site spinner pro

User Guide Version 2.70

SiteSpinner™ User Guide

Contents ii

Contents

Chapter 1: SiteSpinner™ User Guide.................................................... 11

Overview: About the User Guide ...................................................................12 User Guide Design and Organization..............................................................12 User Guide Assumptions.................................................................................12

Usage Conventions.........................................................................................13

Font and Symbol Conventions ......................................................................14

Getting Help As You Work .............................................................................15 SiteSpinner™ Online Help ..............................................................................15 Context-Sensitive Help....................................................................................15 Tutorials ..........................................................................................................15 Tip of the Day..................................................................................................16 Tooltips............................................................................................................16 Help on the Internet.........................................................................................17 User Forums ................................................................................................17 Online Support.............................................................................................17

Chapter 2: Introducing SiteSpinner™ ................................................... 18

Overview of SiteSpinner™ .............................................................................19

Work Window ..................................................................................................20 Work Window Editing Space ...........................................................................20

Layout Tools....................................................................................................21 Target Resolution Guide Border......................................................................21 Rulers..............................................................................................................21 Grid Guide.......................................................................................................22 Tab Guides......................................................................................................22 Status Bar .......................................................................................................22

Menus...............................................................................................................23 File Menu ........................................................................................................23 Edit Menu ........................................................................................................24 Page Menu......................................................................................................26 Object Menu....................................................................................................27 Arrange Menu..................................................................................................30 Publish Menu...................................................................................................32 Special FX Menu.............................................................................................32 View Menu ......................................................................................................33 Options Menu..................................................................................................34 Help Menu.......................................................................................................35

Toolbars...........................................................................................................37 Toolbar Options Dialog Box ............................................................................38


Contents iii

Moving (Undocking) a Toolbar .................................................................39 Hiding a Toolbar.......................................................................................39 Resizing a Toolbar ...................................................................................39

Customize Toolbar Dialog Box........................................................................40 Customizing a Toolbar .............................................................................41

File Bar............................................................................................................42 Components Bar .............................................................................................44 Preview Bar.....................................................................................................45 Page Bar .........................................................................................................46 Align Bar..........................................................................................................48 Object Bar .......................................................................................................50 Forms Bar .......................................................................................................50

Keyboard Shortcuts........................................................................................52 Project-Level Shortcuts ...................................................................................52 Page-Level Shortcuts ......................................................................................52 Object-Level Shortcuts ....................................................................................53 Object Editing Shortcuts ..............................................................................53 Object Selection Shortcuts...........................................................................53 Object Movement and Transformation Shortcuts.........................................54 Text Object Shortcuts ..................................................................................54 Geometry Drawing Shortcuts.......................................................................55

Program Options.............................................................................................57 Guide/Display Options Dialog Box ..................................................................57 High Render Work Window .............................................................................59

Chapter 3: Projects ................................................................................. 60

Overview of Projects.......................................................................................61 IMS Project File ...............................................................................................61 Project Options................................................................................................61

Working With Projects....................................................................................62 Project Target Options Dialog Box ..................................................................62

Opening a New Project ............................................................................65 Opening an Existing Project .....................................................................65 Combining Multiple Projects.....................................................................66

Project Templates ...........................................................................................68 Using a Project Template.........................................................................68

Saving Projects ...............................................................................................69 Save Current Document As Dialog Box ..........................................................69

Saving a Project .......................................................................................71 Saving a Copy of a Project.......................................................................71

Project Preview ...............................................................................................73 Preview Options Dialog Box............................................................................73

Previewing a Page ...................................................................................74


Contents iv

Previewing a Project ................................................................................74

Project Maintenance .......................................................................................76 Clean Components..........................................................................................76

Cleaning a Project Manually.....................................................................76 Cleaning a Project Automatically..............................................................76

Auto Backup....................................................................................................77 Backing Up a Project to the Web Server ..................................................77

Project Numbers..............................................................................................78

Project Code....................................................................................................79 Publish Formats ..............................................................................................79 HTML...........................................................................................................79 SVG .............................................................................................................79

Setting the Project Publish Format...........................................................80 Code View Window .........................................................................................80

Publishing Projects.........................................................................................83 Publishing Profiles...........................................................................................83

Creating a Publishing Profile ....................................................................84 Resource Files ................................................................................................86 Gathering Resources...................................................................................87 Absolute Paths to Resources.......................................................................87 Relative Paths to Resources........................................................................88

Uploading ........................................................................................................88 Publishing Locally ........................................................................................88 Publishing Remotely ....................................................................................89 Publishing to iHost VM.................................................................................90

Publisher Dialog Box .......................................................................................90 Profile Tab ...................................................................................................91 Pages Tab ...................................................................................................93 FTP Tab.......................................................................................................95 iHostVM Tab ................................................................................................98

Publisher Sub-Directories Dialog Box ...........................................................100 Export Progress Dialog Box ..........................................................................103

Publishing a Project to Local Directory...................................................104 Publishing a Project to the Internet ........................................................106 Sending a Web Page as an Email..........................................................108

Chapter 4: Pages ................................................................................... 109

Overview of Pages ........................................................................................110 Page Editor Dialog Box .................................................................................110 Page Select Tab ........................................................................................111 Title, Meta Tags Tab..................................................................................113 Header Tab................................................................................................115 Links, Fonts Tab ........................................................................................116 Special Effects Tab....................................................................................119


Contents v

Music Tab ..................................................................................................121 Background Tab ........................................................................................122

Working With Pages .....................................................................................125 New Pages....................................................................................................125

Adding a Page to a Project.....................................................................125 Inserting Pages from Another Project ....................................................126

Page Navigation ............................................................................................126 Opening a Different Page in the Work Window......................................127

Page Names..................................................................................................127 Renaming a Page ..................................................................................127

Page Manipulation.........................................................................................128 Cut Page....................................................................................................129

Cutting and Pasting a Page....................................................................129 Copy Page .................................................................................................129

Copying and Pasting a Page..................................................................130 Delete Page ...............................................................................................131

Deleting a Page......................................................................................131 Resequencing Project Pages .................................................................131

Page Layout...................................................................................................133 Alignment ......................................................................................................133 Snap Grid...................................................................................................133 Tab Guides ................................................................................................134

Aligning Objects Using Tab Guides........................................................134 Removing Tab Guides ...........................................................................135

Spacing .........................................................................................................135 Spacing Objects Evenly .........................................................................136

Positioning.....................................................................................................136 Absolute Positioning ..................................................................................136 Relative Positioning ...................................................................................137 No CSS Positioning ...................................................................................137

Setting Positioning Attributes .................................................................138 Centering ...................................................................................................139

Centering a Page ...................................................................................139 Resizing ........................................................................................................140 Relative Sizing ...........................................................................................140

Setting Relative Sizing Attributes ...........................................................141 Dynamic Layout.............................................................................................142

Creating a Dynamic Layout ....................................................................142 Z Order (Layers)............................................................................................142

Moving an Object to a Different Layer (Z Order) ....................................143 Selecting an Object Hidden Behind Another Object...............................143

Page Effects ..................................................................................................144 Background ...................................................................................................144

Adding a Background Color to a Page ...................................................144 Adding a Background Image to a Page..................................................145


Contents vi

Adding a Gradient Background Color to a Page ....................................146 Music.............................................................................................................147

Adding Background Music to a Page .....................................................147 Transitions.....................................................................................................148

Adding Transition Effects to a Page .......................................................148

Chapter 5: Objects ................................................................................ 149

Overview of Objects......................................................................................150

Working With Objects...................................................................................151 New Objects ..................................................................................................151

Adding a Rectangle Object.....................................................................151 Drawing a Square ..................................................................................152 Adding a Straight Line............................................................................152 Adding a Triangle Object........................................................................153 Adding a Star Object ..............................................................................153 Adding an Ellipse Object ........................................................................153 Drawing a Circle.....................................................................................154 Adding a Polygon Object........................................................................154 Adding a Curve Object ...........................................................................155 Adding a Title Object..............................................................................155 Adding an Image Object.........................................................................156 Adding a Code Object ............................................................................157 Adding a Text Object..............................................................................157 Adding a Foreign Object ........................................................................158 Adding a Table Object............................................................................159

