Chapter 7 Managing a Web Server and Files

It’s important to perform maintenance tasks frequently to make sure your website operates smoothly and remains “clean.” Performing Website Maintenance

You should use the Assets panel to check the list of images and colors used in your website. If you see images listed that are not being used, you should move them to a storage folder outside the website until you need them. Performing Website Maintenance

Before and after you publish your website, you should use the Link Checker panel to make sure all internal links are working. If the Link Checker panel displays any broken links, you should repair them. Performing Website Maintenance

Link Checker panel displaying no broken links No broken links listed Performing Website Maintenance Summary

If the Link Checker panel displays any orphaned files, you should evaluate whether to delete them or link them with existing pages. Performing Website Maintenance

Link Checker panel displaying one orphaned files Three orphaned files listed Performing Website Maintenance

You can use the Reports command in the Site menu to generate five different HTML reports that can help you maintain your website. You choose the type of report you want to run in the Reports dialog box. Performing Website Maintenance

Reports dialog box Report on list arrow Scope of report choices Performing Website Maintenance

Design Notes – are separate files in a website that contain additional information about a page file or a graphic file. Performing Website Maintenance

Design Notes – work collaboratively to design a site because they can record notes to exchange information with other design team members about the status of a file. – are a good place to store information about the source files for graphics, such as Flash or Fireworks files. Performing Website Maintenance

It’s important to ensure that the various language versions are compatible. To address this need, Dreamweaver can validate markup. Performing Website Maintenance

To validate markup, Dreamweaver searches through the code to look for errors that could occur with different language versions. Performing Website Maintenance

The Results tab group displaying the Validation panel opens and lists any pages with errors, the line numbers where the errors occur, and an explanation of the errors. Performing Website Maintenance

You should test your website using many different types and versions of browsers, platforms, and screen resolutions. You should test every link to make sure it connects to a valid, active website. Performing Website Maintenance

You should present the web pages at strategic times in the development process to your team members and to your clients for feedback and evaluation. You should analyze all feedback on the website objectively, incorporating both the positive and the negative comments to help you make improvements to the site and meet the clients’ expectations and goals. Performing Website Maintenance

A web server is a computer with software that enables it to host websites and is connected to the Internet with an IP (Internet Protocol) address so that it is available on the Internet. Publishing a Website and Transferring Files

Before you can publish a site to a web server, you must first define the remote site by specifying the Servers settings in the Site Setup dialog box. Publishing a Website and Transferring Files

Accessing the server settings in the Site Setup dialog box Servers tab Add new Server button Publishing a Website and Transferring Files

You can set up a server for testing purposes only and a server for the live website. The most common connection setting is FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Publishing a Website and Transferring Files

If you choose FTP, you need to specify a server address and folder name on the FTP site where you want to store your site root folder. Publishing a Website and Transferring Files

You can also use Secure FTP (SFTP), an FTP option, which lets you encrypt file transfers to protect your files, user names, and passwords. Publishing a Website and Transferring Files

Once you have set up a remote server, you can then view the remote folder in the Files panel by choosing Remote view from the View list. If your remote site is located on an FTP server, Dreamweaver will connect to it. Publishing a Website and Transferring Files

After you set up a remote site, you need to upload, or copy, your files from the local version of your site to the remote host. Publishing a Website and Transferring Files

If a file you select for uploading requires additional files, such as graphics, a dialog box opens after you click the Put File(s) button and asks if you want those files (known as dependent files) to be uploaded. Publishing a Website and Transferring Files

If you are developing or maintaining a website in a group environment, there might be times when you want to transfer or download files that other team members have created from the remote site to your local site. Publishing a Website and Transferring Files

The Synchronize command instructs Dreamweaver to compare the dates of the saved files in both versions of the site, then transfers only copies of files that have changed. Publishing a Website and Transferring Files

Synchronize with Remote Server dialog box Instructs Dreamweaver to synchronize all files in the site Publishing a Website and Transferring Files

When you work on a large website, chances are that many people will be involved in keeping the site up to date. Different individuals will need to make changes or additions to different pages of the site. Checking Files Out and In

Checking files in and out is similar to checking library books in and out. Using Dreamweaver’s Check Out feature ensures that team members cannot overwrite each other’s pages. Checking Files Out and In

When this feature is enabled, only one person can work on a file at a time. When a file is checked in, you cannot make edits to it unless you check it out again. Checking Files Out and In

Check Out File(s) and Check in buttons on the Files Panel toolbar Check Out File(s) button Check In button Checking Files Out and In

Another file management tool is Subversion control. A remote SVN (Apache Subversion) repository is used to maintain current and historical versions of your website files. Checking Files Out and In

