How to fix “Dynamically-related files could not be resolved” message in Dreamweaver

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Adobe_Dreamweaver_CS6_IconWordPress is made up of over 70 files which may be called to display your site. Dreamweaver has a handy feature with which it lets you discover all those files.

Sometimes this works great – and sometimes you get the error message above. I was stumped by this when a site I was working on seemingly threw Dreamweaver overnight. Was was going on?

The secret is Permalinks.

Dreamweaver has a problem discovering and resolving related files if you’ve set Permalinks to anything other than the default. This problem has been around for a while, ever since the introduction of this feature in fact.

Here’s a quick and dirty workaround

==> Open your site in Dreamweaver and wait for the message at the top, telling you that there are related files to be discovered. Hit “Discover” and get the error message.

==> Next login to your local WordPress site via a browser and remember what the current Permalinks are set to (under Settings – Permalinks).

==> Choose the Default (first option) and hit save.

==> Go back to Dreamweaver and try the discovery option again. All related files are discovered – hurray!

==> Head back over to your WordPress site and change the Permalinks back to what they were, then hit save.

I know this is a bit hacky, but until Adobe can figure out a working solution this is as good as it gets, and not really that cumbersome.

I’m confused… how do I set this up? When do I discover files?

For this feature to work you need to setup a site in Dreamweaver and declare a Testing Server. You also need MAMP or WAMP Server running on your local system. When you declare your testing server make sure to check the Advanced tab and set it to PHP MySQL.

Now when you open your WordPress site’s root index.php file you’ll get the message to discover related files. Dreamweaver can only discover those by processing all PHP code – and that’s what it needs MAMP / WAMP Server for (just like your browser).

Note that you cannot discover related files on remote sites.



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38 thoughts on “How to fix “Dynamically-related files could not be resolved” message in Dreamweaver”

  1. THANK YOU TOO!!!!! I’ve been trying to figure it out for the longest. Now my only question is, do I can have to change the “default” setting back to the previous setting it had or should I leave it at “default”?

  2. You’re very welcome, CJ!

    Changing permalinks is always tricky: you probably want “pretty” permalinks enabled on your life site, but you can switch them during Dreamweaver development. Switch them back when you’re ready to deploy the site.

    A default permalink will work even if pretty permalinks are active, but it won’t work the other way round. If you’re working on files from a life site, switch permalinks to default on your local system and leave them “pretty” on the life site – there’s no need to change them there, this is just for Dreamweaver benefits.

    Note that changing permalinks on a life site will reset the share count and break back links. There’s no problem to change them back if you remember HOW they were set before (best make a note of those settings).

    If you accidentally erase the .htaccess file, head over to Settings – Permalinks. WordPress will remember what the setting was, just hit save to regenerate the .htaccess file (so that Apache knows where to redirect those requests).

    Let me know if this all makes sense 😉

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