Set Size Dialog Box.......................................................................................159 Object Names................................................................................................160

Renaming an Object ..............................................................................160

Object Manipulation......................................................................................162 Select Object .................................................................................................162

Selecting an Object on the Current Page...............................................162 Selecting an Object on Another Page ....................................................163 Selecting a Hidden Object......................................................................163 Selecting Objects Layered Above or Below an Object ...........................163 Selecting Objects to the Right or Left of an Object.................................163

Group Objects ...............................................................................................164 Temporary Groups (“Selections”) ..............................................................164 Permanent Groups ....................................................................................165

Selecting Multiple Objects to Form a Temporary Group ........................165 Creating a Permanent Group Object......................................................165 Ungrouping Objects ...............................................................................166

Cut Object .....................................................................................................166 Copy Object...................................................................................................167 Paste Object..................................................................................................167

Cutting and Pasting an Object................................................................167


Contents vii

Copying and Pasting an Object..............................................................168 Clone Object..................................................................................................169

Cloning an Object...................................................................................170 Include Object ...............................................................................................171 Page Selection - Include Dialog Box .............................................................172

Including an Object on Certain Pages....................................................174 Including an Object on All Pages ...........................................................174

Delete Object.................................................................................................175 Deleting an Object..................................................................................175

Target Copy Options .....................................................................................175 Copy Target Copy Option ..........................................................................176 Clone Target Copy Option .........................................................................176 Include Target Copy Option .......................................................................176 Private Target Copy Option .......................................................................176

Components ..................................................................................................177 Geometry Component ...................................................................................177 Borders and Outlines .................................................................................178

Geometry Editor Dialog Box..........................................................................178 Options Tab ...............................................................................................180 Outline Tab ................................................................................................181

Changing an Object’s Geometry Component.........................................183 Adding a Border to an Object .................................................................184

Shading Component......................................................................................185 Shading Editor Dialog Box ............................................................................185 Selection Tab.............................................................................................187 Fill Settings Tab .........................................................................................188

Color Dialog Box ...........................................................................................192 Creating a Flat Color Fill ........................................................................194 Creating a Gradient Color Fill.................................................................195 Creating an Image Fill (Texture Mapping) ..............................................196 Changing an Object’s Shading Component ...........................................197 Adjusting an Image’s Brightness and Contrast.......................................198 Tinting an Image ....................................................................................198

Editing Objects..............................................................................................200 Object Editor Dialog Box ...............................................................................200 Components Tab .......................................................................................201 Transformations Tab..................................................................................203 Link Tab.....................................................................................................206 Options Tab ...............................................................................................209

Object Statistics Message Box......................................................................211 Quick Properties Editor Dialog Box ...............................................................212 Object Tab .................................................................................................213 Outline Tab ................................................................................................215 Shading Tab ..............................................................................................216 Link Tab.....................................................................................................219

Vertex Editor Dialog Box ...............................................................................221


Contents viii

Move Object ..................................................................................................224 Moving an Object in the Work Window ..................................................225 Moving an Object to Precise Pixel Coordinates .....................................225

Transform Object...........................................................................................226 Scale Object ..............................................................................................227

Resizing an Object .................................................................................228 Reversing an Object...............................................................................230 Flipping an Object ..................................................................................230

Skew Object...............................................................................................231 Skewing an Object .................................................................................232

Rotate Object.............................................................................................233 Rotating an Object .................................................................................234

Reset Transformations ..................................................................................236 Removing Transformations ....................................................................236

Lock/Unlock Object .......................................................................................237 Locking an Object ..................................................................................237 Locking a Page ......................................................................................237 Unlocking an Object ...............................................................................238 Unlocking a Page ...................................................................................238

Object Types .................................................................................................239 Rectangle Objects .........................................................................................239

Drawing a Rounded Rectangle ..............................................................239 Ellipse Objects...............................................................................................241

Drawing a Pie Shape .............................................................................241 Line Objects (Horizontal and Vertical) ...........................................................242 Triangle Objects ............................................................................................243 Star Objects...................................................................................................243 Polygon Objects ............................................................................................243 Curve Objects................................................................................................244

Drawing an Intricate Design (Spline)......................................................244 Image Objects ...............................................................................................247

Fading an Image ....................................................................................248 Creating a Thumbnails and Pop-up Gallery ...........................................248

Open Dialog Box ...........................................................................................249 Change Image Directory Dialog Box .............................................................250 Text Objects ..................................................................................................251 Auto Scroll .................................................................................................252

Text Editor Dialog Box (Text Edit Mode) .......................................................253 File Menu...................................................................................................254 Edit Menu...................................................................................................255 Insert Menu................................................................................................256 Format Menu .............................................................................................256 Tools Menu................................................................................................258 Options Menu ............................................................................................258 Help Menu .................................................................................................259 Toolbar.......................................................................................................259


Contents ix

Find Dialog Box.............................................................................................263 Replace Dialog Box.......................................................................................264 Date and Time Dialog Box ............................................................................265 Font Dialog Box.............................................................................................266 Check Spelling Dialog Box ............................................................................267 Options and Filters Dialog Box......................................................................269 Options (Spelling Preferences) Dialog Box ...................................................272 Dictionaries Dialog Box .................................................................................274 New Dictionary Dialog Box............................................................................278 Title Objects ..................................................................................................279 Title Editor Dialog Box...................................................................................280 Text Editor Dialog Box (Title Edit Mode) .......................................................281 Code Objects.................................................................................................282 Text Editor Dialog Box (Code Edit Mode)......................................................283 Code Positioning........................................................................................284

Importing External Web Page Code into SiteSpinner™ .........................285 Adding Functional Code to a Page.........................................................286 Targeting Code to Specific Output Formats ...........................................287

Table Objects ................................................................................................287 Table Editor Dialog Box.................................................................................288 Foreign Objects .............................................................................................291 Publish File ................................................................................................292 General Plug-In..........................................................................................292 HTML IFrames...........................................................................................293 SVG ...........................................................................................................293 Java Applet ................................................................................................293 Shockwave ................................................................................................294 Flash..........................................................................................................294 QuickTime..................................................................................................294 RealAudio ..................................................................................................294 Video..........................................................................................................294 Sound/Music ..............................................................................................294 Other File Type ..........................................................................................294

Foreign Object/Media Dialog Box..................................................................294 Form Input Objects........................................................................................297 Button ........................................................................................................297 Checkbox...................................................................................................297 Radio Button ..............................................................................................298 Image.........................................................................................................298 Selection List .............................................................................................298 Text Box.....................................................................................................298 Text Area ...................................................................................................299 File Upload.................................................................................................299

Form Editor Dialog Box .................................................................................299 Form Tab ...................................................................................................301 Form Item Tab ...........................................................................................303


Contents x

Object Effects................................................................................................308 Rendering and Re-Rendering .......................................................................308 Image Object Re-Rendering ......................................................................309 Shape and Drawing Object Re-Rendering.................................................309 Image Target Formats ...............................................................................310

Setting Rendering File Format for All Objects ........................................311 Setting Rendering File Format for an Object ..........................................312

Anti-Aliasing ..................................................................................................313 Render Background ......................................................................................313 Hyperlinking...................................................................................................314 Link Editor Dialog Box ...................................................................................315 Link Manager Dialog Box ..............................................................................318

Adding a Bookmark to Text ....................................................................320 Special FX.....................................................................................................322 Mouse Trigger Effect Dialog Box...................................................................323

Making a Dropdown Menu .....................................................................324

Index ....................................................................................................... 327

Chapter 1: SiteSpinner™ User Guide

This section discusses the purpose, organization,

assumptions, and conventions of the SiteSpinner™ User

Guide.

Overview: About the User Guide

12

Usage Conventions 13

Font and Symbol Conventions 14

Getting Help As You Work 15


SiteSpinner™ V2 User Guide 12

Overview: About the User Guide

Thank you for using SiteSpinner™, the only web site tool you need. This SiteSpinner™ User Guide is intended to help you maximize your productivity using SiteSpinner™ to build visually rich web content.

