General FTP error

[DBoydNL]

Wow, that error message is SO very helpful.

I have a church website, where I make available the last 8 sermons... so I change it weekly. www.ebg-veghel.nl
This week I made a major error, and copied and pasted the section where the 8 sermons are listed.
After that I published the website using Xara G&PD 10 (since Webdesign 10 Online won't publish - again: WHAT, but oh well).
Suddenly it started uploading mp3 files (sermons) that are no longer associated with the WEB file. A total of 20 or so mp3 files were uploaded - past messages that once upon a time did appear on the WEB file and the Webpage, but have not for (in some cases): months.
Then finally it comes to this week's sermon. I have listened to the entire sermon mp3 and WMP does not detect an error.
After attempting the upload of this mp3 file about 5 times it stops the entire upload with the unhelpful error message: "General FTP error". No indication what the error is or what is going on, let alone how to fix it.
So I went to my backup, and retrieved last week's version of the WEB file. Opened in it WD10 updated it and then uploaded it. Same deal: many mp3 files were uploaded that are no longer listed in the WEB file anywhere (and it obviously never did this before this Sunday) and it refused to upload the final mp3 file again. It also stops the entire publish process, leaving several files (most annoyinly: the HTML files) out of the publishing process.

Result: my website is not longer present.

Somebody, PLEASE help?!

David

[handrawn]

ok - sorry about the bland message... but a computer is not human, it does not know what is actually happening and it is impossible to program in a message for every eventuality; at least it tells you that the error is a 'File Transfer Protocol' error - ie something went wrong with the uploading/downloading process [or possibly that was the last thing the program was doing when something else went wrong outside of it's remit]

that said I can't help on this one, sorry, but I am sure someone will be along shortly who can...

[gwpriester]

Hmm?

When you preview the site in Web Designer does everything work OK?

If so, publish the site to a folder on your desktop and open the index file in your browser and again, make sure everything is working OK.

If so, delete all the files on the server and upload all the files and folders from the folder on your desktop using an FTP app such as Filezilla.

[DBoydNL]

Good idea, and I will try that tomorrow. However, I used to do this all the time (for at least a year), using Core FTP LE to upload to the webspace, and then all of a sudden that completely destroyed the html files' ability to function. I asked repeatedly what changed around October 2015 that might have caused this. They never responded to THAT question. Magix looked into this problem, and was not able to solve it until I followed their advice to start publishing the website through P&GD 10. I am currently up to version 11 on P&GD, which does NOT include the ability to publish websites. So I create the WEB files in WebDesign 10, save it, then open it in P&GD10 to publish it. All other graphic and photo work I do in P&GD11. Dumb. Good thing I have a large HD. :-(

There is obviously more going on, what with a whole bunch of MP3 being uploaded that are no longer part of the webpage, AND which I actually move to a different location one by one each week (keeping only the 8 current mp3 files in that directory. I don't know why these "obsolete" MP3's are being uploaded, nor do I understand how the publish routine is finding them in order to upload them! As happened to me earlier (see below), everything worked fine until this Sunday afternoon.

As I was driving this afternoon, I did realize that I could export the WEB files as HTML to my HD and then look at them in another website editor that I still have installed, to see if there are somehow remnants of references in the HTML code to these additional MP3 files, which is causing them to upload? I can also go back to an older backup, and retrieve the WEB file from there that most certainly predates this problem.

David

[Acorn]

David, you need to break down all you've said into understandable chunks.

Have you now got Web Designer 10?
Are you using it to build and maintain your website design?
Do you Export locally to a folder?
Do you then use Core FTP LE to upload your local files to the server?
Are you in a position to see the files that are on the server?

I don't recognise what you mean by "Webdesign 10 Online".
If you means Web Designer 10 built-in upload capability then it sounds as if you have not set up the FTP connection to the right server location.

Neither Photo & Graphics Designer 10 nor 11 have the means to publish websites: http://www.xara.com/uk/designer-pro/compare/.
Why would Magix tell you to use 10 when you had 11? I may be wrong but there is no way v10 would have web capability and then it was removed in v11.

All you mp3 do have different filenames?
Not just sermon01.mp3, sermon_two_weeks_ago.mp3, or similar?

If you are getting old sermons, you have uploaded a file that has links to them.
You have not explained what you meant by your major error.

For future publish your site to a sub-folder on the server then delete everything from the normal place then republish the site.
Always publish to a holding location and check before publishing for real.
For important sites, I have used Live - Current - Old folders: purge Old, move contents of Current to Old, purge Current, upload new to Current, test Current, purge Live, upload new to Live, test Live.

I use Filezilla as CPanel can download the FTP settings needed removing all the guesswork.

