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Question about Web Site Links in EW
Question about Web Site Links in EW
In Expression Web (1 and 2), when I open a site via File...Open Site..., by default, I am presented with 'Web Sites', a list of links to web sites I've created in EW, which is a convenient feature. Unfortunately, after I have created numerous web sites, the list becomes, to say the least, voluminous, cumbersome, and therefore, somewhat useless, since it lists every web site I've ever created in Expression Web, most of which no longer exist. By the time I've located the target site through this list, it would have been considerably easier to just navigate from Documents in Windows Explorer to locate the site, or even to *gasp* type it in.
In the attempt to clean up the Web Site links to make them useful once again, I am only allowed to remove one link at a time. *ack!*. ctrl-a, or shift-click doesn't allow for multiple selections. I can't even find them in the registry if I wanted to cheat...
Does anyone know how I can do a bulk clean up these web links every so often, even to delete them all en mass.
Thanks!
Answers
- The site list for EW is stored here:
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\WebsiteCache
in a file named Websites.xml
With EW shut down you can safely delete the entire contents of:
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\WebsiteCache
but that will remove all of the sites from the list.
However they will be readded when you next open the site.
You can also edit "carefully" the Websites.xml file to remove individual listings using notepad or an xml editor
FrontPage MVP- Edited bySteve EastonMVPTuesday, July 01, 2008 4:17 PMtypo
- Proposed As Answer bySteve EastonMVPTuesday, July 01, 2008 4:17 PM
- Marked As Answer byGarryCT Tuesday, July 01, 2008 4:26 PM
All Replies
- I don't know if there's a way to delete outdated website pointers from the "Open Site" list other than the one-at-a-time right-click-remove method. (There are registry keys for the Recent Sites list, etc., but I haven't found where EW stores the list of sites for the Open Site list.)
But one thing to remember to do in future is to delete outdated sites from within EW itself. That will remove the website files and will also remove the web pointer from EW's list. (Open a site in EW that you want to delete. Right-click on the site's top directory in the File pane and select "Delete". ) - That's a great tip, Kathy! I hadn't considered that. I invariably delete sites from the file system rather than via expression. That will go a long way to make that list manageable and relevant.
I've looked in the registry as well and found seemingly every list BUT that! I do wonder where EW stores that.
Thanks! That was a great help! - The site list for EW is stored here:
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\WebsiteCache
in a file named Websites.xml
With EW shut down you can safely delete the entire contents of:
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\WebsiteCache
but that will remove all of the sites from the list.
However they will be readded when you next open the site.
You can also edit "carefully" the Websites.xml file to remove individual listings using notepad or an xml editor
FrontPage MVP- Edited bySteve EastonMVPTuesday, July 01, 2008 4:17 PMtypo
- Proposed As Answer bySteve EastonMVPTuesday, July 01, 2008 4:17 PM
- Marked As Answer byGarryCT Tuesday, July 01, 2008 4:26 PM
- Excellent!!!
On Vista it's %UserProfile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WebsiteCache
Thank you - Thanks for your reply, Steve....
One further question, perhaps related. I have had some problems opening a website in EW2 that I previously created in EW2.
The odd thing is that I am able to open it when I select it via File... Recent Sites. When I select it via File... Open Sites...
can type in the site name and it shows me the folder contents, but when I click on the Open button, I get a "Folder Name Not Valid" Error.
The caveat is that it is an http://localhost website. I have the new RTR front page server extensions installed.
Any help would be appreciated. - Go here: http://www.95isalive.com/fixes/fpclean.htm and download FP Cleaner ( with Expression Web and SharePoint Designer support )
Download links are at the bottom of the page.
Run the functions that clear:
The Hidden Temporary files.
The Hidden Cache (*.web) files.See if it helps.
FrontPage MVP - Thanks, Steve... I downloaded FP Cleaner and ran the two items to no avail.
I posted a more detailed description in this forum with regard to this issue:
http://forums.expression.microsoft.com/en-US/web/thread/16e7755b-a0d3-4e3b-90f6-b1e4dd9d251a/
Basically, I create an empty website in EW2 (Vista Home Premium), specifying http://localhost/test as the site name and it does this. I have FPSE (from Ready-to-Run SW), so it asks me for the administrator user/password and everything is created.
I see the site under the default web server tree in IIS7 as well as in MS SharePoint Administrator.
In EW2, I create a page in the site, default.htm, that says <h1>Hello, World!</h1>. I can preview it using F12 and in the browser address bar, I see http://localhost/test/default.htm
I can also launch a browser from the Window Start Menu and type in http://localhost/test/default.htm and the page is displayed, so I am reasonably comfortable that IIS7 is working and that the FPSE server extensions are working.
I am not an expert, by any means in IIS7 or SharePoint, btw. But everything seems to run OK, including running the page from another computer in the network.
After I close the site, an attempt to reopen it via File...Open Site shows me a list of web sites, including http://localhost/test. Whether I select it or type it in at the site name text box, I get a password request (I assume a 401 challenge) asking for a userid/password, which I supply and WE2 shows me the correct folders in the web site, as well as the correct url in the Site Name box. When I click on the Open button, I get an alert box, stating:
http://localhost/test
The Folder Name is not Valid
ok. The odd thing is that if I go to File... Recent Sites and select it from the MRU list, it comes up perfectly in EW2.
This afternoon, I tried something else....
I created shortcut on the desktop, with the target set to:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Expression\Web 2\WebDesigner\EXPRWD.EXE" http://localhost/test
This also launched EW2 with the specified web site loaded...
I also ran the above command line from the command prompt screen and that worked, too!
*** Breath ***
Does the method in which EW Open's Sites vs. Recent Sites work differently? Oh... Also, each time I successfully launched the web site, I was not prompted for authentication if that means anything, although I suspect it may have been cached somehow.
If you have any idea what sort of issue it could be and any possible remedies, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you so much!
