In keeping with its tradition of supporting different user groups, Dreamweaver CS5 offers several different views each containing different features of interest to particular groups. These views are called workspaces and this article covers how to use them.

When you launch Dreamweaver CS5 the programme opens in a window called the Workspace which contains the opening screen and various panels with different Dreamweaver features. Dreamweaver has different workspaces for different users needs.

To see which Workspace is current in use, on the upper menu bar choose "Window, then "Workspace Layout". The Workspace sub menu shows the available workspaces and you'll see the default is the design workspace. Alternatively, in the topmost toolbar on the right, you'll see the current workspace name. Click the name to show a menu showing the other workspaces available.

If you then create, for example, a new HTML page, the Workspace shows the maximised document screen where you can enter content, such as "This is a test" for example. The document toolbar lets you choose different document views such as "Design View" which lets you see the content entered; "Code View" which lets you see the HTML tags created by Dreamweaver as the content is entered, and "Split View" which lets you see both.

On the right hand side of the display you can see the Dreamweaver panels with, for example CSS (Cascading style sheets) in the upper part, and "Files and Assets" in the lower part.

We'll now look at what happens if you change the current Workspace. So choose "Window", "Workspace Layout" and select "Classic". Dreamweaver takes a moment to change the workspace. Although the right hand panels look very much the same, you'll see that a new panel has appeared immediately above the "Files" panel, with the three tabs "Database", "Bindings", "Server Behaviors". And if you look above the left hand document screen you'll see an additional multi tabbed toolbar has appeared. This is the classic display used in earlier versions of Dreamweaver.

Now try changing to the Workspace layout to "Coder". This time you'll see the main document window in "Code View" enlarged on the right, with support panels on the left. If your main interest is in creating code to create pages and contents then this view focussing on creating and editing code with relevant support panels displayed on the left.

You can also arrange the document window and support panels any particular way you want. To do this we'll copy an existing workspace and give it a name, such as "Test1", and then change the layouts with the Test1 workspace. So if you choose the Designer workspace, then select "Windows", "Workspace Layout", "New Workspace". Give it the name "Test1" and click OK to complete. You'll see the Workspace name "Test1" on the top toolbar.

Now try changing some of the support panels. You can move and resize some, close others and generally customise what you see. If you were to exit Dreamweaver CS5 and then launch it again, your Workspace will still open with the panels still changed around. If you've accidentally closed some panels and worse still you forget which ones you've closed, don't worry as help is at hand. Just choose "Window", "Workspace Layout" you'll see an option to "Reset Test1". Choose this and voilà, your Workspace is back to how it first started - a really useful feature.

You can create as many workspaces as you like for different features to focus on and all will be retained within Dreamweaver CS5. You can also rename or delete workspaces you have added by choosing "Window", "Workspace Layout", "Manage Workspaces".

Dreamweaver CS5 workspaces are there to meet the needs of different user groups ranging from complete beginners to software coders and application developers. Each workspace displays views and panels focusing on different aspects of Dreamweaver.

You can learn much more about Dreamweaver CS5 workspaces and many more programme features by attending one of the many tutor lead training courses to really boost you Dreamweaver CS5 skills.