Configuring the Catalog for Updating via the Internet
Despite that the software does not require any special skills or knowledge, the update is facilitated on YOUR server, and misunderstanding the basics of its operation causes frequent inquiries to our technical support. Let us clarify this issue and explain it in a simple language. It is assumed that you can access your server via FTP (i.e. have a username, password and the server's address).
Here is how the thing works.
You upload your fresh data to your server via the FTP protocol, where you specify your user name and password, whish nobody, except you, should know. Under no circumstances your credentials will get into the user's distribution kit.
End user finalizes the update of his digital catalog via the HTTP protocol. This is a public area of the server, which does not require user authentication (unless you have intentionally restricted that data; for more information, please see the 'Restrictions' tab in the 'Update' window while the catalog is in the edit mode).
The majority of questions arise due to the misunderstanding of the folder on the server, where you upload your data, and the folder that is visible on the WEB or, in other words, from your browser.
If you connect to your server using FTP, you will see a list of files and folders like this one:
.mail
cgi-bin
logs
cpanel
htdocs
etc.
Or, something like this:
.mail
cgi-bin
logs
admin
public_html
backup
etc.
Well, all the folders have their very specific purpose, and far not all that you are seeing right now can be seen on the Web. Many folders carry out a technical function and are not parsed by the HTTP server in any way, so they can't be accessed from the 'outside'. For our purposes, we are to use just the folder where we keep our documents to be published on the Web or, in other words, the folder that stores your website - html or php pages, images, etc.
In the overwhelming majority of cases, that data is stored in the htdocs or public_html folder (depending on the particular server configuration; still the meaning is the same). This is the folder that we need! This is the folder where we will create a subfolder where we will store our updates.
Examples:
1. On your server ftp.domain.com, you have the file any.html in the folder /home/htdocs/.
It is visible on the Web as http://domain.com/any.html or http://www.domain.com/any.html
2. On your server ftp.domain.com, you have the file any.html in the folder /domain.com/home/public_html/new/.
It is visible on the Web as http://domain.com/new/any.html or http://www.domain.com/new/any.html
Hands-On Exercise
Open the 'Update' window.
Switch to the Server Settings tab.
In the 'FTP settings' section, enter your server's address, your user name and password.
In the 'Update folder' section, click on the 'Open FTP Client' button.
In the window that appears, select a folder, accessible from the Web (see above).
Click on the 'New Folder' button; e.g., catalog.
Open that folder.
Click on the large 'Copy Path to Field...' button.
Close the FTP client window.
Using the knowledge acquired above, enter the HTTP addresses for obtaining the updates
in the 'Root Folder' field; e.g. http://www.domain.com/catalog.