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When you have multiple publishing destinations configured, you can easily switch servers by clicking the drop-down menu beside the Publish button and selecting a different destination.
By default, RapidWeaver gives each destination a generic name, but to make it easier to identify them. You can change the name by going to the Publishing item in the Page List. Then, click on the name at the top of each destination and start typing.
The name of the currently-selected destination will show under the toolbar’s Publish item.
RapidWeaver allows you to add a folder on your Mac as a publishing destination, just as you would add an FTP server - and with RapidWeaver supporting multiple publishing destinations, you can use Smart Publishing to export changes incredibly quickly to any destination. To add a new local folder destination, go to the Publishing item in the Page List, and choose Add New Destination. In the Publishing Method pop-up menu, choose Local Folder. To select the folder RapidWeaver should publish to, click on Choose Folder…, and navigate to your preferred folder. When you’re in the right location, click Choose to set the location and close the folder selection panel.
Advanced way to diagnose publishing issues.
When all else fails and it's time to have our team take a look we recommend enabling upload logging inside of RapidWeaver for us to completely diagnose any publishing problems.
This option can be found in the RapidWeaver Preferences window (command-,). Preferences > Publishing > Enable Upload Logging
Once enabled RapidWeaver will log the output of its FTP engine. You can access the logs on a failed publish by pressing the “Send Upload Logs” button in the publishing window. You can look at this log to see if you can locate what the error might be. If you're still unsure, pressing the “Send Upload Logs” button will copy the logs file into a new email ready to be sent to support@realmacsoftware.com
How to get Your Website Online
Publishing Issues and how to fix them
Can't get your website online or updated. Don't worry. 99% of the time the issue is due to incorrect setup of publishing details. This is due to the fact that everything needs to be entered 100% correctly otherwise publishing fails. After watching this video, please follow our written guide below and you'll be back up and publishing in no time.
By far the most common cause of publishing issues is that the credentials entered are not accurate. It’s incredibly important that you double-check the details you’ve entered. To view your configured publishing details, choose: File > Publishing Settings (Command-K) or choose the Publishing item under Settings in the sidebar. Check that all the fields are entered correctly: Server Address, Username, Password, Path, etc. Entering an incorrect Path is the most common cause of publishing problems in RapidWeaver. Some common site paths may include:
/
httpdocs/
www/
public_html/
You can always use the “Browse” button inside the publishing settings to pick the correct path on your server.
The list above is by no means an exhaustive list as paths vary greatly between different hosts, so if you’re still experiencing issues, please consult your web host’s online help to determine the Path required to upload to the correct folder. Sometimes, the Path may be known as the “Upload Folder”. You may also want to contact your web host directly and ensure that they have not made any recent changes to the server which may affect your settings and that you’ve not run out of webspace. Done that and still no luck? try this next:
RapidWeaver has a number of options to configure publishing - particularly if you’re using FTPS uploading. Please check what your server is expecting, some hosting providers require specific settings. Due to the nature of how FTP works, RapidWeaver cannot reliably detect the correct settings that you should use. If in doubt email your hosting company. If you think it's all set up correctly, try this next:
If your host limits the number of connections that can be made to your server, you can set RapidWeaver to use a smaller number of connections when publishing. If in doubt set this to 1. To do this, open RapidWeaver’s Preferences window, and adjust the slider for the Maximum Concurrent Uploads to 1 before attempting to publish your project once again. If that didn't help, it's time to try something completely different:
If you're having issues publishing via FTP, we recommend publishing via SFTP as this is often more reliable (and secure).
Contact your hosting company to check your SFTP details as they can often be slightly different to your FTP details.
If you have no luck publishing inside RapidWeaver, we recommend entering your details into a third-party client to verify they work and are correct. Transmit and Cyberduck are both great FTP clients and can be downloaded freely for this test. If you're still having issues logging into your server with a third-party client it means your login credentials are incorrect. Please contact your hosting company to verify your details. If you successfully log in to your server with a third-party client, you can then export your site to a local folder with RapidWeaver, and then upload it directly using an FTP client as a temporary workaround. Now that's working, let's jump back over to RapidWeaver to try and resolve the upload issue:
If you have verified your publishing credentials are correct in another FTP app and it's still not working inside RapidWeaver please delete your publishing destination, and re-add a new publishing destination. By doing this you ensure all the details are new and verified. If you're super technical and can log into your hosting cPanel, you could try setting up a new FTP accountant see if that works. If this means nothing to you, you can safely ignore this and move on to the next troubleshooting step.
