Creating and managing web sites

This chapter describes how to use Site Manager to create and maintain a set of inter-connected web pages, applications and associated files.

Site Manager makes managing a web site easy. It automates web maintenance tasks such as relocating files and documents. When you move or rename files or documents, Site Manager alerts you to hypertext links that do not exist, and automatically maintains existing links within the site. Site Manager also provides a graphical interface for compiling LiveWire applications. You can use Site Manager to make HTML documents available to a user community by publishing the web site.

Overview

Managing the integrity of information and hypertext links in a rapidly changing web site environment can be time consuming and complicated. Site Manager provides tools that reduce the time and complexity to enable effective web site management.

Site Manager is the main graphical interface for web site managers and LiveWire application developers. Site Manager provides:

Getting started

If you are using Windows, you can run Site Manager by double-clicking the Site Manager icon in the LiveWire program group.

Main Netscape Site Manager Window

The Netscape Site Manager Window is composed of two panes, with tabs for managing your site. The Left Pane displays the whole file system. Managed site files or directories are displayed with a red triangle in the lower left hand corner.You can use the Site pull-down menu to switch between sites, but the list also acts as a label, showing the currently selected site. If there is no site selected, the Site pull-down list is blank and the right pane will display tabs with no detail information. If a single site or item in a site is selected, the Site File List will show that site's folders, files and links. The Right Pane uses tabs to display and manage Site Properties, Page Links, Site Links and Unused Pages.

Placing an existing site under management

Placing an existing site under Site Manager management is easy.

  1. In the left pane of your Site Manager Window, select a folder to be used as the managed site's root directory.
  2. From the Site pull down menu in the Site Manager Window, select Manage. Site Manager builds a site database containing referential internal links for the existing site that you have selected. A red triangle in the lower left corner of the site file's icon indicates that the site is under management.

Using the Site Manager Guru

The Site Manager Guru lets you specify the configuration and location for a managed web site. You can create a new web site, create a managed site using files from a remote location or create an empty site.

The Site Manager Guru offers eight types of web sites for personal, organizational or business use. Site Manager creates a new managed site based on your selections, complete with hypertext-linked HTML pages, images, navigational tools and forms for the site.

Use the Next> and <Back buttons to move through the Guru pages. When you are satisfied with the information you have entered on a Guru page, click on the Next> button to continue configuring the site. Use the <Back button to retrace your steps. Use the Cancel button to end the session. If you end the session before Site Manager has completed creating the new managed site, your current configuration is discarded without creating a site.

While you are specifying the site configuration, the Finish button is depicted in half-tone. When you have completed all of the steps to create a site, the Finish button returns to full-tone color. Selecting the Finish button creates the site.

Creating a new web site

To create a new web site use the Creating a New Site Template window and select the button that refers to creating a new site. Selecting this button tells Site Manager to use the existing directory and file path for your new site.

  1. From the Site Manager Menu, Select Site | New Site. The Creating a New Site window opens.

    Creating a New Site

  2. Select Create a New Site from a Template.
  3. Select the Next> button to continue. The Guru page for creating a site directory appears.

  4. Select Next> to accept the default directory or use the Browse button for a directory other than the default, then select Next> to accept your new directory. A new Guru page appears, offering you eight group choices which define the type of site that you want to create.

  5. Select the kind of site that you wish to create from the group list. A new Guru page appears, asking you to choose a template for internal use, a home office or a department.

  6. Select the kind of template that is appropriate for your site.
  7. Select the Next> button to define the type of template for this site and open the next template window. The next template window appears, asking you to define the site information.

  8. Type your name or your organizations name, your email address and the site title in the template.
  9. Select the Finish button. Site Manager now creates the managed site according to your specifications.

    The files in the new managed site are visible in the Site Manager Left Pane display. The folders and files of the site are displayed with a red triangle in the lower left corner of the object's icon, indicating that the site is under management.

Creating a web site based on a remote site

To create a web site that uses files from an existing web site on any server connected to the network, use the Creating a New Site Template window and select the button that refers to creating a site based on a remote site. Selecting this button tells Site Manager to download the information from that existing location.

