Check In and Check Out

If you’re the sole developer for a Web site, the Files panel’s Get and Put buttons are fine for transferring your files. But if you’re on a team of developers, these simple tools can get you in trouble.

For example, suppose your boss emails you an important announcement that she wants posted on the home page immediately. So you download the home page from the Web server and start to edit it. At the same time, your co-worker Bob notices a typo on the home page. He downloads it, too.

You’re a much faster worker than Bob, so you’ve added the critical news to the home page and moved it back to the Web server. But now Bob transfers his corrected home page to the Web server, overwriting your edits and eliminating that urgent notice you just uploaded. (An hour later, your phone rings. It’s the boss.)