Massive Conversion Project (FP2003 site to DW CS3)

I have a 9-year old site created and maintained with FP2003 that has grown so
large that FP2003 cannot maintain it. The FP extensions on the host' server
keep getting corrupt due to excessive number of files. I'm glad to NOT use FP
2003 so long as I can 'get it done' with DW.

Background:
This site serves as one of the largest reference locations on the web for
target archery in the world, and also archives/documents results of tournaments
and photos from events (it is primarily the photo albums that causes the huge
number of pages/files). It is a completely non-profit organization (we are the
NGB for US Olympic Archery, state of Texas) and this is entirely a volunteer
effort on my part - no pay, and I actually contribute the cost of domain
registration, hosting fees, everything necessary to maintain this site, as a
way to pay back the sport for the benefits my family has gotten from the sport.
There are more than 5,000 photos for example. I am a HP coach for USA
Archery, a coach for the UT Archery club (a position which allowed me to get an
academic discount on DW CS3(yay), and primarily a pharmacist who happened to
program database systems for 18 years or so, mainly in the DOS world.

So I have bought and installed DW CS3 and begun using it to maintain all of my
sites, not just the behemoth. Right now I am just kinda hobbling along and
getting comfortable with the UI of DW, doing tutorials when I can, making notes
and learning, and I plan to EVENTUALLY make each site over using the much more
elegant, efficacious, and efficient code options within DW. It is an
awesome/huge tool!

The USA Archery website linked below springs from a 2000+ record relational
database on my laptop I wrote that then writes all of the document pages and
then it FTPs them up. Once I get reasonably done with the Texas website, I
hope to move the USA Archery web content into an online database-driven site
that allows more elegant online search options and maintenance functionality.
It's in the manual, I know I can do it, I just can't do it right now :wink;

So, I have gladly arrived at DW, have version CS3 and have been learning to
use it over the last few months. I have been studying the huge "missing manual"
and have read through it multiple times to both assure myself that I can do
with DW CS3 what I've been accustomed to with FP. I also use the online
references a lot and I think I have a decent grasp of what I need to do, but
not necessarily know what priorities to assign, what order to do things in.
There is a lot of "chicken and egg" conflict in my mind as to how to address
all of the things that need doing.

I also have been searching both up here and the web for information on the
best migratory method to rid the existing website pages of the MS bloatcode AND
to initially retain the look and feel of the "old" site. The old site
uses/used a "theme" that included a shared border/navigation bar that I created
oh, 6 years ago or so.

I haven't been able to successfully copy over the theme from FP that I had
created, into a CSS in DW. I did create a template folder and copy the
contents of the MSS theme folder into it, but DW doesn't automatically know it
is there. I suspect that this MS theme uses poor constructs anyway, such as
<font> which I need to NOT rely on in DW. Am I correct that rather than
import or transport the old FP "theme", I will be better off trying to create a
"look-alike" CSS by saving an existing page (the primary index.htm, for
example) as a TEMPLATE, and then defining a new CSS off of that template?

There is in the exchange several extensions that help to migrate FP2003
"stuff" into older versions of DW (none mention CS3), I have installed one and
am running it against a copy of my site - it is finding a *LOT* of things to do
Am I correct in expecting this process to work in CS3 if it worked for
older versions of DW?

Once this utility is completed, should I simply create a new CSS by modifying
an existing basic CSS or is there a step that I have failed to locate and
perform that would let me more easily adopt the theme I was using in FP?
From comments I have read by searching up here and throughout the web, I gather
that shared borders are not easily transportable into DW anyway.

Last question this post: I have a reasonably new laptop with 2gHz Pentium M, a
gig of memory, 100 gig drive with around 20% free space. FP 2003 did not have
a speed issue at all - even "publishing changed files" where it had to compare
all local files against the files on the host server ran in just a few minutes.

I have noticed that many times when I have DW CS3 running, the laptop's CPU
is pegged at 100% utilization and the Win XP Pro OS becomes extremely lethargic
due to the load apparently created by DW CS3. For example Alt-Tabbing/ Task
switching to the DW instance is slow, and it is not unusual for the DW screen
to be blank, requiring several minutes before the screen gets painted with the
DW content. If I close DW then the OS resumes normal speed for all other tasks
running, even old 16-bit apps. It does seem to be related to whether I have
the largest website opened, or one of my other smaller sites opened.

What elements of DW setup should I check to insure that DW is configured
optimally for speed? IOW, is this kind of lethargy normal or is it due to the
huge size of the site?

I appreciate your patience and help.

Texas State Archery Association - http://www.texasarchery.org
(the biggest site that I am focusing on first)

USA Archery Records - http://www.usaarcheryrecords.org
(currently database-driven (DataEase for DOS, 4th generation relational
database))

On Nov 11, 10:23 am, "TexARC" <webforumsu... (AT) macromedia (DOT) com> wrote:

I have a 9-year old site created and maintained with FP2003 that has grown so
large that FP2003 cannot maintain it. The FP extensions on the host' server
keep getting corrupt due to excessive number of files. I'm glad to NOT use FP
2003 so long as I can 'get it done' with DW.

