Site Structure

    This tutorial shows a common way to create your site structure in GoLive, and how it relates to the files on your server. The methods shown here are not the only way to do this, but it is a logical method that can fit all situations. It will prevent you from placing files and folders in the wrong place on your server, which could keep the site from working properly.

GoLive Folders

    The basic folder structure that GoLive creates for your site is always the same. There is a "Project Folder" (what some people call an umbrella folder). Inside that folder is the site folder, the site data folder, the site file, and with GoLive 6 there is also a site settings folder. For a site called "mysite", the folder structure might look like this:

figure 1.

    The exact location of these folders on your hard drive is not important. They might be directly off of the C: drive (or any hard drive on your computer), like this:

figure 2.

    Or they might be one level lower in the drive, in a larger umbrella folder containing many sites, like this:

figure 3.

    Or it could be even deeper into the drive structure, like this:

figure 4.

    It doesn't really matter how deep into the hard drive the site structure is placed. Everything of importance to you and your site are relative to the project folder that holds your site and its support folders and files.

    If we add a few files to this site, and look at the site file within GoLive, it might look like this:

figure 5.

    The contents shown above are contained in the folder "MySite" shown in the first figure. The basic structure above is typical of a GoLive site. It contains a homepage, which might be called "index.html" (or maybe index.htm, index.asp, index.php, etc...). It is the homepage for your site, and typically is what will be displayed in a browser when you type your domain name into the URL bar of the browser.

    If your pages use GoLive actions, and you set the site to place the action code in a script library (this will allow your visitors to have faster downloads since their browser will cache the script library), then your site folder will also contain a folder called GeneratedItems, and within it will be the script library CSScriptLib.js.

    On a side note: Some people seem to think the name "CSScriptLib.js" has something to do with CSS. It does not. The original name of this program was "Cyber Studio". The script library is the Cyber Studio Script Library.

   Anyway, back to our site. If we look at the location of the homepage on our hard drive, it would have the following path, based on which of the previous figures correctly shows how deep the site is within the drive:

Server Structures

    Now that we have a site, we need to understand our server's file structure. There are many different possible file structures on servers. You need to talk to your web host or server administrator to determine where on the server the files belong. The key question to ask is "where should the homepage go?". The answer to this might be one of the following, or one of hundreds of other possible combinations. These are just a few examples:

    The goal is to have our homepage (index.html) from the GoLive site folder end up in the correct folder on the server. We do this by controlling the settings in our site Server Settings page. There are several pieces of information that you need to get from your web host or server administrator. They are often sent to you automatically when you sign up for a web host. They are:

• Server Name
• User Name
• Password
• Folder on the server where the homepage goes

    When you enter the server settings in GoLive, it asks for a name (NickName) which is simply the name you will use to remember this server. Give it any name that will help you to remember which server this is.

    Then it asks for the server. In addition to the IP address or domain name, you need to enter a protocol. This is the protocol that will be used to upload the files. In most cases this is the ftp protocol, but on a few servers you must use the http protocol. Don't get the protocol confused with the server name. The protocol is "ftp://" and the server might be "ftp.mysite.com", in which case you would enter "ftp://ftp.mysite.com". Or the server name might have a simpler name, like just "mysite.com", in which case you enter "ftp://mysite.com".

    Enter the user name and password into the Server Settings. To enter the password you will need to put a checkmark in the box marked "Save". If you don't do that you will need to enter the password every time GoLive logs onto your server.

    Now comes the tricky part. The field in the Server Settings called "Directory". When you log onto your server, the server will place you into a specific folder. That folder often is not the place where your homepage must go. It is often a higher level on the server. You need to get a path entered into the Server Settings Directory field that will get GoLive into the correct folder for your home page. The best way to do this usually is to leave the Directory field empty and click the Browse button that is to the right of that field. GoLive will log onto your server. You should then navigate through the folders on the server until you get to the folder that the Web Host told you should contain the homepage. Once you click OK, then GoLive will fill in the Directory field for you with the correct directory on the server. Now save the settings and you should be ready to upload.

figure 6.

    Some people make the mistake of adding one or more folders to their GoLive site folder and placing the homepage several levels down in that structure. They do this thinking that since the FTP client places them into a folder that is one or more folders away from where the homepage will go, they think they can fix that by adding folders by those names within the site folder. This does not work because the GeneratedItems folder will end up in the folder that GoLive logs into, which puts it beyond the reach of the visitors browser. If you follow the steps I have outlined instead, then the GeneratedItems folder is at the same level as the homepage in the server, and the browser can access the script library in it.

Login problems

Sometimes there are problems logging in to a server. This can happen for many reasons, but the most common is caused by firewalls or ad blocking software. In some cases this can be fixed by clicking the button in the Site Settings window marked Advanced and selecting "Passive Mode". In other cases you may need to change some settings in your firewall, ad blocker, or popup blocker software.