  1. From the Site Manager Menu, Select Site | New Site. The Template window opens.

    Creating a New Site Window with Remote Site Selected.

  2. Select Create a Site Based on a Remote Site.
  3. Select the Next> button to define a working directory for this site. The template for creating a site directory appears.

  4. Select Next> to accept the default directory or use the Browse button for a directory other than the default, then select Next> to accept your new directory. The next template window asks you to specify the source URL for the site.

  5. Type the source http URL for the remote site.
  6. Select Next>. Site Manager creates the directory, downloads the site information and manages the site. The red triangle in the lower left corner of the site file's icon indicates that the site is under management.

Creating an empty web site

To create an empty web site, use the Creating a New Site Template window and select the button that refers to creating an empty site.

  1. From the Site Manager Menu, Select Site | New Site. The Template window opens.

    Create a new empty site.

  2. Select Create an Empty Web Site.
  3. Select the Next> button to define a working directory for this site. The template for creating a site directory appears.

  4. Select Next> to accept the default directory or use the Browser button for a directory other than the default, then select Next> to accept your new directory. The next template window asks you to specify the source URL for the site.

  5. Type the source URL for the empty site.
  6. Select Next>. Site Manager creates the empty directory for the site. The red triangle in the lower left corner of the site file's icon indicates that the site is under management.

Managing a site

Once you have a web site under management, the Site Manager provides a number of tabs to update and maintain your site. This section describes the Site Manager tabs and how they are used in a managed web site.

Properties

Depending on the type of object selected in the left pane, the properties tab shows the appropriate information for that object.

Properties Tab

The properties depicted are:

Page links

This tab shows the links to and from the selected HTML page.

Site links

Site Manager classifies links by the following categories -- valid, invalid, internal and external. A valid link is any link that returns a verified response when a URL request is made. An invalid link is any link that returns a "no response" when a URL request is made. An internal link is any link within a page or between pages in a managed site. An external link is any link that points to a location outside the managed site.

Use the View drop down list in the Site Links window to select the type of links that you want to check. You may select from:

Unused files

When the Unused Pages Tab is selected, any page that is within the site and not being used is displayed. An Unused Page is an HTML page that has no other pages pointing to it. One common example is the top-level page (index.html) in a site that has links to all other pages.

Managing site links

While Site Manager maintains all of the document links in your local site up-to-date, instances occur where links become invalid, or you may wish to modify links based on changes to your site. How to manage your site links using Site Manager is described in this section.

Repairing case problems in links

Site Manager manages files by their actual file names with upper and lower case considered.

  1. Select the site to examine for possible case sensitivity problems.
  2. Select Site | Repair Case Sense Problems.This compares the links in the site to the actual file names in the directory tree and modifies the hypertext links to conform with the actual file names.
    While Site Manager can keep all of the documents in your local site up-to-date, if someone else has linked to your web pages from another web site, their links become invalid when you move or rename the HTML file. If you know which external pages have links to your pages, you may wish to inform their owners when you move or rename files.

    Note: Site Manager does not track dynamic links that are created by JavaScript.

Checking and modifying links

In a HTML document there are three types of links -- internal links within a page, links between pages and external links that point to locations outside of the managed site. External links can be directories on other file systems, FTP or HTTP servers, "Mail to" links and any URL that is not part of the managed site. Site Manager marks links as invalid when a URL request returns a no response.

When you move or rename a document, Site Manager automatically updates the hypertext links to that document in all documents in the site. If a target specified in a hypertext link is shown as invalid, use the Site Manager Edit | Modify Links function to define a new target URL.

Checking external links

Since external links commonly change and become invalid, Site Manager can be used to check and update them.

  1. Select the site folder in question.
  2. Select Site | Check External LinksSite Manager checks all links in the site that begin with "http://host.domain/"and displays invalid links. A Check Links List appears when the check links process is completed, showing the number of valid and invalid links, as well as any new links that have been added to the site.

Modifying a link

TBD

Updating a site

Site Manager automatically keeps links up-to-date while it is running. If a file is renamed or edited by an another software tool while Site Manager is running, the links are not updated. To update the affected links you must update the site as shown below.

