iWeb publishing errors continue

[Monday, January 28th]

Several months after we initially reported the problem, users continue to experience maddening issues with publishing sites using iWeb 2.0.x. Among the typical error messages:

• "An error occurred while publishing file '/Web/Sites/Sites.rss'. Try publishing again later."

If users are successful in publishing sites, the finished product often shows a variety of formatting errors. In the words of one user:

"Pictures are moved or resized, fonts are  changed or moved, and buttons / links have shifted to different lines, especially on menu pages."

Apple's less-than-helpful Knowledge Base article on the subject states simply: "If you see this message, try publishing again. If the timeout recurs, keep trying to publish."

Potential fixes

• Check movies and images Try removing certain images and movies from your site then publishing it again. Once you've isolated the problematic media, either remove it permanently, or try re-saving the image/movie. Apple has a note indicating that sites with WMV (Windows Media) files sometimes do not publish.
• Delete .plist Try deleting the file ~/Library/Preferences/ for com.apple.iWeb.plist, re-launching iWeb, then publishing again.
• Disable other internet activity This is a somewhat kludgy workaround: simply eliminate all other network connectivity. Quit your Web browser and any email clients, as well as any automatically synchronizing programs and anything else that routinely pings the network, then re-attempt publishing. This has proven successful for a number of readers, but not all.
• Remove problematic site folder from iDisk Mount your iDisk (select iDisk from the "Go" menu in the Finder) and navigate to Web/Sites/, then backup the site you are having problems with to your hard drive and delete the copy on your iDisk. Re-attempt publishing.
• Remove RSS folder contents On your iDisk, trying removing the contents of the RSS folder, then re-attempt publishing.

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

Previous coverage:

• iWeb 2.0.2 ('08) still has problems with iWeb 1.x ('06) sites
• iWeb 2.x: The beat goes on not going on
• iWeb 2.0.2 released: Fixes issues with upgrading iWeb 1.x websites

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