Synchronization Conflict Prompt during Local-to-Remote FTP Put

Short answer

Dreamweaver does not offer a Site Definition setting that pre-assigns a resolution priority (local wins vs. remote wins) for every file in a directory. Bulk resolution happens interactively: when the conflict dialog appears during a Put, it includes an option along the lines of "apply this choice to all remaining conflicts" (wording varies by version — e.g., an "Always use this decision" style checkbox). Ticking it suppresses further prompts for the rest of that operation, so you answer once instead of once per file.

Why the prompt appears

Dreamweaver keeps a local record of the state each remote file was in the last time it was downloaded or uploaded. During a Put, it compares the remote file's timestamp against that record. If the remote copy appears newer than what Dreamweaver last saw, it assumes someone (or something) changed the file on the server and asks before overwriting. This is a safety mechanism, and it is exactly why Adobe does not expose a blanket "always overwrite" rule in the Site Definition panel — the panel covers connection parameters, server/folder mapping, and testing-server settings, not conflict policy.

Practical workflow for large deployments

1. Start the Put on the folder or site as usual.
2. When the first conflict dialog appears, read it carefully — confirm the direction (local overwriting remote) is what you intend.
3. Enable the "apply to all" option in that dialog and confirm. Remaining conflicts in the same operation resolve with the same decision without further prompts.

If you know the remote side has drifted and you want the server to match your local workspace exactly, the safer route is the Synchronize command (Site > Synchronize, or the Files panel's synchronize icon) rather than a raw Put. The Synchronize dialog lets you choose direction (put newer files to remote, get newer files from remote, or both) and presents a preview list you can review and deselect before anything is transferred. That preview is the closest thing Dreamweaver has to bulk, directory-wide resolution control.

Cautions before automating

• Data loss risk: "always overwrite remote" permanently discards server-side changes you never downloaded. If the drift was caused by another team member or a server-side process, those edits are unrecoverable unless the host keeps backups.
• Clock skew: timestamp comparison assumes the server clock and your local clock agree. A server in a different timezone with a misconfigured FTP daemon can produce false conflicts — or mask real ones. If you see conflicts on files nobody touched, check clock skew before blaming the workflow.
• Version differences: dialog wording and the exact location of the "apply to all" option differ between legacy perpetual-license versions (CS6 and earlier) and Creative Cloud releases. Verify on your version with a single known-conflicted test file before running a large batch.

Verification

To confirm behavior on your setup: modify a file directly on the server (e.g., via a separate FTP client), then Put the same file from Dreamweaver. The conflict dialog should appear. Repeat with a folder containing several drifted files and enable the apply-to-all option on the first prompt — subsequent files should upload without prompting. If your version's dialog lacks that option, the Synchronize preview list is your bulk-control fallback.

If conflicts are constant

Frequent drift usually means multiple people or processes write to the same remote path. Dreamweaver's Check In/Check Out feature (enabled in Site Definition) is designed for exactly this — it won't eliminate timestamp prompts, but it makes concurrent editing visible and reduces surprise conflicts at deploy time.