User Guide Design and Organization

This User Guide is designed to serve as a reference for the SiteSpinner™ software application. It addresses the tasks and subtasks that you will complete in the course of designing, creating, and publishing rich web content using SiteSpinner™.

Chapters of the User Guide are organized to help you quickly find the information you need. Chapters begin with general background or overview material to help you understand the theory or purpose behind a component of SiteSpinner™ (for example, “Overview of Projects”). Overviews are followed by reference topics mapping the screens, dialog boxes, and/or controls that correspond to the component under discussion (for example, “Shading Editor Dialog Box”). Finally, step-by-step procedures show you exactly what to do to accomplish particular goals relating to the chapter (for example, “Creating a Permanent Group Object”). The User Guide concludes with a detailed glossary of common web design and SiteSpinner™-related terms.

User Guide Assumptions

The User Guide assumes that you possess the following qualifications:

• An understanding of personal computer concepts

• Microsoft® Windows® installed on your personal computer

• A familiarity with Windows® functions

• A basic understanding of capabilities and limitations of the World Wide Web or the Internet



Usage Conventions

SiteSpinner™ uses standard, Windows-based navigational and input techniques, accomplished by using a computer keyboard and/or a mouse.

In the unlikely event you are unfamiliar with using a keyboard or a mouse, refer to your Microsoft Windows User’s Guide for help.

Throughout the User Guide, you will find various instructional words or phrases to perform different tasks using the keyboard and the mouse. These words and phrases, which you will see presented in boldface type, include the following:

• Click: Use the mouse to place the pointer on a particular on-screen object (such as a control on a dialog box, for example, the OK button, or a radio button) by dragging the mouse along a flat surface, thereby rolling the track ball underneath. Then, depress and release the left button on top of the mouse.

• Select: Use the mouse to place the pointer on an on-screen object (such as a drop-down list or a menu), and then click to open a list of hidden items, which you can then click with the left mouse button to choose or activate. Occasionally you will use the same technique to activate an already-visible object, such as an item in a list box.

• Click to select: Use the mouse to position the pointer on an on-screen object, such as an item in a list box, and then depress and release the left mouse button to activate the object.

• Click to checkmark: Use the mouse to position the pointer on an on-screen option box, and then depress and release the left mouse button to place a checkmark in the option box. You may use the same technique to deselect (un-checkmark) a selected option box.

• Double-click: Identical to click, but instead quickly depress and release the left mouse button twice.

• Enter: Position the cursor in a specified field, using either the mouse or the tab key on the keyboard, and type (using the keyboard) the requested or desired data.



Font and Symbol Conventions

The following fonts and symbols will help you recognize at a glance categories of useful and important information in the SiteSpinner™ User Guide:

User Guide Element Description

10 pt. Arial bold text Attributes of the SiteSpinner™ software application, such as screen names and field names.

Example: The Object Editor dialog box.

Italicized text Special emphasis for exceptions to the described operation state.

“Numbers or text in quotation marks” Data or text that you would enter into a data entry field or a text entry field.

Example: In the ID field, enter “123456.” (Do not enter quote marks.)

Menu Name��Menu Option The command for selecting an option from a menu.

Example: Object��Select

A useful note or tip.

A caution or special alert.



Getting Help As You Work

As you are working with SiteSpinner™, and you need help understanding a particular concept or completing a particular task, SiteSpinner™ online help and context-sensitive help are available to assist you. Also, you may find useful and helpful information from the Virtual Mechanics SiteSpinner™ technical support and user forums web sites.

SiteSpinner™ Online Help

While you are working with SiteSpinner™, you may refer to the online help.

To view the online help, you must have a standard web browser installed on your system (e.g., Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or better, Netscape Communicator 4.7 or better, Mozilla Firefox, etc.).

To open the entire online help file, select Help��Help Topics. The online help will open in a browser window divided into two frames: the left (navigation) frame contains the Table of Contents and the right (contents) frame contains the introduction page. Click a topic name in the navigation frame to display the topic in the contents frame.

Context-Sensitive Help

To view context-sensitive help for a particular screen or dialog box in SiteSpinner™, you may press the <F1> key on your keyboard. In addition, some dialog boxes offer a Help button that you may click for context-sensitive help.

Also, if you need help recognizing or understanding the purpose of a particular screen object in

SiteSpinner™, you may click the Help button on the Preview Bar: , and then click the screen element in question. Or, press the SHIFT+F1 keyboard shortcut. A popup window will open displaying the HTML help topic associated with the screen element. This is sometimes referred to as “What’s This?” help.

Tutorials

To help get you up and running using SiteSpinner™, check out the tutorial web pages available in the Tutorials folder in the SiteSpinner™ installation directory (…\Program Files\Virtual Mechanics\SiteSpinner V2\tutorials). You can access these tutorials by selecting Help��Tutorials��Introduction or Help��Tutorials��Tutorials.

Additional tutorials are posted from time to time on the Virtual Mechanics web site (www.virtualmechanics.com/support/tutorials.html). Check frequently for updates!



Tip of the Day

Each time you open SiteSpinner™, you will be greeted by the “Tip of the Day” message box. After you have absorbed its timesaving hint, you can either click the Close button to get to work, or you can click the Next Tip button to view another nugget of helpful information (not all of it having to do with SiteSpinner™ or even web page design!).

If you have an active Internet connection, you can click the User Forums button to open a web browser and connect to the Virtual Mechanics User Forum. There you can exchange helpful hints and ideas with others in the SiteSpinner™ user community.

When the message on the “Tip of the Day” is starting to repeat itself, or if it is in the way when you want to start working, click to un-checkmark the Display Tips on Startup option box, and then click the Close button. The “Tip of the Day” message box will no longer appear when you start SiteSpinner™.

Figure 1. The “Tip of the Day” helps you learn how to get the most out of SiteSpinner™.

Tooltips

As with many Windows® applications, SiteSpinner’s controls offer “tooltips.” When you rest your mouse pointer over a control, the tooltip tells you what the control does.

Figure 2. Resting your mouse pointer over a toolbar button shows the button’s tooltip.

When you rest your mouse pointer over a control, a description of the control also appears in the Status Bar at the bottom left of the SiteSpinner™ screen.



Help on the Internet

You can find a wealth of helpful information in the form of online technical support, tutorials, and user forums, on the Virtual Mechanics web site.

User Forums

Share information, tips, workarounds, and other related tidbits with your fellow SiteSpinner™ users in the free, online Virtual Mechanics User Forums (www.virtualmechanics.com/support/newsgroup.html). The forums are moderated by Virtual Mechanics’ crack team of technical support mavens and are a great place to learn new things about SiteSpinner™.

Connect from SiteSpinner™ by selecting Help��User Forums from the menu bar. You must have an active Internet connection to view the User Forums page.

Online Support

If you are having trouble with the application and cannot find the help you need from either the SiteSpinner™ User Guide or the User Forums, you can connect with a technical support representative on the Virtual Mechanics Online Support web page (www.virtualmechanics.com/support/index.html). You can post a description of your problem, and a technical support representative will respond with an online reply. The Online Support web page also offers an FAQ section, which has answers to the most common problems.

Connect from SiteSpinner™ by selecting Help��Online Support from the menu bar. You must have an active Internet connection to view the Online Support page.

If you are a registered SiteSpinner™ user, you may fill out an online contact form to request a technical support representative to contact you personally via email. You must provide your product serial number and registration code.

Chapter 2: Introducing SiteSpinner™

This section acquaints you with the basics of the

SiteSpinner™ Work Window, the various menu and

toolbar options, and different program settings you can

use to make your work faster and more efficient.

Overview of SiteSpinner 19

Work Window 20

Layout Tools 21

Menus 23

Toolbars 37

Keyboard Shortcuts 52

Program Options 57

Introducing SiteSpinner™


Overview of SiteSpinner™

SiteSpinner™ is the easiest-to-use yet most extensive web design application on the market. Using SiteSpinner™, you can create sophisticated HTML and SVG content for publication on the web. The program features a WYSIWYG (“What You See Is What You Get”), drag-and-drop, intuitive interface that is ideal for the novice user yet provides complete publishing and content management components that are demanded by the professional.

