January 26, 2009
Okay folks, we appear to be on the eve of the iLife launch so I want you to be fully aware of how the upgrade could totally and completely destroy the beautiful iWeb site you made with my theme :) How’s that for drama?
First, please consider subscribing to my blog to make sure you always have the latest announcements regarding theme upgrades. I’ll be rebuilding every theme to ensure they have the new code. When your theme is ready, you’ll want to know. Subscribing is the easiest way.
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Now, because we have all been through this routine before, this time should be a breeze right? Good. So I’m going to recap the basics here and you’re going to pat yourself on the back for being clever.
Step 1: Burn Current Version of iWeb to DVD
There’s no way you can overwrite your current version of iWeb or your domain file when they’re safely stored on a DVD or CD. If you do not know where your domain file is, use Spotlight to search for it: domain or domain.sites. In the search results window, the “kind” of file will be listed as “iWeb Domain”.
Step 2: Purchase iLife 09
This is programmed in your DNA. No instructions necessary.
Step 3: Pre-Installation Procedure
As a secondary precaution, just before installation of iLife 09, move your existing version of iWeb OUT of the Applications folder. Move it anywhere you want, but do NOT leave it in the Applications folder. iLife is going to overwrite it if you do. You need to keep the old version if you intend to maintain your site while I rebuild the themes.
Next, duplicate your domain file and move the copy somewhere safe too. If the new version of iWeb behaves like the last upgrade did, when you first launch it, it will ask you if you’d like to upgrade your site and it will probably perform some kind of surgery that, after completion, will render the domain file unusuable in the older version of iWeb. Therefore, make sure you have your back-up and do not upgrade your only copy. Hopefully you burned a copy to DVD like I told you :-/
My suggestion to you, if you’re using one of my themes, is that you do NOT NOT NOT, upgrade your domain file. There’s no use in doing that because the entire site will be broken (more or less). Just start a new domain file if you want to play with the new version of iWeb.
Step 4: Run the iLife Installer
Pray you did not screw up steps 1-3 ;-)
Step 5: The Clever Step
Okay, you now have the new version of iWeb AND you should still have the old version of iWeb. Both *should* work. I would not move the old version back into your Apps folder however, because as I have the themes ready, the installer cannot have both versions in the same place. Run the old version of iWeb from its safe place outside the Apps folder. Continue to maintain your site from there. Play with the new version of iWeb all you want, but again, please be careful that you do not get excited and upgrade your domain without a back-up. You will lose the ability to maintain your site if you do, not to mention, you will have to rebuild every page ack.
Closing
Please ask questions if you are still unsure how to proceed. There’s a slim chance I will not have to rebuild the themes, but I’m fairly certain that chance is a fat chance. With that said however, I also have reason to believe that the rebuilds will go significantly faster this round and I may even be able to pop some of the fancy layouts BACK into the original themes like Aerolite and Zones! :) Cross your fingers.
Contact me or post a question below. Questions – GOOD. Losing your entire site – BAD.
About This Article
This entry was posted by Suzanne on Monday, January 26th, 2009 at 10:17 PM and was filed in the Announcements category using the tags: iweb, upgrade. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
In Case You Seek A Good Web Host
Aerolite for RapidWeaver Released
This gravatar thing is fun!
Btw, thank you Suzanne for the suggestion on Dream Host. Turns out they host nonprofits for free, which is a great help to some of my clients.
…j
Hey no problem. I really like them. I found them a bit strange at first, but their tools are awesome, and the two times I had to contact customer service, I got the best help I’ve ever gotten from any online service. That made me happy. They’re GREEN too so you can’t go wrong. Click my button and you can verify my site is green and read more about their commitment to that.
Hello. Well, I successfully published a website that I had built in iWeb 2 with your Foshay Crimson Dark template. It appears to work fine. The only thing is that I used to hand code in some keywords and meta tags, which I wouldn’t be able to do now, unless I still publish to a folder the old way..