Acorn

[DBoydNL]

Have you now got Web Designer 10?
I have Web Designer 10 Online World Edition.
Are you using it to build and maintain your website design?
Yes, I use WD10 OWE to build and maintain my website.
Do you Export locally to a folder?
No, I open the saved WEB file (from WD10 OWE) in P&GD10 and publish it from there (as mentioned).
Do you then use Core FTP LE to upload your local files to the server?
As mentioned, I used to use Core FTP LE to upload exported html files and all the other files to the server. But something changed in October '15 which apparently no longer allowed that. I asked Magix repeatedly what went awry, but get no answer, but was given a solution (which you don't seem to believe).
Are you in a position to see the files that are on the server?
I can still use Core FTP LE to see the files on the server and delete anything I want. Occasionally I upload a revised MP3 that way (since the html file doesn't need to be changed to reflect a change in the mp3 file with the same file name. No problem.
I don't recognise what you mean by "Webdesign 10 Online".
Webdesign 10 Online (formally: WD10 OWE - as described above) is the scaled down version (apparently) that is a free download with the hosting package I have with Magix. In the description there is no mention of it being scaled down, or at least no mention that this all important feature (being able to publish what you create) has been stripped.
If you means Web Designer 10 built-in upload capability then it sounds as if you have not set up the FTP connection to the right server location.
[/COLOR]One of the things WD10 OWE cannot do, is publish the website. This is not a setup problem, I get an error message stating that this edition of WD does not supporting publishing. So I asked Magix Support what to do, and they suggesting using P&GD11, since I had that program too. When I tried, it turned out that Website publishing was stripped from P&GD11, so when I asked again, they suggested re-installing P&GD10 and using its website publishing option.
Neither Photo & Graphics Designer 10 nor 11 have the means to publish websites: http://www.xara.com/uk/designer-pro/compare/.
Sorry, but despite whatever that website says, you are 50% wrong. P&GD11 doesn't have the publish website feature, version 10 does. I have been using P&GD10 to publish my website on a weekly basis since October 2015. Dude, I really do know what I am talking about.
Why would Magix tell you to use 10 when you had 11? I may be wrong but there is no way v10 would have web capability and then it was removed in v11.
As stated above: I really do know what I am talking about. The function is simply no longer there in P&GD11; not under File, nor anywhere else. Furthermore, I asked Magix about it and they confirmed it. Then support advised me to do it this way (in P&GD10), because the other programs I have don't support publishing websites. It doesn't do any good to tell Magix that it just isn't right to strip functions from their programs when they offer an upgrade. They don't care: "This was a marketing decision... blablabla."

None of the above, actually have anything to do with my problem. I am glad to have put that all in order for you, so it is easier to process, but it isn't actually irrelevant to my problem.
All you mp3 do have different filenames?
Each file name follows the following format (date_Title.extension), so for last Sunday: "160619_Fatherhood.mp3".
Not just sermon01.mp3, sermon_two_weeks_ago.mp3, or similar?

If you are getting old sermons, you have uploaded a file that has links to them.
Hmm. I wouldn't know what file that would be. I checked before I deleted them all, and all the html files are the ones that are supposed to be there (one for each page on the website - aptly named). I will be checking the Sermon webpage from a 3 week old backup presently, to make sure there is nothing in it, that is referring to old MP3 files. But none of this explains why this suddenly started happening last Sunday, nor why a backup from before last Sunday did the same thing.
You have not explained what you meant by your major error.
The nature of said error is not really relevant, but here goes: I totally messed up layout of the file, and the hyperlinks. Rather than UNDO (which didn't have enough UNDO's on record) I went back to last week's version of the WEB file (in my backup), copied the Sermons page, and then pasted that into the WEB file I had messed up. I did it that way, since I had made several changes to other pages, and did not want to totally go back to a backup and have to remember all the changes I made. I only mention it to indicate that I may have indeed done something bad with the copy and paste. The major error is irrelevant, since it was completely undone when I deleted the page with the major error in/on it and pasted the same page (without the major error) in its place. I have posted on forums for years, I do know what is relevant and what isn't.
For future publish your site to a sub-folder on the server then delete everything from the normal place then republish the site.
The problem is - wait for it - that I cannot republish the site, since the publishing gets stuck on last Sunday's mp3 file, retries it 5 times or so, and then I get the error message (General FTP error). The publishing procedure never gets around to publishing the html files, since the process is halted. Yes, I have removed the hyperlink to the mp3 file in the WEB file, saved it, opened it in P&GD10 and published it again. It still tries (and fails) to upload last Sunday's sermon, even though there is no reference to that MP3 file in the WEB file any more. Go figure! :-(
Always publish to a holding location and check before publishing for real.
Uhuh... yeah, that ain't really workable. If I publish to a holding location, none of the hyperlinks to other directories on the server will work right. So I really cannot check. Since nobody has come up with an obvious solution to my problem, I am guessing that as am right to think it is pretty bizar. I have published directly to the subdirectory on the server for years.
For important sites, I have used Live - Current - Old folders: purge Old, move contents of Current to Old, purge Current, upload new to Current, test Current, purge Live, upload new to Live, test Live.
I expect that if I publish to a "Current" directory, move my files from the proper directory to an OLD directory, and then move the contents of Current to where they are supposed to be to "go live" (using Core FTP LE) I will have the same problem I had for several months (late 2015) that none of those files worked properly. Again: I have no idea why my website suddenly wouldn't work anymore around October of last year, I have asked Magix Support several time, but got no answer, only the advice to start publishing from P&GD10 rather than exporting and uploading with Core FTP LE. What can I say?
I use Filezilla as CPanel can download the FTP settings needed removing all the guesswork.
Not sure what that sentence means, but it is kind of irrelevant, since it has nothing to do with my problem. Either exporting or uploading them with a program that is not Magix has given me months of fits. PLUS: it worked just fine up until last Sunday.

