Managing Subdirectories

Tripod's Filemanager lets you create subdirectories within your Tripod Member Directory. Macintosh or Windows '95 users can think of subdirectories as "folders," which are places to organize and store files. Subdirectories give you a lot more flexibility in grouping and organizing the files in your Tripod Member Directory.

Files in subdirectories can be viewed in the same way as files in your member directory. To figure out the name of a subdirectory file, you'd just insert the name of the subdirectory (bounded by "/"s on both sides) after your member name and before the file name.

For example, if your member name was TriMember:

http://members.tripod.com/~TriMember/images/mypicture.gif

opens the mypicture graphic in subdirectory /images/ in member directory ~TriMember. For simplicity's sake, Tripod allows only a single level of subdirectories; in other words, subdirectories can be created only within your Tripod Member Directory, not within other subdirectories.

Q: How can I create a subdirectory?

You may create a subdirectory using FTP, or using the Filemanager subdirectory utility, as described below. In the middle of the Filemanger page, you'll find a list of options. Here's what to do:

Select "File".
Choose the "new subdirectory" option.
A box will pop up asking you to enter in the name of your new subdirectory. Type in the name, then click "OK."

Remember that subdirectory names, like filenames, are CaSe sentitive.

Q: Can I make more than one subdirectory?

You can create as many subdirecties as you would like, and create subdirectories four levels deep within each subdirectory.

Q: How can I tell what sudirectories I have?

Subdirectories appear along with your files in the Filemanager. If you want to see only your directories, not your files, select "sort by type" from the SORT pull down menu. ??To see the contents of a subdirectory, you can select 'View' next to the subdirectory's name, or you can click on the name itself, and the contents will be displayed.??

Q: How I manange files in subdirectories?

The Filemanager's commands allow you to manipulate your files. This section lists all the commands and specific information about managing subdirectories and files with the Filemanager. Note: Most of the tasks described below can also be achieved by FTP.

Move

The move option lets you move a file from one directory to another directory. For example:

a. from your general Filemanager directory to a subdirectory
b. from one subdirectory to another
c. from a subdirectory to your home directory

Since it doesn't make sense to move a file into the same directory, the Move command will not let you rename the file. To rename a file, use the Rename command.

To move a file, click on the 'Move' tag next to the name of the file you wish to move. A screen appears on which you can select a destination directory. Select the destination directory from the pull-down menu of all available subdirectories, then click the 'Move' button. Remember that you cannot change a filename using the Move command.

You cannot use the Move command to move a whole directory, because you'd have no where to move it! Why? A subdirectory must reside within your Tripod Member Directory.

Rename

The Rename function lets you rename a file within its present directory. You cannot use the Rename command to rename a file and move it to another directory: use the Copy command instead.

To rename a file, click on the 'Rename' tag next to the file you wish to rename. You will then see a screen that shows the file you want to rename and lets you select a new filename. Enter the new filename in the space provided, then click the 'Rename' button. Remember that you cannot move to another directory using the Rename command.

If you rename a subdirectory, the Housekeeper automatically moves all files from the old subdirectory into the new subdirectory.

Copy

The Copy function lets you copy a file within the same directory or copy it into another directory. However, a QuickPage cannot be moved out of your Tripod Member Directory using the Copy command.

To copy your file, click on the 'Copy' next to the file you wish to copy. A screen will appear that shows the file you want to rename. It lets you select a destination directory and new filename. Here's what to do:

Select the destination directory from the pull down menu;
Enter a new filename in the space provided;
Press the 'Copy' button.

You cannot use the Copy command to copy a subdirectory.

Erase

The Erase function lets you delete files.

To erase a file, click on the box next to the file you wish to delete, and choose the "delete" option from the "EDIT" pull down menu. The Filemanager will ask for confirmation, then it will delete your file.

If you erase a subdirectory, you automatically erase all the files in that subdirectory.

Convert

Convert takes a QuickPage and converts it to an HTML page by removing the special information that QuickPage has inserted in the HTML file. Once you convert a page, you can no longer edit it with the QuickPage Builder.

Q: Can I move a QuickPage to another directory?

Pages built with the QuickPage Builder must remain in your main Tripod Member Directory to take advantage of the QuickPage formatting, therefore you cannot move them.

Q: How does a subdirectory affect my disk quota?

Subdirectories do not effect your quota, much. They take up, at most, 1.5K of space to create. The Housekeeper displays the total amount of disk space used by all the files in a subdirectory. It's the files within a directory that take up all the space.

Your Tripod Member Directory information is displayed at the bottom of the file table. This display contains information about the total number of files in all your directories, the total number of your directories, the total space you've used in all your directories combined, your Tripod disk quota, and the remaining amount of space you have free.

Q: Can I use FTP to create a new subdirectory or to navigate through my subdirectories?

Tripod now allows subdirectories to be created using FTP. Similarly, Tripod's FTP server now supports file upload to subdirectories.

Q: Can I create a subdirectory within a subdirectory?

Yes, Tripod allows four levels of subdirectories.

Q: I have a graphic in a subdirectory. How do I put it on my page?

Using subdirectories, things can get a little complicated when you tell your page where to find all the graphics files it needs. Here are three different cases you might have:

1. If your graphics file is in the same directory as the HTML file for your page, simply give the graphic filename as part of your IMG SRC tag.

For example, if your graphic is named "mygraphic.gif":

<IMG SRC="mygraphic.gif">

2. If your graphics file is in a subdirectory and your HTML file is in your main Tripod Member Directory, you'll need to include the name of the subdirectory in your IMG SRC tag.

For example, if your graphics file is named "mypicture.gif", and it is in your "images" subdirectory, specify the pathname:

<IMG SRC="images/mypicture.gif"&rt;

HINT: Notice that there is no "/" character before the name of the subdirectory. That's because if you put a "/" in front, the server will try to find a top-level member directory with that name, instead of one of your subdirectories.

3. If your HTML file is in a subdirectory and your graphics file is in another directory, you'll need to include the name of your main directory in addition to the location of the graphic.

For example, if your member name is TriMember, your graphic "mygraphic.gif" in located an "images" subdirectory, and the HTML file is located in another subdirectory, the image reference would be:

<IMG SRC="/~TriMember/images/mypicture.gif"&rt;

In general, it may be safer to always specify the whole path as in the above example so you don't have to worry about where the graphic is in relation to where the HTML file is located.

If you've used QuickPage to create your homepage, you can simply go into QuickPage and select the name of the image you want. QuickPage takes care of the details and makes sure the image shows up correctly on your page.

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