|
Local & Remote Sites: An Overview
Before using local and remote sites in Dreamweaver, it is
important to understand exactly what they are. It is also important to be
aware of the tools available when managing files along with considerations
to keep in mind during the development of pages.
This document includes information on the following:
 Understanding
the Local & Remote Sites
Dreamweaver allows you to work with a local site and a remote
site. Since the remote site is less complex, it is introduced first in this
section.
The Remote Site
A remote site includes the files and folders of a website
that are available to be viewed by visitors to your site. This is commonly
referred to as the live area. In most cases on this campus, your remote site
is accessed by connecting to Lucy, the campus web server. Websites stored
off campus typically are accessed using File Transfer Protocol (FTP). With
some exceptions, it is not recommended that pages be edited from the remote
site. This helps avoid placing incomplete or incorrect pages online.
The Local Site
A local site, commonly referred to as the working area of a
website, consists of all files and folders associated with a website. Since
the local site includes all files, even the web pages that are in
development, it is not accessible by the public. These files and folders
mirror the files and folders on the remote site. Using a local site has the
following advantages:
-
Helps avoid placing incomplete or incorrect pages online by
allowing the files to be edited and tested before transferring them to the
remote server.
-
Serves as a backup of the files on the remote server.
There are two types of local sites: multi-user and
single-user.
Local Site: Multiple Users
This type of local site allows multiple web developers to
access and make changes to the same set of files. Typically located on a
department share drive or on Lucy (the campus web server), these local sites
act as reviewing areas and are used for only extremely large websites. For
example, McIntyre Library's website consists of thousands of files. Since
many people edit these files, it is appropriate to have a local site which
is accessible to multiple users through a shared location. The local site
for the library is stored on a Lucy drive that all library web developers
have access to.
Local Site: Single Users
This type of site is maintained by a single web developer and
therefore it can be placed in a variety of areas. Since it is for a single
web developer, usually it is placed on the web developer's C: or H: drive.
Each web developer can decide what location works best for him or her.
These types of local sites are used when a website is not
large enough to merit access by multiple individuals through a shared
location (e.g., test server or department share drive) or when such a site
is unavailable. For example, the Center for Instructional Technology
Improvement and Innovation (CITI) maintains a relatively small website;
therefore, it does not need a test server. Instead, each CITI web developer
has devoted space on his or her C: or H: drive to create, edit, and test
files before transferring them to the CITI website.
Considerations
for Development
How your web pages are edited and developed will vary
depending on a variety of factors. Consider asking yourself the following
questions when developing a website.
-
How large is the website?
If your website is small with only a few pages, it may be easier for you
to simply edit them directly on the server. However, a larger site would
benefit from using Dreamweaver's local and remote sites.
-
Will the website have multiple developers or just
one?
Depending on the size of the website, websites with multiple developers
may want have a shared local site.
-
How extensive are the changes?
If the changes made to the site are very minimal, working directly on the
remote site may be fine. However, if your site requires extensive (e.g.,
redesign) changes, it may be best to work on a local site and, when
finished, move the files to the remote site.
-
How often is the site updated?
Some websites are updated daily. Others are updated monthly or even less
often. If changes are made frequently to the website, you may want to
implement and local and remote site to reduce the likelihood of placing an
erroneous page on the remote site.
-
Will two or more people working on the same file be
prevented?
If your local site is shared,
then Dreamweaver does not have built-in capability to control who may open
a file for editing. If your local site is
not shared, Dreamweaver can control who has a file open
for editing using the Check In/Check Out feature. For more
information about Check In/Check Out, see Check In/Check
Out.
File
Management Tools
Dreamweaver provides a host of file management tools. The
following documents contain information on file and site management tools:
|