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Using FTP (file transfer protocol) with Dreamweaver

1. Make sure your site is defined

Every time you use Dreamweaver, you must make sure that the Web site you are working on (your course site or your final project) is defined. You do not necesarily have to re-define your site every time if you are working from the same computer, but you should always begin by checking the Site Definition window to make sure that the path to your Local Root Folder is correct.

What does this mean? What is "defining your site?"

You always start a session of Dreamweaver by pointing to the specific folder that you have set up to hold all of the relevant files for the particular Web site that you are working on. Make sure you are pointing to the right folder by going to Site-->Open Site and making sure that your settings (which you set up when you first defined the site) are checked.

If your site is not listed, or if this is the first time you are Defining your Site, then choose Site--> New Site and fill in the fields for the New Site Definition for Unnamed Site in the pop up window. There are 2 ways to define your site, depending on if you are working on your course site or on your final project.

In this course, you will make only two Web sites: a course Web site that you will maintain throughout the semester, and a final project Web site redesign.

A.) When you use Dreamweaver to manage your course site in any way (update your Web log, make HTML pages for your banner ads, your film credits, or your multimedia narrative) then you will point to the folder with your last name as your local root folder. If you followed the file structure correctly, then the path to the local root folder for your course site will be:

D:\yourlastname

          [ Roll over image to view Remote Info Settings ]

B.) When you use Dreamweaver to work on your final project Web site, you will want to define a new site because this time you are building a whole new Web site. The path to the local root folder of your final project Web site should be:

D:\lastname\portfolio\finalproject

          [ Roll over image to view Remote Info Settings ]

Do not worry if you get the following message:

2. Making the connection between your local zip disk and your folder on the server for this course

Remember that the folder on your zip disk with your last name

D:\lastname or in my case D:\sapnar

should be an identical copy to the folder on the server which is located at the URL:

http://nmc.loyola.edu/advanced/studentwork/spring03/sapnar

This means that the default page of my final project would be located at:

D:\sapnar\portfolio\finalproject\default.htm

and could be found online at the following URL:

http://nmc.loyola.edu/advanced/studentwork/spring03/sapnar/portfolio/finalproject/

What would be the URL of this file on my local disk?

D:\sapnar\portfolio\banners\banner1.htm

Nobody should need to ask "where do I find my site on the Web?" any more!

3. Copy your files to the Web server using Dreamweaver's FTP

When you want to put a file on the Web, you send a copy of the file on your zip disk to its corresponding location on the server.

You can use the site management window to FTP your files. Click the two plugs icon to connect. Highlite a file in your Local Folder and click the up arrow to upload a copy of the file to the remote server.

[ Rollover this image for an image of a successful connection to the server,
copying the folder structure exactly.]

4. ONLY PUT UP FILES THAT ARE NECESSARY FOR YOUR WEB SITE.

See this example:

You do not want to put any of your raw graphics files on the server. Your files created in Photoshop and Flash that you made before exporting to the Web (as a .gif, .jpg, .or .swf) should be OUTSIDE your Local Root folder for your course site (your last name folder) because they are not necessary for the Web, only for your own editing purposes. The only files which are inside Sapnar folder are: .htm files .gif and .jpg images .swf web-ready flash files .css cascading style sheets .lbi library files   You will not have files such as these on the server, they will stay separate in the raw folder subfolders: .fla Flash files .png Fireworks files .psd photoshop files .wav or .mp3 sound files The new URL of your course will be: http://nmc.loyola.edu/advanced/studentwork/spring03/lastname