Adobe 38040334 - Dreamweaver CS3 User Manual page 64

You can use Dreamweaver to connect to and modify a file in a Contribute site. Most Dreamweaver capabilities work
the same way with a Contribute site as they do with any other site. However, when you use Dreamweaver with a
Contribute site, Dreamweaver automatically performs certain file-management operations, such as saving multiple
revisions of a document, and logging certain events in the CPS Console.
For more information, see Contribute Help.
Site structure and page design for a Contribute site
To enable Contribute users to edit your website, keep the following points in mind when you structure it:
• Keep your site structure simple. Don't nest folders too deeply. Group related items together in a folder.
•
Set up appropriate read and write permissions for folders on the server.
• Add index pages to folders as you create them, to encourage Contribute users to place new pages in the correct
folders. For example, if Contribute users provide pages containing meeting minutes, create a folder in the site root
folder named meeting_minutes, and create an index page in that folder. Then provide a link from your site's main
page to the index page for meeting minutes. A Contribute user can then navigate to that index page and create a
new page of minutes for a specific meeting, linked from that page.
•
On each folder's index page, provide a list of links to the individual content pages and documents in that folder.
• Keep page designs as simple as possible, minimizing fancy formatting.
•
Use CSS rather than HTML tags and name your CSS styles clearly. If the Contribute users use a standard set of
styles in Microsoft Word, use the same names for the CSS styles, so that Contribute can map the styles when a user
copies information from a Word document and pastes it into a Contribute page.
•
To prevent a CSS style from being available to Contribute users, change the name of the style so that the name
starts with mmhide_. For example, if you use a style named RightJustified in a page but you don't want Contribute
users to be able to use that style, rename the style to mmhide_RightJustified.
Note: You have to add mmhide_ to the style name in Code view; you cannot add it in the CSS panel.
• Use as few CSS styles as possible, to keep things simple and clean.
•
If you use server-side includes for HTML page elements, such as headers or footers, create an unlinked HTML
page that contains links to the include files. Contribute users can then bookmark that page and use it to navigate
to the include files and edit them.
See also
"Creating a Dreamweaver template" on page 395
"Creating and managing CSS" on page 124
"Working with server-side includes" on page 340
File transfer to and from a Contribute site
Contribute uses a system much like the Dreamweaver Check In/Check Out system to ensure that only one user at a
time can edit a given web page. When you enable Contribute compatibility in Dreamweaver, the Dreamweaver
Check In/Check Out system is automatically enabled.
To transfer files to and from a Contribute site using Dreamweaver, always use the Check In and Check Out
commands. If you instead use the PUT and GET commands to transfer files, you might overwrite the modifications
that a Contribute user has recently made to a file.
September 4, 2007
DREAMWEAVER CS3 57
User Guide