| Although establishing a connection to your Web site is a critical step with Contribute, it is quite transparent from the user's perspective when handled correctly. Contribute's connection key system provides all the information needed for users to transfer files between their systems and the Web site host computer. Best of all, the connection key is encryptedFTP user names and passwords are well hidden from unauthorized eyes. Connection keys are created by the administrator, as you'll learn in Lesson 14. When the connection key is fashioned, a password is selected. The Contribute user needs both the connection key file and the password to establish a connection. Connection Key Manager As noted earlier, there are two ways to establish connections in Contribute 2005. For larger Contribute deployments, in which you are addressing a known community of contributors, the Connection Key Manager is the best approach. The Connection Key Manager works with lists of employees stored in LDAP or Active Directory services; you can also create your own XML list if you prefer to work with a file-based system. The Connection Key Manager is part of Contribute Publishing Services and requires a J2EE-compliant application server. For more details on using the Connection Key Manager, see the Macromedia documentation included with the service. |
1. | Start Contribute by double-clicking the Contribute icon on your desktop, choosing Start > All Programs (Windows XP Only) > Macromedia > Macromedia Contribute 2005 (Windows), or find Contribute installed within your Applications folder and double-click the Contribute 2005 icon (Mac) inside the Macromedia Contribute 2005 folder.
Notice Contribute's very clean and simplified user interface, complete with the helpful Start page. As in Dreamweaver, the Start page provides a central launching pad for the program. New users can get a quick tour of Contribute or take the tutorial if they have a little more time to invest. Any established connections are listed as links on the Start page; selecting one of these links opens the chosen connection and displays the site's home page.
Note The Contribute Start page also offers direct access to creating connections manually by entering the required information in the Connection Wizard. If a connection key is available, using it is faster and more secure than entering the information by hand. | 2. | Choose Edit > My Connections to open the My Connections dialog box. Select the Importbutton to locate the file BountyGeneral-Users.stc found in the Lesson_01 folder.
 After you open the .stc file in the Select Connection Key dialog box, the Import Connection Key dialog box opens. If Contribute has not been started, you can also locate and double-click any .stc file to launch the program and begin the import connection key process.
| 3. | Enter your name, email address, and required password in the appropriate fields of the Import Connection Key dialog box. The password is designdeploy.
Template files and their dependent files are transferred to your system if the password is entered successfully. A new entry is listed in the My Connections dialog box that shows the connection name (which appears on the Start page and under the Home Pages button), the primary Web address for the site, the role assigned by the connection key (in this case, Writer) and the site administrator's email address.
Tip Assigned roles are another reason why connection keys are the way to go when creating connections. If the Connection Wizard is used to enter the connection details manually, the user self-selects the role. This means that the user can opt to become an Administrator, whether or not the user is indeed an administrator for the site. You can modify your user name and email address if necessary by selecting the entry and choosing Edit; connections can also be retitled within Contribute by choosing Rename.
| 4. | Close the My Connections dialog box to return to Contribute, ready to browse the site. Use Contribute's built-in browser to familiarize yourself with the Bounty General site.
As with a standard browser, select a link or navigation button to go to the indicated page; the Back and Forward buttons function as expected. You can even browse to anywhere on the Web by entering a URL in the Address field and pressing Enter (Return) or clicking Go. Anytime you go outside the connected site, you'll see a message reminding you that you don't have a connection to the site you're browsing.
Note Contribute's built-in browser is different for the Windows and Macintosh platforms. Windows users see a version of Internet Explorer, whereas Mac users work with a Safari implementation. Bookmarks are imported from the bookmark file that's current when Contribute is launched; you can find your Internet Explorer or Safari bookmarks under the Bookmarks > Other Bookmarks menu option. The Choose button on the main toolbar lets you view the site through a standard file explorer inter face. This is particularly helpful to get to files that have not yet been linked to another page in the site.
 | 5. | Return to the primary page of the connected site by choosing the Home Pages button on the main toolbar and selecting Bounty General.
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Tip The Home Pages button is a good way to quickly return to a known starting point. Because each site can have only one starting point, if the contributor needs to access other pages frequently, the Bookmarks > Add Bookmark command is very handy.
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