File Management
posted by brian at 02:20 PM
Well that rounding error in Mozilla sure is annoying. If you're on the main page now you'll see the Extended Entry bar on my previous post... that sure is a nice line underneath it! But there are more pressing matters at the moment.
One thing that appears to be missing from the MT configuration interface is file management. To get the images used in my CSS file on the Blog@Case server, I used the Upload File feature to put them in /images. But I can't find a way to get rid of them. I put a few images in the wrong directory and didn't link to them in any posts-- they're just used in the CSS. Perhaps they're gone for good. Or perhaps there's an FTP interface I've yet to notice.
I really should fix up this prototype and change the rest of the template. This color scheme is starting to make me look like an O'Reilly book!
EDIT: Anyone have any ideas for a Trackback icon, similar to the Permalink and Comment icons I have below? When I say I need to implement the rest of the template, I really mean design the rest, then implement it. The design isn't even done. But I'm more of a designer than a writer, so I imagine I'll have more fun making this template then I'll ever have actually using it.
Comments
If you have a WeDAV client (windows and OS X both natively know WebDAV), you can mount your blog's web root via WebDAV and make changes to the filesysystem.
Concerning WebDAV, I sure can't get it to work. The instructions in the FAQ are incomplete. I've tried a few different combinations for the server location...
Yea, still working on the documentation.
From Windows, there are two ways. Right-click on the "My Computer" icon and tell it to "Map a Network Drive." In the wizard that pops up, tell it to use whatever drive letter. And, in the folder text box, type "http://blog.case.edu/bmb12." Then, click on the link "Connect using a different user name." In the pop up dialogue box that asks for your credentials, use your normal Case credentials.
That normally works. However, in some instances, Windows seems to have this innate desire to send over the credentials not as "bmb12"; but rather, as "local-windows-computer-hostname\bmb12". When windows insists on doing that, authentication will fail and you won't be able to map the drive.
So, you can try the second way.
Double-click on the "My Network Places" icon. Hit the "Add Network Place" icon. Proceed through the wizard, and when prompted "Where do you want to create this network place", choose the option that reads, "Choose another network location." After clicking next, it will prompt you for an "Internet of network address." Type in 'http://blog.case.edu/bmb12'. Hit Next. It will want a name for the network place. Type in whatever and hit "Next." At the final dialog box, leave the checkbox to open the folder and hit "Finished."
Now, cross your fingers and hope windows does it right.
If it, again, insists on mucking with the credentials, you are in a bad way. It won't work.
This is the problem I keep running into with windows and haven't been able to find a reliable way to prevent this from being so complicated and icky.
Mac OS X works like a charm.
In a last ditch effort, though, a windows user can go to the software center -- http://softwarecenter.case.edu -- and download Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver's WebDAV support is pretty good and will let you explore the file system.
Jeremy,
I can't get either of those to work on Windows. It doesn't even appear to get to the send-wrong-credentials step. Map Network Drive tells me no network was found. Network Places tells me the folder I entered does not appear to be valid, and doesn't even let me get past the network address step to enter a username.
I've tried with firewall on and off. The only thing I can think of is that maybe WebDAV support is built into Internet Explorer, but these steps are trying to use my default HTTP handler, Firefox. But that would be stupid.
Friggin' windows.
It shouldn't matter what browser you are running. I run Firefox (like I would torture myself with IE) on Windows. WebDAV is completely independent of the browser.
Could you give WebDAV explorer a shot -- http://www.ics.uci.edu/%7Ewebdav/? I would like to hear who it works out.