Publishing the Site

When your site is ready to go, chances are, you will want to publish it to a web server and make it available to the world. Again, GoLive gives you an easy way to accomplish the task, and even keeps track of the work you have done during each work session and prompts you to upload the files that have changed. Before publishing, however, you need to enter some information about the server so that GoLive knows where to put the files.

Publishing via FTP or HTTP

To set up GoLive for publishing via FTP or HTTP, you need to be connected to the Internet. Choose Server from the GoLive (Edit) menu. Click New to create a new entry. Give the server a nickname, and select a protocol from the pop-up list. Enter the server IP address, username, and password, and then click the Browse button (looks like a folder) at the right end of the Directory field. Browse to the directory to which you will be publishing, and select it.

By the Way

If you do not know the server IP and other necessary information, you need to contact your web hosting service.

Publishing to a Local Folder

GoLive is also capable of publishing to a local folder. In the Server settings window, choose File from the Protocol pop-up menu. Click the Browse button (looks like a folder), browse to the local or network folder of your choice, and select it.

Designating a Server Location for the Site

You can have more than one location set up in the Publish Server settings, so you'll need to tell GoLive which one to use for the site you are working on. To do so, click the Site Settings button on the Main toolbar; when the settings dialog box opens, choose Publish Server on the left. Click the radio button next to the server of your choice and close the settings window.

Uploading the Site

Now that your server settings are ready to go, you can publish the site. To do so, make sure that your site window is in front of all other windows, and click the Connect/Disconnect button on the Main toolbar (see Figure 9.65). GoLive connects to the server, brings the Publish tab of the site window forward, and displays a list of any files that might already reside on the server.

Figure 9.65. You can easily connect and upload using the buttons on the Main toolbar.

Next, click and hold the Upload button on the Main toolbar and choose from one of the options in the list. You can also select your default option by using the Change Button To menu item (see Figure 9.66). For example, if you change the button's default to Upload Modified (my personal favorite), then instead of having to click and hold the Upload button and choose an upload method each time, you can simply click on the button to begin the upload process.

Figure 9.66. Select a default upload method.

After you click Upload, GoLive does a check on the files, comparing them to those on the server, and opens a window showing you what files will be uploaded. You can make changes in this window by selecting a filename and then clicking one of the four buttons at the bottom that designates the action you would like to be taken on the file. You can choose Skip, Upload, Download, or Delete. Under each section of the Upload window is information that clearly shows what will happen to a file both in the site and on the server.

When you are ready, click OK. You'll receive a confirmation message, and when you click OK a second time, the files will be transferred. During the upload process, you'll get an indicator; when the process is complete, you are returned to the site window.