SiteSpinner™ is so easy to use and learn that we invite you to simply jump right in and begin designing your web site immediately. We believe you will see at a glance how to accomplish the basic tasks needed to build a visually rich web site. Indeed, the easiest way to learn how to use SiteSpinner™ is by doing. Add images, text, headlines, and multimedia directly to your project page. Reposition, resize, and change the appearance of any element right on the computer screen. Absolutely no knowledge of complicated code is necessary to create the web site you or your organization has always wanted.

If you do get confused about how to do something or don’t know what a certain control does, refer to the handy SiteSpinner™ User Guide. You will find all the answers to your questions presented in an easy-to-understand, plain English. No technical jargon.



Work Window

The SiteSpinner™ Work Window is the central workspace for building your web site and developing web content. The Work Window is a surface upon which you may place and position objects (such as text, images, titles, etc.) used to create web pages. For more information about pages, see “Chapter 4: Pages.”

The Work Window appears whenever you launch SiteSpinner™. A blank page will display inside the Work Window if you launch SiteSpinner™ from the start menu or a desktop shortcut. If you open an existing SiteSpinner™ project or template file (*.ims file), the Work

Window will appear displaying the page that was open when you last saved the project file. For more information about SiteSpinner files, see “Overview of Projects.”

The Work Window offers several aids to help you position objects more precisely on the page. Among them are the X and Y axis Rulers, a Guide Border, a Grid Guide, and a Tab Guide. For more information about these aids, see “Layout Tools.”

You may also modify or manipulate objects using the various commands and controls available in the menu bar, located at the top of the Work Window, and various toolbars, located by default at the top, at the bottom, and to the left of the Work Window. For more information, see “Menus” and “Toolbars.”

Figure 3 below shows the SiteSpinner™ Work Window and its various elements.

Figure 3. Create or edit each page in your project in the central workspace known as the Work Window.

Work Window Editing Space

You can change the amount of space available in the Work Window using the Editor Work

Space Size option in the Project Target Options dialog box. The Width field sets how much horizontal space is available in the Work Window, and the Height field determines how much vertical space. The default setting is 2047 x 6143.

Increasing the values in these fields will consume more system resources on your computer. For more information, see “Project Target Options Dialog Box.”



Layout Tools

The Work Window offers numerous tools and aids for positioning objects and laying out your web page. Among them are the Target Resolution Guide Border, Rulers, the Grid Guide, Tab Guides, and the Status Bar.

In this section, we will introduce you to these tools. However, you can find a more in-depth discussion about layout techniques in “Page Layout” in Chapter 4.

Target Resolution Guide Border

The Target Resolution Guide Border gives you a visual reference of the outer boundaries of your users’ display resolution. It is visible in the Work Window as a blue, dashed-border box. (See Figure 3 on page 20.)

You can use the Target Resolution Guide Border to help determine what portions of your web page will probably be viewable at the target resolution. You can use it as a guide when laying out your pages or as reference when designing centered or dynamic layouts.

In the Project Target Options dialog box, you can set the pixel dimensions of the Target Resolution Guide Border to one of three common settings: 640 x 480, 800 x 600, or 1024 x 768, or you may set a custom resolution. For more information, see “Project Target Options Dialog Box.”

You can toggle the Target Resolution Guide Border off or on by selecting View��Guide

Border, or by pressing the CTRL+B keyboard shortcut. Or, you can select/deselect the Target Resolution Guide option box on the Guide/Display Options dialog box. (For more information, see “Guide/Display Options Dialog Box.”)

Rulers

Along the top and left (X and Y) edges of the Work Window are the Rulers, calibrated in pixels. (See Figure 3 on page 20.) As you move your mouse pointer around the Work

Window, note that its position is tracked on both the X and Y Rulers. You can use this feature to help you position objects in precise locations on your page.

You may also click at any increment along a Ruler to set a tab stop at that precise pixel position. You can click and drag a tab stop to move it to another position on the Ruler, or you may drag it off the Ruler entirely to remove it. Each Ruler may contain up to 32 tab stops. (For more information, see “Tab Guides.”)

You can toggle the Rulers off or on by selecting View��Ruler.



Grid Guide

The Grid Guide is a screen pattern in the background of the Work Window. (It is never visible in your published project.) It offers a visual reference for placing objects on the page and helps you align them vertically and horizontally. (See Figure 3 on page 20.)

The default size of each box in the Grid Guide is 10 square pixels. However, you may change this setting in the Guide/Display Options dialog box. (For more information, see “Guide/Display Options Dialog Box.”)

You can toggle the Grid Guide off or on by selecting View��Display Grid Guide, or by pressing the CTRL+G keyboard shortcut. Or, you can select/deselect the Display Grid Guide option box on the Guide/Display Options dialog box. (For more information, see “Guide/Display Options Dialog Box.”)

You can also use the Snap Grid function to help align objects by restricting their movement to specified incremental values in the Grid Guide. For more information, see “Snap Grid.”

Tab Guides

When you set a tab stop in either the X or Y ruler, it creates a vertical or horizontal dotted green line in the Work Window at the pixel location of the tab stop. These lines are known as Tab Guides. (See Figure 3 on page 20.)

You can use Tab Guides to help make alignment of objects precise and easy. You can use them to align objects along their left, right, top, or bottom edges or their centers.

You can toggle the Tab Guides off or on by selecting View��Display Tab Guides, or by selecting/deselecting the Display Tab Guides option box on the Guide/Display Options dialog box. (For more information, see “Guide/Display Options Dialog Box.”)

Status Bar

At the bottom edge of the SiteSpinner™ program window is the Status Bar. The Status Bar displays program-specific and/or context-sensitive information.

When you hover your mouse pointer over a toolbar control, the left side of the Status Bar displays a description of the control; otherwise, it offers version information about your installation of SiteSpinner™. As you move your mouse pointer around the Work Window, the Status Bar displays its X and Y coordinates. Select an object in the Work Window, and the Status Bar will display the type of object and its name in the current project. The Status Bar also indicates the name of the page currently open in the Work Window.



Menus

Using options from the various menus available in the menu bar at the top of the SiteSpinner™ Work Window, you can do the following:

• Establish project settings

• Change page properties

• Modify objects

• Preview and publish your web

• Alter the behavior of SiteSpinner

• Get help

• Accomplish many other maintenance and performance tasks

Many of the options available from the menus are also available in the various toolbars. For more information about toolbar options, see “Toolbars.”

File Menu

The File menu offers the following options:

Menu Option Description

New Project Creates a new project file (*.ims). If a project is already open in the Work Window, SiteSpinner™ will ask if you want to save it before opening a new, unnamed project file. For more information, see “Opening a New Project.”

Open Project Opens an existing project file (*.ims ). Browse for a project to open using the Open Project dialog box. For more information, see “Opening an Existing Project.”

Append Project Appends a project file to the current project. Browse for a project to open using the Open Project dialog box. For more information, see “Combining Multiple Projects.”

Open Template Opens a project template you can use to help you get started building your own project. Browse for a template to open using the Open Template dialog box. For more information, see “Project Templates.”

Save Saves the active project. For more information, see “Save Current Document As Dialog Box.”




Save As Allows you to change the name and directory location of an active project file before saving it. (For more information, see “Save Current Document As Dialog Box.”)

Publish Project Opens the Publisher dialog box to convert your finished project to HTML or SVG and upload your web to your chosen web host. For more information, see “Publishing Projects.”

Display Code Opens the Code window to the right of the Work Window to display generated HTML or SVG. For more information, see “Project Code.”

[Recent Projects] Displays a list of the most recently opened SiteSpinner™ project files from which you may select to open. You can modify this list. For more information, see “Guide/Display Options Dialog Box.”

Exit Exits SiteSpinner™.

Edit Menu

The Edit menu offers the following options:

Menu Option Submenu Option Description

Undo Reverses previous editing operation.

Redo Not available when an edit operation on an object has not been undone. Reapplies an edit operation that has just been undone.

Cut Removes a selected object from the current page and stores it in temporary memory. This option will remove the object from only the current page and will not affect the object on any other pages onto which it has been included. For more information, see “Cut Object.”

