A Web server can be configured in a wide variety of ways. This section provides information on some common issues you may encounter in setting up a remote site, and how to resolve them.

• Dreamweaver's version of FTP may not work properly with certain proxy servers, multilevel firewalls, and other forms of indirect server access. If you encounter problems with FTP access, ask your local system administrator for help.
  
• Dreamweaver's version of FTP is different from some common FTP applications. In particular, you must connect to the remote system's root folder and you cannot navigate through the remote file system. (In some other applications, you can connect to any remote directory, then navigate through the remote file system to find the directory you want.)
  
• If you are having problems connecting and you've specified the host directory using a single slash (/), you may need to specify a relative path from the directory you are connecting to and the remote root folder. For example, if the remote root folder is a higher-level directory, you may need to specify ../../ for the host directory.
  
• Sometimes with slow connections the default FTP time-out value of 60 seconds results in too many time-outs. Increase this value (in Site preferences) if you experience frequent time-outs. But don't increase it too much, or you'll have to wait a long time when a connection really can't be made. Generally, time-out values of 30 to 120 seconds are the most useful.
  
• File and folder names that contain spaces and special characters often cause problems when transferred to a remote site. Use underscores in place of spaces, and avoid special characters in file and folder names wherever possible. In particular, colons, slashes, periods, and apostrophes in file or folder names can cause problems. Special characters in file or folder names may also sometimes prevent Dreamweaver from creating a site map.
  
• On the Macintosh, file names cannot be more than 31 characters long. If you encounter problems with long file names, rename them with shorter names.
  
• Note that many servers use symbolic links (UNIX), shortcuts (Windows), or aliases (Macintosh) to connect a folder on one part of the server's disk with another folder elsewhere. For example, the public_html subdirectory of your home directory on the server may really be a link to another part of the server entirely. In most cases, such aliases have no effect on your ability to connect to the appropriate folder or directory, but if you can connect to one part of the server but not another, there may be an alias discrepancy.
  
• When you encounter a problem with an FTP transfer, examine the FTP log by choosing Window > Site FTP Log in the Site window (Windows) or Site > FTP Log (Macintosh). If you encounter an error message such as "cannot put file," your remote site may be out of space. Look at the FTP log for more detailed information.