Background:
This site serves as one of the largest reference locations on the web for
target archery in the world, and also archives/documents results of tournaments
and photos from events (it is primarily the photo albums that causes the huge
number of pages/files). It is a completely non-profit organization (we are the
NGB for US Olympic Archery, state of Texas) and this is entirely a volunteer
effort on my part - no pay, and I actually contribute the cost of domain
registration, hosting fees, everything necessary to maintain this site, as a
way to pay back the sport for the benefits my family has gotten from the sport.
There are more than 5,000 photos for example. I am a HP coach for USA
Archery, a coach for the UT Archery club (a position which allowed me to get an
academic discount on DW CS3(yay), and primarily a pharmacist who happened to
program database systems for 18 years or so, mainly in the DOS world.

So I have bought and installed DW CS3 and begun using it to maintain all of my
sites, not just the behemoth. Right now I am just kinda hobbling along and
getting comfortable with the UI of DW, doing tutorials when I can, making notes
and learning, and I plan to EVENTUALLY make each site over using the much more
elegant, efficacious, and efficient code options within DW. It is an
awesome/huge tool!

The USA Archery website linked below springs from a 2000+ record relational
database on my laptop I wrote that then writes all of the document pages and
then it FTPs them up. Once I get reasonably done with the Texas website, I
hope to move the USA Archery web content into an online database-driven site
that allows more elegant online search options and maintenance functionality.
It's in the manual, I know I can do it, I just can't do it right now :wink;

So, I have gladly arrived at DW, have version CS3 and have been learning to
use it over the last few months. I have been studying the huge "missing manual"
and have read through it multiple times to both assure myself that I can do
with DW CS3 what I've been accustomed to with FP. I also use the online
references a lot and I think I have a decent grasp of what I need to do, but
not necessarily know what priorities to assign, what order to do things in.
There is a lot of "chicken and egg" conflict in my mind as to how to address
all of the things that need doing.

I also have been searching both up here and the web for information on the
best migratory method to rid the existing website pages of the MS bloatcode AND
to initially retain the look and feel of the "old" site. The old site
uses/used a "theme" that included a shared border/navigation bar that I created
oh, 6 years ago or so.

I haven't been able to successfully copy over the theme from FP that I had
created, into a CSS in DW. I did create a template folder and copy the
contents of the MSS theme folder into it, but DW doesn't automatically know it
is there. I suspect that this MS theme uses poor constructs anyway, such as
font> which I need to NOT rely on in DW. Am I correct that rather than
import or transport the old FP "theme", I will be better off trying to create a
"look-alike" CSS by saving an existing page (the primary index.htm, for
example) as a TEMPLATE, and then defining a new CSS off of that template?

There is in the exchange several extensions that help to migrate FP2003
"stuff" into older versions of DW (none mention CS3), I have installed one and
am running it against a copy of my site - it is finding a *LOT* of things to do
Am I correct in expecting this process to work in CS3 if it worked for
older versions of DW?

Once this utility is completed, should I simply create a new CSS by modifying
an existing basic CSS or is there a step that I have failed to locate and
perform that would let me more easily adopt the theme I was using in FP?
From comments I have read by searching up here and throughout the web, I gather
that shared borders are not easily transportable into DW anyway.

Last question this post: I have a reasonably new laptop with 2gHz Pentium M, a
gig of memory, 100 gig drive with around 20% free space. FP 2003 did not have
a speed issue at all - even "publishing changed files" where it had to compare
all local files against the files on the host server ran in just a few minutes.

I have noticed that many times when I have DW CS3 running, the laptop's CPU
is pegged at 100% utilization and the Win XP Pro OS becomes extremely lethargic
due to the load apparently created by DW CS3. For example Alt-Tabbing/ Task
switching to the DW instance is slow, and it is not unusual for the DW screen
to be blank, requiring several minutes before the screen gets painted with the
DW content. If I close DW then the OS resumes normal speed for all other tasks
running, even old 16-bit apps. It does seem to be related to whether I have
the largest website opened, or one of my other smaller sites opened.

What elements of DW setup should I check to insure that DW is configured
optimally for speed? IOW, is this kind of lethargy normal or is it due to the
huge size of the site?

I appreciate your patience and help.

Texas State Archery Association -http://www.texasarchery.org
(the biggest site that I am focusing on first)

USA Archery Records -http://www.usaarcheryrecords.org
(currently database-driven (DataEase for DOS, 4th generation relational
database))

I have tried to convert a FP site, and you will be much better off
trashing the whole thing and starting over from scratch. If you
"convert," you will still be unhappy with the results.

You have not mentioned W3C validation which should be one of your main
objectives in the re-build. Right now you have a site that is full of
errors, and if you start fresh you can create a valid, usable site
that will serve you and your visitors well for a long time.

As far as DW using resources on your laptop, I have about the same set-
up and DW does take a lot of resources. I usually don't try to run
other programs while DW is running large resource intensive
operations.

