Opening Your Tiger Web Site for Direct Editing in SharePoint Designer
Using Your Network Path or a Mapped Drive

Overview

With Microsoft’s retirement of the FrontPage Server Extensions (FPSE), our recommended approach to opening student web sites on Tiger has changed. (If you haven't used FrontPage or the FrontPage Server Extensions to edit your Tiger web site in the past, then there may be no need for you to change your approach.) The FPSE allowed you to open your site by simply entering the site address (or URL) into the FrontPage Open Site dialog box. Without the FPSE, OTS recommends that you open your Tiger web site using its network path.

Where you used to enter
http://tiger.towson.edu/~NetID
you will now enter
\\tiger\NetID\WWW

Once you open your site, you may edit your pages and manage your files and folders just as you did before—in most respects, SharePoint Designer (SPD) is remarkably similar to FrontPage 2003. However, there is an additional consideration.

In order to open your site using its network path, you must be connected directly (securely) to the campus network. Using a computer on campus to which you have logged in with your Towson NetID—in a computer lab or campus office, for example—you can simply enter your path in SharePoint Designer’s Open Site dialog as described below.

However, if you are using a computer off campus or anywhere via wireless networking, you must first establish a secure connection with the campus. You can do this by running the free Cisco VPN Client available for download from OTS.

To download the free Cisco VPN Client:

1. Open http://vpnc.towson.edu

2. Log in with your Towson NetID.

3. Follow the instructions to install and run the Cisco VPN Client.
   

Opening Your Tiger Site in SharePoint Designer

 

Follow the steps below to open your Tiger web site for direct editing in SharePoint Designer. Click the Demo links wherever they appear on the right to view screen captures and video demonstrations.

1. Start your computer and log on (if applicable).

   1. If you are working in a campus lab or office and are directly connected (wired) to the campus network, log into Windows using your Towson NetID.

   2. If you are working off campus or via a wireless connection:

      1. Run the Cisco VPN client from your Windows Desktop or Start Menu.

      2. Log on using your Towson NetID to establish a secure connection. (Running the VPN Client )
         
         

2. Launch SharePoint Designer (SPD).

3. Select File> Open Site. . . to display an Open Site dialog.
   (Open Your Tiger Site in SPD)

4. Enter \\tiger\yourNetID\WWW in the Site name box and click the Open button;
   for example, Charles Dickens might enter \\tiger\cdicke1\WWW.
   
   Alternately, you might “map” your web folder as a drive
   (Map Your Tiger Web Folder), and select it by letter from the Open Site dialog
    (Open Your Mapped Tiger Site). This is a convenient approach if you tend to edit your site on the same computer regularly.
   
   

5. SharePoint Designer (SPD) will open your site, displaying your files and folders in both the Folder List pane and the main Web Site pane.

Remember, having followed these steps, you are working directly on Tiger, NOT on a local copy of your site. Think carefully before deleting files or folders, you may not be able to undelete. To make a duplicate or working copy of an important file and thus avoid the risk of damaging the sole copy or publishing incomplete information, follow these steps
 (Duplicate a File in SPD):

1. In the Folder List pane, click on the file you wish to modify.

2. Press Ctrl-C on your keyboard and, then, press Ctrl-V. SPD will make a copy of the file in the same folder, adding “_copy(1)” to the original file name.

When you have finished editing your site, select File> Exit from the Menu bar. If applicable, SharePoint Designer will prompt you to save your changes and then shut down.