Lesson 2 - FTP in Dreamweaver Part 1
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- FTP Part 2
Now that you have learned the basics of site creation in Dreamweaver you'll learn to upload the site to your server to make it live on the World Wide Web. This part of the lesson will teach you how to upload your files through DW's FTP client and view your web site from either the URL of your UNIX account OR the URL given to you by your Internet Service Provider or Web Hosting Service.
What's FTP?
FTP is the acronym for File Transfer Protocol. It is one of the easiest and most widely used methods to upload web pages and associated files from your local computer to a remote web server. In order to upload your web pages using FTP you need an FTP client, a web server or host, and the account information for your web server.
If you have been uploading your files to a server, you've probably used a client such as Ws_ftp or Cute FTP for Windows and Fetch for Mac. Well now you can use Dreamweaver as your FTP Client, and let me tell you... I love this feature of Dreamweaver, so let's get started.
You have already defined a site using the Files Panel. Either you created a folder on your hard drive and then created subfolders and files within that folder, or you defined a site and DW created a root folder for the site. This hierarchical structure on your hard drive is mirrored in your Dreamweaver Files Panel (F8 on your keyboard). The Files Pane helps in the organization of your files and now you will see how it transfers those files between your local computer and the remote server.
I work with my Files Panel open all the time. If yours is not open, press F8 to open it now. By default the Files Panel shows the Remote Site on the left pane and the Local Files on the right pane. If you are currently displaying the site map, click the Site Files button so you have the Remote Site on the left pane and the Local Files in the right pane.
Go to the Show: drop down menu on the top left of the Files Panel. Your current site will be displayed. Select Manage Sites...
The Manage Sites window will appear. Select the Edit... button.
Now you will enter the FTP information you received from your ISP or from Foothill; you will need your host name, your login name and your password, as well as the path to your web site . Enter the path to your web site in the box labeled What is the HTTP address (URL) of your site? The path to your web site is normally the web site address and will be something similar to: http://www.pacbell.net/~yourname or http://www.yourname.com (if you have your own domain) or http://krypton.fhda.edu/~yourUnixUsername if you are using Foothill's server.
The example shows the path for an account on the krypton Foothill server. If you are using another site, fill in the information you received from your ISP. Be sure to replace "yourUnixUsername" with your correct username.
NOTE: Do NOT click the link create an FTP or FDS server connection. For this class we will do all of our file editing locally and then FTP our finished files to a server, rather than working directly on the server.
Click on the Next button three times; this takes you to the window where you'll enter the remaining information about your FTP server. Substitute your login username where I put "yourUnixUsername" and enter your password. Make sure to click the Secure FTP box if you're using Foothill's server. You can click the Test button to confirm that the information you input is correct and that a connection to the server can be made.
If you're using the UNIX server at Foothill, you can put public_html/ as the Host directory.
Connection - use the drop down menu to select the FTP option.
FTP Host - the address of your domain or remote host such as www.something.com or ftp.something.com but it may be an IP address such as a series of 12 numbers in four segments: ###.###.###.###.
Host Directory - this specifies a directory on the server where your site root is located. Many servers have the site root set as public_html/ but check with your hosting company for sure. You can leave this blank because often you'll be automatically connected to the proper directory when you connect from your account. Click here for specific information for Foothill College UNIX server accounts.
Login - is your user name for your account.
Password - will appear as bullets. You can have DW save your password. If you don't want DW to save the password, you'll be prompted to enter it when you connect to the remote site (your host).
Now that you've set up the Remote Info, you can use your Files Panel to transfer files and dependent files to your server. Before we do this, let's review the Site Category of the Preferences window. To display your Preferences go to the Edit Menu - Edit>Preferences in Windows and the Dreamweaver Application Menu - Dreamweaver>Preferences on a Mac. You will see a Category column on the left. Select Site from the Category column to display the preferences that relate to the Site Management features.
- Always Show - is where you can change the display layout of the Files Panel's site local files and remote server. Note that the DW display is opposite to that of WS-ftp which displays the local files on the left and the remote files on the right. I keep my set to DW default.
- Dependent Files - is such a cool feature. I set mine to Prompt on Get/Check Out and Prompt on Put/Check In. This means that when I transfer a web page, DW will prompt or ask me if I want it to send over all the associated files on that page including images, flash and other multimedia objects, style sheets, etc.
- FTP Connection - sets the time I designate to disconnect in case I'm done and forget to disconnect.
- FTP Time Out - stops DW from trying to connect to a server that may be down or busy after a designated period of time.
- Firewall Host - if on a network, contact the network administrator for this info
- <Firewall Port - if on a network, contact the network administrator for the port info
- Put Options - DW will automatically save an open doc when you tell it to transfer or put into the remote server side. If not checked, DW will ask you each time if you want to save.
- Manage Sites - opens the Manage Sites window. Now you know several ways to open the Manage Sites window.
* click the link below to continue with this lesson *
FTP in Dreamweaver Part 2