If you still want to maintain multiple sites, it looks like the old way of opening individual .sites2 files is the best way, unless they’re small. iWeb still wants to keep multiple sites in one file. You can have separate FTP info for each site, but one big file.. Nope.. The whole iLife looks like one last minute afterthought.. OMG it’s almost January.. Let’s throw a couple tidbits in and get some more cash..
Yeah it feels a little bit like that doesn’t it… A friend of mine who works at an Apple store was telling me how corporate was reeeeeally giving most of its attention to the iPhone and that whole realm. I was hoping for a bit more myself, particularly since we’re going on three years with iWeb :-O but I guess we’re going to have to wait it out, again.
Where’s Hac? He would know how to hack things to make iWeb break things up into different domains. Oh wait, he’s off building his integrated GPS Photo Google Mapping thinger. Bah.
Rookie, Question. if i upgrade to iWeb09 and re-install my older themes from Suzanne…. can i use now the older (backup) Domain-Files from iWeb 08 ????? (aerolite aqua, zone aqua, lightside, arcturus)… Oh dear its always the same with iWeb-update, the classic “win-lose situation” :-)
Yo Freddy – another regular :) Yes, you can use your existing domain files with the new version of iWeb. Of course, create back-ups and keep them in a safe place, but there is no evidence yet that iWeb 3 alters the files in any way. All my domain files transferred easily. No problems.
You will have to reinstall your templates however so if you need the installers again, log in to your account and download theme. Just be careful to get the right version.
I have not updated those download pages yet. The 2.0 versions of the themes are the ones you want for iWeb 3.0. Clear as mud :)
thank you Suzanne.. for that quick-reply. here: ((°)) a bouquet of roses from me…
You are a sweetheart as always :)
Yes, i know. :-). what time is it at your home? in NY it’s 3am and in Vegas midnight… time for a capful sleep.
to be blind.. :-) now i see. your sitting around GMT-6, your time-line: (Churchill, winnipeg, chigago, houston)
I like the built in FTP, even though it leaves a few things out, like keywords and such. does anyone know if using the html snippet will allow google analytics to work, or if there’s another way to add it to the page? One of my customers wants me to use the Facebook notification, which would require me to use the built in FTP, but would bypass me adding analytics code..
Brian… do you know if there’s a way to publish to new folders… or do you have to create new folders on your server before you upload. I also maintain multiple sites (sub domains) but like to keep them in the same folder, when I publish each new site replaces the html file and the link that is sent to facebook and friends is no longer valid.
any thoughts
Ryan, I don’t completely understand the question, but I’ll tell you what I see. With each site, you have to click on the SITE name in the upper left column above all the pages and you’ll get three publishing options for that site. Mobile Me, FTP, or Local Folder. If you choose local folders, you’ll need to also select the path to where you want it put on your computer.
The options are No Longer in the FILE menu. You set it on the site before you publish. Then, whenever you click the publish button it will automatically publish it the way you chose. You can go back in and change it and publish a different way, but you have to preset it. You don’t get the option of just choosing at the time of publishing.. For most sites this will work fine because most of the time you’ll want to publish the same way anyway.
The nice part about the FTP publishing, is that it can only publish the changes now, instead of previously having to publish to a folder and upload the whole site because you don’t know what pages have changed.. the bad part about the ftp publishing option is that you don’t get any control over adding code to the pages before publishing, like keywords and description meta tags, or google analytics code..
I did figure out the folder… but for the simple splash pages that I create, I don’t need to add any meta tags… so I was hoping to publish using FTP but with a little more control… like having iWeb create a new folder both the site and index.html would go inside… without having to create that with another FTP client.
