About the PrismWeb File Structure

Owned by Dawn Brunke (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Jun 24, 2020
3 min read

All of the different elements of your website (header, navigation, footer, content, etc.) are separate files that are assembled together to form the page you are viewing in your web browser. 

For example, when you go to your website homepage in your browser, you are viewing a page called default.asp.  Default.asp is a file located in the root (top) level folder of your staging site.  When your browser loads default.asp, it also loads any other ASP files that default.asp calls for – the files that make up the different areas of your webpage: header, navigation, content, footer, and others.  Default.asp itself does not contain any actual content of the page; it pulls together these other files to build a complete page.

These other files are loaded by the ‘container’ file (default.asp, for example) using #INCLUDE statements in the code of default.asp.  If you look at the code for that page, you will see several statements that look like #INCLUDE FILE or #INCLUDE VIRTUAL – these are used to load the areas of the homepage.

#INCLUDE FILE statements reference a file that you can edit within your HTML editor.  #INCLUDE VIRTUAL statements reference a file that you cannot edit within your HTML editor (these are also called innerweb files). 

Folders and Their Meaning

There are several folders in your staging site.  The number of folders you see might vary depending on what template you are using on your PrismWeb site.

  • fonts:  if present, it contains files used for icons on the site

  • images:  contains non-product images

  • includes:  contains files for the header and footer, main navigation, and also CSS and JS files

  • outerweb:  contains files with content for most pages on the site including your slideshow

  • outerweb/product_images:  where you will find catalog images and product images

  • textbook_express:  contains files related to Textbook Express on the site

Outerweb Files

On pages that you can edit, the files that contain the information in the content area of the page are located in the Outerweb folder.  The Outerweb folder also contains content block/widget files, which are used on the homepage. 

Most of the pages on your website use a naming convention, so you can figure out which outerweb file to edit.  For example, if you want to edit the Customer Service page, the page you would be viewing in your browser would be site_customer_service.asp.  The outerweb file which contains the content of that page is named o_site_customer_service.asp and is located in the outerweb folder. 

Best Practices for Files and Folders

Through your HTML editor, you have access to most of the files making up your PrismWeb site.   There are some general best practices for working with files and folders on your site:

  • Don’t delete a file or folder unless it’s one you created, or you are certain it won’t cause a problem.

  • Don’t rename a file or folder, unless you are creating a new webpage or content block.  Hyperlinks to pages depend on files and folders with specific names, so this is important for being able to navigate your website.

  • If you’re not sure what a file does, don’t edit it before checking with support.

  • If you are making significant changes to a file, make a copy of the file first, to keep as a backup.

  • Try to keep things organized.  Use the folder structure provided to keep files you upload in their proper place.

  • When making changes in your HTML editor, always verify that the staging site is working correctly before deploying to your live website.

First Published 06/24/2020

Edited 06/24/2020

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