[Wylug-help] website access.

[Roger]

Douglas G Mckendrick wrote:
> I have access to a website via ftp.  Can anyone recommend a good website
> management software?

That depends on just what you mean by the phrase - and how the current 
was built.  If it was built using some Content Management System, then 
continue to use that.  If it was hand-coded, then I can wholeheartedly 
recommend the Bluefish editor.

> Also how can I download a copy of the website to peruse/alter offline?

Your ftp software can transfer files in both directions, down and up. 
Remember to recreate any directory structure there may be.  (I expect 
that your ftp software can transfer entire directories as well as just 
individual files, so that should be fairly easy.)

Once you have a local copy of everything, you'll quickly find out 
whether link addresses are relative to the site root, or to the current 
page, or absolute (using a full "http://..." format.  In the last case 
you'll find that following links on the local copy of the site takes you 
back to the on-line version, in the first (unless you mirror the local 
copy in your root directory) you'll find that all the links are broken. 
  In the second case, it should all 'just work.'  Your first task may be 
translating to addresses that are relative to the current page, so that 
both the local and remote copies (when you upload changes) still work.

After that you can start to play.  You don't say whether the site is 
static HTML, or scripted in a language such as PHP, asp, or anything 
else.  Bluefish will handle them all, but you'll have to know/learn 
whatever has been used before, or start over, whether hand-coding in a 
language you can use/learn, or using a CMS.

> Thanks in advance

Hope that is some help...

Roger

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