  1. Select Site | Update SiteSite Manager checks for changes to the server's file system and updates the site parameters and database.

Working with files and directories

When you need to add a new site root directory, rename a file or directory, delete a file or directory, edit a file, browse a file, or create a new HTML page, use the pull down menus available in the main Site Manager menu bar.

Creating a new directory

  1. Select the site folder that you designate to contain the new directory. The name of the object appears in the current directory field.
  2. Select File | New Directory.A dialog box opens prompting you for the new directory name.
  3. Enter the new directory name and select OK to make the change.The folder icon for the new directory is displayed. It will be under management if the directory in which it was created is under management.

Renaming a file or directory

  1. Select the file or directory. The name of the object is highlighted.
  2. Select File | Rename.A dialog box opens prompting you for the new file name.
  3. Enter the new file name and select OK to make the change. Site Manager automatically updates hypertext links in HTML pages within the site to reflect the change in file and directory names.

    Note: You may not rename the .site file that is created when a site is brought under management.

    Warning: If a file or directory is renamed outside of Site Manager while Site Manager is running, links are not updated automatically. You must update the site by running the Site | Update Site command and then select the file or directory to be remanaged by using the Site | Manage command.

Deleting a file or directory

  1. Select the file or directory. The name of the object is highlighted.
  2. Select File | Delete.A dialog box opens prompting you to confirm the deletion of the object.
  3. Select OK to delete.

Setting up the Site Manager editor and browser

The editor and browser locations default to your existing path. Here is how to modify the editor and browser locations, if necessary, using the pull down menus available in the main Site Manager menu bar.

Defining the editor location

  1. Select Options | Editor LocationA dialog box opens, displaying the current editor location.
  2. Enter the full path of the new editor location. Be sure to include the -edit argument following the location of Netscape Navigator Gold.Editor Location: C:\NavGold\Program\Netscape.exe -edit
  3. Select OK to save the new setting.

Defining the browser location

  1. Select Options | Browser LocationA dialog box opens, displaying the current browser location.
  2. Enter the full path of the new browser location and select OK to save the new setting.Browser Location: C:\NavGold\Program\Netscape.exe

Editing a file

  1. Select the file that you want to edit. The name of the object is highlighted.
  2. Select File | EditThe editor specified under the Options menu opens, displaying the selected file. The default editor location is the directory where Netscape Navigator Gold is installed, typically:C:\NavGold\Program\Netscape.exe -edit
  3. Edit the file as desired, then save.

    Warning: If a file or directory is modified outside of Site Manager while Site Manager is running, links are not updated automatically. You must run the Site |Update Site command.

Browsing a file

  1. Select the file or directory that you want to browse. The name of the object is highlighted.
  2. Select File | BrowseThe browser specified under the Options menu opens, displaying the selected file. The default browser location is usually where Netscape Navigator Gold is installed:C:\NavGold\Program\Netscape.exe
  3. View the file as desired, then exit.

Creating a new HTML page

Use the pull down menus available in the main Site Manager menu bar to:

  1. Select the folder in which you want the new page.
  2. Select Site | New Page.A dialog box opens prompting you for the new page name.
  3. Enter the new file name and select OK to create the file.The red triangle corner file icon for the new HTML file is displayed and is under management if the directory in which it was created is under management. The new page contains the text "empty document" and can be edited.

Removing a web site from management

You can remove a whole site or an individual file from management. Files that are not under management are not published. This is useful when parts of a site to be published are under construction.

Use Site | Unmanage to clean up partially-created sites. If Site Manager is interrupted when it is creating a site, the internal Site Manager database structure may become corrupted. Unmanage the site directory to remove the corrupted files.

Removing files or directories from management

  1. Select the file or directory that you want to unmanage.
  2. Select Site | UnmanageSite Manager deletes the site database of files and links within the site and removes the site under management. All files and directories within a site are displayed with a plain icon. The .site directory and its associated housekeeping files are removed.

Publishing a site

After you have created a managed web site with the desired content, you can publish it to make it available to users on the network.

  1. In the Right Pane of the Site Manager Main Window, select the Site Properties tab.
  2. Enter a location or a FTP server directory name. The Published directory is the area from which your site is accessed over the network.