Getting Started

Requirements

This section covers basic configuration of Enfold Desktop for end users.  We assume two things:

1. The Plone Administrator has already installed the Server Component on the Plone server.
2. The end user (i.e., you) has already installed the Enfold Desktop .exe file on the PC.

Launching Enfold Desktop

First, let's explain something. Enfold Desktop doesn't really launch in the way other PC applications might. Instead, it's a extension of the functionality of Windows Explorer and appears simply as though you had another Explorer window  open. You don't really "start" the program. Instead, you go to a custom view inside Windows Explorer which lets you Enfold Desktop's features specific to Plone.

You start Enfold Desktop in much the same way you would any application. Start --> Enfold Desktop --> Enfold Desktop. That will open up Windows Explorer, with the right panel showing the root of Enfold Desktop (and the sessions you have configured).

In Windows XP and 32 bit Vista, , the Enfold Desktop icon appeared underneath My Computer like another hard drive.  But in 64 bit versions, the only way to start Enfold Desktop is through the Start menu.

When browsing through directories on your local PC, it's best not to switch too often between your local directories and Enfold Desktop too often in the same explorer window; that could impede performance.   Occasionally, if the Plone server is down or has spotty performance, that might cause the  Enfold Desktop window  to hang.  For this reason, you should  keep a separate Explorer window open to use for normal browsing and the other for Enfold Desktop. 

Using your favorite editor

When in File Explorer, Windows opens a file for editing or reading by examining its file extension. For example, if you double-click on a pdf file, the file association menu will determine which application will open (in most cases it will be Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat).

But what happens if you wish to edit a file ending in .html or .htm? What happens if you try to upload a file which doesn't have a file extension at all? Sometimes further steps will be involved (such as configuring the edit action associated with a file type). This is further complicated by the fact that Office 2007 sometimes sets itself as the default editing application for HTML documents.

With some items (such as Plone documents), double-clicking it will cause it to be viewed in the web browser. That is equivalent to the Open action and is not useful for editing.

Here are steps to make sure that HTML files (and by implication the Plone document type) open up inside the correct editing application. You may have to perform one or more of these steps in order to get your file associations to work correctly.

Testing your Settings

1. Find a file on your machine which ends in html.
2. Right click and choose the Edit menu option. (Do not choose the Open option).

The application which opens will be the default application for editing HTML. (It will also be the default application which opens up Plone documents in Enfold Desktop). If this application is what you want for editing, no further action is necessary. To change the default application, follow the steps below.

Note: in Enfold Desktop, clicking on a file twice is essentially calling up the application associated with the Edit action.

Step One: Always Use the Selected Program (XP + Vista)

1. Find a file on your machine which ends in html.
2. Right click and choose Open with, Choose Program. Browse for the editor you want and make sure you have checked the checkbox for Always Use the Selected Action to open this kind of file.
3. After you save, test your settings by right-clicking on the file and selecting Edit

If this method does not produce the desired result, try the next step.

Step Two: Modifying the Edit action for HTML Files  (XP only)

1. Open the Control Panel, Folder Options. Select the file Types tab.

2. Scroll down until you find the HTML file type. Select it.

3. In this tab, choose the Advanced button (under the Change button)

4. Select the Action called Edit by highlighting it. Now press the Edit button on the right side of the dialog. (In other words, you want to edit the Edit action for the HTML file type).

5. Select the Browse button and browse for the application you wish to associate with HTML files.

6. After you save, test your settings by right-clicking on an html and selecting Edit.

Setting up your connection 

The first thing to do after installing Enfold Desktop is to add a session.

A session is a connection to a Plone site. Once you successfully create a session, you will be able to view the website just as if it were a folder in Windows Explorer. More:

• It is not necessary to "connect" to a session; once a successful session has been established, it will persist until you delete it. If the connect status says "Disconnected," that may merely mean that you haven't actually tried to browse through the Plone site by double clicking on the session name.
• Deleting a session does not remove anything on the server. It merely cuts the continuous connection of Enfold Desktop with the Plone site.
• You can set up several sessions, but each session must use a different URL. For example, one session could go to www.mydomain.com and another could go to www.mydomain.com/accounting.
• Sometimes, if the network is down, the session will be unavailable, but the session will be available after this is fixed. (You may need to double-click on the session again to reestablish the connection).
• If you need to reinstall or upgrade Enfold Desktop, session information will be preserved.
• Creating multiple sessions are a convenient way to store logins and even serve as shortcuts for complicated paths

Requirements: To create a session, you must already have your username, password and URL of the Plone site you wish to connect to with Enfold Desktop.

Create a Session using the right-click menu (Method #1)

This is the preferred method for creating an Enfold Desktop session.

Go to: Start > Programs > Enfold Desktop. When you do this, Windows Explorer will open, and in the left panel, you will see the Enfold Desktop icon highlighted in gray. (You will also see a directory called Local and perhaps a directory called Demo underneath that).

Right-click this Enfold Desktop icon. Select the right-click option to Add Session.

At this point you will be prompted for additional information.

• Use Windows Security Integration. This is needed if your Plone site uses Single Sign On with Enfold Server ( Enfold Server implements this feature for  Windows enterprise environments).   Even if your Plone site doesn't have these features, you can still keep this checked. Enfold Desktop will try HTTP Basic Authentication if it fails. However if you know one or the other is being used exclusively on your site, then you can uncheck the appropriate option.

• For example when connecting to us.demo.enfoldsystems.com, you can uncheck "Use Integrated Windows security" because you will be using HTTP Basic Authentication. That is common for many websites.

• If you'd like to change your user name and password,  click on Credentials and enter a new user name and password.

• HTTP Basic Authentication. When you click the Credentials button, you will be prompted for your username and password. If your Plone site has turned on Windows Security Integration you will be logged on automatically through NTLM.

A few things to remember about the username and passwords:

• Username and passwords are both case sensitive.
• The username is your Plone (i.e., Enfold Server) username, not the Windows one unless you are using Windows Security.
• This password is stored on your Enfold Desktop computer's file system.

After you fill out the fields, the icon corresponding to your session will read "Disconnected". To activate the session, click twice on this icon. After you do this, you will be able to browse the Plone site as though it were simply a series of files and directories on the Plone site.

Clicking the View in Desktop Option (Method #2)

Another method to create a session is simply by clicking the View in Enfold Desktop link at the bottom of a web page. (This will appear on the bottom of each page, but in some cases, the System Administrators will hide it or remove it).

Clicking the View in Desktop option can create a new session if you haven't created one before, but it is more useful for reestablishing a session you previously used.

For most people who work with only a single Plone account, this will not be a problem, but if you are switching between different accounts on the same website, it's better to use the first method in order to avoid mix-ups.

What's Next:  How using Enfold Desktop to edit pages compares with using the Kupu visual editor.