Suzanne, It almost looks like iWeb is ready to add more ‘widgets’ at any time.. are you able to figure out how to make a new widget? I’d really love a google analytics widget… Keywords and meta tags widgets would also be nice.
ps… would gladly pay for them…
It CAN be done ;-) I believe Hac has done this but I have to check with him to refresh my memory. Actually it would be good to know because some things still can’t be done with using a widget, particularly when JavaScript is needed in the head section of the HTML. However, it’s possible for a widget to get around that mu ha ah ahh ah ah ah aaaaaaaaa >:)
I’ll get back to you on this one…
It looks like they have the widgets all in one folder. I don’t know if the previous version was this way or not.
I opened the HTMLRegion.iwdgt in BBEdit and it looks like it’s all just css and js to place and refer to it. I’m just not that good to figure it out (yet).
Oops I mean if you make a real widget you can get around it… versus using the HTML widget.
Yeah, I got that. The html widget has been tried and appears to fail.
Hi Suzanne,
I’ve noticed a few things that didn’t happen in ’08:
1. Each time I publish to a folder, an “assets.http/–www.yoursitename.com.plist” file is created in the folder being published to along with the expected index.html and the site folder itself. I don’t think this has anything to do with your templates… just an oddity. What is this file used for.
2. Can’t figure out how to open iWeb so that I’m given the option to open an existing domain or create a new one. It always wants to open the last domain file I had open. I read your article on how you maintain your domain files and couldn’t figure it out. I tried option open on the iWeb app but it just opened the last domain I was working on.
3. Multisite seems to work perfectly with iWeb ’09. It is a great program and I wish Apple would adopt it as its file saving protocol.
4. Another new behavior is that when publishing to a folder, all contents of that folder are now completely erased rather than the new files simply being added to the folder. This now requires that you keep a subfolder for each of the sites comprising your overall site. Hope that makes sense.
I’m a long time happy AeroLite user btw and am getting into RapidWeaver for their file naming and metatag features. iWeb sure is terrible at some seemingly very basic things.
Michael
Hey Michael… great to see familiar names show up here :) FYI – I’m bugging my code guru to make a meta tag widget for iWeb. I *know* it’s possible, but I don’t know JavaScript well enough to write it myself. Stay tuned.
You do realize that you would become my Queen if you can pull that off… !!!
I’ll settle for cool buddy ;-)
okay, okay…
Now that you’ve proven it can be done with Share This, I’ve got some proposals for new widgets. Everyone else chime in and add to the list if you can think of anything.
The first 4 I would gladly pay for:
1. Google Analytics Widget – requires pasted code to appear before final tag.
2. Meta Tags Widget – Either individual widgets for Description, keywords, author, etc. or one, mega widget that has separate text wells for each item. Or, one widget that can be placed multiple times with a drop down menu to choose what it’s for. Would need to be able to put code within HEAD tags.
3. Calendar Widget – Able to display info from published iCal events, or point to ics file uploaded to site. Able to show full month calendar, or sidebar unordered lists with X-number of upcoming events.
4. External CSS or Link Widget – Widget to pull in css or other file (js?) from external link. Perhaps a ‘link rel=”stylesheet…’ or ‘@import’. Would need to be able to put code within HEAD tags. This would allow people to build an external style sheet that would load last, and override any existing iWeb css or supplement and control other elements that we normally don’t have control over, such as placement of other widgets. other widgets could come with an additional stylesheet to have ‘starter’ controls. (IE Share This widget, to control pop up window)
5. Vertical Nav Bar Widget -
1. Final tag I meant.
Hmm. I guess this window doesn’t like formatted html. In 1. above, I meant to say the final body tag…
To past literal code you have use entity characters for the < and > signs. Those are & lt ; and & gt ; but you have to type those with no spaces. If I did that, you’d see the less than and greater than signs instead.
Okay so widgets. There’s a problem with the ShareThis widget in that it links to the widget location and not the page on which you see it – BLAH! I don’t believe that situation can be fixed so ShareThis may be dead before it even takes a first breath in iWeb.
For your other ideas, Hac needs to see these. He’s mumbling about the Google Analytics and I told him to do meta tags. Cross your fingers. He’s the JavaScript guy.
What’s the latest?