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ronmsf2
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« on: August 15, 2004, 09:44:37 AM » |
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When my site was entirely static, it was pretty simple to manage in DW. Now that I have phpbb and coppermine as part of my site, I'm wondering how best to manage all the files. Some of my questions are:
1. Can I use DW to ftp from an arbitrary location on my pc? This came up when I wanted to upload photos to coppermine. The only way I could figure out how to do it was to copy all the photos to my local DW site and then upload the files, (which is what I did), or to use a separate ftp program to transfer the files from my pc to the server.
2. Does it make any sense to keep a copy of the phpbb and coppermine files within the local DW site on my pc? Right now I do not duplicate all the phpbb and coppermine files on my local site, (though I have had to duplicate some files because of the issue in #1 above).
3. I've been reading in "dreamweaver mx 2004 demystified" about setting up dynamic site, (ch 21 if anyone has that book). Since I have phpbb and coppermine installed, is there a benefit to definining my site to be dynamic in DW? Can anyone comment on "on-line" development versus "off-line development"? It certainly looks easier to go the on-line route, so that I don't have to install Apache, php, and mysql on my local pc.
-Ron
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"Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars" -Henry Van Dyke
"Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel." -Socrates
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TranzNDance
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« Reply #1 on: August 15, 2004, 10:03:26 AM » |
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1) You should replicate the file structure of your website so that locations are relative to each other. So, you would create a photo folder that would be in the same location as the online version of your files. Are you using site management? It would be faster to use a separate FTP client to upload photos. Also, if uploading in DW, it prevents you from doing anything else there. However, if you have a few images that would be quick to download/upload, it might be easier just to use DW if it's already open and then you don't have to open a separate app.
2) I would recommend keeping a copy locally because it's basically keeping a backup of your files. Backups are always good. Do you know about using Synchronize so that DW will download the appropriate files? Also, if you have to make updates or modifications, you can edit those files, after making a duplicate.
3) The way that these scripts are written, I don't think we can use Apache, php, and mysql on the local pc. I don't think you need to define your site in a special way since you can't take advantage of the testing functions anyway.
Actually, it's much easier to develop off-line because all you have to do is save your file, preview in IE, and voila. With online development, you have to Push the file to your online space, and then you're at the mercy of the connection's speed and availability (if too many people are using it, you can't access it), etc. It's not always possible to do the offline route depending on the code. For me, I can't do it for my site because I am using server variables. Maybe someone can correct me if I am wrong. However, as I am following along in a PHP book, I can use offline development tools.
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leighsww
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« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2004, 10:11:58 AM » |
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I don't use DW to upload files, but I do use DW and know that:
You can upload files from any place on your computer from DW by:
1) Open Site view
2) Click the "Expand" icon to see both the "Local" and "Remote" views
3) On the "Local" side, scroll down to "Desktop"
4) Double-click on it to expand the list
5) Select the folder/files you want to upload
For question #2: There is really no reason to take up harddrive space by doing this.
Someone else has to answer #3, I do not setup "Dynamic" sites in DW.
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leighsww
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« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2004, 10:20:21 AM » |
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I did not see Tranz comments when I posted, so to add:
The only thing you have to remember when uploading your image files that are NOT duplicated in the folders of your offline site is ... you have to make sure that the "linking" to the image is manually done in your html (you type the relative URL to the file that will be linked).
You will have to view the online version to make sure the images appear in your page, due to you can't do this offline due to you did not make copies in the folders of your offline site to be able to see them in DW.
If you know what you are doing and know enough about how to manually write out your paths for linking correctly, then this is no problem.
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TranzNDance
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« Reply #4 on: August 15, 2004, 10:24:07 AM » |
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leighsww, The thing is that ronmsf2 is asking about pre-made scripts, so he needs to work with those scripts in terms of placing the images where they were intended, instead of trying to edit the code to match where he placed things.  In the config, he could point to a particular folder that he wants to use, but it is still within a specific subdirectory of the site. Also, if he had made an offline copy of his site, he would have been able to know where the image (non-photo) files are supposed to go, if he wanted to add images to a template, e.g.