This issue is surprisingly common, especially if you're publishing multiple websites to the same server. By default, RapidWeaver will backup your project file to the server, and this can easily build up over time and you can run out of server disk space. If you've run out of server disk space RapidWeaver will give the following error: “Couldn't upload to your FTP server” and if you click on the “i” to get more info it may say “Transferred a partial file” or “Operation was aborted by an application callback”. If you're seeing these errors, check how much space you're using on your server, and check how much you've allocated by logging into your hosting provider. You can safely delete some of the older RW backup files to make room for new uploads. If in doubt you can always email your hosting provider and ask how much space you're using and how much you have available. Once you have enough space, you should be able to resume updates to your website.
Use the File menu’s Re-Publish All Files option to re-upload your site. It may be that some files are missing and were not uploaded. You may also want to remove the history and browsing data in your web browser. Sometimes web browsers can display older cached data.
In Safari, this is found on the History menu > Clear History…, in Google Chrome it’s found on the Chrome menu > Clear Browsing Data….
Some hosts may require you to use a path that begins with a forward slash (which has a special meaning to a web server). Unless you explicitly state that your path should start with a forward slash, you should not attempt to use a path with a forward slash - otherwise, you may well run into publishing difficulties.
Sometimes users create an index.html and index.php file with the latter being the most recent. Browsers will ALWAYS use the index.html file as primary. If you want the index.php file to be seen, you can either rename or remove that index.html file in that directory.
RapidWeaver can also be configured to produce a more in-depth report about publishing that the Realmac Software support team can use to identify potential problems. First of all open RapidWeaver’s preferences (Cmd,) and select the Publishing preferences pane. Make sure that the Enable Upload Logging option is checked.
Quit RapidWeaver.
Re-open your project in RapidWeaver.
Attempt to republish your RapidWeaver project by choosing File>Re-Publish All Files.
If the publishing feature returns an error, hit the “Send Upload Logs” button.
It will then attempt to generate an email with the publishing logs, enter some details about your issue, and hit send!
Exporting If you’re seeing an error message when exporting your site, this may mean that there’s a problem with either an addon or a resource in your project. If an error message appears consistently when exporting a particular page, take a look at the page - are there any resources missing, or a particular addon that may be causing a problem?
When contacting Realmac Software, please include as much detail as possible. Please also use the Help menu’s Copy Support Logs. Please be sure to include the following details in your message:
Who are you hosting your website with?
Which version of RapidWeaver are you using? What version of macOS is running on your Mac?
How large is your RapidWeaver project file?
Which, if any, third-party addons are you using with your project? Please include any third-party themes.
Are you seeing an error message when publishing? Please include the full text of the error or, ideally, a screenshot.
We aim to reply to all messages within 2 business days. We know it's frustrating not being able to publish, but do remember we're only human and we do our best to help in what can be a very complex issue.
How to Publish with RapidWeaver to Chillidog Hosting
This guide will walk you through publishing your website with RapidWeaver via FTP or SFTP to your account.
Every aspect of is built to ensure absolute compatibility with RapidWeaver, and all the friendly support staff at are all familiar with RapidWeaver.
offers two different ways you can upload your site to your server. Here are the settings for FTP.
Publishing Method: FTP
Server: ftp.yourwebsite.url
Connections: 6 (Lightning Fast!)
Username: your cpanel username (provided in your New Account email from Chillidog)
Your cpanel username will never be an email address.
Password: your cpanel password (provided in your New Account email from Chillidog)
Path: public_html/ if you only have one site on the server. If you have created via your cpanel at Chillidog, then you can use the Browse button and look for the appropriate folder.
Mode: Extended Passive
If you wish, you can also Publish to your Chillidog server via SFTP. Here are the settings:
Publishing Method: SFTP
Server: ftp.yourwebsite.url:23261
Connections: 6 (Lightning Fast!)
Username: your cpanel username (provided in your New Account email from Chillidog)
Your cpanel username will never be an email address.
Password: your cpanel password (provided in your New Account email from Chillidog)
To have a custom 404 page, you'll need to create a page at the root of your project and name it "404.shtml" - notice the "s" in ".shtml".
