Getting started with Site Import

Tutorial created by Ray Borduin, WebAssist

Categories: Design Extender, Dreamweaver

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What do you need to start?

1. Dreamweaver CS4 or higher.
   
2. Site defined in Dreamweaver - Watch video tutorial: Setting up a site in Dreamweaver.
   
3. Design Extender (alternatively, Site Import) installed and activated in Dreamweaver.

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Open Site Import wizard

Site Import utilizes a user-friendly wizard for site importing and optional site reporting.

1. With a page already opened in your Dreamweaver site (the page does not need to be saved), choose WebAssist > Import Web Page(s) to launch the interface.
   
   
   

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Begin site import

During the site import, you have the option of retrieving one page, multiple pages, or an entire site. You can also include additional domains when importing sites that have more than one domain, for example, http://webassist.com and http://support.webassist.com.

1. In the Main web site (URL) field, enter the address to the website you want to import.
   
   

   Example: http://webassist.com

   
   
   
2. In the Local folder path field, click the folder icon and select the folder you want your site to be imported into.
   
   

   Example: file:///C|/xampp/htdocs/site_import/

   
   
   
3. If you want to include additional domains, click the Plus icon, add the URL in the Web address (URL) field, and click inside the Additional domains window.
   
   
4. Click Next.
   
   
   

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Configure link settings

1. To configure your link settings, select how many nested levels you wish to import using the Links to follow menu list. Select entire site if you wish the import to follow all links.
   
   
2. Specify the number of pages to download in the Maximum pages field.
   
   
3. Select Follow dynamic links if you wish to import any dynamic links in the site.
   
   Site Import will retrieve dynamic links and store them as static pages. For this reason, when navigating these pages on a local machine, they will not have dynamic functionality.
   
   
4. Enter URL parameters that you want ignored during the import process in the Ignore URL parameters field.
   
   
5. Click Next.
   
   
   

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Configure file types

Site Import will retrieve any file types specified in the wizard, including .pdf or .swf files.

1. In the Page file types menu, enter any additional file types you want included.
   
   
2. Select Overwrite files if you want imported files to overwrite any files in the folder you chose that are named the same.
   
   
3. Selecting Overwrite extension will convert the downloaded pages to the extension you enter in the text field.
   
   
4. Enter the media file types that you wish to include in your download, for example, .pdf, .swf, and .fla.
   
   
5. Select Download template if you wish Site Import to download any Dreamweaver templates stored in the site.
   
   
6. Select Recreate template if you wish Site Import to attempt to re-create a Dreamweaver template based on the pages in the site.
   
   Site Import will attempt to retrieve any Dreamweaver templates stored in this site. If there is no Dreamweaver template stored on the site, but pages have been created from a template, Site Import will attempt to re-create the Dreamweaver template.
   
   
7. Click Next.
   
   
   

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Configure report options

When importing a site, you have the option of including a Site Report. This feature is useful for many reasons, for example, testing sites for broken links or ensuring that images have ALT text. You can customize your report to include as little or as much information as you require.

1. Check Generate report if you wish Site Import to also conduct a site report.
   
   
2. Check Open generated report upon completion if you want the report to open after the importing and reporting process finishes.
   
   
3. In the Sites window, open each Category by clicking the plus button.
   
   
4. Then check Enabled to include or exclude the highlighted entry in your report.
   
   
5. Click Finish to begin the site import.
   
   
   

Begin site report

After the Site Import Wizard closes, the Site Report process panel displays, showing you the progress of your import.

1. Click the Pause button to temporarily halt the process.
   
   
2. Click the Resume button to continue the process after pausing.
   
   
3. Click the Stop button to completely halt the process before completion.
   
   
4. Now Importing shows the file that is currently being imported.
   
   
5. Local files shows the location on your local machine where the file is being stored.
   
   
6. Additional domains lists the additional domains included in the import.
   
   
7. Progress displays the Run time, Total files, Levels deep, and number of pages in queue.
   
   
8. Files displays the number of files by type that will be included in the import.
   
   
9. Size displays information regarding the file size of the site being imported.
   
   
   
   
   
10. During the reporting process, pages that are being imported display in Dreamweaver.
    
    
    
    
    
11. When the reporting process is complete, your report will open in your default browser.
    
    
    

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