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Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004

This presentation is focused on teaching associates how to upload the files unto servers to publish their websites on the net. It is also to educate associates on how to create templates for web projects they may be doing. These areas of specialization have been chosen based on the feedback we received from a survey we sent out earlier on in this rotation. We hope by the end of this presentation all associates would be able to follow the instructions and guidelines given to create templates and publish their sites.

Publishing a Website.

As you create a site on your computer you keep it in a folder often called a local site folder. This local site is the copy of your website saved on your hard drive from which you will be working and uploading to the remote site. The remote site is the term Dreamweaver gives to the web-server copy of your files. And Dreamweaver provides five ways of transferring files between your local site and your remote site.
1.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is the most common method for transferring files over the internet especially if you use the services of internet service providers.
2.
Over the local area network: You could do this by using Network neighborhood, My network places, chooser, or connect to server command, depending on your operating system.
3.
The other three options are RDS, Sourcesafe and WEbDav. They are advanced file management systems used for collaborative Web development.
 
Preconditions: You already have a prepared website on your computer, ready to be uploaded.

Overview

1.
 From the sites menu choose manage sites
2.
 Choose site and click edit
3.
 Fill out the requirements for basic(local root folder).
4.
Create your web site.
5.
Go back to manage sites and fill in requirements for (remote folder)
6.
 Upload your site.

Site Definition: Defining a local root folder.

1.
 Click Basic, if the dialog box is showing the Advanced tab.
2.
 The first screen appears, asking you to enter a name for your site.
3.
In the text box area, enter a name to identify the site within Dreamweaver. The name can be anything.
4.
 Click Next
5.
 The next screen, asks if you want to work with a server technology.
6.
 Select the No option beacause for now, this site is a static site, with no dynamic pages.
7.
 It is recommended that you select the option labeled "Edit local copies on my machine, then upload to server when ready”.
8.
 Click the folder icon next to the text box. The text box allows you to specify a folder on your local disk where Dreamweaver should store the local version of the site’s files, but it’s easier to specify an accurate folder name if you use the browse icon, rather than typing the path.
9.
 The Choose Local Root Folder for Site dialog box appears.Click Next to proceed.
10.
 The next screen of the wizard appears, asking how you connect to your remote server.
11.
 For now, select None from the pop-up menu.
12.
 Information about your remote site would be done later. All you need to set up your site on your hard drive is the information already given.
13.
 Click Next to proceed .
14.
 A summary of your setting is displayed on the next screen.
15.
 Click Done if you are satisfied with your settings. If not you can always go back to edit.
16.
 The Manage Sites dialog box appers, showing your new site.
17.
 Click Done to close the Manage Sites dialog box.
On the right or sometimes left of your screen you would notice that the files panel would display the new local root folder. This file list in the Files panel acts as a file manager, allowing you to copy, paste, delete, move, and open files just as you would on a computer desktop.

 

Define a remote folder

After you are done creating your site you would have to upload it to your remote server.
To proceed you need access to a remote server such as your ISP’s server or an intranet server within your company. Alternatively, you can run a web server on your local computer, such as IIS (Windows) or Apache (Macintosh). For more information about setting up a web server on your local computer,
1.
 In your remote site, create an empty folder inside the web root folder for the server. Name this new empty folder with the same name as your local root folder.
2.
 Select site then Manage sites.
3.
Select the site you want to uplaod and click edit.
4.
 Click the Basic tab.
5.
 Click next a few times because you have already filled in some information.
6.
 Stop where the windows displays "How do you connect to your remote server?" and select a method for connecting to the remote site.
7.
 The most common methods for connecting to a server on the Internet are FTP.
8.
 If you selected FTP, enter the following options:
9.
 Enter the hostname of the server eg. ftp.fortunecity.com
10.
 In the text box that asks what folder contains your files, enter the path on the server from the FTP root folder to the remote site’s root folder. In many cases this should be left blank. In our case we’ll live it blank.
11.
 Enter your user name and password in the appropriate text boxes.
12.
 If your server supports SFTP, select the Use Secure FTP (SFTP) option.
13.
 Click Test Connection.
14.
 If the connection is unsuccessful, consult your system administrator.
15.
 Since you’re working on in it alone don’t enable the check and check out.
16.
 Click Next.
17.
 Check your settings and click Done.
18.
Click Done again to close the Manage Sites dialog box.
Both Defining a local and remote folder could easily be done in the advanced window.
From Sites, Click Manage sites, choose your site and click edit.
But. Instead of clicking Basic click Advanced.
The rest of the information reqired for the local and remote folder is about the same as the Basic tab window.

 

Upload your local files

After setting up your local and remote folders, you can upload your files from your local folder to the web server. You must upload them even if the web server is running on your local computer.
1.
 In the Files panel, select the site’s local root folder.
2.
Click the “connect to remote host icon.
3.
Click the blue Put Files arrow icon in the Files panel toolbar.
Dreamweaver copies all the files to the remote folder you defined This operation may take some time, as Dreamweaver must upload all the files in the site,
4.
 Open your remote site in a browser to make sure everything uploaded correctly.
5.
 Open your web browser and check to see how your site is displayed.
Some servers do not support certain features so be sure you know all the features your server supports and check to see if everything is working well.