Copy Copies an object from the project to the clipboard. For more information, see “Copy Object.”

Delete Removes a selected object from all pages in the project. For more information, see “Delete Object.”




Paste Copy Inserts a cut or copied object onto the current page. You may also paste objects copied from other applications, such as text or images. Objects in the clipboard can also be Cloned or Included into the current page. For more information, see “Paste Object.”

Paste Clone Inserts a cut or copied component-dependent object onto the current page. Then, changes to a component of the pasted clone object will affect all other objects that use the same component. For more information, see “Clone Object.”

Include on this Page

Inserts an object or objects selected on another page onto the current page. For more information, see “Include Object.”

Include on All Pages

Inserts a selected object or objects on all pages of the project. For more information, see “Include Object.”

Include

Include on With an object or objects selected, opens the Page Selection – Include dialog box to set the pages on which to insert the selected object(s). For more information, see “Include Object.”

Select All Selects all objects on the current page. For more information, see “Select Object.”

Lock All Prevents all objects on the current page from being transformed or moved. For more information, see “Lock/Unlock Object.”

Unlock All Allows all objects on the current page to be transformed or moved. . For more information, see “Lock/Unlock Object.”

Clean Components

Removes all unused objects and components from the project. For more information, see “Clean Components.”



Page Menu

The Page menu offers the following options:


Page Editor Opens the Page Editor dialog box to modify page properties. For more information, see “Page Editor Dialog Box.”

Add New Page Inserts a new, blank page at the end of your project. For more information, see ”New Pages.”

Cut Page Removes the current page from the project and copies it to the clipboard. For more information, see “Cut Page.”

Copy Page Duplicates the current page and copies it to the clipboard. For more information, see “Copy Page.”

Paste Page Inserts a cut or copied page after the current last page in the project. A copied page will copy objects from the original page according to their target copy option. Use the Object Editor dialog box to set an object’s target copy option. For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box” and “Target Copy Options.”

Zoom In/Out Select to enable or disable the Zoom tool. With the Zoom tool enabled, you can repeatedly click the left mouse button to increasingly magnify the view of the Work Window at the current mouse position. Or, you can repeatedly click the right mouse button to increasingly de-magnify the view of the Work Window at the current mouse position. With the Zoom tool de-selected, the view of the Work Window remains at its current magnification.

You can also zoom in or zoom out by clicking the mouse wheel and then rolling the wheel forward to zoom in or backward to zoom out.

Normal View Select to disable the Zoom tool (if enabled) and to restore the view of the Work Window to its default magnification.

Background Open the Background Tab of the Page Editor dialog box to set the background properties of the current page or all pages in the project. For more information, see “Background.”

Music Open the Music Tab of the Page Editor dialog box to select a sound file to be played when current page or al pages of the project are loaded in a web browser. For more information, see “Music.”



Object Menu

The Object menu offers the following options:


Select Select to activate the Page Layout operation, allowing you to perform simple object movement and scaling. For more information, see “Move Object.”

Rotate Select to activate the Object Edit operation, allowing you move, scale, skew, and rotate an object. For more information, see “Transform Object.”

Resize Select to activate the Edit Vertices operation, allowing you to set points in polygon and curve objects and create intricate shapes. For more information, see “Vertex Editor Dialog Box.”

Lock/Unlock Select to prohibit or allow changes to a selected object’s transformation. For more information, see “Lock/Unlock Object.”

Shapes Rectangle Select to add a rectangle object. For more information, see “Rectangle Objects.”

Ellipse Select to add an ellipse object. For more information, see “Ellipse Objects.”

Horizontal Line Select to add a horizontal line object. For more information, see “Line Objects (Horizontal and Vertical).”

Vertical Line Select to add a vertical line object. For more information, see “Line Objects (Horizontal and Vertical).”

Triangle Select to add a triangle object. For more information, see “Triangle Objects.”

Star Select to add a star object. For more information, see “Star Objects.”




Polygon Select to begin drawing a polygon object. For more information, see “Polygon Objects.”

Spline Select to begin drawing a curve object. For more information, see “Curve Objects.”

Image Select to display the Open dialog box to browse for image files to insert as an object onto the current page. For more “Image Objects.”

Text Select to open the Text Editor dialog box in Text Edit Mode to create text as an object onto the current page. For more information, see “Text Objects.”

Title Select to open the Title Editor dialog box to create a title as an object on the current page. For more information, see “Title Objects.”

Code Select to open the Text Editor dialog box in Code Edit Mode to create or load code as an object onto the current page. For more information, see “Code Objects.”

Table Select to add a table object. For more information, see “Table Objects.”

Import Foreign Object

Select to open the Foreign Object/Media dialog box to insert files, plug-ins, HTML IFrames, SVG files frames, Macromedia® Flash® files, or other multimedia files as an object onto the current page. For more information, see “Foreign Objects.”

Forms Button Select to create a new button form object. For more information, see “Button.”

Check Box Select to create a new checkbox form object. For more information, see “Checkbox.”




Radio Button Select to create a new radio button form object. For more information, see “Radio Button.”

Text Box Select to create a new text box form object. For more information, see “Text Box.”

Image Select to create a new image form object. For more information, see “Image.”

File Upload Box Select to create a new file upload form object. For more information, see “File Upload.”

Text Area Select to create a new text area form object. For more information, see “Text Area.”

Selection List Select to create a new dropdown list form object. For more information, see “Selection List.”

Edit Form Item With a form object selected, select to open the Form Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Form Editor Dialog Box.”

Forms Toolbar Select to show or hide the Forms bar. For more information, see “Forms Bar.”

Quick Property Editor

Select to open the Quick Properties Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Quick Properties Editor Dialog Box.”

Object Editor Select to open the Object Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box.”

Show Vertex Editor

Select to enable or disable the display of theVertex Editor dialog box when editing vector drawing objects, such as a curve or polygon. For more information, see “Vertex Editor Dialog Box.”




Geometry Editor Select to open the Geometry Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Geometry Editor Dialog Box.”

Shading Editor Select to open the Shading Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Shading Editor Dialog Box.”

Arrange Menu

The Arrange menu offers the following options:


Left Aligns the left edge of a selected object or objects with the nearest tab position to the left or with the left edge of the Work Window. For more information, see “Alignment.”

Center Horizontal Aligns the center of a selected object or objects laterally with the tab position nearest the center of the page or with the center of the page. For more information, see “Alignment.”

Right Aligns the right edge of a selected object or objects with the nearest tab position to the right or with the right edge of the Work Window. For more information, see “Alignment.”

Top Aligns the top edge of a selected object or objects with the nearest tab position above or with the top edge of the Work Window. For more information, see “Alignment.”

Center Vertical Aligns the center of a selected object or objects up or down with the tab position nearest the center of the page or with the center of the page. For more information, see “Alignment.”

Align

Bottom Aligns the bottom edge of a selected object or objects with the nearest tab position below or with the bottom edge of the Work Window. For more information, see “Alignment.”




To Front Layers a selected object in front of all other objects. For more information, see “Z Order (Layers).”

To Back Layers a selected object behind all other objects. . For more information, see “Z Order (Layers)”

Forward Moves a selected object up one layer. . For more information, see “Z Order (Layers)”

Order

Back Moves a selected object down one layer. . For more information, see “Z Order (Layers).”

Group With multiple objects selected as a temporary group, converts them into a permanent group object. For more information, see “Group Objects.”

Ungroup With a permanent group object selected, breaks the permanent group object into individual objects. For more information, see “Group Objects.”

Across With a minimum of three objects selected, spaces their centers horizontally, relative to the centers of the left- and rightmost objects. For more information, see “Spacing.”

Space

Up/Down With a minimum of three objects selected, spaces their centers vertically, relative to the centers of the top- and bottommost objects. For more information, see “Spacing.”

Width With multiple objects selected, resizes them to the same width in pixels as the first selected object. For more information, see “Resizing.”

Size

Height With multiple objects selected, resizes them to the same height in pixels as the first selected object. For more information, see “Resizing.”




Both With multiple objects selected resizes them to the same height and width in pixels as the first selected object. For more information, see “Resizing.”

