Connecting to a Remote Site


In Lesson 1, you created a local sitethat is, a folder on your hard drive to store all the folders and files needed for your site. Throughout Lessons 2 through 13, you developed pages in the local site. When you create your own sites, however, you need to copy your local files to a remote site after you have completed the production phase of creating your site for visitors to see the Web pages. Typically, the remote site is on a server specified by your host, Web administrator, or client, but it can also be on a local network.

Note

It is a good idea to transfer your site to a live serverideally the one on which the site will actually resideand test that site to be sure that everything works as expected. Because you are transferring the site to a different location, there is always the possibility that something might not work as it did in the previous location. It is best to determine whether any such problems exist and fix the situation before launching the sitemaking it available to the public or other intended audience. Testing is covered in Lesson 15.


1.

Choose Site > Manage Sites.

Tip

Windows users can also use the Site menu located on the expanded view of the Files panel.

The Manage Sites dialog box opens.

2.

Select the Yoga Sangha project site and click the Edit button. The Advanced Tab should be active by default; if not, click the Advanced Tab.

The Site Definition for the Yoga Sangha dialog box opens.

3.

Choose Remote Info from the Category list on the left side of the dialog box.

The Remote Info section of the Define Sites dialog box is where you enter information to tell Dreamweaver which remote site to connect to and the attributes of that remote site.

The current selection is None, as you specified when the Yoga Sangha site was first set up in Lesson 1.

4.

From the Access menu, choose Local/Network.

In the following steps, you will create a folder to simulate a remote File Transfer Protocol (FTP) site. This procedure enables you to experiment with the Get and Put functions, as well as additional site-management functions, without the need to have access to a remote server. In most cases, the Local/Network option is used when you have access to another computer on a network that will house the remote folder. In this instance, it will be on your own computer.

Note

FTP access is a common method of getting files from or putting files on a remote site. Because you might not have access to a remote FTP site while you complete this lesson, the following information is presented as reference material only. Consult your network administrator or host to set these options correctly. The following list of options is available by choosing FTP from the Access menu in the Remote Info portion of the Site Definition dialog box.

  • FTP host: The host name of your Web server (such as adobe.com).

  • Host directory: The directory on the remote site in which documents visible to the public are stored (also known as the site root).

  • Login and Password: Your login name and password on the server. If you deselect the Save checkbox, you'll be prompted for a password each time you connect to the remote site.

  • Use passive FTP: Used when you have a firewall between your computer and the server. This option is unchecked by default.

  • Use firewall: Used if you are connecting to the remote server from behind a firewall. This option is unchecked by default. The Firewall settings are located in the Dreamweaver Preferences, which you can access quickly by clicking the Firewall Settings button.

  • Use Secure FTP (SFTP): Used when you have an SFTP server, which uses encryption to create secure connections. This option is unchecked by default.

5.

Click the folder icon to the right of the Remote Folder text box to specify the remote folder.

The Choose Remote Folder For Site Yoga Sangha dialog box opens.

6.

Choose a location on your hard disk that is outside your root folder, DW8_YogaSangha. Click the New Folder button, type YogaRemote for the folder name, and select it.

The remote folder must be outside your local root folder.

Macintosh users: Select the YogaRemote folder and click Choose.

Windows users: Select the YogaRemote folder and click Open; then click Select to use the YogaRemote folder as your remote folder.

This folder will act as a stand-in for a remote server.

7.

Leave the four checkboxes for additional site options set to their defaults, click OK to save your site information, and click Done to close the Manage Sites dialog box.

Note

Dreamweaver might update the Site Cache after you click Done because you made changes to the site.

You can always edit your site information later by choosing Site > Manage Sites to open the Manage Sites dialog box and then selecting the site you want change. For this exercise, you left the Refresh File List Automatically box checked and the Check In/Out options unchecked, and the maintain synchronization information checked.

8.

Click the Refresh button on the Files panel.

The Files panel now displays the empty remote folder in the Remote Site pane of the Files panel. The path from your hard disk to the folder is displayed next to the folder icon. You can roll over the folder name to see the full path.

In this situation, you defined a local folder, so the Connect icon button at the top of the Files panel is not active because you are already connected. The Connect button logs you on to a specified remote server when you are not automatically connected, such as when you use the FTP option.




Macromedia Dreamweaver 8(c) Training from the Source
Macromedia Dreamweaver 8: Training from the Source
ISBN: 0321336267
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 326

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