Benjamin L. Stewart

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4 min read

Installing Silex

  • Setting up pCloud

    In your installed Silex 3.9.0, set the destination using SILEX_HOSTING_PATH when launching the app. The “File system hosting” dialog does not provide a folder selector. Silex configuration

    Your pCloud Website folder already contains a website. Back it up before publishing—Silex will overwrite files with matching names, including index.html. I haven’t changed anything.

    1. Close Silex completely, and make sure pCloud Drive is running.

    2. Open a terminal and run:

      env SILEX_HOSTING_PATH="/home/ben/pCloudDrive/Public Folder/Website" /usr/bin/silex-desktop

    3. Open your project and click Publish.

    4. Click Open published folder. It should now open:

      /home/ben/pCloudDrive/Public Folder/Website

    Silex writes the website directly into that folder; pCloud handles uploading it. Your editable Silex project stays in its existing location. Publishing implementation

    To make this work when opening Silex from your application menu, create a personal copy of its launcher:

    cp -n /usr/share/applications/Silex.desktop /home/ben/.local/share/applications/Silex.desktop

    Open that copied file in a text editor and replace:

    Exec=silex-desktop

    with:

    Exec=env "SILEX_HOSTING_PATH=/home/ben/pCloudDrive/Public Folder/Website" /usr/bin/silex-desktop

    Save it, then launch Silex from the menu.

    This destination applies to every project published from that configured app. Publishing another Silex project could overwrite the same website.

    Once pCloud finishes uploading, get the direct link to Website from the Public Folder section of my.pcloud.com. That is the address to share with learners; the /home/ben/… path works only on your computer. pCloud instructions

  • Syncing Silex between PCs (Nobara)

    Use pCloud Sync to synchronize Silex’s editable projects between the two PCs, while keeping your published website in Public Folder/Website.

    pCloud Sync keeps local copies and transfers changes in both directions. This lets you edit locally on either computer. pCloud’s explanation

    1. Prepare the Office PC first.

      Close Silex and make a backup copy of this entire folder somewhere outside the folder being synchronized:

      /home/ben/.local/share/org.silex.desktop/websites

      This contains your editable websites, pages, and templates. Synchronize only websites, not the entire org.silex.desktop folder.

      In Dolphin, press Ctrl+L and paste the path to open this hidden location.

    2. Connect the Office projects to pCloud.

      Create a private folder in your pCloud account named:

      Silex Projects

      Keep it outside Public Folder so your editable projects are not public.

      Open pCloud → Preferences → Sync → Add new sync and select:

      SettingFolder
      Local folder/home/ben/.local/share/org.silex.desktop/websites
      pCloud folderSilex Projects

      Wait until pCloud finishes uploading before proceeding.

    3. Install matching software on the Home PC.

      Install pCloud and sign in to the same pCloud account.

      Install the same Silex version as Office. Your current installation is Silex 3.9.0. You can check either computer with:

      rpm -q silex

      Open Silex once, then close it before setting up synchronization.

    4. Connect the Home project folder to the same cloud folder.

      On Home, the local folder should be:

      /home/YOUR-HOME-USERNAME/.local/share/org.silex.desktop/websites

      If it already contains projects, move those projects to a separate backup folder first, leaving an empty websites folder. Do this before adding the sync connection.

      In pCloud → Preferences → Sync → Add new sync, connect that empty local folder to the existing Silex Projects cloud folder. pCloud documents this approach for Linux. Linux sync instructions

      Wait for the download to finish, then open Silex. Your Office websites and templates should appear automatically—no separate template import is needed.

    5. Copy your publishing launcher to Home.

      Your Office Silex launcher contains the setting that publishes to pCloud. Copy this file to the same relative location on Home:

      ~/.local/share/applications/Silex.desktop

      Its publishing line currently reads:

      Exec=env "SILEX_HOSTING_PATH=/home/ben/pCloudDrive/Public Folder/Website" /usr/bin/silex-desktop

      If your Home username is different, replace /home/ben with the actual Home directory. Also confirm that pCloud mounts at that location.

      Start Silex using this application-menu launcher, with pCloud running. This launcher is separate from the synchronized projects, so it needs to be configured on each PC.

    6. Follow this routine whenever you switch PCs.

      • Finish editing and close Silex on the first PC.

      • Wait for pCloud to finish syncing before shutting down.

      • On the other PC, wait for pCloud to finish downloading changes.

      • Then open Silex and continue working.

      Keep Silex open on only one PC at a time. Treat this as transferring your work between computers, rather than simultaneous editing.

    Your edits and templates synchronize without clicking Publish. Click Publish only when you want to update the public website. Keep occasional separate backups, since synchronization also carries deletions and mistakes to the other PC.

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