world of Dreamweaver 8. If youre an experienced Web designer, youre going to love the power and sophistication of this Web editor. If youre new to building Web sites, youll appreciate its simplicity and intuitive interface. Either way, this chapter starts you on your way to making the most of Dreamweaver by introducing you to the menus and panels that make this program so useful. Dreamweaver can help you with every aspect of Web development, from designing simple pages, to fixing links, to publishing your pages on the World Wide Web. Dreamweaver can handle the simplest HTML, as well as some of the most complex and advanced features possible on the Web, including Cascading Style Sheets and Dynamic HTML (see Chapters 8 and 9 for more information on these features). Dreamweaver also integrates a powerful HTML text editor into its easy-to-use graphical design environment so you can work in the HTML code if you prefer. If you already work in another Web design program or youre updating a site that was created in another program, dont worry - you can use Dreamweaver to modify existing Web pages and continue to develop your Web site without losing all the time youve already invested. For example, if youve been working in a program such as Microsoft FrontPage or Adobe GoLive, you can change to Dreamweaver to edit and develop your site further. All Web design programs create HTML pages, and those pages can be opened in any other Web design program. At the end of this chapter, in the "Working on Web Pages Created in Another Web Design Program" section, you find a few warnings about the challenges you may encounter because the code can vary slightly from program to program, but once you clean up those differences, you should be fine. In this chapter, you find an introduction to the new features in Dreamweaver 8, get a tour of the desktop, and gain an overview of what makes Dreamweaver such a powerful Web design program. So Whats New in Dreamweaver 8? Now the good stuff. All those requests you make to Macromedia, all that wishful thinking . . . believe it or not, they heard you and many of the little - and not so little - things we all have been wanting in this program are finally here, as well as a few extras you might expect! The following list provides you a quick overview of some of the new features you find in version 8: _ When you first launch Dreamweaver 8, youll notice a few changes to the Workspace. Although it has no dramatic changes, the programmers at Macromedia have added some clever new features, including a magnifying glass feature complete with a little icon in the status bar just below the work area. Much like the magnifiers common in image-editing programs, this new feature enables you to zoom in to view page elements in greater detail or zoom out to see the full layout of a larger page. _ Youll find some of the most extensive changes in the way Dreamweaver