Professional Documents
Culture Documents
4 beta
Copyright ©2008, Chris Gregg
Version 2.4 beta (April 15, 2008)
http://mistergregg.com/cocoadrillosoftware/
The Merge function has been fixed, but only works with iWeb '08 sites.
If you want to merge iWeb '06 sites, please use iWebSites 2.2.
iWebSites has been updated to work with iWeb '08. In order to work with
iWeb '08, iWebSites needs to upgrade your websites. This is a simple
process that is manually reversible (in case you want to revert to iWeb
1.1). If you choose not to upgrade to iWeb '08, iWebSites 2.2 will still work
with iWeb 1.1, and if you eventually decide to upgrade to iWeb '08, you
can simply select "Upgrade files for iWeb '08" from the file menu in
iWebSites.
1. iWebSites now has the ability to merge two sites together. This is an
extremely functional update, as there has been no way previously to move
sites in and out of iWeb. Now, users have the ability to share web sites
and compile websites together. It was the most sought-after feature
request, so I made it a priority. Note: because of the amount of
processing that goes into merging websites, it can be slow. I
merged two medium-sized sites together, and it took approximately
10 minutes. Larger sites will merge, but be prepared to wait while
iWebSites does its thing.
3. The interface has been enhanced, so you can now drill down and look at
the headings for each site in iWebSites. I haven't yet programmed a
method for dragging individual pages, but that may happen eventually (or
Apple will release a new version with this functionality!)
iWeb really was not designed with the power user in mind, but it does
enable a user to quickly create beautiful web sites. With iWebSites,
separate websites are kept independent of each other, and when sites are
“published” to a directory (for uploading via FTP), only the site you are
currently working on is published.
How iWebSites Works
iWeb normally stores a user’s websites in one folder (or package) called
“Domains.sites,” in the user’s home library located at “~/Application
Support/iWeb/”. It expects this package to be present, but if it isn’t, it will
create it when launching iWeb. iWebSites manipulates “Domains.sites” to
create more than one website package (a “.sites” file) in the Application
Support/iWeb folder. Simply, iWeb opens up “Domains.sites” when it
launches, and whatever website happens to be in that package is the
website that iWeb uses while running. iWebSites renames “Domains.sites”
when creating a new site, and it leaves the newly named “.sites” file in the
Application Support/iWeb folder. iWebSites enables the user to switch
between sites (by creating the appropriate “Domains.sites” package),
delete sites, create new sites, and duplicate sites.
iWebSites is very easy to use. When launched, the program expects that
iWeb is not currently running (in order to avoid data loss), and it assumes
that iWeb is actually installed on your system. This is not a requirement,
as you can choose a folder that is not the “Application Support/iWeb,” but
you will need to copy the “.sites” files to this folder when you do install
iWeb.
If you have already created a website in iWeb, you should see the name of
the site listed under “iWeb Sites,” and a “Default” next to that name.
This button makes the site chosen into the default site by naming it
“Domains.sites” and renaming the previous default site.
This button duplicates a site (or sites) you already have (but does not
make it the default site). This is a nice feature if you have already created
multiple sites in one iWeb file and would like to separate them. You can
duplicate a site, then open the original and delete one of the sites in iWeb.
Then you can set the other site as default and then repeat the process with
iWeb, deleting the other site from within iWeb.
This button changes the name of the currently selected site.
This button deletes a site (or sites) by placing it in the trash. If you need
the site back again, you can drag it out of the trash and onto the iWebSites
application window. You can use iWebSites to set this as the default again.
This button opens the currently selected site immediately in iWeb. It does
this by renaming the site “Domains.sites” and opening up iWeb. Double-
clicking on the site name also opens the file in iWeb.
This is the newest feature in iWebSites. When you select two sites and
click "Merge", the sites will be put together into one site (and the new site
will be named "SiteOne & SiteTwo". This is a slow process. Please be
patient with it. I will be working on an update to speed things up, but for
now it works, albeit slowly.
One of the nice aspects of the Merge function is that you can have different
people working on different pages of a website at the same time, on
different computers, and then you can merge the pages together at once.
Also, this function may be best for those using .Mac accounts, as you can
upload all the sites at once to your .Mac account (as I understand it – I
don't actually have a .Mac account myself).
This button refreshes the site listing in case a website was dragged into the
~/Application Support/iWeb folder while the program is running. It is
usually not necessary to refresh the window.
If you have a website that is not currently in iWeb, you can load it using
iWebSites by either using the File-->Insert Site or by copying and pasting it
from the Finder. You can also drag or paste a copied site into an e-mail
program. There are two options:
With option (1), you simply get a copy of the “.sites” folder. Because of
the way OS X handles packages, this acts like a file, but it is really a
folder. Therefore, if you want to send the website to another person, it
makes it more difficult. That’s where option (2) comes into play: if you
click on the “Zip when copied or dragged” checkbox, iWebSites will zip up
the file so it can be e-mailed (or archived). Just paste it into the finder or
into your e-mail program. Please note: iWeb websites can get very large.
If you have a lot of graphics in your site, even the zipped files may be too
large to e-mail. You could, of course, drag either a “.sites” file or a
“.sites.zip” file to a flash drive or external hard drive as well. Another
note: “.sites” files are not web sites that can be opened in a web browser.
If you e-mail a “.sites.zip” or “.sites” file to someone, he or she will need
iWeb (and probably iWebSites, too) to see it.
“Here’s the answer to the question, how to upload multiple .mac websites:
please include in your instructions for .mac users.
1. Open idisk
2. Locate the folder “web”
3. You will see a folder called “sites” open this.
4. Within this folder you will see iPhoto & iWeb folders. Open the
“iWeb”Folder
5. In the “iWeb” Folder you will see your default domain site (this is the site
that loads by default at your .mac address. ..i.e. http://web.mac.com/
username - notice no site name)
6. In the iWeb folder this is where you place your “Exported Website from
iWeb”. The name of the website is the name of the folder you place it
in. ..i.e. If you name the folder of your exported iWeb site “CMC” then
the .mac address for your site will be:
http://web.mac.com/username/iWeb/CMC/
Something else I just figured out is that the case (being upper or lower) is
important in how you type the url or the site.
"Please also note that your application documentation should state that for
users of .mac accounts the program will always replace the default website
you upload directly from iWeb, to load more than one site to iWeb and
keep the domains separate you must export all other domains to a folder
and the upload as described. (this is key). I found this out by reading a
review of the app on Macworlds website."
Final Words
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND; not even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Version History