As Dreamweaver has matured it’s become more than a tool for designers looking for a WSIWYG web tool. It’s become a serious web development tool and is even getting the attention of (gasp!) hard core coders.

In recognition of this trend, Adobe has added several new preset workspaces to Dreamweaver. The workspaces, which are accessed from the Window>Workspace Layout menu item, include:

• App Developer
• App Developer Plus
• Classic
• Coder
• Coder Plus
• Designer
• Designer Compact
• Dual Screen

As the names imply, the workspaces are  designed to accommodate the needs of different users in different computing environments. So, if you’re not happy with the default setup, try one of these options.

If you still aren’t happy, you can always open and close windows and move and resize palettes until you are. When you quit Dreamweaver it will remember your workspace. In other words, if you start with the Designer workspace, change it and then quit, your changes will be integrated into the default Designer workspace which you can access at anytime by selecting Window>Workspace>Designer.

To remove your changes and return the Designer workspace to its original settings choose Window>Workspace>Reset “Designer.”

You can also arrange the workspace as you like it and save it as a custom workspace by choosing Window>Workspace>New Workspace… That way you’ll have access to the new workspace as well as all the built-in defaults.

Finally you can delete or rename the custom workspaces you create by choosing Window>Workspace>Manage Workspaces…

As always, feel free to comment here or email me with your questions, comments and suggestions. And please follow me on Twitter (DWcourse) for additional Dreamweaver news and tips.

Question from @lavasusan via Twitter: Dreamweaver problem: how to get file list to appear for a site? Used to be able to open it thru “manage.” Now nothing opens the list.

Answer: In the Mac version of Dreamweaver CS4 the way you access the Site Files panel has changed. You can now show and hide the Files panel by selecting “Files” from the Windows menu or by using the command-shift-F keyboard shortcut. In addition, when the files panel is expanded, clicking on the close window button now collapses the window and returns it to the panel dock rather than closing it.

Follow me on Twitter: @TOONrefugee