User Guide

Common website configurations 9
This section describes three primary configurations for you to consider as you set up a Contribute
site.
Single website on one webserver Typically, this is a website where users have read access to
the root of the site and read/write access to specific folders in the site as controlled by the file
server or network permissions. There is a single root folder and all users access the site by using
the same Contribute connection. If this applies to your site, see “Deploying Contribute for a
single website with one webserver” on page 9.
Multiple websites on one webserver This structure has a single root folder. The root folder
contains folders for each section or organizational function in the website. Contribute roles are
used to control user access to particular folders on the site and to assign a subset of the
common templates used on the site. Although not required, file server permissions are usually
used in addition to Contribute roles to restrict user access to sections of a site. If this applies to
your site, see “Deploying Contribute for multiple websites on one webserver” on page 11.
Website on a staging server and a live server Many websites use a staging web server with
their production web server. Staging servers let you create and test web content without
making it live on your public-facing website. Only when content has been approved are web
pages and their associated files copied from the staging to the production web server. When
used with Contribute, a staging server adds an extra measure of security because you can
configure your staging server so that Contribute specific files (such as administrative folders,
rollback files, and interim drafts) are not copied to the publicly accessible website outside your
network firewall. For more information, see “Deploying Contribute to a staging server and a
live server” on page 12.
Depending on how your website is structured, use separate strategies to successfully set up
Contribute for multiple users and groups. Specifically, consider where to store the Contribute
shared settings file, how to prevent overlapping connection paths, and how you’ll send
connections to users.
Deploying Contribute for a single website with one webserver
In this example, Contribute is deployed to a simple intranet consisting of a single web server
hosting a departmental website. The website has a single, common root folder with subfolders for
individual departments. The site uses Dreamweaver templates and CSS styles to enforce the look
and feel of the website and SSIs to maintain page elements such as navigation menus, headers,
and footers.
The key to this arrangement is that all users have the same Contribute site connection. In other
words, a single connection point for all users controls the behavior of Contribute when editing
the website. To restrict users to editing content in their workgroup’s folder, you would need to
create a role that limits access to a specific folder.
An advantage to this type of Contribute deployment is that users in all departments can
collaborate by sending pages for review to one another. If separate connections had been created
for each department (as in the example “Deploying Contribute for multiple websites on one
webserver” on page 11), then only the users with access to that folder could receive and edit drafts
sent to them for review.