How to organize projects in WebSite X5

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How to organize projects in WebSite X5

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It's very easy to organize your projects in WebSite X5 because most of the procedures are automatic.

In WebSite X5, each website you create corresponds to a project, that is saved in a file called project.IWPRJ (where "project" is the name you give to your project). This file is created automatically the first time you save your project: it is saved in the Projects folder which you can specify in the Preferences window.

As well as creating the project file, WebSite X5 also creates and make a copy of all the resources (pictures, animation, videos, etc.) that are linked to the project. This provides a double advantage:

1.The resources linked to the project are optimized: copies of the pictures, for example, are saved in a size that is best suited to be displayed in the website (which is not necessarily their original size), and they are also compressed when saved.
2.Even if you move or delete the original files from the position they were originally saved at, the project still continues to work and all the resources are displayed correctly.  
Click to expand/collapseHow to organize the Project folder

WebSite X5 sets no limits to the number of projects you can create: you can create projects for yourself, for friends and clubs, or for your customers. Obviously, as the number of projects increases, it is important to organize them efficiently, so that you can find them quickly when you need them. The easiest way to do this is to save the projects in folders that are named and ordered properly.

If you are working with the Pro edition, this is what you should do:

In the Project Selection window of Step 1, click on the button to display the Project folder. You will see a list of all the projects you have created and, to the left of this, the tree structure of the Projects folder.
Click on the button and then select the New command in the menu that opens, to create a new subfolder in the Projects folder.
Click twice on the new subfolder, or select the Rename command, and give the new folder an appropriate name.
Repeat these steps for all the subfolders you need to create.
Select the Projects folder from the tree to display all the existing projects. Select the one you want to save, dragging its name in the tree to the subfolder you want to save it in.  Do the same for all the other projects.  

When you have organized the Project folder and saved the projects in their subfolders, you can choose to display:

only the projects in the current subfolder, and not display all the project folders;
all the subfolders and the projects in them, displaying the entire list of project folders.
Click to expand/collapseHow to import/export a project from one computer to another

While you are working on a project, you may need to move it to another computer (if you want a copy of it at home/in your office, or make a copy for a colleague, etc.). It is essential to move not only the project file, but also all the files that are linked to it.

First of all, you have to export the project:

In Step 5 - Export, select the Export the Project option and click on the Next button.
In the Export the Project window, select the Destination path and, optionally, click on the options to also export the files necessary for displaying the preview on your computer and the backup copies that have been made.

When the export procedure is finished, you will have a single, compressed file in .IWZIP format that you can easily move from the computer to another one.

If you want to import a project to a computer where WebSite X5 is installed, you have to do the following:

In Step 1 - Project Selection click on the Import... button and select the .IWZIP file that has been exported from another computer.
When the file has been successfully imported, a preview of the project is displayed in the list of existing projects: select it and click on the Next button to edit it.
Click to expand/collapseHow to make a copy of your project

You may sometimes find you need a copy of the original project. This may be to restore your project to the state it was in before making certain changes, and in this case WebSite X5 provides the commands necessary for doing this (see How to organize backup copies of your project). Or you may want to duplicate a project to use as the basis for another one, and in this case you will find it more useful to:

select the project you want to make a copy of from the list of existing projects in Step 1 - Project Selection;
click on the Duplicate button;
select the copy that has been made and rename it appropriately, then click on the Next button to edit it.

Duplicating a project is useful when, for example, you want to create a multi-language website. Once you have created the project in the first language (English, for example), you can duplicate it to create the projects in all the other languages. The structure is already defined so all you have to do is translate the text and update any graphics that may change from one language to another (see How to create a multi-language website).

<%%EXTOGGLE>How to delete, copy or trace a file that has been imported into the project

You often need to import a file while you are working on a project, for example a file for a picture, a video, audio or such like. To do this, you just have to click on the button to browse through your folders and find the file to be imported.

The Program automatically makes a copy of imported files: the original version remains in the folder it has been saved in, whereas the copies are saved in an internal library. It is the copy that is used in your project, and not the original file.

Once a file has been imported, only the file name is shown in the program field: for example, the name of the file used for the Image Object is displayed in the Internet file field.

Click on the name of the imported file with the right button of the mouse to open a menu with the following commands:

Remove: this deletes the imported file. It is the same as clicking on the file name and pressing the DEL key.
Open file location...: this opens the folder containing the original file so that you can check the complete pathname.
Save As...: this creates a copy of the file saved in the program's internal library and saves it in the specified folder.

 


Best practices:

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How to organize backup copies of your projects