SiteView:
Creating and
Managing Sites

Web sites. That's what the web is all about. Not pages, but sites. NetObjects Fusion is designed for sites, not just pages, and that's one of the things that makes it a better system for site building.

Fusion has five modes: Site, Page, Style, Assets and Publish. The first mode is Site, because that's where you create, view, and maintain the architecture of your site. Site view frees you from the details of file and link management, so you can focus on organizing and updating your site. For example, you can drag a page or section to any location in Site view, and NetObjects Fusion updates the links to other pages automatically.

Fusion's Site view and its automated site-building capabilities, include:

• Opening  site, or creating a new one
• Using Site view to select pages and create sections
• Setting properties
• Adding, deleting, and moving pages
• Renaming pages
• Printing the site structure
• Working with the site outline
• Backing up your site

Working with Site Files

A NetObjects Fusion site file is a database of information about your site. Site files have a .nod extension.

Site files are stored in a folder that has the same name you give the site. For example, if you name the site Apples + Oranges, the site's folder is called Apples + Oranges, and the site file—Apples + Oranges.nod—is saved inside the folder. In addition, the site folder contains a folder with the site's assets—embedded files, links, data objects, and variables—as well as a backups folder.

By default your site folder is saved inside the User Sites folder, but you can store the site in any location on your local computer.

Because the paths to the assets in a site file are absolute—they include the drive and folder names—you cannot save the site file on another computer on a network.

To copy or move a site to another computer, you first need to export it as a template. This also collects all assets and copies them into a single folder.

Creating and Opening Sites

When you create a site, you always work from a template, ranging from the most simple—the Blank Site template—to the professionally designed templates provided with NetObjects Fusion. You can even create templates from your own sites.

A template is a fully designed page or site that you can use as a starting point for your own pages or sites. A typical template might include a banner and navigation buttons, an assigned SiteStyle, and—in some cases—text or other content. You can start a new site from a template or insert one into your current site.

You can also open an existing site and add to it, change its style, or modify it.

Starting with a Blank Site

You can start building a new site from a blank site, which is a template consisting of a Home page with a banner and navigation buttons. The blank site provides a starting point for creating a new site.

To start with a blank site:

1. From the File menu, choose New Site, Blank Site.

The New Blank Site dialog appears.

You can also start a blank site by selecting the Blank Site option in the Welcome to NetObjects Fusion dialog.

2. Enter a site name in the dialog.

Note: For compatibility with NetObjects Fusion for Macintosh and Macintosh Web servers, do not give your site a name with more than 26 characters.

3. Click Save.

Site view opens a new site, based on the Blank Site.nft template, and displays a Home page. You're ready to begin adding pages to create your site's structure.

Opening an Existing Site

1.From the File menu, choose Open Site.

The Open dialog appears.

2.Double-click the folder that contains the site you want to open.

3.Select the site's .nod file and click Open.

You can also open an existing site by doing any of the following:

• Selecting it in the Welcome to NetObjects Fusion dialog.
• Choosing it from the list of recently used files on the File menu. NetObjects Fusion remembers the last four site files opened.
• Dragging the .nod file name from the Windows 95 Explorer and dropping it in the NetObjects Fusion window.
• Double-clicking the .nod file name in the Windows 95 Explorer.

Viewing a Site

In Site view, the structure of your site is represented by page icons. As in a family tree, pages have parent, child, and sibling relationships.

The pages named Apples, Oranges, and Grapes are all children of the Home page and are siblings of each other. The Grapes page is the parent of two additional pages: Raisins and Wine.

In Site view you can add pages to the site, rename pages, move them, and complete other site-oriented actions. To add content to a particular page—for example, to add text or pictures—use Page view. As you construct a site, you typically go back and forth between Site view and Page view.

In Site view one page is always selected, as indicated by a blue border.

Saving Your Work

To save your work, choose Save Site from the File menu. NetObjects Fusion also has an auto save feature that saves your work each time you change views. To change this setting, choose Edit/Preferences.