Publish Menu

The Publish menu offers the following options:


Publish Project Opens the Publisher dialog box to convert your finished project to HTML or SVG and upload your web to your chosen web host to a folder on your system. For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”

Display Code Opens the Code window to the right of the Work Window to display generated HTML or SVG. For more information, see “Project Code.”

Preview HTML Page

Opens your system’s default web browser window to preview the current page in HTML. For more information, see “Project Preview.”

Preview HTML Project

Opens your system’s default web browser window to preview all pages in your project in HTML. . For more information, see “Project Preview.”

Preview SVG Page Opens your system’s default web browser window to preview the current page in SVG. . For more information, see “Project Preview.”

Preview SVG Project

Opens your system’s default web browser window to preview all pages in your project in SVG. . For more information, see “Project Preview.”

Special FX Menu

The Special FX menu offers the following options:


Loading Hide While Loading

With an object selected in the Work Window, select to hide the object while the page is loading in the browser window. For more information, see “Special FX.”




Hide After Loading With an object selected in the Work Window, select to hide the object after the page has finished loading in the browser window. For more information, see “Special FX.”

Hide on Mouse Over

With an object selected in the Work Window, select to hide the object when the user rolls the mouse pointer over it. For more information, see “Special FX.”

Mouse Over

Hide on Mouse Leave

With an object selected in the Work Window, select to hide the object when the user rolls the mouse pointer away from it. For more information, see “Special FX.”

Mouse Effects Click to open the Mouse Trigger Effects dialog box, allowing you to set up triggered mouse effects. For more information, see “Mouse Trigger Effect Dialog Box.”

View Menu

The View menu offers the following options:


Toolbar Options Opens the Toolbar Options dialog box to customize SiteSpinner™ toolbars. For more information, see “Toolbar Options Dialog Box.”

File Bar Select to show or hide the File bar. For more information, see “File Bar.”

Status Bar Select to show or hide the Status Bar. For more information, see “Status Bar.”

Quick Properties Editor

Opens the Properties dialog box associated with a selected object. Or, with no object selected, opens the Properties dialog box to select any object in the project to edit. For more information, see “Quick Properties Editor Dialog Box.”

Components (Tools) Bar

Select to show or hide the Components bar. For more information, see “Components Bar.”

Page Bar Select to show or hide the Page bar. For more information, see “Page Bar.”




Object Bar Select to show or hide the Object bar. For more information, see “Object Bar.”

Arrange Bar Select to show or hide the Align bar. For more information, see “Align Bar.”

Preview Bar Select to show or hide the Preview bar. For more information, see “Preview Bar.”

Ruler Select to show or hide the Rulers. For more information, see “Rulers.”

Guide Border Select to show or hide the Guide Border. For more information, see “Target Resolution Guide Border.”

Display Grid Guide Select to show or hide the Grid Guide. For more information, see “Grid Guide.”

Enable Snap Grid Select to toggle on or off the Snap Grid. For more information, see “Grid Guide.”

Display Tab Guides Select to show or hide the Tab Guides. For more information, see “Tab Guides.”

Clear all Tabs Clears all tab settings from the Rulers and Tab Guides in the Work Window. For more information, see “Tab Guides.”

Options Menu

The Options menu offers the following options for various workspace settings:


Guide/Display Options

Opens the Guide/Display Options dialog box to choose various Work Window tool settings and options. For more information, see “Guide/Display Options Dialog Box.”

Project Options Opens the Project Target Options dialog box to set options for your published project. For more information, see “Project Target Options Dialog Box.”

Edit Link Library Opens the Link Manager dialog box to import, export, and manage hyperlink libraries. For more information, see “Link Manager Dialog Box.”

Save Link Library Select to save the contents of the hyperlink library when exited. For more information, see “Link Manager Dialog Box.”

High Render Work Window

Select to display the effects of anti-aliasing and color enhancement in the Work Window. For more information, see “High Render.”



Help Menu

The Help menu provides the following options:


Help Topics Opens SiteSpinner™ online help. For more information, see “SiteSpinner™ Online Help.”

Introduction Opens the SiteSpinner™ introduction project, spininto.ims, in the Work Window. For more information, see “Tutorials.”

Tutorials

Tutorials Opens the SiteSpinner™ tutorial project (spintut.ims ) in the Work Window. For more information, see “Tutorials.”

Tip of the Day Opens the Tip of the Day dialog box. For more information, see “Tip of the Day.”

Enable all Popup Tips

Select to toggle on or off SiteSpinner™ popup tips. For more information, see “Tip of the Day.”

User Forums Select to open the Virtual Mechanics technical support user forums search page in your default web browser. You must be connected to the Internet to load the user forums page. For more information, see “User Forums.”

Online Support Select to open the Virtual Mechanics online support page in your default web browser. You must be connected to the Internet to load the online support page. For more information, see “Online Support.”

Purchase Not available in fully licensed version of SiteSpinner™. Opens the Product Registration dialog box to enter your SiteSpinner™ online purchase page.

Check for Updates Select to open the Virtual Mechanics application update page in your default web browser. You must be connected to the Internet to load the update page.




Virtual Mechanics Home

Select to open the Virtual Mechanics web site home page in your default web browser. You must be connected to the Internet to load the Virtual Mechanics home page.

About Opens a message box containing licensing and version information about your installation of SiteSpinner™. Click to close the message box.



Toolbars

You can use tools available from the toolbars to help you work with your pages, page content, and overall web project. SiteSpinner™ toolbars include the following:

• File Bar

• Components Bar

• Preview Bar

• Page Bar

• Align Bar

• Object Bar

• Forms Bar

Although many are identical to the options available from the menu bar menus, the tools in the toolbars are designed to be handy when you are working directly with objects and other page elements. Use the undocking feature to move toolbars to the part of the page you are currently working on.

You can undock a toolbar from its current position in the Work Window by clicking its handle to select the toolbar and then dragging the toolbar to another position in the Work Window. When you release the mouse after undocking a toolbar, its handle disappears. So, if you want to move it again, click and drag the caption bar or right-click on the caption bar and select Move. The mouse pointer will change to a crosshairs, which you can use to move the toolbar again. For more information, see “Moving (Undocking) a Toolbar.”

To dock the toolbar, click its handle and drag it to the top, bottom, or left edge of the Work

Window. As the toolbar approaches the edge of the window, release it, and it will automatically dock. (You may prevent the toolbar from docking by pressing the CTRL key while dragging.)

You may also choose to hide or unhide a toolbar or set its size to either normal or large. For more information, see “Hiding a Toolbar.”

The locations of all toolbars are saved to the system when you exit SiteSpinner™. They will reappear in their saved locations when you restart the program.

As with many Windows® applications, SiteSpinner’s toolbar buttons offer “tooltips.” When you rest your mouse pointer over a toolbar button, the tooltip tells you what the button does.



Figure 4. Resting your mouse pointer over a toolbar button shows the button’s tooltip.

Toolbar Options Dialog Box

You can use the Toolbar Options dialog box (right-click a toolbar or select View��Toolbar

Options…) to choose which tools will appear in a toolbar, to a hide or unhide a toolbar, or to change the size of a toolbar between normal and large. (Using a large toolbar may be helpful when you are working at a high display resolution.)

The customizations, sizes, and hidden/unhidden states of all toolbars are saved to the system when you exit SiteSpinner™. They will reappear with their saved properties when you restart the program.

Figure 5. Use the Toolbar Options dialog box to customize SiteSpinner’s toolbars.

Controls on the Toolbar Options dialog box include the following:

Field/Control Description

Customize Click the button to the left of a selected toolbar name to open the Customize Toolbar dialog box, which you may use to choose which toolbar buttons will appear in the selected toolbar.

Show Toolbar Click to un-checkmark the option box to the left of a selected toolbar name to hide the toolbar in the Work Window. Click to checkmark the option box to unhide the toolbar.




Use Large Bar Click to checkmark the option box to the right of a selected toolbar name to enlarge the display of the toolbar in the Work Window. Click to un-checkmark the option box to display the selected toolbar sized normally.

OK Click to accept the current settings and exit the dialog box.

Close Click to accept the current settings and exit the dialog box.

Help Click to open a context-sensitive help topic.

