Here are 5 top tips for successfully implementing Instant Web Publishing (IWP) using FileMaker. This is part II of a two-part series. Part I introduced IWP as an alternative to the traditional client-server deployment (FileMaker Server to FileMaker Pro). We noted that it is very easy to get started with IWP, and also very easy to get hung up on its limitations. But you can use IWP successfully if you learn to work within its constraints.

For situations where web deployment is well suited, Instant Web Publishing is often touted as the “plug-and-go” option of publishing. While IWP is indeed easy, the full truth is that your layouts and scripts will need some considerable tweaking to achieve the polish and ease of use you might be looking for. Be sure you’re aware of the following considerations and tips before committing to an IWP deployment.

Mapping hostname to wiki in OSXS.

In beezwax’s webdev division we generally work in pairs, but our commit logs didn’t used to show this. We wouldn’t bother to reconfigure the git author every time we sat down with a new pair so our git log only recorded one of the programmers’ names. Bryan Helmcamp has a nice script for setting your git commit author in pair programming situations. Here’s another one which works interactively.