Save often. This is the best way to protect your work.

Using the Site View

When you work in Site view, the toolbar contains one tool for selecting pages and another for zooming in and out on the Site view.

Selecting Pages

Before you can add, rename, or move pages, or set page properties, you must first select a page. By selecting a page, you identify it as the one you will work with. NetObjects Fusion places a blue border around the selected page.

To select a page, do either of the following:

• Using the mouse, click the Selection tool and then click the icon for the page you want to select. If you click directly on the page's name, NetObjects Fusion selects the page name and switches into text editing mode so you can rename the page.
• Using the keyboard, press the arrow keys to select the current page's parent, child, or sibling pages.

Working with Sections

In addition to selecting individual pages, you can select sections of your site. A section is any page and all its children, their children, and so on. You can move a section to a different location in the site, set section properties including MasterBorders (see XXX)—and preview a section independently of the rest of the site (you can also preview an individual page by holding down the Control-Key when you click on the Preview button).

To select a section, do either of the following:

• Hold down the Shift key as you click the parent page of the section.
• With the keyboard, select the parent page of the section and then press Shift+Enter.

NetObjects Fusion places a blue border around the pages in the section.

Sections are not permanent entities. You can deselect the section by clicking any page in the site, by clicking the Site view background, or by pressing an arrow key or Shift+Enter. You can preview just the selected section, just select the section and click on the Preview button (just make sure your Edit / Preferences are set to preview only the current page or hold down the Control-Key when you click on Preview).

Setting Page and Section Properties

Pages and sections have a number of properties. Some properties affect the published site; others are for your information. For example, you can assign colors to the page icons to create visual groups that indicate which pages are finished or which are assigned to a particular author. You can instruct NetObjects Fusion whether to publish a particular page, note whether a page is done, and enter comments about the selected page.

To set properties, select a page or section to display the Properties palette.

Page Properties

• Page Name. The name assigned to the page.
• Custom Names. See "Using Custom Page Names and Extensions."
• Page Type. Shows whether the page is a normal page or a stacked page. Stacked pages are created when you use a data list. Stacked pages are created using the database feature.
• Color. Sets the color of individual page icons in Site view. You can use colors to help you manage work on the site. For instance, use colors to specify pages that need updating or for sections that you need from another designer. The page icon's color has no effect on the published site.
• Status. Marks pages as Done or Not Done, a convenient way to manage individual pages in a large site. This setting is for your information only and has no effect on the functioning of the site. The page icon displays a check mark when you select Done.
• Publish/Don't Publish. Makes it possible to publish some pages while not publishing others that might be under construction or private. The page icon displays a red bullet when you select Don't Publish.

NetObjects Fusion removes pages marked Don't Publish from the navigation bars of other pages in the site, disables manually created links to such pages, and does not produce HTML for these pages during publishing. However, you can preview a page that is designated Don't Publish as an individual page.

Do not use the Don't Publish setting to exclude pages in an attempt to publish changed pages only to an already-published site. Doing so causes broken links and other undesirable results.

• Comments. Enter notes to yourself or your co-workers about the status or content of individual pages.

Section Properties

• Custom Names. You can only set a custom file extension. Read more about it.
• Color. Applies a color to the section.
• Status. Marks the section as Done or Not Done.
• Publish/Don't Publish. Sets the publication flag for the section.
• MasterBorder. Sets a MasterBorder for a section of pages. Setting a MasterBorder for a section is described in "Applying a MasterBorder to a Section" on page 68.

Zooming In and Out

You can select the Zoom In or Zoom Out tool from the toolbar. The Zoom In tool is a magnifying glass with a plus sign; the Zoom Out tool has a minus sign.

You can reverse the function of the current Zoom tool by holding down the Alt key. For example, if the current tool is Zoom In, pressing Alt makes it Zoom Out. As soon as you release the Alt key, it becomes Zoom In again.

