1 Topic by HarpyMark (edited by HarpyMark 2024-09-27 16:04:20)

  • From: Cheltenham UK
  • Registered: 2024-09-08
  • Posts: 5

Topic: Fixed: Upload / publish directly from WebPlus (tested on X6 and X8)

Making WebPlus work the way it used to - one-button publishing!

One of the most useful functions of WebPlus is its ability to publish a site from within the software.

However, web hosts continually upgrade their security, and eventually WebPlus’s built-in upload feature becomes incompatible and stops working.

Because WebPlus is no longer being updated, a solution is to install an intermediary program between WebPlus and your webspace.

The intermediary software is called Bitvise. Essentially it acts as a bridge between your webspace and the WebPlus software by doing two things: it manages the secure connection from your webspace(s) to your computer and it creates a local service which feeds that connection to WebPlus. Because Bitvise is kept updated, WebPlus will stay working on your machine whatever might change with your web hosting.

http://www.danceofdelight.com/webplus/Overview%20-%20Using%20a%20bridge%20between%20webplus%20and%20your%20webspace%20500W.png

You will need to set it up for your web space but once that’s done you can pretty much forget it’s there and enjoy using WebPlus the way it always used to work!

Bonus: Bitwise also has an FTP browser built-in so you can use it to directly access your webspace, if you wish.

Give it a go and make your life a lot easier.
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Setting up Bitvise

1 - Download and install Bitvise SSH client from https://bitvise.com/ssh-client-download

2 - First, we’ll connect your web space to Bitvise.

Open the Bitvise software. On the Login tab enter your server details (address and password) for your webspace as shown below in the red rectangles. See the outlined red areas in the image for where to enter the information:

http://www.danceofdelight.com/webplus/2%20-%20Connecting%20the%20bridge%20software%20to%20your%20webspace%20500W.png

3 - Click Log in at the bottom and check it connects without error messages. If it doesn't work, check the details you’ve been provided by your host. If it is successful it should say “Authentication successful” and then the button changes to “Log out” which means Bitvise has successfully accessed your online webspace.

Important: Log out at this point but keep Bitvise open.

4 - Now we set up the local service, which is the part of Bitvise that WebPlus will connect to. Still in the Bitvise software, click on the Services tab and check the details highlighted are as shown. Make sure you've ticked the box "FTP-to-SFTP Bridge". DO NOT SET AN FTP PASSWORD - leave this blank.

http://www.danceofdelight.com/webplus/3%20-%20creating%20the%20local%20part%20of%20the%20bridge%20for%20connecting%20to%20WebPlus%20500W.png

5 - click Log in at the bottom and check it still connects. It should now have an additional message “Enabled FTP-to-SFTP bridge on 127.0.0.1:21”. Congratulations! You will not need to do any of this again! It should look like this:

http://www.danceofdelight.com/webplus/4%20-%20message%20if%20you%27ve%20got%20it%20right%20so%20far%20500W.png

Once it's working leave Bitvise logged in and running and head over to Webplus.
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Setting up WebPlus

This is the relatively easy bit. Open the WebPlus project which is associated with the web space you’ve just connected to in the Bitvise software.

6 - Open Webplus and in "Publish Options", create the following settings:

http://www.danceofdelight.com/webplus/5%20-%20setting%20up%20the%20WebPlus%20Publishing%20options%20500W.png

7 - With Bitvise still running, test the connection in WebPlus. It should work. This means that Bitvise is acting as an invisible bridge between WebPlus and your webspace. Bitvise handles the security and you can upload / publish / check your online site directly from within WebPlus.

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To use (single site):

Run Bitvise and click “log in”. Then launch your Serif WebPlus project and you should be able to use it just as it always used to work! Close Bitvise after you've finished your WebPlus session.

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Note if you are managing multiple sites, go on to the next post

HarpyMark's Website

2 Reply by HarpyMark (edited by HarpyMark 2024-09-27 22:30:28)

  • From: Cheltenham UK
  • Registered: 2024-09-08
  • Posts: 5

Re: Fixed: Upload / publish directly from WebPlus (tested on X6 and X8)

Multiple sites: you can set up Bitvise to open the correct webspace and its associated webplus project all in one click:

The connection settings in WebPlus stay the same for all your WebPlus projects / sites since WebPlus always connects to Bitvise. Bitvise manages the secure web access. So if you have more than one WebPlus project / website to manage, you will need to create individual sets of webspace login details (called profiles) in Bitvise which correspond to each of the WebPlus projects you have.

As WebPlus no longer manages the connection to your webspace, you need to ensure you have the correct WebPlus project open!

However, there is a way to get Bitvise to launch each of your web projects from a shortcut with one click and it will go to the correct web space and open WebPlus for you at the correct project. Once you’ve set this up you will be amazed how convenient it is!

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Setting up one-click access for your sites

For full details on setting up Bitvise see the first post. The following walks you though storing a group of sites.

1 - In Bitvise, assuming you have your first site set up (see previous post on how to do that) save the Bitvise profile with an appropriate name. It’s helpful to save the profile to a folder you can find easily as you’ll need it later.

http://www.danceofdelight.com/webplus/6%20-%20saving%20as%20a%20named%20profile%20that%20matches%20your%20website%20and%20WebPlus%20project%20500W.png

2 - Stay in Bitvise and enter the username and password for your next new directory / webspace (usually these are the only two details you need to change) and save the new Bitvise profile with an appropriate name. Repeat this for each webspace you need to access.

Now we have a set of Bitvise profiles, we need to create shortcuts for each profile and pair it with its corresponding WebPlus project.

3 - In windows explorer find your saved Bitvise profile files (they are *.tlp files, the folder you stored them in) and create a shortcut for each of those *.tlp files. Put the shortcuts somewhere useful (on your desktop).

4 - Open Bitvise via one of the shortcuts.

5 - In the options tab on Bitvise, click on "Execute local command" and navigate to the Serif program file (the .exe file) on your PC. Double-click on it and it will save the path to the WebPlus software. Leave Bitvise open at this tab. Open windows explorer and locate the .wpp file associated with that project, right-click the .wpp file and select "copy path".

Go back to Bitvise (options tab) and insert a space after the path to the WebPlus program, then paste your path to your .wpp document.

The complete path in “options” will look something like this: C:\Program Files\Serif\WebPlus\X8\Program\WebPlus.exe "D:\Slainte online\Slainte-rehearsal.wpp" - note the quotes around the path to the project.

Click save to save that Bitvise profile.

Check it works! When you click on that shortcut, it should open Bitvise, then log in (or press enter) and it will automatically open the webplus project you associated with it. Click on this text to see it in action.

Now repeat from step 4 for each of your sites / bitvise profiles.

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To use (multiple sites):

Now when you click on each shortcut and log in to Bitvise (just click "enter" when Bitvise opens), it will automatically connect to the correct webspace for that profile and in addition it will automatically start WebPlus and load the project you entered on the options tab - no danger of accidentally connecting a project to the wrong webspace!

While WebPlus doesn't create responsive sites, it's perfect for when we upload rehearsal tracks for example. No cookies so no need to put any tedious consent. It's so fast to load those pages - the internet like it used to be!

HarpyMark's Website