It is used in a team environment to move, copy, and delete shared files. You can protect files from being accessed using the svn:ignore property to create a list of files that are to be ignored in a directory. Checking Files Out and In

There may be times when you want to exclude a particular file or files from being uploaded to a server. You can exclude such files by cloaking them, which marks them for exclusion from several commands. Cloaking Files

In addition to cloaking a file or group of files, you might also want to cloak an entire folder. For example, if you are not concerned with replacing outdated image files, you might want to cloak the assets folder of a website to save time when synchronizing files. Cloaking Files

Cloaked assets folder in the Files panel Panel options button Red slash indicates folder and files in it are cloaked Cloaking Files

When you move a site, you need to move its site definition. The site definition for a website contains important information about the site, including its URL, preferences that you’ve specified, and other secure information. Importing and Exporting a Site Definition

If you want to be able to access the site settings in a website that someone else has created, you can import the site definition file once you have the necessary.ste file. Importing and Exporting a Site Definition

Saving The Striped Umbrella.ste file in the su_site_definition folder Importing and Exporting a Site Definition

Intellectual property is a product resulting from human creativity. It can include inventions, movies, songs, designs, clothing, and so on. Evaluating Web Content for Legal Use

The purpose of copyright law is to promote progress in society, not expressly to protect the rights of copyright owners. However, the vast majority of work you might want to download and use in a project is protected by either copyright or trademark law. Evaluating Web Content for Legal Use

Copyright protects the particular and tangible expression of an idea, not the idea itself. Trademark protects an image, word, slogan, symbol, or design used to identify goods or services. Evaluating Web Content for Legal Use

A copyright owner has a “bundle” of six rights, consisting of: – reproduction (including downloading) – creation of derivative works (for example, a movie version of a book) – distribution to the public Evaluating Web Content for Legal Use

A copyright owner has a “bundle” of six rights, consisting of: – public performance – public display – public performance by digital audio transmission of sound recording Evaluating Web Content for Legal Use

By default, only a copyright holder can create a derivative work of his or her original by transforming or adapting it. Evaluating Web Content for Legal Use

The law builds in limitations to copyright protection. One limitation to copyright is fair use. Fair use allows limited use of copyright- protected work. Evaluating Web Content for Legal Use

Work that is no longer protected by copyright is in the public domain; anyone can use it however you wish for any purpose. In general, the photos and other media on Federal government websites are in the public domain. Evaluating Web Content for Legal Use

A licensing agreement is the permission given by a copyright holder that conveys the right to use the copyright holder’s work under certain conditions. Evaluating Web Content for Legal Use

Websites have rules that govern how a user may use its text and media, known as terms of use. The following figure is a page from the Library of Congress website stating clearly, the terms of use. Evaluating Web Content for Legal Use

The Library of Congress home page Link to legal information regarding the use of content on the website Evaluating Web Content for Legal Use

The permissions process is specific to what you want to use (text, photographs, music, trademarks, merchandise, and so on) and how you want to use it (school term paper, personal website, fabric pattern). Evaluating Web Content for Legal Use

How you want to use the work determines the level and scope of permissions you need to secure. Your request should contain the following: – Your full name, address, and complete contact information. Evaluating Web Content for Legal Use

– A specific description of your intended use. – A signature line for the copyright holder. – A target date when you would like the copyright holder to respond. Evaluating Web Content for Legal Use

The familiar © symbol or “Copyright” is no longer required to indicate copyright, nor does it automatically register your work. Evaluating Web Content for Legal Use

Before you present a website to a client as a finished project, you should do a final check on some important items: Presenting a Website to a Client

–Do all your final design and development decisions reflect your client’s goals and requirements? –Does the website not only fulfill your client’s goals and requirements, but those of the intended audience as well? –Did you follow good web development practices? Presenting a Website to a Client

–Did you check your pages against your wireframes as you developed them? –Did you check each page against current accessibility standards? –Did you run all necessary technical tests, such as validating the code, and searching for missing alternate text or missing page titles? Presenting a Website to a Client

–Did you verify that all external and internal links work correctly? –Did your final delivery date and budget meet the timeframe and budget you originally promised the client? Presenting a Website to a Client

Client communication, both at the beginning of a project and throughout a project, is critical to a successful web design and a solid customer relationship. Presenting a Website to a Client

To communicate with your client and ensure a mutual understanding of the project, you could also use BaseCamp, a web-based project collaboration tool that many companies use. Presenting a Website to a Client

To present the final project, consider publishing the site to a server and sending the client a link to view the completed website. Creating PDFs of the site and sending them to the client for approval is another possible method. Presenting a Website to a Client

Another communication option is to invite the client to your office and do a full walkthrough of the site with them, which offers them a chance to ask questions. This is probably one of the best options if it is feasible. Presenting a Website to a Client