WEBSITE DIRECTOR WEBDAV-ENABLED APPLICATIONS

Many current products, like Adobe GoLive, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Microsoft Web Folders and Microsoft Office 2000, now support the use of WebDAV (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning) to access and save content directly to servers that support the WebDAV protocol. If your license includes the WebDAV add-on module, WebSite Director (WSD) provides you with the ability to to manage your web content using applications that support this protocol/interface.

The WSD WebDAV module must be installed on an Apache web server. If your site does NOT use an Apache web server, you must install one for use by the WebDAV module. In that case, you must set it to listen on some port other than the one used by the server providing access to your web site (i.e. port 8080).

All URLs used to access the WebDAV module when your Apache server is NOT listening on the default port (80) must include the Apache listening port number (i.e. "http://<domain>:8080/"). The following instructions will Note this where applicable.

When you use Microsoft Web Folders with WSD installed and WebDAV enabled, you can drag new or modified content between your local machine and the web server. The content you drag to the server becomes a "request" to either add new or modify existing web content, and is automatically placed into the WSD content management workflow. You can then use Web Folders to approve or disapprove this requests within the workflow.

To enable Web Folder Access to your server, you must:

  1. Open Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE)
  2. From the MSIE Menu, select "File" => "Open"
  3. Type the fully-qualified URL of your web server where WSD is installed
    Example: http://www.mycompany.com
    Note: If Apache is not your default server, you must include the port number on which your Apache server is listening!
  4. Select the "Open as Web Folder" checkbox
  5. Select the "OK" button

Your server will now be visible in Microsoft Windows Explorer as a location under "My Network Places" that may be used as a source or destination when dragging content to and from your workstation.

When you use Microsoft Office 2000 with WSD installed and WebDAV enabled, the content you save on the server becomes a "request" to either add new (Save As) or modify existing (Save) web content. WSD automatically places the request into the WSD content management workflow. You can then use Web Folders to approve or disapprove this request within the workflow.

To enable Office 2000 Access to your server, you must:

  1. Open Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE)
  2. From the MSIE Menu, select "File" = > "Open" >
  3. Type the fully-qualified URL of your web server where WSD is installed.
    Example: http://www.mycompany.com
    Note: If Apache is not your default server, you must include the port number on which your Apache server is listening!
  4. Select the "Open as Web Folder" checkbox
  5. Select the "OK" button

Your server will now be visible in Office 2000 "Open" and "Save As" dialog boxes as a valid location for retrieving and saving files using Office 2000

When you use Windows XP, complete the following steps to set up your Web Folder:

  • Click Start on your XP desktop and select My Network Places.
  • On the My Network Place window, select Add Network Place to display the Add Network Place Wizard.
  • In the Internet or network address data entry area, type http://<domain>/WSDSource/WSDWorkflow and click Next to display the Enter Network Password window.
    Note: If Apache is not your default server you must include the port number on which your Apache server is listening!
  • Type your WSD Username and Password into the data entry areas and click OK to create the Network Place and display the "Completing the Add Network Place window.
  • To open Windows Explorer immediately, select Open this network place when I click Finish checkbox and click “Finish.”
  • Select the Folders icon on the toolbar; then in the left column, select “WSDWorkflow on localhost” to display your workflow stages.
  • Select the workflow stage that contains the requests that you wish to approve. The list of requests awaiting approval displays on the right.
  • Hold down the Ctrl key and click on each request that you want to approve (two are selected in the example below).
  • The final step is to drag the selected requests to the stage into which you are Approving/Disapproving your requests (for example, Publishing).

Some Windows XP machines may not allow you successfully create a Web Folder. If you are unable to install Web Folders using the instructions above, complete the following steps to fix the problem:

  1. Click on the "Start" menu in the lower left corner, and select "Run..."
  2. Type in "webfldrs.msi" and click the "OK" button.
  3. Click on the "Select reinstall mode" button.
  4. Select *ALL* of the checkboxes *except* for the second one ("Reinstall only if file is missing").
  5. Click on the "OK" button.
  6. Click on the "Reinstall" button.
  7. After the reinstallation is complete, reboot your computer.

When you use Adobe GoLive 5.0, Macromedia Dreamweaver, and other WebDAV enabled applications, you must first configure them to directly access content on your server before using the WebDAV protocol to manage your content from your workstation. Follow the instructions for your product carefully to ensure a proper connection to the server.

Note: If Apache is not your default server, you must include the port number on which your Apache server is listening when configuring any URLs for WebDAV access by the application.

As with the Microsoft Office 2000 suite, WSD creates the appropriate "request" for each saved file and places it into your content management workflow for additional editing and approval by members of your content management team. If your product only allows you to directly access content, but not Requests within a workflow stage, you will have to use the browser interface (or Microsoft Web Folders if running under Windows) to approve or disapprove these requests.

  • Note: The folder (stage) you are submitting the content to must allow the addition or modification of the content (i.e. the Approval Class assigned to the stage allows additions or modifications to the content you are attempting to drag or save).

    Warning: Most of these products are not semantically aware of any specific WebDAV properties -- like the document-related information WSD stores as WebDAV Properties. That means certain functions will still require web browser-based access.

    For the majority of you, the content management process should be as simple as:

    1. dragging content from your web server to, or opening a file located on your server from your workstation,
    2. using any third-party content manipulation product to modify that content,
    3. dragging the new or modified content, or saving the modified file from your workstation back to the server (WSD will automatically create the workflow request for approval),
    4. approving the request by dragging it from stage to stage, or using the browser-based WSD interface to approve/disapprove the request through the defined workflow process,
    5. dragging the approved content, or using the browser-based WSD interface to approve the request into the "Publishing" folder where WSD will publish it to the site and create a version history entry for the published content.

    And remember -- WSD always notifies your team members when there's work to be done, ensuring timely delivery of web content to your server. As these products become semantically aware of properties they have not created themselves, the need for a browser interface (other than for system administration) will be reduced.

  • Copyright 2000-2005 CyberTeams, Inc., http://www.cyberteams.com All rights reserved.
    CyberTeams and WebSite Director are registered trademarks of CyberTeams, Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.