Faster template editing with ExpanDrive

Years ago I imagined a piece of software that would monitor files in a certain folder on my hard drive, and upload them via FTP every time they were saved. ExpanDrive (formerly called sFTP Drive) does something similar. The program simply maps any FTP connection as a virtual network drive on Microsoft Windows (there is also a Mac version which works similarly).

In plain English—the program lets you treat the files on your web server as if they were running on your own PC. So now, the pros and cons:

Pros

Makes editing ExpressionEngine templates much faster. Hit save on your computer, and reload the corresponding page in your browser for instant feedback.
Make uploads even faster than with a conventional FTP client
Drag and drop, mass delete, rename, etc.

Cons

No backup! You’re working on live server files. If you delete them by mistake, that’s it. Time to call your web host and have them restored.
Files can get out of sync. If you work with a conventional FTP client, you’ll be working on local files and then uploading them as needed. This means you have a backup on your PC in case you hose something on the server. With ExpanDrive, you may have just one set of good files, and that’s on the web server.

I find ExpanDrive works best while developing an ExpressionEngine site. Its speeds up development, especially of ExpressionEngine templates. ExpanDrive is $40 and has a free 30-day trial.

Posted by: Ben Seigel | On: Wednesday, April 1, 2009