Adding, Deleting,
and Moving Pages

In Site view, you can modify the structure of a site at any time by adding, deleting, and moving pages. NetObjects Fusion automatically changes the links between pages when you modify the structure.

Adding Pages

1. In Site view, select the page you want to be the parent of the new page.

2. Do any of the following:

• Click the New button on the control bar.
• From the Edit menu, choose New Page, or press Ctrl+N.
• Right-click the parent page and choose New Page from the shortcut menu.

In Site view, the new page appears beneath the selected page. The new page is named Untitled.

Deleting Pages

1. In Site view, select the page you want to delete and do any of the following:

• From the Edit menu, choose Delete Page.
• Right-click the page and choose Delete Page from the shortcut menu.
• Press the Delete key.

2. Click Yes in the NetObjects Fusion warning dialog to confirm the deletion.

Note: Deleting a page removes all its child pages and cannot be undone. You cannot delete the Home page.

Moving Pages

When you move pages in Site view, NetObjects Fusion automatically updates all affected links within the site.

1. In Site view, select the page you want to move. You cannot move the Home page.

2. Drag the page to the target page, where it becomes either a sibling or a child in its new location.

As you drag the page, a colored outline highlights the target page. The outline is red unless you change the Site view background color. A triangle to the left or right of the target page's border indicates the moved page will be a sibling; a triangle below the target page's border indicates the moved page will be a child.

A triangle on the bottom of the target page icon shows that the moved page will be a child.

A triangle on the side of the target page icon shows that the moved page will be a sibling.

If the moved page will be the child of a page that already has children, the moved page becomes a sibling of those children. In that case, the outline and triangle appear on the target sibling page.

Renaming Pages

You can rename a page to suggest its contents.

By default, NetObjects Fusion uses the page name on banners and navigation buttons that identify the page. When you publish your site, NetObjects Fusion uses the page name as the HTML file name for the page. It also uses the page name when it creates links to the page.

NetObjects Fusion converts spaces and non-alphanumeric characters except periods (.) and hyphens (-) in the page name to underscores (_) in the HTML file name. To change this default, see Publish: Setup.

If you give two pages the same name, NetObjects Fusion adds a numeral to the file name when it creates the HTML files for the second and any additional pages. For example, if you have two pages named Great, NetObjects Fusion creates great.html and great1.html.

You can change the name directly on the page icon or in the Name field on the Page tab of the Properties palette.

To rename a page on the page icon:

1. In Site view, click the page name text and type a new name.

2. Press Enter or click anywhere outside the page icon to enter the name.

You can switch immediately into edit mode on a selected page by pressing Enter. Once in edit mode, you can tab between sibling pages to edit their names. NetObjects Fusion remains in edit mode until you press Enter. If the page has no siblings, pressing Tab moves the text edit selection to the page's parent.

To rename a page in the Properties palette:

1. Select the page you want to rename.
2. Edit the text in the Name field.
3. Press Tab or click anywhere outside the page icon.

Note: For compatibility with NetObjects Fusion for Macintosh and Macintosh Web servers, do not give your page a name with more than 26 characters.

Using Custom Page Names and Extensions

By default, the browser window title bar, banners, and navigation buttons use the page name. If you prefer, you can specify different values to be used for your title, navigation buttons, banner, and HTML file extension. If you have a long page name, you can break it into two lines so it fits on the banner and button pictures.

To specify custom page names:

1. In Site view, select the page you want to give a custom name.
2. On the Page tab of the Properties palette, click the Custom Names button, or choose Custom Names from the Edit menu.
3. Set the Custom Names options.

• Page Title: Appears in the title bar of the browser's window when it displays this page. When your site visitors create a bookmark on this page, it is named from the page title. The title is also emphasized in search engines queries.
• Navigation Button : Appears in navigation buttons leading to this page—useful when your page's name is too long for a button. To add a second line to the button text, press Enter after the first line.
• Banner: Appears in the page's banner—makes possible a banner with a longer name than practical for a file name or button. To add a second line to the banner text, press Enter after the first line.
• File Extension: Specifies a custom extension for your page file. Page files usually have an .htm or .html extension. In some special cases, a page requires a different extension to function with some server software. For example, pages for secure locations use the extension .shtml. For information on changing the default extension for pages, see Working with Publish
  
  When a section is selected, you can only set a custom file extension, which applies to the whole section.

