Publish Error - Lost Photos

Question

Level 1

131 points

Publish Error - Lost Photos

I am suddenly getting a Publish Error message each time I try to publish to my computer. All of my photographs have disappeared.

I built a new site with 4 photo pages and 3 text pages.

I was publishing it to a local folder on my computer. All was went well.

The saved/published index booted the web pages nicely in my browser.

I ftp'd them to my web host and they looked fine live.

I closed out of all my programs and shut the computer down.

When I returned and turned on iWeb to make a few adjustments I could no longer publish to a local folder.

All my photographs have disappeared from iWeb.

I'm baffled. Any suggestions? I am using all the lated=st software.

Thanks - Fabini

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3), Over Caffeinated

Posted on Mar 21, 2013 10:24 AM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

207,403 points

Mar 21, 2013 10:34 AM in response to Fabini

Go to your Users/Home/Library/Application Support/iWeb folder and see if there are more than one domain file there.

Remember that in Lion and Mountain Lion the Home/Library folder is now invisible. To make it permanently visible enter the following in the Terminal application window: chflags nohidden ~/Library and hit the Enter button - 10.7: Un-hide the User Library folder.

To open your domain file in Lion or Mountain Lion or to switch between multiple domain files Cyclosaurus has provided us with the following script that you can make into an Applescript application with Script Editor. Open Script Editor, copy and paste the script below into Script Editor's window and save as an application.

do shell script "/usr/bin/defaults write com.apple.iWeb iWebDefaultsDocumentPath -boolean no"
delay 1

tell application "iWeb" to activate

You can download an already compiled version with this link: iWeb Switch Domain.

Just launch the application, find and select the domain file in your Home/Library/Application Support/iWeb folder that you want to open and it will open with iWeb. It modifies the iWeb preference file each time it's launched so one can switch between domain files.

WARNING: iWeb Switch Domain will overwrite an existing Domain.sites2 file if you select to create a new domain in the same folder. So rename your domain files once they've been created to something other than the default name.

OT

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Answer 2

Wyodor

Level 6

19,930 points

Mar 21, 2013 10:37 AM in response to Old Toad

Fabini knows where the Library folder is :

A Perennial Question On Where...

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Answer 3

Fabini Author

Level 1

131 points

Mar 21, 2013 10:47 AM in response to Wyodor

Yes, it's true, I do now know where the iWeb files are saved and how to get there.

I have only one Domain.Sites2 file.

However, I have been publishing my latest iWeb site to a folder on my desktop using Site Publishing Settings > Publish to: Local Folder.

All was going well, until it wasn't. Now all my photos (64) have vanished and I cannot publish any more.

:-(

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Answer 4

Roddy

Level 6

17,265 points

Mar 21, 2013 11:07 AM in response to Fabini

Try the troubleshooting steps under "Fix iWeb" here...

http://www.iwebformusicians.com/iWeb/iWeb-Tips.html

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Answer 5

Fabini Author

Level 1

131 points

Mar 21, 2013 12:24 PM in response to Roddy

Hi Roddy, Thanks, I've done the permissions thing and a reboot, I'm pretty good about all that stuff. - F

P.S. My Domain.Sites2 file looks like this (It's the first page of my latest site):

Does this tell you anything? When I look iside I find hundreds of files that are years old.

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Answer 6

Roddy

Level 6

17,265 points

Mar 22, 2013 5:55 AM in response to Fabini

Is your latest site created on the same Domain.sites2 file as older sites?

Its better to create new sites on separate Domain files so that you don't loose the lot if the file gets corrupted.

Try starting a new site on a separate Domain file. If this works then iWeb is OK and the old Domain file is the problem. If it doesn't then you may have to consider reinstalling iWeb.

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Answer 7

Fabini Author

Level 1

131 points

Mar 22, 2013 6:51 AM in response to Roddy

"Its better to create new sites on separate Domain files so that you don't loose the lot if the file gets corrupted."

Roddy, How do I crreate a new site on a separate Domain file?

I can drag the old Domain file to the desktop and create a new site in iWeb. Is that how I go about it?

Thanks for your followup. - Fabini

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Answer 8

Roddy

Level 6

17,265 points

Mar 22, 2013 6:58 AM in response to Fabini

See this page under "Separate Domain Files"...

http://www.iwebformusicians.com/iWeb/Site-Layout.html

You can download a blank Domain file from the link on this page...

http://www.iwebformusicians.com/iWeb/iWeb-Tips.html

... under "Jump Start iWeb".