This is very important as if you name the page "404.html" the page will be ignored by the server.
Path: public_html/ if you only have one site on the server. If you have created via your cpanel at Chillidog, then you can use the Browse button and look for the appropriate folder.
Upload errors and how to solve them
When publishing fails you might see one of the following issues, here's what they mean and how to fix them.
This error is exactly what it sounds like. Your web server has run out of space. You can either contact your hosting company to upgrade your plan and increase the server space. Or delete some files from your server using an FTP client such as Transmit from Panic.
This can sometimes mean the login credentials are correct, but the Path you specified is not right. Re-enter the Path into the Publishing setup and press “Browse” to confirm the location. Once this has been done, RapidWeaver will show a Change Publishing Path? dialogue. Press the Change and Re-Publish button, this should resolve the issue.
If RapidWeaver consistently displays this message when publishing, try disabling Extended Passive Mode – which is enabled by default in the FTP Publishing Setup. To do this, show the Publishing Setup window (Command-K), select the settings button next to the FTPProtocol field, then choose another publishing Mode option until you find one that works for you.
When you’re ready to publish your RapidWeaver website, you'll want to select the Publishing view in the sidebar. You can configure RapidWeaver to publish your website to more than one location - for example, a preview server and a live server.
RapidWeaver can publish to the following locations and services:
Local (to your Mac)
FTP
SFTP / FTPS
Amazon S3
Publishing your site is an exciting moment: you’ll be able to enter a website address into Safari and see the fruits of your work.
Depending on who your hosting provider is, you may need to tweak a few options in RapidWeaver before you publish your website. This is entirely normal and is simply due to web hosts having different requirements when publishing your site.
Most importantly, you’ll need to remember that the details you enter into RapidWeaver are supplied by your hosting provider, not RapidWeaver or Realmac Software. Many hosting providers will require you to use publishing details that differ from any details you may use to access their control panel in a web browser. While this may be frustrating, it’s designed to keep your private information safe. If you are at all unsure about what to enter into RapidWeaver, drop your hosting provider an email, and they’ll be able to advise you.
RapidWeaver publishes websites using a technology called FTP, which nearly every hosting provider supports. Three different flavours of FTP can be used: FTP, FTPS and SFTP (sometimes known as FTP over SSH). Some hosts may require a specific variant of FTP, and most support more than one. One thing you should note is that FTPS is the rarest of the variants, so if you’re asked to enable it we recommend clarifying that with your host!
There are substantial differences between SFTP and FTPS publishing, and despite the similarities in name, they’re very different upload methods.
RapidWeaver works with almost any host (and if you’ve already sorted some web hosting, you can skip ahead now!). If you’re still deciding on a hosting provider, and are looking for a company with roots in the RapidWeaver community, Chillidog is the official hosting partner of Realmac Software. Every aspect of Chillidog’s hosting is built to ensure absolute compatibility with RapidWeaver, and all the friendly support staff at Chillidog are all familiar with RapidWeaver.
If it's a brand new site you're publishing for the first time, when you press the Publish button, you'll see this dialogue box.
With the information you've received from your hosting company, fill out that information and click Next. If all goes successfully, you'll be asked next to choose the directory on your server for your site. Once again, this is information you'll get from your hosting company.
Sometimes, the automatic method doesn't work and then you'll need to choose the Other Methods button and choose Configure Manually.
Here's how the manual publishing window looks in RapidWeaver (see below). Enter the details your hosting provider gave you, and press the “Test” button to check the connection works. If everything worked, you can then press “Publish” in the toolbar to get your website online.
We've tailored this specifically to Chillidog Hosting as they are our preferred hosting partner, but the details will be similar for all hosts.
You can find out more about publishing settings for Chillidog at the Chillidog Hosting Knowledge Base.
This is the address for the online server that hosts your site and is required to publish your site. In many cases, it looks like a regular web address (e.g. ftp.mysite.com), or is exactly the same as your domain name. Some hosts require that you use a particular port number to connect. To specify a custom port number, add a colon and the port number to the end of the server address you enter, e.g. ftp.mysite.com:404
Your username is part of the identity used to authenticate with your web host. Make sure the username is exactly as your host supplied it - check zeros are not Os, and that the case of every letter matches.
RapidWeaver does not support anonymous FTP login.