Moving (Undocking) a Toolbar

1. Locate the toolbar you want to move (undock) in the Work Window.

2. Click the toolbar’s handle.

Figure 6. Undock (move) a toolbar by dragging it by its handle to a new position in the Work Window.

3. While pressing the mouse button on the toolbar’s handle, drag the toolbar to a different position in the Work Window.

4. When the toolbar is at the desired location, release the mouse button.

Hiding a Toolbar

1. Right-click the mouse on any toolbar in the Work Window.

The Toolbar Options dialog box will open.

2. Locate the toolbar you want to hide in the Show Toolbar list.

3. Click to un-checkmark the option box associated with the toolbar you want to hide.

4. Click OK. The toolbar will be hidden in the Work Window.

Resizing a Toolbar



2. Locate the toolbar you want to resize in the Show Toolbar list.

3. Click to checkmark the option box in the Use Large Bar list that is associated with the toolbar you want to hide.



4. Click OK. The toolbar will appear larger in the Work Window.

Customize Toolbar Dialog Box

Click the Customize button to the left of a toolbar name in the Toolbar Options dialog box (right-click a toolbar or View��Toolbar Options…) to open the Customize Toolbar dialog box.

Use the Customize Toolbar dialog box to choose which toolbar buttons will appear in the selected toolbar.

Figure 7. Add or remove buttons from a toolbar using the Customize Toolbar dialog box.

Controls on the Customize Tools dialog box include the following:


Available toolbar buttons

Displays toolbar buttons available to be added to the selected toolbar.

Displayed with the toolbar buttons is a Separator object, which you may

use to differentiate groups of buttons on the toolbar.

Add�� Click the button to move a highlighted toolbar button from the Available toolbar buttons list to the Current toolbar buttons list.

Remove Click the button to move a highlighted toolbar button from the Current toolbar buttons list to the Available toolbar buttons list.

Current toolbar buttons

Displays toolbar buttons currently available and in the order they appear (left to right) in the selected toolbar.

Close Click to accept the current settings and exit the dialog box.




Reset Click to restore the selected toolbar to its default selection of toolbar buttons.

If you cannot find an undocked or floating toolbar on your screen, click the Reset button to bring it back into view.


Move Up With a toolbar button highlighted in the Current toolbar buttons list, click to move the button up one position in the list. This will have the effect of moving the button one position to the left on the selected toolbar.

Move Down With a toolbar button highlighted in the Current toolbar buttons list, click to move the button up down position in the list. This will have the effect of moving the button one position to the right on the selected toolbar

Customizing a Toolbar



2. Locate the toolbar you want to hide in the Show Toolbar list.

3. Click the Customize button that is associated with the toolbar you want to customize.

The Customize Toolbar dialog box will open.

Click to select a button option in the Available Toolbar Buttons box that you want to add to the toolbar, and then click the Add button to move it to the Current Toolbar Buttons box

OR

Click to select a button option in the Current Toolbar Buttons box that you want to remove from the toolbar, and then click the Remove button to move it to the Available Toolbar Buttons box.

4. Repeat step 3 to customize additional buttons.

5. When you are finished, click OK. The Customize Toolbar dialog box will close.

6. Click OK to close the Toolbar Options dialog box. The toolbar will appear with your customizations in the Work Window.



File Bar

The File Bar by default is located along the top edge of the Work Window. Use the File Bar buttons to load and save your projects, to cut, paste, or delete, or objects on the page, or to control the appearance of the Work Window.

Controls on the File Bar include the following:

Control Description

New Project – Click to create a new project file (*.ims). If a project is already open in the Work Window, SiteSpinner™ will ask if you want to save it before opening a new, unnamed project file. For more information, see “Opening a New Project.”

Open Project – Click to open an existing project file (*.ims ). Browse for a project to open using the Open Project dialog box. (For more information, see “Opening an Existing Project”)

Save – Click to save the active project file with its current name and to its current location on your system. When you use the Save option for the first time, the Save Current Document As dialog box appears to allow you to name your project file, choose a directory location for your saved file, and set other project file options. (For more information, see “Saving Projects”)

Cut Object – Removes a selected object from the page and stores it in temporary memory. It will remain there until it is either pasted or cloned, or until another object is either cut or copied. For more information, see “Cut Object.”

Copy Object – Click to create a duplicate of a selected object. Once you have copied an object, you can Paste, Clone, or Include it onto any page in the project. For more information, see “Copy Object.”

Paste Object – Click to insert a cut or copied object onto the current page. You may also paste objects copied from other applications, such as text or images. Objects in the clipboard can also be Cloned or Included into the current page. For more information, see “Paste Object.”

Paste Clone Object – Click to insert a cut or copied component-dependent object onto the current page. Then, changes to a component of the pasted clone object will affect all other objects that use the same component. For more information, see “Clone Object.”



Control Description

Guide Border – Click to toggle off and on the project’s Target Resolution Guide Border in the Work Window. By default a project’s display resolution setting is 800 x 600 pixels. (For more information, see “Target Resolution Guide Border.”)

Grid Guide – Click to toggle off and on the Grid Guide in the Work Window. The Grid Guide can help you position objects vertically and horizontally. For more information, see “Grid Guide.”

Snap Grid – Click to toggle off and on the Snap Grid. The Snap Grid can help you align objects and vertices in the Work Window by restricting the movement of objects to specific increments. When the Snap Grid is enabled, the default increment of movement up or down is 10 pixels. (For more information, see “Snap Grid.”)

Ruler Bar – Click to toggle off and on the X and Y axis Rulers in the Work Window. Rulers are calibrated in pixels and display the current mouse position and tab stops. (For more information, see “Rulers.”)

Zoom – Click to enable or disable the Zoom tool. With the Zoom tool enabled, you can repeatedly click the left mouse button to increasingly magnify the view of the Work Window at the current mouse position. Or, you can repeatedly click the right mouse button to increasingly demagnify the view of the Work Window at the current mouse position. With the Zoom tool de-selected, the view of the Work Window remains at is current magnification.

Restore Normal View – Click to disable the Zoom tool (if enabled) and to restore the view of the Work Window to its default magnification.

Delete Object – This button is hidden by default. Click to remove a selected object from all pages in the project. Use the Cut option to remove an object from only the current page. For more information, see “Delete Object.”

Undo – This button is hidden by default. Click once to reverse the last edit operation on a selected object.

Redo – This button is hidden by default and is not available when an edit operation on an object has not been undone. Click to reapply an edit operation that has just been undone.



Components Bar

The Components Bar by default is located on the left side of the Work Window, and the buttons appear in Large Size. (You may change these settings, if you wish. See “Moving (Undocking) a Toolbar” and “Resizing a Toolbar” for more information.)

Use the buttons in the Components Bar to create and edit objects and their components, such as geometry and shading. You may also edit page properties.

Controls on the Components Bar include the following:

Control Description

Object Edit – Click to perform advanced moving, stretching, rotation, skew, and origin placement operations. The Object Edit button provides full interactive editing of objects but is less convenient than the Page Layout button for simple object placement and scaling. For more information, see “Transform Object.”

Page Layout – Click to move and scale a selected object in the Work Window using your mouse. For more information, see “Move Object.”

Edit Vertices – With an object selected, click to perform vertex editing. For more information, see “Vertex Editor Dialog Box.”

Lock Object – Click to lock or unlock a selected object’s transformation matrix. For more information, see “Lock/Unlock Object.”

Rectangle – Click to create a new rectangle object. For more information, see “Rectangle Objects.”

Ellipse – Click to create a new ellipse object. For more information, see “Ellipse Objects.”

Polygon – Click to create a new polygon object. For more information, see “Polygon Objects.”

Curve – Click to create a new curve object. For more information, see “Curve Objects.”

Title – Click to open the Title Editor dialog box to create a title as an object on the current page. For more information, see “Title Objects.”

Picture – Click to display the Open dialog box to browse for image files to insert as an object onto the current page. For more information, see “Image Objects.”



Control Description

Code Text – Click to open the Text Editor dialog box in Code Edit Mode to create or load code as an object onto the current page. For more information, see “Code Objects.”