See this page for how to open them when using Lion/Mountain Lion...

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

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Answer 9

Fabini Author

Level 1

131 points

Mar 22, 2013 9:47 AM in response to Roddy

Well, I'm doing everything as described. But iWeb is not cooperating (or it's user error).

I am taking a break. I will come back to this next week.

Thanks for your assistance. I've been following the links.

- Fabini

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Answer 10

Old Toad

Level 10

207,403 points

Mar 22, 2013 9:54 AM in response to Fabini

Here are a couple of things you can try when you're recharged and ready to tackle them:

1 - delete the iWeb preference file, com.apple.iWeb.plist, that resides in your

User/Home/Library/ Preferences folder.

2 - delete iWeb's cache file, Cache.db, that is located in your

User/Home/Library/Caches/com.apple.iWeb folder (Snow Leopard and Earlier).

3 - launch iWeb and try again.

NOTE: In Lion and Mountain Lion the Library folder is now invisible. To make it permanently visible enter the following in the Terminal application window: chflags nohidden ~/Library and hit the Enter button - 10.7: Un-hide the User Library folder.

If that doesn't help continue with:

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.

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Answer 11

Fabini Author

Level 1

131 points

Mar 22, 2013 3:03 PM in response to Fabini

NEW DEVELOPMENT

The problem appears to be in Safari not iWeb. I was able to open older versions of my web site in Firefox and they all worked fine.

Text is not being rendered properly. The color and font are different from what I select in iWeb. They appear fine in Firefox. Soooo - what do I do with Safari 6.0.3?

- Fabini

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Answer 12

Roddy

Level 6

17,265 points

Mar 22, 2013 3:09 PM in response to Fabini

... and you are positive that you cleared the Safari cache very time you?

Its kind of hard for us to get a clue when we can't see your website! Should we just Google "Fabini"?

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Answer 13

Fabini Author

Level 1

131 points

Mar 22, 2013 3:26 PM in response to Roddy

Take a break Roddy my friend. Clearing the cache cleared the font & link issues. The site is running equally welll in Safari & Firefox now.

My next step is to trash the multitude of iWeb variations and get back to the original design.

Of course when I sudenly hit a brick wall at midnight tonight I'll be back here ...

Thanks one & all - Fabini

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Answer 14

Fabini Author

Level 1

131 points

Mar 24, 2013 9:43 AM in response to Fabini

Sunday Update (I couldn't stay away)

My original problem returned. When I went to: File > Publish Entire Site, I received a Publish Error dialog AND all my photographs (160) disappeared #*%$#@!.

My browser history is clean, all my file permissions are pristine, I have closed properly and rebooted my computer just to get those odd files out of the system and into the trash, I coddled the Domain.Sites2 file deep in it burrow, but iWeb continues to hide/delete/dispose of my photos. This occurs after several iterations of large and small changes. I make a change and I select: File > Save AND THEN File > Publish Site Changes. When I've done this for a while I select: File > Publish Entire Site. That's when the problem reoccurs.

So maybe my iWeb program (3.0.4) is corrupted and should be replaced. I no longer have the original iLife disks, but I did find an update page in Apple support [http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1413] and went through the steps to re-update my iWeb program. Now, I am going to throw away the Domain.Sites2 file and start over. A clean fresh start.

When it comes to fonts, I use iPad safe ones. I particularly like American Typewriter, Regular & Light. Do you think in any way using this font contributes to my saved files being screwed up?

As always, thanks for being here and taking an interest in this. - Fabini

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Answer 15

Old Toad

Level 10

207,403 points

Mar 24, 2013 10:06 AM in response to Fabini

Typewriter is not one of the web safe fonts. It might look fine on an iPad but if the site is visited by a computer without Typewriter installed it will substitute another font and mess up the look of the page.

Try one of these:

The fonts that are most safe to use are:

Arial / Helvetica

Times New Roman / Times

Courier New / Courier

Other options that usually work cross-platform are:

Palatino

Garamond

Bookman

Avant Garde

Fonts that work on Windows and MacOS but not Unix+X are:

Verdana

Georgia

Comic Sans MS

Trebuchet MS

Arial Black

Impact

The previous is from this website: Safe web fonts

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