Help setting up to use the templates on my own server

[atitus]

Okay I have to say I have plenty of design experience but am new to the UNL templates. I took the class with Mark but am now trying to get set up and have to say we have crap for instructions or guides for this. In CARI we have our own server I have downloaded the templates using the instructions for if you are using your own server but the layouts seem all messed up and graphics are not appearing correctly so I believe the folder layouts are not happening properly. Does anyone have good experience with a NON-PHP site on there own server that can show me the file structure for where the templates are suppose to be to solve this problem. This is basic stuff and we don't have it documented worth a darn. very sad.

So far I have the following folders: UCOMM->templatedependents....
UNLTEMPLATES->templates and a sharedcode folders

my index file is in the templates folder and no go with the graphics. unfortunately it is not in a live location that I can link for people to see the problems. but the nav bar is missing, footer is missing, graphics like the N are missing... the advertising gif is there though. oh and related links is missing.

Anyhelp is appriciated as so far I am finding very little.

Thanks
Audrey

[saltybeagle]

Hey Audrey:

Some info which would be helpful for me to know:
What web server are you using (Apache 1,2 or IIS 5,6).
Do you have server side includes turned on?

The template structure is very simple - the WDN maintains files stored in the /ucomm/templatedependents/ directory which you shouldn't have to touch, just make sure they're synchronized.

So - if your server is http://localhost/ , the files should be at http://localhost/ucomm/templatedependents/
(replace 'localhost' with the name of your web server of course).

You can use a web browser to see if the files are there or not. A 404 HTTP status code will tell you if the files are not in the correct place.

Once your templatedependents files are in the correct place, all you need to do is create a file using Dreamweaver and save it with the correct extension which will tell your webserver to process the server side includes. This is where knowing your web server helps --- Apache servers should use a .shtml (or if you're using PHP, .php) extension; IIS servers should use a .shtml or a .asp file extension.

If you have your file, index.shtml on an Apache server for example, simply browse to your page using http://localhost/index.shtml (or wherever you placed your file) and view the source from your web browser. If the output from the web server has un-processed include statements (<!--#include virtual=") then your server does not have Server Side Includes turned on... which is documented in the Wiki.

I hope that helps... if you can provide any more info that would be great. Screenshots, and your page source files are helpful as well.

[atitus]

For right now I am not even really that concerned or working directly with the server. The server is just a windows server is my understanding running IIS but I am not positive on the version. I should be able to with basic templates put them in a folder and open them without concern of server type and be able to view them. For example on my test laptop they will just be on my desk top to work with them so it would truely be on my localhost.. now granted I will be installing IIS on it for my database application but template and css don't require IIS to be installed.. Is there something special with these that require it?

And are you saying that all my files Index.. everything needs to be under ucomm/templatedependates? the paths dont reference that in the coding

[alvin_woon]

only the template dependence files (css, js) need to be inside ucomm/templatedependates folder.

You can find more documentations about the template by going to the wiki page (http://ucommdev.unl.edu/webdev/wiki/index.php/Main_Page) or visit web developer network homepage (http://www.unl.edu/webdevnet)

True, if you are working from localhost, you dont need any web server (IIS or Apache) installed to create a page, well not entirely. The reason i'm putting it this way is because we do use server side includes for the templates. Those will require a web server, which you can also set it up in your localhost.

You can learn more about SSI from here(http://ucommdev.unl.edu/webdev/wiki/ind ... er_servers) or google.

[saltybeagle]

Now I see the problem(s).

template and css don't require IIS to be installed.. Is there something special with these that require it?

Yes, using the UNL templates 'out of the box' requires a web server with server side includes enabled (accessing them with a http:// prefix). You can certainly use the templates without a web server (using a file:// prefix) --- but it will take a bit of work to turn the templates into flat files - and flat files will prohibit the development of a large website when you need to change global elements, such as navigation. This is why using the server side include model really benefits your development.

And are you saying that all my files Index.. everything needs to be under ucomm/templatedependates? the paths dont reference that in the coding

No, the ucomm/templatedependents directory should not be modified at all it just needs to be present on the server where you are working. You can place your index.shtml or default.shtml files wherever you would like to on your server.

I always like to set up a local web server which is a mirror of my production web server. My live server uses Apache, so I run a local instance of the Apache web server on my machine and use it as my test environment --- knowing that the live web server is configured very similarly.

If you have XP Professional, I would just turn on the built in IIS server and store your files locally on your machine and browse to them using http://localhost/.
To see if the server is on already you can browse to http://localhost/ and see if it returns anything. If it isn't on, you can turn on the service by going to your Control Panel and choosing Amdinistrative Tools > Services and starting the World Wide Web Publishing service. You can modify your local server's configuration by using the Computer Management configuration console (also found in Administrative Tools) under Internet Information Services and choosing Properties for your Default Web Site.


Good luck!