Location, Location, Location.

 Publish View - What is it?
 Defining Directory Structure
 Setting the HTML Output
 Where does it all go?
 Publish it
 

Publish View - What is it?

Okay, so you've managed to structure your site in Site view, you've added content in Page view, created a unique look in Style view, and organized your files in Assets view, so what's next?  Well, you didn't do all that work for nothing.  More than likely, you want people to look at your site.  So, you can do one of two things:

1.  You can post a sign outside your house that says, "I built a Web page, come in and check it out."

2.   You can place your Web site onto a server and allow anyone with Internet access the ability to see your pages.

Hopefully, you will choose using an Internet address over your home address.  Basically, a server is like a really, really big house, perhaps a mansion, or even a castle.  You have your Web site furniture and art that you want to showcase in this castle.  Just as you must move assets from house to house, you will need to get that stuff from one computer to another.  Think of NetObjects Fusion as your ultimate moving company.  It will package, prepare, organize, map out directions and then move your stuff from one location to another.

When you publish your site, NetObjects Fusion will generate the HTML pages, associated assets and allow you to send these to your server over the Internet or onto your computers hard drive.

There are 3 steps to follow before you can publish your site, they are:

1.   Defining the file and directory structure.
2.  Setting the HTML output.
3.  Defining the location where you want to publish your site.

Okay, let's do it.

Defining directory structure

Publishing information onto your server, as we said, is like moving furniture from one house to another.  But, how you store or arrange that furniture might be important.  It's nice to have the couch in the living room and the bed in the bedroom. 

Well, creating your directory structure is similar to organizing your house.  Only, it won't have any effect on your actual Web pages - which means people won't see it.   The directory structure is purely for you as a matter of personal preference.  Defining the directory structure decides how your pages and assets will be arranged and stored on the server.

NetObjects Fusion gives you 3 choices for your directory structure:

1.  Flat
This directory is usually for servers (the place you are storing your site) that require all resources and assets to be in a single directory.  So, all files are placed in one folder.  This is the kind of structure required by many ISPs (Internet Service Providers).

2.  By Asset Type
This selection will arrange your site contents into folders according to their asset type.   So, HTML files will be in one folder and other files will be in a different folder.

3.  By Site Section
This selection will arrange your assets into a directory similar to that of Site view.  All the files from each section of your site will have its own folder as seen below:

Setting your directory structure to Site Section is probably going to be your best choice, here's why:

-Your pages will load faster.
-It provides the most effective structure for search engines.

If this is the structure you want to use, you can relax since NetObjects Fusion uses this setting as the default.  But, if you want to change the setting to another structure or back to the Site Section structure, here is how you do it:

1.   Click the Setup button on your control bar as seen below:

This will bring up the following dialog:

2.   Using the drop down box in the Directory Structure field, select the directory structure you want to use.  Notice that there is a description for that chosen structure.

3.   Click OK to apply the changes.

Setting the HTML output

When it comes to viewing Web pages, not all sites look the same. It all depends on the Web browser (and its version) that is being used.  In order to see a Web page - you will need to look through a window.  That window is called a "Web browser," for example: Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.  Not everyone uses the same Web browser and this is why HTML is important.  You have five options:

Nested Tables
This output will support Netscape Navigator 2.01 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.1 and above.  This is your best choice if you don't have layered objects on your pages.  This is also your default setting.  When in doubt, use Nested Tables.

Regular Tables
This output supports pretty much every browser, mainly those that can't see Nested Tables.  Since most people keep up with the times, you won't need to use Regular Tables.  Although Regular Tables produces the greatest browser compatibility, it also has the lowest layout accuracy.  This means that your pages may look different according to that person's browser.  

CSSP + Layers
This output supports Netscape Navigator 4.0 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 and above.  If you use actions on your site then NetObjects Fusion suggests you use this setting.  If you have objects that are layered, then you will need to publish your page or a layout region in this setting in order to get the desired result.  This setting is the choice of champions, but, it will require that your visitors have the latest versions of Web browsers.

CSSP
This output produces code specifically for Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 and above.

Layers
This output produces code specifically for Netscape Navigator 4.0 and above.

Okay, here is how you set or change the HTML output:

1.  C lick the Setup button on the button bar at the top of the screen, the Publish Setup dialog will appear.

2.  C lick on the HTML Output tab in the dialog box and the following will be visible. 

3. Simply select the option you want from the Output Type drop down box

4.  Then click OK and you're all set.

Where does it all go?

Location, location, location.  The whole purpose of publishing your site is to get it from one place to another.  You have two default options:

1.  Publish to your computer's hard drive - Local

2.  Publish to your server - Remote.

In either case, you will need to tell NetObjects Fusion what to do and where to do it.  Since setting up your location is more advanced and this lesson is just an overview of Publish view, we won't go into detail here.  For more information, refer to your owner's manual. 

Publish it

After you have performed the steps above, you are ready to publish your site.  This is when NetObjects Fusion generates the appropriate HTML pages and associated assets.  Follow the steps below:

1. Click the Publish button seen below:

Once you have done that, the Publish Site dialog will appear:

2. After choosing your location, you will have 3 Publishing options:

Entire Site
This selection will publish your entire site.  So, if it is a large site, you may want to get something to drink.

Site Section
This selection will allow you to choose a site section and publish just that sections parent and child pages.

Selected Page Only
This selection will allow you to choose any particular page on your site to publish.

That's it for Publish view, thanks for joining us and have a great day!

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