WebDAV and You

This article is particularly germane to those who have personal Web pages here at UNT. Please see "A New Method for Publishing and Editing Personal Web Pages" in this issue for more information. -- Ed.

By Charity Beck, UNT Central Web Support

WebDAV is a network protocol that allows Web developers to manage files on remote Web servers. So what does this mean to you? It means that you can publish your Web, using Web Folders or My Network Places (for Windows users) and a WebDAV client called Goliath (for Mac users). A couple of the benefits of using this method to publish your Web are:

• It's more secure than FTP
• It's as easy to use as a folder on your desktop

You might be wondering how you can get started in the wonderful world of WebDAV. It's easy! If you currently have a Web site, here's how...

WINDOWS 2000 Users

1. Double click on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop;
2. There should be a "My Network Places" link on the left, click on it;
3. You should see an icon that says "Add Network Place";
4. A window opens. At the "Type the location of the Network Place" prompt type in your URL, for example http://www.unt.edu/
5. Click on "Next";
6. It should prompt you for your username/password;
7. At the "Enter Name for the Network Place" prompt you may enter an alias for your Web folder;
8. Click on "Finish";
9. You'll be prompted one more time for your username/password;
10. You may now click and drag the files that are ready to be published to the Web into this folder.

The next time you are ready to publish you won't have to create a new Network place. You will:

1. Double click on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop;
2. There should be a "My Network Places" link on the left, click on it;
3. At this point you should see the one you created before;
4. Double click on it, and your ready to move your files!

WINDOWS 98 Users

1. Double click on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop;
2. Double click on "Web Folders";
3. Double click on "Add Web Folder";
4. A window opens. At the "Type the location to Add" prompt type in your URL, for example http://www.unt.edu/
5. Click on "Next";
6. It should prompt you for your username/password;
7. At the "Enter Name for the Web Folder" prompt, you may enter an alias for your Web folder;
8. Click on "Finish";
9. You should see your organizations Web folder.
10. You may now click and drag the files that are ready to be published to the Web into this folder.

The next time you are ready to publish you won't have to create a new Web Folder. You will:

1. Double click on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop;
2. Double click on "Web Folders";
3. At this point you should see your folder;
4. Double click on it, and your ready to move your files!

Macintosh Users

To Download:

1. Go to http://www.Webdav.org/goliath/#download.

To Install:

1. Double click on the "Goliath 0.7" Installer;
2. A dialog box opens giving information about the product. Click any where on the box to continue;
3. You will be prompted through the installation process.

To Use:

1. Open Goliath by double clicking on it icon;
2. A dialog box opens. Here you will type the URL of the Website you wish to edit;
3. Check the box next to "Use basic authentication";
4. Enter your username, and password;
5. Click OK!

Once you have opened you Web site, you will notice that a new folder has opened on your desktop. It may look like just another folder, but you are actually connected to the remote server. You may now transfer your files by selecting them and dragging them from your local folder to the remote folder. You may also remove files on the remote server by selecting them and dragging them to the Recycle Bin on your desktop.

You may find more information on the WebDAV protocol at http://Webdav.org. If you have question about obtaining a Web site on the UNT server, you may contact me at cbeck@unt.edu.