There are three types of document paths: absolute paths, root-relative paths, and document-relative paths. Paths are entered into the Link box of the Property inspector or the URL box of the Select HTML File dialog box (accessed from the Property inspector). See Linking to a document.
Absolute paths Are complete paths that include the server protocol (usually http:// for web pages). For example, http://www.macromedia.com/dreamweaver/. Absolute paths remain accurate regardless of the location of the source document, but they do not link correctly if the target document is moved. You must use an absolute path when creating a link to a file outside the current site.
Root-relative paths Always begin at the root of the current site. All files on the site that are visible to the public are contained within the site root. Root-relative paths begin with a slash that tells the server to start from the root. For example, the path /dreamweaver/intro.htm links to a document named intro.htm in the dreamweaver folder, which is at the root level of the site.
A root-relative path is usually the best way to link files in an environment where content must be moved frequently. When you use root-relative paths, links continue to work even if the document you are linking from is moved within the site. Root-relative paths are not appropriate for sites that are to be viewed locally (such as presentations). Instead, use document-relative paths.
When you are working with Dreamweaver on a local disk, you define a local site by choosing a folder to serve as the equivalent of the document root on a server. Dreamweaver uses this folder to locate all links to local files specified as root-relative URLs. Root-relative links don't work until you save the document in a local site. To define a local site, choose Site > Define Sites. See Creating a local site.
Note: Content linked with root-relative paths does not appear when you preview documents locally in a browser. This is because browsers don't recognize site roots—servers do. To preview content linked with root-relative paths, put the file on a remote server and view it from there.
Document-relative paths Are relative to the folder containing the current document. For example, document.htm specifies a document in the current folder; ../document.htm specifies a document in the folder above the current folder; and htmldocs/document.htm specifies a document in a folder named htmldocs which is inside the current folder. Document-relative paths are often the simplest paths to use for links to files that will always be in the same folder as the current document.
Note: You should always save a new file before creating a document-relative path, since the document-relative path is not valid without a definite starting point. If you create a document -relative path before saving the file, Dreamweaver uses an absolute path beginning with file:// until the file is saved.