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Creating a GoLive CS site from existing files (MM1, MM2)

Article Applies To:

MenuMachine 1 & 2

GoLive CS only

Mac, Windows

Article ID: 000134

Category: General Issues

Issue

If you already have a folder of existing web pages and images that you have created outside of the GoLive site window, you can import these files and create a GoLive site.

Then you can manage the site using the GoLive CS Site Window. Using a GoLive site is the only way to ensure your MenuMachine menus will work successfully once they are uploaded.

See Article 000126 to read about why you should use a GoLive site.

Solution

Your existing files can remain in their current hierarchical order (files/folders within folders), but you must be able to locate and import the top level folder which contains all the other files and folders.

These instructions are for GoLive CS.
See Article 000135 for GoLive 6 and Article 000133 for GoLive CS2.

  1. Begin by locating and making a copy of the folder of files you wish to import. This folder would normally be the folder which contains the home page.
    2. Let's call the copied folder web-content. This is the name used for the equivalent folder in a new GoLive CS site.

    Note: Any files (.html files, images, PDFs, .swf files etc) which are not contained in the web-content folder will not be included in your site and GoLive will not recognize them or upload them. You should now copy any stray files which are part of this site into your web-content folder.

  2. Make a folder which will become the holding place for the folders and .site file which GoLive will create. Let's call the new folder Web Site.

  3. Move the folder web-content into folder Web Site. This is what the finished hierarchy should look like (the web-content folder contains all the files and folders for the site):


  4. Launch GoLive. Go to File > New Site….


  5. In the first screen of the wizard choose Single user. Click Next >.



  6. On the next screen, choose Import from Folder. Next >.



  7. Click on the Browse… button. Locate the folder called web-content (the folder which contains the home page of your site). Click on the second Browse… button to locate the home page of the site. Next >.



  8. On the final screen, we need to choose the location where the .site file will be saved.

    9. It is very important that the .site file is saved in the correct location.

    The .site file MUST NOT be saved in the folder which contains the home page of the site. It must be saved one level above the folder which contains the home page. In this example, the .site file is saved in the Web Site folder.

    Use the Browse… button. Locate the folder called Web Site. Finish >.



  9. When the .site file has been saved, the GoLive CS Site Window opens and you can open pages from within the window to edit them. You should only ever edit pages while the site window is open so that GoLive can keep track of the links in your pages.



  10. On you computer, the new files that GoLive has saved will be in the Web Site folder. No files have been saved inside your Web Pages folder.


Note: If you have incorrectly saved the .site file inside the folder which contains your home page, or any of the new site files are saved inside the web-content folder, you must delete them and repeat the process, saving the .site file outside the web-content folder.

You can see the new file and folders that GoLive has created. Two folders called web-data and web-settings have been added at the same level as the web-content folder. The Web Site.site file has also been added here. It has a backup file so that if the .site file gets lost or corrupted, you can use the backup.

Do not change this hierarchy. If you delete, rename or move these folders or the .site file, the site will not open.

Do not change the folder structure or move files around inside your web-content folder UNLESS you are doing so in GoLive with the site window open.

Opening a .site file in GoLive opens the site window. If you want to edit your pages, first launch GoLive and allow MenuMachine to finish initializing. Then Use File > Open to locate the .site file for the site you wish to edit.

The .site file is a kind of database which keeps track of changes within the site and can only be updated when the changes (adding/deleting/editing files) are made inside the GoLive site window. Changes made outside the site window may cause links to break and other serious problems.

Successful use of MenuMachine requires that the site window be open in GoLive and up-to-date. If you do need to make any changes outside of GoLive, such as adding files to the site, make sure when you next look at the site in GoLive, click in the left pane of the site window and use the Refresh View button in the GoLive toolbar to update the site window.

You can use MenuMachine 1 without the site window open but the menus on those pages will not work when uploaded. See Article 000020 if you have used MenuMachine without the site window open and you can't see your menus once the page is uploaded. MenuMachine 2 cannot be used unless a site window is open.

Last updated: September 25, 2006

This article has been viewed 3876 times.

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