Apache Server for Windows Little Black Book:Organizing Your Web Site
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Chapter 3Organizing Your Web Site


If you need an immediate solution to:
Locating Your Web Server
Creating Custom Error Messages
Using ErrorDocument With Virtual Hosts
Mapping To The Local File System With Alias
Using Alias With Virtual Hosts
Configuring Directory Options
Creating Personal Web Directories
Setting The Default Type For A Directory
Locating CGIs
Enabling Directory Indexing
Using pcANYWHERE For Remote Management
Blocking Access To .htaccess Documents
Using ApacheWrapper

In Brief
Organizing An Apache-Served Web Site
Organizing a Web site is a relatively easy matter, that is, as long as the site resides on someone else’s server. For the most part, it’s a matter of accessing your directory on the server, possibly creating more directories, posting your Web files, and then checking your links to make sure everything works the way you want.

Additionally, if you are allowed to run common gateway interface (CGI) scripts, you follow your Internet Service Provider’s instructions for placing files in the correct location and making sure Perl is present (if your CGIs use Perl). You then connect to the server with Telnet or another utility to test out the scripts. On the other hand, your provider may not let you run CGI scripts and may impose restrictions on running features like server-side includes.
When the Web server is yours and you use Apache, such problems are resolved. But with control comes responsibility. It’s your job to make sure your server is well organized so that you and your clients can find files, run CGI scripts, and so on.
This chapter focuses on organizing your Apache-served Web site. The emphasis is on structuring directories and using various file and directory options so that Apache runs well and your site presents a professional face to the outside world. You’ll learn where to place important directories and files, how to create aliases to directories, and where to put CGIs. You’ll also find some other tips on how to administer your Web site with Apache.
What You Need To Organize
One aspect of Web sites that makes their level of organization important is the variety of files they contain. It’s not unusual for a large Web site to contain files such as the ones listed in Table 3.1. Keep in mind that each file also has to be mapped to one or more file-name extensions, which are also presented in the table.

Table 3.1 Typical file types to be served by Apache.

Type Of File
Description
Extension(s)

HTML
Web page
.htm, .html

Plain text
ASCII text document
.txt

GIF image
Web-page image file
.gif

JPEG image
Web-page image file
.jpg, .jpeg

AU audio file
Sun Microsystems audio file
.au

CGI
A program to be executed by the server
.pl, .cgi, .exe

Executable file
A program to be downloaded and executed by the client
.exe

On a more global level, a server running Apache needs to organize that range of files for the following:


•  Your own primary Web site.
•  Any virtual sites you host. Virtual sites are separate Web sites, each with its own IP address, that are held on a single server.
•  CGI scripts that you want Apache to process in response to certain requests.
•  Directories for individual users that might contain Web pages and other documents.

In addition, Apache lets you set up different options for individual directories. You can turn indexing on in one directory and disable it in another, for instance. To start organizing these files, sites, and directories, you must understand the Apache document tree.




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