ADOBE CONTRIBUTE CS3
User Guide
4
Common website configurations
Before you deploy Contribute, consider various scenarios for setting up Contribute for large or multi-team organi-
zations.
This section describes three primary configurations for you to consider as you set up a Contribute site.
Single website on one webserver
Typically, this is a website where users have read access to the root of the site
and read/write access to specific folders in the site as controlled by the file server or network permissions. There is
a single root folder and all users access the site by using the same Contribute connection. If this applies to your site,
see “Deploying Contribute for a single website with one web server” on page 4.
Multiple websites on one webserver
This structure has a single root folder. The root folder contains folders for
each section or organizational function in the website. Contribute roles are used to control user access to particular
folders on the site and to assign a subset of the common templates used on the site. Although not required, file server
permissions are usually used in addition to Contribute roles to restrict user access to sections of a site. If this applies
to your site, see “Deploying Contribute for multiple websites on one web server” on page 5.
Website on a staging server and a live server
Many websites use a staging web server with their production web
server. Staging servers let you create and test web content without making it live on your public-facing website. Only
when content has been approved are web pages and their associated files copied from the staging to the production
web server. When used with Contribute, a staging server adds an extra measure of security because you can
configure your staging server so that Contribute specific files (such as administrative folders, rollback files, and
interim drafts) are not copied to the publicly accessible website outside your network firewall. For more infor-
mation, see “Deploying Contribute to a staging server and a live server” on page 6.
Depending on how your website is structured, use separate strategies to successfully set up Contribute for multiple
users and groups. Specifically, consider where to store the Contribute shared settings file, how to prevent
overlapping connection paths, and how you’ll send connections to users.
Deploying Contribute for a single website with one web server
In this example, Contribute is deployed to a simple intranet consisting of a single web server hosting a departmental
website. The website has a single, common root folder with subfolders for individual departments. The site uses
Dreamweaver templates and CSS styles to enforce the look and feel of the website and SSIs to maintain page
elements such as navigation menus, headers, and footers.
The key to this arrangement is that all users have the same Contribute site connection. In other words, a single
connection point for all users controls the behavior of Contribute when editing the website. To restrict users to
editing content in their workgroup’s folder, you would need to create a role that limits access to a specific folder.
An advantage to this type of Contribute deployment is that users in all departments can collaborate by sending pages
for review to one another. If separate connections had been created for each department (as in the example
“Deploying Contribute for multiple websites on one web server” on page 5), then only the users with access to that
folder could receive and edit drafts sent to them for review.