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leighsww
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« Reply #5 on: August 15, 2004, 11:03:23 AM » |
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Ahhhh. Well, I guess then it will have to be determined if he needs to view an "offline" version, because then yes, he will need to duplicate those images to the correct folder path on his computer to do so. If he didn't need to view an offline version, then he wouldn't have to make duplicate copies of the image files on his computer, because he is uploading them directly to the correct folder on his server for the script to access them, thus will never need to alter the path in the script. So ... 1) Duplicates are needed if viewing an offline version 2) Duplicates are NOT needed if NOT viewing offlineIn any case, in answer to the question as to whether one can upload from any "arbitrary" folder on the computer without creating duplicate files, the answer is "yes" |
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TranzNDance
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« Reply #6 on: August 15, 2004, 11:15:18 AM » |
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I just tried to view my CPG files using my PHP test server and I got a dB error. I wonder if I could figure out how to access MySQL, I could edit CPG locally for when I want to create/edit custom templates.
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TranzNDance
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« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2004, 11:37:40 AM » |
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Oh my! I figured out how to remotely access MySQL, and the gallery files showed up! I could even log in.  At first the images/photos didn't show up although I had copied the entire gallery folder over. Then I realized that I didn't have a copy of certain files because I had uploaded from locations other than my gallery subfolders. |
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TranzNDance
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« Reply #8 on: August 15, 2004, 12:02:43 PM » |
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ronmsf2, I don't recognize your CPG theme as being any of the ones that came with CPG. Did you edit it yourself? If so, that is another good reason to develop locally. It could prevent embarrassing appearances. When I used to work directly with my site, there were times when I would make a change that just didn't look too good and I hoped that nobody was viewing the site at the time. Now, I could work locally until I am satisfied with how things look. 
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ronmsf2
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« Reply #9 on: August 15, 2004, 10:19:26 PM » |
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Wow... TranzNDance and leighsww.. thank you for all your help! All your comments were very helpful. I think I will try to duplicate my whole site locally, including phpbb and coppermine. I like the idea of being able to work on these off-line. Oh my! I figured out how to remotely access MySQL, and the gallery files showed up! Okay... don't keep me in suspence... how did you do it? Are you able to tinker with your templates locally now, and preview them before making them public? BTW, I found the CPG theme in the coppermine forums (what were you saying about those forums  ). I made very little changes... changed the logo and added a link to my homepage. That's it. I would like to change the colors to match my homepage a more closely though. Anyway, if you're interested, here is the thread: New CSS based XHTML compliant themes http://coppermine.sourceforge.net/board/index.php?topic=8057.msg32547#msg32547and here is the direct download: http://tariquesani.net/themes/2bornot2b.tar.gz (24Kb) -Ron |
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"Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars" -Henry Van Dyke
"Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel." -Socrates
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TranzNDance
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« Reply #10 on: August 15, 2004, 10:34:32 PM » |
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I didn't say how because you expressed disinterest in developing offline, ronmsf2. Or, at least, you didn't want to have to install Apache, php, and mysql on your PC. That's what you would have to do to develop offline. Maybe not all of those things, but something of the sort. If you're interested in doing that, get PHPerl. It will have everything you'll need. I can't go into details now, because my brain is half-fried... kinda scrambled now.  |
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ronmsf2
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« Reply #11 on: August 16, 2004, 08:35:27 AM » |
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I can't go into details now, because my brain is half-fried... kinda scrambled now. Ha... I understand... I think I beat you to the It's not so much that I don't want to develop off-line.. it just looked like quite a bit more work, and I wanted to better understand the "cost/benefit" ratio so to speak. I'm going to have to play around with it a little to see what actually works best, but all the comments from you and leighsww have been very helpful.. Thanks, -Ron |
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"Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars" -Henry Van Dyke
"Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel." -Socrates
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