I see the way to incorporate resources and what not into the file - But I can’t even begin to say how cool it would be to simply be able to save all the files that make up a site to a folder. MP3’s, banners, whatever. “Save Complete Site To:” or “Collect Project Files to:” and you’re golden. The perfect backup / new working folder.
You know you can create Portable Documents with RW7? Maybe that’s what you’re looking for?
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Sort of – From what I understand, making the site “portable” integrates everything into a giant file (which works for archiving and what not, sure). I’m sure what I’m referring to is similar, but not quite the same – Just collecting all the files together to a common folder. I have images and what not from all over my drive - if one of those changes or gets deleted, I’ve got problems. My fault, sure. But I’d imagine I’m not the only one…
The difference would be that one collects everything into a common file and the other just into a common location (which then could be compressed to a common file). Like a local publish - that the Rapidweaver file then uses as the resources.
I suppose you could always just export the site locally to a folder and then compress and back that up.
John: Your wish is why some of us “warehouse” our materials. I almost never drag images, sounds and so forth into my RW project. Instead I FTP them to a common folder on my hosting area, copy the URL, and then use those URLs in my project. It works very nicely for some of the key reasons you stated: it doesn’t matter if I move a file, change the name of a file, etc. on my hard drive. The only thing my RW project ends up caring about is the URL I provide on my hosting site.
I am “pretty good” but not excellent at collecting all those files into one place on my hard drive. This need not be done, but it would insure against confusion/problems. Not problems with RW but just general things like a client wants an image edited: then I have it in one known location.
Another key factor is many folks who warehouse put all their materials into one clearly named folder. I tend to use “zwarehouse” or something similar. I use the “z” so the folder always comes last (or first in an inverted sort) when looking at files/folders at my hosting location.
I know this is not exactly what you wanted, but for the present it really helps a number of us work efficiently and effectively by not losing those extra files (images, etc.), not having corrupted RW project files, and some other problems.
Hey, John! This can be easily accomplished by planning ahead when you start your project.
When I start a RW project, I create a folder on my disk and name it like the domain I intend to work with. My project is placed inside that folder. Then, inside that main folder, I create all kinds of other child-folders related to the same domain. I have a separate child folder for the local export of my site. There is one folder called… “Resources”. This is the place where I gather few photos, graphics and other things that I use as my editorial/design items for that particular domain and that do not get warehoused. But all my galleries and PDFs are fed with files warehoused on a server.
This way I always know where my files are. I don’t need to fish for them all over my computer. All it takes is some planning and preparation.
Understood – But it would still be a stellar addition. Totally possible also considering the “make portable” or whatever it is.
Every web design software I’ve ever used has a similar feature.
Every decent audio program I use (I’m an audio engineer by trade) has a similar feature. Even playback programs for live use collect project files and gather them to a common location.
I get the whole “planning and preparation” thing – But a lot of design and implementation is experimentation – and it’s hard to prepare for a lot of that.