4. When you finish, click OK.

Setting Site View Properties

The Site tab of the Properties palette displays site information: the site name, date created, date last modified, the number of pages in the site, and the site's author. When you enter an author name, NetObjects Fusion includes it in a Meta tag that appears in each page's HTML file header when the site is published.

On the View tab of the Properties palette, you can change the Site view orientation and background color. The orientation and background color are strictly for working in Site view. They have no effect on the published site.

To change background color, click the Color button and select a new color from the Color Picker. To change orientation, click the button for the orientation you want.

Collapsing the Site Structure Display

By collapsing the display of the site structure, you hide the child pages of a selected page, displaying only the page icons you want to see. A page with hidden child pages displays a plus symbol beneath its icon.

To collapse the display of child pages, click the triangle beneath the parent's page icon. To expand the display to see child pages again, click the plus sign.

You can also collapse the display by selecting a parent page and pressing Tab. To expand the display, press Tab again.

The Structure and Outline views display the same expanded and collapsed pages. If you change the child pages hidden and shown in one view, the other view reflects your changes.

Printing Site or Section Structures

In Site view, the Print command on the File menu prints the Site Structure view of your site or of a section. You cannot print the Site Outline view. The printed structure shows the same magnification, colors, orientation, and expanded or collapsed child pages that you see on the screen. Its footer includes the author name, number of site or section pages, and the date the site was last modified.

• To print the entire site, select the Home page, or click All in the Print dialog.
• To print a specific page and its children, do any of the following:

1. Select the top-level page.

2. Select a section.

3. Click Selected page and its children in the Print dialog. This option is selected by default.

• To view what will be printed, select Print Preview from the File menu.
• If you have a large site that might not fit on a single page, you can scale the printed site to the page. From the File menu, choose Print Setup, and click the Print to fit option in the Print Setup dialog.

Working in Site Outline View

Site Outline view displays the site structure in outline format, including a table of the properties—child name, page type, status, publishing status, and comments— of the child pages of the currently selected page. If the selected page has no children, the table describes the selected page itself. To see the site as an outline:

• Click the Outline tab.

Like Site Structure view, Site Outline view shows if a branch of the site is collapsed. A collapsed branch is indicated by a plus sign to the left of the page icon; an expanded branch is indicated by a minus sign.

• To expand a branch, click the plus sign to the left of a page.
• To collapse a branch, click the minus sign to the left of a page.

You can select sections in Site Outline view. See Working with Sections

Sorting the Display in Outline View

In Outline view you can sort the child pages by their properties so you can quickly identify pages with common characteristics.

• Click the heading of the column you want to use to sort the list.

NetObjects Fusion sorts the list in ascending (A-Z) order. To sort the list in descending (Z-A) order, point to the column heading and press Shift + Click.

For information about managing your site, "Managing Assets."

Backing Up Your Site

You can back up your site manually or automatically.

To make a manual backup:

1. From the File menu, choose Save Site As.

The Save Site As dialog appears.

2. Type a descriptive file name for your backup file and select a location.

3. Click Save.

NetObjects Fusion creates a copy of your .nod file in the location you specified and automatically opens that file.

Note: The backup you make with the Save Site As command does not collect all assets and make all links relative. Your backup will still refer to assets and components in the original site file folder. To make a backup with assets and relative links, export your site file as a template.

Finally - if you found this useful, consider reading the documentation that comes with Fusion--that´s where this information came from!

To download complete documentation, click here.
 

NETOBJECTS
FUSION
DOCUMENTATION

Site View

Page View

Site Styles

Stylizer

Assets

Publish