If you've gotten used to using the Paste as Text feature in Dreamweaver 3, don't be disappointed when you find that it's missing in Dreamweaver 4. Macromedia streamlined the process in its latest version. Now you simply choose File, Paste and formatted text from a word processing document maintains its formatting — well, okay, it at least maintains the line spacing.

Truth is, Dreamweaver is still pretty weak when it comes to converting text. You can save yourself from reformatting the text in Dreamweaver if you use a word processing or spreadsheet program that includes a Save As HTML feature (Microsoft Word and many others offer this feature). Instead of copying and pasting the text into Dreamweaver, use the word processing program's File, Save As HTML feature, rename the file, and then open the new file in Dreamweaver. Microsoft Word and Excel even preserve table formatting, a real timesaver if you're dealing with large tables of text or numbers.