I did shadow the publishing the other day with Core FTP LE and when P&GD10 began uploading old mp3 files that are not needed, I deleted them as the uploading finished. I did this to make sure that the problem with trying to upload last Sunday's mp3 file, was not due to running out of space on the server. "Grasping at straws" is what that is called. Didn't help.
I will check exported html files to see if I can find what is going wrong in the html code. Not that I really understand HTML code (which is why I use WD!), but I can look for the "incorrect mp3's".
I will remake the mp3 file that is somehow getting stuck (even though it plays without a problem in WMP) and try uploading again.

Any other idea's?

David

[Acorn]

David, thank you for the clarifications.

Remove the offending mp3 and republish.
If all works then rework the mp3 and upload it separately in a second design file to a sub-folder.
Check it works.

Put all your mp3s into the second design file and set up external links from your main site.
If that works, keep the two apart from now on.

If you play smart, you can publish into the same folder with just the one sermon page and mp3s.
That way you rarely need to change the main site.

I am interested in what Magix has sold you. It just does not make sense that you have WD10 OWE and cannot publish from it.

Acorn

[DBoydNL]

Well, before I got notification of your message, I got to work on the things I was postponing until I had time.
I exported the WEB file to my HD and 15 mp3's were copied/exported. Last Sunday's mp3 among them.
I checked the html file for the sermons page in an editor with an HTML code window, and found nothing but the 8 mp3 files listed.
I grabbed a backup up version of the WEB file from May 29.
I edited it with no copying and pasting from newer files.
I switched to P&GD 10 and published, and only 5 mp3's exported/copied.
I eventually discovered that the feature to leave the Web properties window up and just click on the next hyperlinked button on the page to change or assign an mp3 file to it, does not work right. All the information is there, but when I export, the mp3 file is not actually copies/exported. Once I went through and hit OK for all 8 of the buttons, it worked with all and only 8 mp3's.
I fixed all other old matters in the WEB file and published it. It hung up at last Sunday's mp3.
I renamed that file to "Backup.mp3", copied another mp3 and renamed it to what last Sunday's mp3 was initially named.
I publisched and it worked.
I used Core FTP LE to delete the mp3 with last Sunday's file name, and renamed Backup.mp3 to what last Sunday's mp3 is supposed to be called. That worked. All is well now. The only thing I can figure is that there was something wrong with the file name. My backup program has not run since Sunday, so I cannot go back and check what might have been wrong with the file name. It wasn't anything obvious, because that is one of the first things I checked when the publishing stagnated and halted on that file.

Still no real reason for the publishing to go back and grab 8 or 9 additional files not mentioned anywhere in the WEB files. but it is not doing that anymore. I now have multiple backups of my WEB file, which I will eventually delete (since my backup program backs it up weekly).

I don't wish to "play smart", since (as you can see if you can decipher Dutch on www.ebg-veghel.nl) I list Title, Series number, Bible passage, and date for each sermon. This necessitates weekly editing, which I normally do in less than 10 min. Except for this week, when it took me many frustrating hours.
Not sure what you mean by "second design file" and the subfolder.
I used a web based server with Drag & Drop capabilities for this for a few months, but my monthly traffic exceeded the free allowance, so I gave up on that.

I have told you the exact name of the program Magix sold me. The webspace/hosting page describes it still. I get free upgrades of the program, but have to put up with its limitations. I am considering just buying Web Design outright when it goes on sale again.

Thanks for your help.

David

[pauland]

Any other idea's?

Don't use electric blue for text. Don't use 1,000 words when 50 will do.

I hope Acorn can make sense of it for you.

[Acorn]

David, all I was trying to suggest is by separating changing content from more static content into two separate design files, you save on long uploading times and can preserve some of your published site from being trashed if another part takes a dip.

Split your site into two or more parts in separate design files.
Then you only have to republish the bits that change.

Acorn