GL2DW Components to .LBI Issues
These GL2DW problems and issues have a permanent link on the GL2DW FAQ page.
WARNING: Make sure your site file and related folders are backed up before attempting any of these fixes. Some of these work-arounds make permanent changes to the site file.
The .lbi files are the Dreamweaver equivalent of a GoLive component. There are multiple reasons why your GoLive components may stall when converting to a library item. Here is one particular problem I have encountered when using the GL2DW extension and a workaround that has been discovered. Currently there is one other solution posted in the Adobe Forums, but it has not helped correct the errors associated my site files. I think the second solution is a stab in the dark, but you can read the discussion for yourself. If I find the second solution does work, I will recreate the error and post it.
JavaScript Errors
If you are lucky enough, a JavaScript console will pop up and inform you of a few errors. At first glance, it will look similar to the Snippets problem described earlier.
The solution, found by John Donaldson:
This is caused by non-component <csobj> elements in component/template files (the GoLive datetime object, older smart rollover objects etc.) The workaround would be to remove GoLive’s proprietary csobj code where it doesn’t specify a component
You can do a Find and Replace to get rid of them:
http://www.afterhours.org.uk/misc/forum/fr.png
Note from the screenshot, you are searching for <csobj> elements whose ‘t” attribute is NOT component.
John
A small version of his screen shot reposted below.
While the site is open in GoLive, Edit > Find > Find Code Elements… Then for the drop down menus in each section: Element: ls and csobj; Attribute: t and Unequal To and type in “Component” in the third menu; Change: Element: Replace by its Content; Work On: The Extras Tab, then Apply to All. Apply changes to multiple files? Hit Ok.
Results window will pop up. Select all the files, hit Remove. Now run the GL2DW extension again.
Note: This works on the majority of my site files. Some of my older site files (built with GoLive 6.0 or older, opened and re-saved in GoLive 8.0) still have unresolved errors, and I am constantly looking for other solutions to try as the transition continues.
Style Gallery Unveiled
Tim has built up a formidable library of web designs after the last rush for new websites began in January. As busy season slides into a slow season, he suggested that we take all of our unused designs and post them to a website. Then Rich could direct new website clients to the [now named] Style Gallery* and pick a look. Once they choose one, that particular look is immediately taken down and customized to the new client’s demands: add their logo, change the color scheme if requested, etc. We posted our designs and dropped the original files in a single folder, numbered instead of named, in an effort to follow the advice Keep It Simple, Stupid.
The new Style Gallery site would benefit both sides: clients get to choose from an array of looks to find one that suits their tastes, instead of the typical route, where we used to send them three designs to pick from. For the web team, it saves us time to have a specific drop folder where all the designs can be found instead of trying to track down the needle in a hay stack. Tim and I used to save our individual designs on the hard drives of our own computers. A shared drop folder means we no longer have to hunt down where that durned file that randomly disappeared.
Now all our new clients get the benefits of a painless process when they say “I want a website. I have no idea what it will look like, but I’ll know it when I see it.” It took Rich a wonderfully brief five minutes to explain to the customer where to go to find the Style Gallery and then explain that these are exclusive designs- not templates- that will disappear from the Gallery once it is chosen. The client found one a few moments later. Rich said ok, I will inform my developer and have them put that on the test site for you today. After Tim sliced up the PhotoShop file and built the layout for the web, Rich e-mailed them a few hours after the initial contact to inform them that the look was online, waiting for their approval. If they approved it, please send along your content and we will have it live in no time.
Wow. Even I was impressed. Not everyone is going to be so easy, I know. Not all problems and solutions for every client will be as painless, I know. But I have to admit, it was a great start to a new process.
*Note: If you want to see the designs Tim and I have built, you can check them out here. The sites marked as NEW! are ones we have built. The other sites are a mix: some of the designs we inherited from our predecessors, with a few of ours sprinkled in between.
The One Year Mark
I hit my one year anniversary last Friday. My raise was effective as of last Saturday. My yearly review was yesterday and hooray! my job title is officially being changed from Web Designer to Web Developer. No, it’s not a promotion, it’s just a more accurate description of my job duties.
My yearly review was a little odd- it felt like I was interviewing for my job all over again. On the flip side, I have now had a year to do my own critique, to look back and make sure this company is the right fit for me. With a good boss and fun co-workers, I find it easy to get along with everyone and play nicely. The projects I have been contributing to are challenging but very rewarding too.
The only real issue I have with work is not getting the tools I need to do my job properly, but I’m not the only one who has to make do with what we have. Read: “The Web Department needs autonomy over its own server.” and “The Web Department needs a server of its own.” and “The Web Department’s clients have differing needs and uses for a server apart from the IS Departments implementation of a server.” I could go on all day like this.
All-in-all, my review went well and I hope my suggestions will weigh towards the tipping point for change. There are a few pieces of red tape our department has not found a way to navigate around but all the signs of progress are there, our actions placed front and center, shiny and durable. I am learning to use patience when it comes to the big changes. The changes we want are inevitable in any case- you do not hire a bunch of movers and shakers unless you intend to stir things up. In the last year our team has had a tremendous impact on the Journal, and I am happy I could be a part of it.
On Measuring Up
For me, the hardest part about the web is not information overload, but the ability to compare yourself to peers worldwide. While I am only a year out of school, I’m 25 years old and people like Kevin Rose strike a chord in me. While I love the fact that he dresses like an average guy and appears down to earth in interviews and the TWiT podcast, (yeah, yeah, netcast I know!) his ideas are brilliant and make me wonder why I have not achieved a level of success like his. Is it a matter of missing the right opportunities? I’m certainly not lazy.
Sometimes I think he was in the right place at the right time (or was it the wrong place at the wrong time, only right in hindsight?) while other times I think it’s just narcissism encroaching on my thoughts, thanks to the advertising pitch that we are all special and somebody important, and therefore I think I need to be someone important too.
Yet, last week this feeling of Why Haven’t I Achieved Anything? hit uncomfortably closer to home after coming across a featured article written at Vitamin, “Web Design-isms: 7 Surefire Styles that Work,” by Larissa Meek. I took a closer look at the author’s portfolio and background. Whoa. Not only is she close to my age, she grew up not far from me. What is even harder to swallow is how much she has accomplished: a model, an actress, a painter, an entrepreneur, and a web designer? I barely found time to go to school and work full time too, let alone pursue Miss America.
Yet, I have come to realize that is why the Kevin Roses and Larissa Meeks of the world get so much attention: because they do extraordinary things. While I can always hope to achieve Leo Laporte notoriety, I can only excel and achieve at what I find important- and (despite the narcissistic message advertising would have you believe) it might not be something the rest of the world finds important or interesting. That’s okay, I guess. I can accept that I will just have to get over myself. I am not perfect (by miles and miles!) but neither are my peers, and they still shoot for the sky, unafraid.
Excuse the mess
In the process of upgrading WordPress I have muddled my database. The pages section is incomplete until I can find and relink them from the database again.
As for the current look, I may be playing with different themes for a little while. This one is called working girl 2.0 (hey! just like me! and look, she’s even a brunette), created by Joni Ang.
Update: Pages should be up and running again.
