iweb on the fritz

Question

cyrano7 Author

Level 1

15 points

iweb on the fritz

I have been using iWeb to make my website and Yahoo to host.

Tonight they stopped communicating, and I think the problem may be on the iweb side.

iweb no longer opens and says: Can't open file "~/Library/Application Support/iWeb/Domain.sites2."

I have an a 2008 27iMac that has an functional iWeb. I think my options might be:

a) copy iWeb onto a memory stick and load it onto this computer (I am no tekkie, I do not know if applications can be transferred like that)

b) download iWeb (from a third party, I presume) off the internet.

Any help please?

iMac (27-inch Late 2009), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Mar 17, 2013 4:14 AM

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Answer 1

Eric Ross

Level 6

11,807 points

Mar 17, 2013 4:19 AM in response to cyrano7

Take a look at this link, it may help. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4121370?start=0&tstart=0

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Answer 2

Wyodor

Level 6

19,930 points

Mar 17, 2013 4:46 AM in response to cyrano7

Put the app on a stick and see what happens.

If both your Macs are on a LAN, enable filesharing and connect from one to the other and copy the app.

And perhaps there's something wrong with the domain file.

Either retreive a copy from the latest backup (Time Machine) or try iWebSites :

http://www.wyodor.net/_Demo/Aptana/iWebSites.html

You may have to learn how to do all that.

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Answer 3

Old Toad

Level 10

207,409 points

Mar 17, 2013 9:38 AM in response to cyrano7

Give this a try:

move the domain file from your Home/Library/Application Support/iWeb folder to the Desktop.
launch iWeb, create a new test site, save the new domain file and close iWeb.
go to the your Home/Library/Application Support/iWeb folder and delete the new domain file.
move your original domain file from the Desktop to the iWeb folder.
launch iWeb and try again.

OT

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Answer 4

cyrano7 Author

Level 1

15 points

Mar 17, 2013 2:06 PM in response to Old Toad

Thanks.

1 located an iWeb application in my time machine backup. I drug it to the desktop and tried to open.

Even with the Time Machine saved iweb, I get the same message: Can't open file "~/Library/Application Support/iWeb/Domain.sites2."

2. I copied the iWeb program from my older computer, and the same thing.

So, even if I follow your steps and find the domain file, I doubt that iWeb would open.

Is this a plan B. If I can locate the domain file, move that to my older iMac, and launch the domain from there?

Thanks.

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Answer 5

Wyodor

Level 6

19,930 points

Mar 17, 2013 2:20 PM in response to cyrano7

Did you try iWebSites?

And what do you mean by "if I can locate the domain file?"

You know where it is. You wrote the location in your post.

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Answer 6

cyrano7 Author

Level 1

15 points

Mar 17, 2013 2:20 PM in response to cyrano7

Partial success.

I tried to open up iWeb from the icon in the applications folder, and it opened, the older version opened that it seems is from the old computer, with my old website.

I presume if I could find the new website on the new computer and move that to the old iWeb, I could be up and running.

However, and forgive my ignorance, I cannot find the LIBRARY folder, that I think holds the iWeb domain.

I think it is in the home icon place, but under Applications, all is has is Parallels stuff.

How do I find the website domain folder, please? (There are instruction on the web, but they are out of date.)

Plan B could be to find the website domain, and move it to the old comptuer and upload the site from there?

Thanks.

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Answer 7

Wyodor

Level 6

19,930 points

Mar 17, 2013 2:27 PM in response to cyrano7

One the page i linked to is explicitely explained how to display the Library folder in OS X 8.

And with iWebSites you do not even have to go to that folder.

Anyway, here's the trick :

Hold the Alt key when you choose the Go menu.

Let go and hold again.

And here's a pretty picture from the HELP :

http://www.wyodor.net/_Discussions2/WhereLibraryFolderHelp_01.jpg

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Answer 8

cyrano7 Author

Level 1

15 points

Mar 17, 2013 2:28 PM in response to cyrano7

OK, I found the LIBRARY file, and under that the APPLICATION SUPPORT file, but under that I see no iWeb.

There is iPhoto, iTunes, iWork '09 (and it is not in that file) and many others. I can find no iWeb there.

