Uploading Files in Dreamweaver

This is a question that comes up a couple of times a month for me (including this morning), so I thought it'd be useful to cover it again.

While you can publish a webpage using Dreamweaver's file pane (see illustration at left) it only shows you a limited view of your files, and you don't see a full picture of what is going on.

When you publish a webpage in Dreamweaver, it is best to first go into expanded view. You do that by clicking the icon at the very right of the file pane toolbar (it's circled in black in the illustration at left).

What this does is brings up your own local files on the right, and the published remote server files on the left (see the illustration below). At first, the remote server files area on the left will be blank. Connect to the server using the connect button (labeled 1), and the remote files will show.

Now, select the webpage file you want to publish on the right local pane. Click the Up arrow (labeled 2), and the file will be transferred from you own computer to the remote server. That's it!

If you want to download something from the remote server, reverse the process. Select the file(s) you want to download on the left pane, click the down arrow (labeled 3), and it will be downloaded into the root folder of your own local computer.

Adding a Facebook "Like" Button

Want to dip your toes into the social media scene, and increase traffic to your website at the same time? You can add a Facebook "Like" button to your webpages, so that when the end-user clicks the "Like" button on your site, a story appears in the user's News Feed with a link back to your website. You don't even need a Facebook account! The "Like" button uses the end-user's account.

Here's how: go to the Facebook Developers page at http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like. Choose the layout, the font, whether you want to use the verb "like" or "recommend." A preview appears to the right of the dialogue box (see illustration below). When you have it tweaked to your liking. click the "Get Code" button, and cut and paste the code onto your webpages. If you like this feature, add the code to the template page you use to create new pages. Then, by default, ALL your pages will have a "Like" button on them.

The Demise of Drop.io

Back in 2009 I posted about drop.io, a free file drop and file sharing service that allowed access via email, conference calls, etc. I used it almost daily as a way to work on projects from multiple computers.

Alas, drop.io is no more. Facebook has bought the service, and as of December 15 all files hosted there will be deleted. No new accounts can be created, but if you already have a drop.io account you may continue to use it until mid-December.

So, if you have important documents stored on drop.io, I suggest you download them and store them somewhere else. Other options for file storage include Google Docs, Box.net, MediaFire, and Windows Live Skydrive. All are free, though the Windows requires a Windows Live account to use.