[WEB4LIB] Files & Folders 101

[Alnisa Allgood]

At 2:30 PM -0700 4/6/05, Stacy Pober wrote:
>I've been helping someone learn HTML so that he can do his own web project.
>
>He's learned the HTML well, but is having persistent problems with the
>basic understanding of the structure of information as saved in files and
>folders and the difference between saving a file on his local machine
>vs. FTP-ing it onto web server.
>
>I'm not as patient as I aspire to be, and after there's only so many times
>I can explain that the reason he doesn't see the change to his pages is
>that the file is still on his PC and hasn't been transferred to the server,
>or that it is in the wrong folder rather than the public HTML server folder
>without feeling that maybe I'm going about this the wrong way.

I say forget teaching people who can't understand, they will 
eventually catch on at their own time. What you need is a solution 
that adapts to them. Now I'm not certain if he's a Mac or PC user, or 
if he's using a text editor versus something like DreamWeaver. But on 
my Mac I use Transmit (ftp) and BBedit (text editor). I set Transmit 
to post process double-clicked files in BBedit, and set BBedit to 
send modification back to the server.  I know a number of Mac OS and 
Mac OS X FTP and HTML/Text Editors allow this type of functionality, 
and assume that the PC equivalent is possible.

But also, if your teaching him to use an application like Adobe 
GoLive or DreamWeaver, they both have built in FTP functions, that 
allow live editing or editing synchronizing. Sometimes the best 
method is the path of least resistance. If they don't understand now, 
they probably will some day later, but provide a solution that 
doesn't require their full understanding.

Alnisa