Thanks. I must be close.

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Answer 9

cyrano7 Author

Level 1

15 points

Mar 17, 2013 2:38 PM in response to cyrano7

Thanks, I found the LIBRARY, and the APPLICATIONS folder, but I cannot locate iWeb anything in there.

Earlier you mentioned OS 8. I have OS 10.8.3.

Maybe that makes a difference in where the iWeb folder is?

Many thanks.

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Answer 10

cyrano7 Author

Level 1

15 points

Mar 17, 2013 4:48 PM in response to cyrano7

First, I drop and dragged the iWeb from my old computer onto the new, and it opened. Which is good, but it has my old website.

Second, I went to USER there is no LIBRARY file. There is DOCUMENTS, DOWNLOADS, MOVIES, MUSIC, PICTURES, the usual, et al, but no LIBRARY. Thus, I cannot proceed from there.

Third, I am able to find iWeb on the time machine, and then I dragged it to the desktop and opened it the OLD website from the old computer appears.

I think I could maybe find the domain, if I could ever find that darn LIBRARY file. Why is it now where it is suppsed to be, and where might it be? And why can't I find it just by searching 'domain'?

Sorry for the ineptitude.

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Answer 11

Roddy

Level 6

17,265 points

Mar 18, 2013 1:51 AM in response to cyrano7

See this page for info about how to find the user library and open an iWeb Domain.sites2 file when using Mountain Lion...

http://www.iwebformusicians.com/iWeb/mountain-lion.html

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Answer 12

cyrano7 Author

Level 1

15 points

Mar 18, 2013 2:01 AM in response to Roddy

Many thanks.

These iWeb problems occurred when I was making changes to my iWeb site and attempting to connect it to my Yahoo server. I thought the problem was with Yahoo, which may be true, but could the problem also be with iWeb? No longer functioning as it should?

I have Webcrusher, and I could save the file to a folder, run it through Webcrusher and then send it to Yahoo, but there is a glitch there, it does not go through. Some glitch there too.

So, I have the website saved to a folder, and if I can never find it again on iWeb, a solution might be to via Webcrusher.

At this point, I am seriously considering just making a new site on Dreamweaver, which I have never done before, so that will be tedious and mistake-filled.

Thoughts? I presume that if I download that application you recommend, I could then find my website on my time machine?

Many thanks.

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Answer 13

Roddy

Level 6

17,265 points

Mar 18, 2013 2:12 AM in response to cyrano7

Under previous version of the operating system, a Domain.sites2 file would open in iWeb by double clicking it. In Lion/Mountain Lion you need to use the helper script.

The app will allow you to browse to any Domain.sites2 and open it in iWeb.

If the site still won't open in iWeb you may have to face the fact that the Domain file is corrupt and you need to rebuild the site. There's not much point in rebuilding it using iWeb since the app is redundant.

There are many more suitable (and cheaper) apps than DreamWeaver and a search of this forum will turn up a lot of suggestions for alternatives.

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Answer 14

cyrano7 Author

Level 1

15 points

Mar 18, 2013 2:47 AM in response to Roddy

Thank you very much.

I have Dreamweaver, so it is no expense to me. That being the case, is that a good next step?

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Answer 15

Roddy

Level 6

17,265 points

Mar 18, 2013 3:26 AM in response to cyrano7

It really depends on your skill level and the amount of time you are prepared to spend learning DW.

One of the many reasons why iWeb is redundant is the fact that it can't produce websites that are suitable for viewing on mobile devices. Now that the majority of people are browsing this way, you are going to lose a lot of potential visitors if they can't easily view and navigate your site.

A lot of web designers are going with the "mobile first" method where the site is designed primarily for mobile devices and those browsers that support media queries. A fallback stylesheet is made available for those that are using out of date browsers and this is only loaded when necessary.

Learning basic HTML has become a lot easier with the adoption of HTML5 and CSS3. If you don't want to learn CSS there are literally hundreds of ready made stylesheets to choose from and you can build a far better website this way than you ever could with iWeb.

Applications like DreamWeaver and Flux are versatile but are overkill for building simple websites. Any application that allows you to drag and drop objects is not going to allow you to create very efficient web pages if you use that feature.

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