Later,

Daniel

Contact me offlist, please -

forums at great-web-sights dot com....

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Adobe Community Expert
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
==================
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==================


"TexARC" <webforumsuser (AT) macromedia (DOT) com> wrote

I have a 9-year old site created and maintained with FP2003 that has grown
so
large that FP2003 cannot maintain it. The FP extensions on the host'
server
keep getting corrupt due to excessive number of files. I'm glad to NOT
use FP
2003 so long as I can 'get it done' with DW.

Background:
This site serves as one of the largest reference locations on the web for
target archery in the world, and also archives/documents results of
tournaments
and photos from events (it is primarily the photo albums that causes the
huge
number of pages/files). It is a completely non-profit organization (we
are the
NGB for US Olympic Archery, state of Texas) and this is entirely a
volunteer
effort on my part - no pay, and I actually contribute the cost of domain
registration, hosting fees, everything necessary to maintain this site, as
a
way to pay back the sport for the benefits my family has gotten from the
sport.
There are more than 5,000 photos for example. I am a HP coach for USA
Archery, a coach for the UT Archery club (a position which allowed me to
get an
academic discount on DW CS3(yay), and primarily a pharmacist who happened
to
program database systems for 18 years or so, mainly in the DOS world.

So I have bought and installed DW CS3 and begun using it to maintain all
of my
sites, not just the behemoth. Right now I am just kinda hobbling along
and
getting comfortable with the UI of DW, doing tutorials when I can, making
notes
and learning, and I plan to EVENTUALLY make each site over using the much
more
elegant, efficacious, and efficient code options within DW. It is an
awesome/huge tool!

The USA Archery website linked below springs from a 2000+ record
relational
database on my laptop I wrote that then writes all of the document pages
and
then it FTPs them up. Once I get reasonably done with the Texas website,
I
hope to move the USA Archery web content into an online database-driven
site
that allows more elegant online search options and maintenance
functionality.
It's in the manual, I know I can do it, I just can't do it right now
:wink;

So, I have gladly arrived at DW, have version CS3 and have been learning
to
use it over the last few months. I have been studying the huge "missing
manual"
and have read through it multiple times to both assure myself that I can
do
with DW CS3 what I've been accustomed to with FP. I also use the online
references a lot and I think I have a decent grasp of what I need to do,
but
not necessarily know what priorities to assign, what order to do things
in.
There is a lot of "chicken and egg" conflict in my mind as to how to
address
all of the things that need doing.

I also have been searching both up here and the web for information on the
best migratory method to rid the existing website pages of the MS
bloatcode AND
to initially retain the look and feel of the "old" site. The old site
uses/used a "theme" that included a shared border/navigation bar that I
created
oh, 6 years ago or so.

I haven't been able to successfully copy over the theme from FP that I had
created, into a CSS in DW. I did create a template folder and copy the
contents of the MSS theme folder into it, but DW doesn't automatically
know it
is there. I suspect that this MS theme uses poor constructs anyway, such
as
font> which I need to NOT rely on in DW. Am I correct that rather than
import or transport the old FP "theme", I will be better off trying to
create a
"look-alike" CSS by saving an existing page (the primary index.htm, for
example) as a TEMPLATE, and then defining a new CSS off of that template?

There is in the exchange several extensions that help to migrate FP2003
"stuff" into older versions of DW (none mention CS3), I have installed one
and
am running it against a copy of my site - it is finding a *LOT* of things
to do
Am I correct in expecting this process to work in CS3 if it worked
for
older versions of DW?

Once this utility is completed, should I simply create a new CSS by
modifying
an existing basic CSS or is there a step that I have failed to locate and
perform that would let me more easily adopt the theme I was using in FP?
From comments I have read by searching up here and throughout the web, I
gather
that shared borders are not easily transportable into DW anyway.

Last question this post: I have a reasonably new laptop with 2gHz Pentium
M, a
gig of memory, 100 gig drive with around 20% free space. FP 2003 did not
have
a speed issue at all - even "publishing changed files" where it had to
compare
all local files against the files on the host server ran in just a few
minutes.

I have noticed that many times when I have DW CS3 running, the laptop's
CPU
is pegged at 100% utilization and the Win XP Pro OS becomes extremely
lethargic
due to the load apparently created by DW CS3. For example Alt-Tabbing/
Task
switching to the DW instance is slow, and it is not unusual for the DW
screen
to be blank, requiring several minutes before the screen gets painted with
the
DW content. If I close DW then the OS resumes normal speed for all other
tasks
running, even old 16-bit apps. It does seem to be related to whether I
have
the largest website opened, or one of my other smaller sites opened.

What elements of DW setup should I check to insure that DW is configured
optimally for speed? IOW, is this kind of lethargy normal or is it due to
the
huge size of the site?

I appreciate your patience and help.

Texas State Archery Association - http://www.texasarchery.org
(the biggest site that I am focusing on first)

USA Archery Records - http://www.usaarcheryrecords.org
(currently database-driven (DataEase for DOS, 4th generation relational
database))