When entering your password, make sure the password is exactly as supplied by your web host. Check the number of characters in the password field match the password given to you by your host, and when copying and pasting be careful not to copy any extra whitespace or characters. You can use the “Reveal Password” option to show the password - when you reveal a password, the password will be selected to easily show any extra whitespace at the beginning or end of your password. Passwords that you enter into RapidWeaver are stored securely in the OS X Keychain - RapidWeaver never stores passwords in your RapidWeaver project. Instead, RapidWeaver stores a reference to the Keychain in your project and requests the password from your Keychain when publishing a site.
When publishing your website, RapidWeaver needs to know which folder to place your website into on your host’s server. The “path” is used to describe the location of this folder to an FTP app. The most common publishing issue is an incorrect publishing path - this is because the path varies greatly from host to host (or sometimes even between different hosting packages with the same company!). If you don’t know what your publishing path is, contact your hosting provider. Note: In some cases, you may not require a path at all - in this case, you can just leave the Path blank. A blank path tells RapidWeaver to publish your site to the folder your server provides when the app logs in.
We strongly recommend that you use the Test Connection feature to check your credentials are correct before publishing your site.
To publish your RapidWeaver website to your web server account using FTPS follow these instructions:
Open RapidWeaver on your Mac.
Open your project.
Select File > Publishing Settings.
Enter the following settings:
Publishing Method: FTPS
Server: Supplied by your hosting company
Username: Supplied by your hosting company
Password: Supplied by your hosting company
Path: public_html/ (your path may vary, but that is a common one)
Website Address: https://www.example.com/ (Replace example.com with your actual domain)
Mode: Extended Passive (Default)
Click the Test button to ensure there are no error messages.
RapidWeaver supports a wide variety of publishing configurations, including Active Mode FTP, three different methods of FTPS authentication, and FTPwith SSH Key Authentication. If your host requires this, or you’ve chosen to use SSH Key authentication, read on!
We highly recommend SFTP for publishing as it's a more robust and secure protocol. It's often set up in the same way as FTP, but you might need to add a port number to the end of the server address.
You may need to contact your hosting company for the exact details.
While password-based FTP is still the most common way to upload to a web host, RapidWeaver also supports authentication using SSH keys. SSH keys are a great way to allow multiple users to access your web hosting over an encrypted connection, without needing to share a password. Each user generates a pair of cryptographic keys on their Mac - one private, one public. The public key (which is uploaded to your web server) can then be used to verify that a private key is permitted to access the server. Check with your web host to see if they support SSH key authentication - the instructions for getting an SSH public key onto your server will vary between hosts. You can learn more about generating SSH keys using GitHub’s guide.
We’ll assume that you’ve already generated a private/public key pair and that your server is configured with your public key. Start by selecting SFTP as your publishing method: enter the server, username and path details, and then check the Use Public Key Authentication option.
You’ll now need to enter a few further details: the locations of your private and public keys, and the passphrase for your private key (if there is one).
With your keys selected, run a test with your credentials to ensure they’re valid.
SFTP (FTP over SSH) is not to be confused with FTPS (FTP with TLS), these are very different.
Due to the varied, and sometimes complicated, nature of SSH authentication, we can only offer limited technical support when using an SSH-based setup. We only recommend using SSH Key Authentication if you’re familiar with key-based authentication, and are aware of how SSH keys are stored on your Mac.
RapidWeaver can publish directly to Amazon S3. Keep in mind that Amazon does not support PHP, so make sure all your pages are just html. Your page file names should end with .html. To Publish to Amazon S3 you will need an AWS account, and the relevant details. Server, Access Key ID, Secret Access Key. To generate the required Access Key and Secret Access Key, login to your Amazon S3 account. Click on your name in the toolbar at the top of the page. Select My Security Credentials from the menu. Next, click on the Access Keys (Access Key ID and Secret Access Key) toggle. You will then get presented with a blue button to Create New Access Key. Click this button and follow the onscreen instructions. If you will be the only person who ever needs to login at a root level to change files, they you can create a key for yourself. If you intend for other people to have access for file uploads, you may wish to consider setting up something called an 'IAM User'. Amazon provides full documentation on their website, if this is required. Now you have a key and secret key, you can paste these into RapidWeaver, and press the Browse button to locate the folder where you want to publish your website too. For more information on Hosting a static website on Amazon S3 you can watch this video.
