Make changes to existing Dreamweaver website

[Small Town Gal]

Is there an easy way to make changes to an existing Dreamweaver website created and published in 2008?  I don't want to foul anything up!  I have to remove an outdated address listed in the index file and showing on the home page.  Is there an easy way to do this from the browser, or must I resubmit the entire website file and hope that everything works out?  I haven't worked with Dreamweaver since 2008, so I'm trying to remember how everything was done at that time.  I'm working on a Mac with Big Sur and Safari.  Any help you can give me will be appreciated, and if it can't be done through the Safari browser, perhaps you can tell me what I must do to make the changes?  Thank you!

[Ben M]

Without seeing the website it's difficult to say what is going on or tell you what you need to do. It could be editable from the browser if it was setup with a CMS like Wordpress, but as old as the website sounds, it is probably a static file and needs to be updated by editing the file. If you want to share the website we could take a look and let you know what needs to be done.

[Small Town Gal]

The website was created by me with Dreamweaver in 2008.  http://divorcesnj.com

[BenPleysier · Accepted solution]

This is a static website which is very easy to modify using any text editor like Dreamweaver.

Make the changes locally and test. After that you can FTP the site (or the changed documents) to the remote host.

[Small Town Gal]

Thanks, Ben, but I have a few questions.  What FTP should I use?  I have read bad reports on Filezilla containing malware and I don't want to corrupt my computer.  Do I have to use an FTP or can I just upload from my computer?  I have already made the changes locally in my index file, but it's been so long ago since I uploaded the website that I have my doubts about it uploading properly since Dreamweaver has been "discontinued."  As I said, I don't want to foul anything up with the website or have it not work properly or not upload as it should -- then we would have nothing!  It would be great if I could just upload the index file and not all of the other files, but I don't think that's possible.  I appreciate you help!

[BenPleysier · Accepted solution]

What you call "just upload from my computer" is in fact the Dreamweaver built in FTP server. Sometimes this does not work due to newer technologies, in which case it is quite safe to use Filezilla.

And do not worry, if you mess things up, you always have a backup copy (I hope).

[Nancy OShea]

The website was created by me with Dreamweaver in 2008.  http://divorcesnj.com

By @Small Town Gal

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RELAX.  There's nothing precious here. 

• At best, it an outdated business card.
• At worst it's a neon sign for email harvesters to exploit.  

Save content to your hard drive. Use your browser's SavePageAs (Ctrl+S)  feature. Repeat on successive web pages.

Get busy rebuilding the site with WordPress using a free or premium Legal Theme.  See link below.

https://blog.hubspot.com/website/best-lawyer-wordpress-themes

And for gosh sakes, remove those sensitive email addresses ASAP!  Replace them with a Contact Form that safely & securely allows visitors to contact the law practice.  See plugin link below.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/contact-forms-builder/

NO MORE BORING WEBSITE.  You'll find 1.4 million, royalty-free stock images on Adobe Stock.  

https://stock.adobe.com/search?k=law

Good luck.