Dreamweaver Extensions

Dreamweaver was written for professional developers and, in order to satisfy the needs of professionals, Dreamweaver is extensible. The entire menu system is customizable, you can add keyboard shortcuts, you can create commands using HTML and JavaScript, and you can create custom tags, panels, toolbars, and objects.

In addition to creating your own extensions for Dreamweaver, other developers have developed extensions and they make them available to the Dreamweaver community. Many extensions are available at no cost, but there are also commercial extensions. One of the best sources for Dreamweaver extensions is the Macromedia Exchange.

While there are hundreds of extensions available through the Macromedia Exchange, there are many other sites that offer extensions, both free and commercial. Click here for links to some of those sites:

Some Recommended Extensions

Here are some of the Dreamweaver Extensions that we use and recommend:

Check Form MX - A form validation behavior that offers much more than the native DW behavior. You can validate ,enus, lists, textfields, radios and checkboxes. Menus and lists can be validated for values or proper selection. Radios and checkboxes can be validated for selection, state and even cause dependencies on other form objects (i.e., "If checked, then textfield can't be empty").
Input fields can be validated as e-mail strings, various date strings, and time formats. You can cCompares two textfields to be sure they have the same value, and you can define custom error messages. The Check Form extension is free from the Yaromat site.

Lorem and more - When developing new sites, most of us use a piece a filler text know as Lorem ipsum which has been around since the 16th century. Lorem and more offers the choice of traditional Lorem ipsum, a bit of genuine Cicero, random corporate nonsense, and for romantics — Sonnet 116 by Shakespeare. It also offers a formatting choice — paragraphs, continuous text, ordered and unordered lists and, in the case of Shakespeare, formally laid out as a sonnnet. Filler text can be inserted in code view as well as design view. Lorem and more is a free download -- click here.

Popup Link - A free behavior that opens the current link in a new window. No more 'null' links needed, it's XHTML Strict mode compatible, links still work with JavaScript disabled, and you can specify the appearance and location of the popup window. For more information, click here.

Strip <?xml?> Tag- Dreamweaver MX automatically inserts the <?xml?> declaration at the top of XHTML documents, and you need to remove that declaration in order to insure that XHTML documents are rendered correctly. Angela C. Buraglia, the founder of DreamweaverFAQ.com, has developed a free extension called Strip <?xml?> Tag that removes the <?xml?> declaration from XHTML pages and removes the PHP <?xml?> declaration from PHP documents, but does not disturb the <?xml?> declaration in .xml files. The extension works automatically every time you save a document so you never have to do a thing. Every user of Dreamweaver MX should download and install the free Strip <?xml?> Tag extension from the DreamweaverFAQ Store. You must be a registered user in order to download from the DreamweaverFAQ Store, but registration is free.