User Guide

168 Chapter 12: Creating and Managing Website Connections
Related topics
• “Specifying alternate website addresses” on page 182
Connection keys
Using the Connection Wizard (Windows) or Connection Assistant (Macintosh), you can easily
set up connections to websites for other users. The wizard provides an efficient mechanism
through which Contribute users can share website connections for collaboration.
Contribute lets you share website connection information by embedding website information in a
connection key file. Because the connection key is encrypted with a password, any network or File
Transfer Protocol (FTP) login information you send in the file remains secure and can be accessed
only through Contribute. The connection key file uses the filename extension .stc. You can either
e-mail the file to users, or save it to your computer for users to download and import. If you
double-click the file, either on the desktop or as an e-mail attachment, Contribute starts and
imports the connection.
FTP and Secure FTP (SFTP) connection keys can be used across platforms; LAN connection
keys are platform specific.
The procedure for sending a connection key varies depending on the type of user model you’ve
chosen to manage your website. If you’re letting users connect to a site by manually entering
connection information or by using a connection key file, see “Sending connection keys for
websites” on page 185. If you’re managing users with a connection server, see “Sending
connections for CPS managed sites” on page 187.
Related topics
• “Sending connection keys for websites” on page 185
• “Sending connections for CPS managed sites” on page 187
Preparing to connect to a website
Before you begin, gather the following information:
• Your user name and e-mail address
The user name and e-mail address identify users and the web pages they are working on.
Contribute prevents multiple users from simultaneously editing the same web page.
(Contribute uses a system much like the Macromedia Dreamweaver check in/check out system
to avoid editing conflicts.)
Tip: If you have multiple copies of Contribute, use a different user name for each copy. For
example, Chris(laptop), and Chris(Mac). Using the same user name can cause problems because
you can override checkouts you make on the other computer.
• Web address (URL) of the website
A website’s Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is its address either on the Internet or on an
organization’s intranet. Website URLs usually have the following form:
http://www.mysite.com/