Realtime preview not working within DW

[turner111]

Is the design window with DW supposed to update in real time? Mine isn't, unless I click into it, which isn't realtime... external browsers do, though.

[Nancy OShea]

Change this:

Hello! How are you?

To this:

<p>Hello! How are you?</p>

Ctrl+S to save.

F5 to refresh Live View.

1. Right-click on open tab. 

2. Open in Browser. 

3. Select any non-IE browser from the list.

Do you see content in your browser?

[turner111]

Hi Nancy,

"Ctrl+S to save.

F5 to refresh Live View."

Sorry - Is this what's considered to be "Live View"?

As noted, it updates in real-time in a browser, but not in the preview window within the app.

[Jon Fritz]

Different views and preview functions in DW have similar names, but are not the same...

Design View: An archaic framework view of your page while working Split with Code View. Some very old browsers will look similar to it, but it hasn't been updated by Adobe in a decade or more. This view is not updated live within DW and requires your system's focus, by clicking in the DV panel, to update. It can still be useful because it won't run scripts. So while working with a "cookies enabled script" for example, it allows you to modify content without popping up modal windows.

Live View Editor: A somewhat current browser emulator, now with some editing features, that should update as you work in Split with Code View. It can lag a bit, and might require hitting F5 every now and again, especially while working with scripts. If you have html errors in your code (a "red x in circle" icon at the bottom of your document window) it won't know what to do, and can't update until the code is valid again (a "green check in circle" icon in the same place).

Real Time Preview: A preview service run through Adobe's servers that can show you your page in an actual browser, live, as you code. Personally, it has never worked for me with my local testing server set up, so I have it turned off in my Preferences. RTP is a browser window outside of DW that changes as you work in DW.

Preview In Browser: DW simply opens the local file to preview it in one of your local browsers. This is the most accurate representation of the site, short of uploading everything to the remote server and opening the page in a browser. Pages need to be saved first in DW to render your current code in the browser using PIB.

[Jon Fritz]

With the above being said, it looks like you are in Split Code-Design View as it appears you are working fully within DW, and there are no blue borders in the rendered page area of your screenshot (the Live View Displays of the LVE).

If you click in the Design View space, it should update. A better, more "live updating" option would be to use the Live View Editor with your Code View Split.

To do that, go to View > Split > and verify Code-Live is checked.

Real Time Preview requires using both your browser and DW and doesn't appear to be what you're doing in your screenshot.