Formatted Text – Click to open the Text Editor dialog box in Text Edit Mode to create text as an object onto the current page. For more information, see “Text Objects.”

Import Foreign Object – Click to open the Foreign Object/Media dialog box to insert files, plug-ins, Java applets, HTML IFrames, SVG files, Macromedia® Flash® files, or other multimedia files as an object onto the current page. For more information, see “Foreign Objects.”

Table – Click to create a new table object. For more information, see “Table Objects.”

Page Editor – Click to open the Page Editor dialog box to modify page properties. For more information, see “Page Editor Dialog Box.”

Quick Properties Editor – With an object selected, click to open the Quick Properties Editor dialog box associated with the selected object. Or, with no object selected, click to open the Quick Properties Editor dialog box to select any object in the project to edit. For more information, see “Quick Properties Editor Dialog Box.”

Vertical Line – Click to create a new vertical line object. For more information, see “Line Objects (Horizontal and Vertical).”

Horizontal Line – Click to create a new horizontal line object. For more information, see “Line Objects (Horizontal and Vertical).”

Triangle – Click to create a new triangle object. For more information, see “Triangle Objects.”

Star – Click to create a new star object. For more information, see “Star Objects.”

Preview Bar

The Preview Bar by default is located along the top edge of the Work Window and to the right of the Page Bar. It offers tools to allow you to see the native code your project has generated, to preview your page or project in a web browser, and to publish and upload your project.

Controls on the Preview Bar include the following:



Control Description

Code Window – Click to open the Code View Window to the right of the Work Window to display generated HTML or SVG. For more information, see “Project Code.”

Publisher – Click to open the Publisher dialog box to convert your finished project to HTML or SVG and upload your web to your chosen web host or to a folder on your system. For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”

Preview Current Page – Click to open your system’s default web browser window to preview the current page in HTML or auto SVG. For more information, see “Project Preview.”

Preview All Pages – Click to open your system’s default web browser window to preview all pages in your project in HTML or auto SVG. For more information, see “Project Preview.”

Coding Language Selection – Select from the drop-down menu the coding language in which you would like to preview your page or project. For more information, see “Project Preview.”

Help – Click to activate “What’s This?” help. For more information, see “Context-Sensitive Help.”

Page Bar

The Page Bar by default is located along the top edge of the Work Window and to the right of the File Bar. Use these buttons to add, delete, move, edit, or navigate around the pages in your project.

Controls on the Page Bar include the following:

Control Description

Page Selection – Displays the name of the current page. Select from the combo box another project page to open in the Work Window. You may also change the name of the current page by typing a new page name in the combo box. For more information, see “Page Names.”

Add New Page – Click to insert a new, blank page at the end of your project. For more information, see “New Pages.”

Cut Page – Click to remove the current page from the project and copy it to the clipboard. For more information, see “Cut Page.”



Control Description

Copy Page – Click to duplicate the current page and copy it to the clipboard. For more information, see “Copy Page.”

Paste Page – Click to insert a cut or copied page from the clipboard. A copied page will copy objects from the original page according to their Copy option. Use the Object Editor dialog box to set an object’s copy option. For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box” and “Copy Page.”

Object Selection – Choose from the combo box an object on the current page to select. You may also change the name of the selected object by typing a new name in the combo box. For more information, see “Select Object” and “Object Names.”

Page Editor – This button is hidden by default. Click to open the Page Editor dialog box to modify page properties. For more information, see “Page Editor Dialog Box.”

Delete Page – This button is hidden by default. Click to remove the active page from the project. Use the Cut option to remove from the project the active page and only the objects on the active page. For more information, see “Delete Page.”

Page Background – This button is hidden by default. Click to open the Background Tab of the Page Editor dialog box to set the background properties of the current page or all pages in the project. For more information, see “Background.”

Previous Page – This button is hidden by default. Click to open the preceding page of the project in the Work Window. For more information, see “Page Navigation.”

Next Page – This button is hidden by default. Click to open the succeeding page of the project in the Work Window. For more information, see “Page Navigation.”

Previous Object – This button is hidden by default. Click to select the object preceding the currently selected object, as defined in the Object Selection combo box. For more information, see “Select Object.”

Next Object – This button is hidden by default. Click to select the object succeeding the currently selected object, as defined in the Object Selection combo box. For more information, see “Select Object.”



Align Bar

The Align Bar by default is located to the right of the Object Bar along the bottom edge of the Work Window. The Align Bar is used to group and resize objects and to help position them on the page.

Controls on the Align Bar include the following:

Control Description

Align Left Edge – Click to align the left edge of a selected object or objects with the nearest tab position to the left or with the left edge of the Work Window. For more information, see “Alignment.”

Horizontal Align Center – Click to align the center of a selected object or objects laterally with the tab position nearest the center of the page or with the center of the page. For more information, see “Alignment.”

Align Right Edge – Click to align the right edge of a selected object or objects with the nearest tab position to the right or with the right edge of the Work Window. For more information, see “Alignment.”

Align Top Edge – Click to align the top edge of a selected object or objects with the nearest tab position above or with the top edge of the Work Window. For more information, see “Alignment.”

Vertical Align Center – Click to align the center of a selected object or objects up or down with the tab position nearest the center of the page or with the center of the page. For more information, see “Alignment.”

Align Bottom Edge – Click to align the bottom edge of a selected object or objects with the nearest tab position below or with the bottom edge of the Work Window. For more information, see “Alignment.”

Relative Horizontal Positioning – With an object or objects selected, click to toggle on or off relative horizontal positioning. Relative Positioning buttons, when used, work with the alignment buttons (e.g., an object can be relative to the left, right or middle of the page). For more information, see “Positioning.”

Relative Vertical Positioning – With an object or objects selected, click to toggle on or off relative vertical positioning. For more information, see “Positioning.”



Control Description

Relative Horizontal Sizing – With an object or objects selected, click to toggle on or off relative horizontal sizing. For more information, see “Resizing.”

Relative Vertical Sizing – With an object or objects selected, click to toggle on or off relative vertical sizing. For more information, see “Resizing.”

To Front – Click to layer a selected object in front of all other objects. For more information, see “Z Order (Layers)”

Forward – Click to move a selected object up one layer. For more information, see “Z Order (Layers)”

Back – Click to move a selected object down one layer. For more information, see “Z Order (Layers)”

To Back – Click to layer a selected object inferior to all other objects. For more information, see “Z Order (Layers)”

Group – With multiple objects selected as a temporary group, click to convert them into a permanent group object. For more information, see “Group Objects.”

Ungroup – With a permanent group object selected, click to break the permanent group object into individual objects. For more information, see “Group Objects.”

Space Evenly Horizontally – With a minimum of three objects selected, click to evenly space their centers horizontally, relative to the centers of the left- and rightmost objects. For more information, see “Spacing.”

Space Evenly Vertically – With a minimum of three objects selected, click to evenly space their centers vertically, relative to the centers of the top- and bottommost objects. For more information, see “Spacing.”

Make Same Width – With multiple objects selected, click to resize them to the same width in pixels as the first selected object. For more information, see “Resizing.”

Make Same Height – With multiple objects selected, click to resize them to the same height in pixels as the first selected object. For more information, see “Resizing.”

Make Same Height and Width – With multiple objects selected, click to resize them to the same height and width in pixels as the first selected object. For more information, see “Resizing.”



Object Bar

The Object Bar by default is located along the bottom edge of the Work Window. It displays the selected object and its current components.

Controls on the Object Bar include the following:

Control Description

Object Editor – With an object selected, click to open the Object Editor dialog box to edit the selected object. Or, with no object selected, click to open the Object Editor dialog box and then select any object in the project to edit. For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box.”

Geometry Editor – With an object selected, click to open the Geometry Editor dialog box to edit the selected object. Or, with no object selected, click to open the Geometry

Editor dialog box and then select any object in the project to edit. For more information, see “Geometry Editor Dialog Box.”

Edit Shading – Click to open the Shading Editor dialog box to edit and create custom color shadings to apply to objects. For more information, see “Shading Editor Dialog Box.”

Forms Bar

The Forms Bar is located to the right of the Object Bar along the bottom edge of the Work

Window. The Forms Bar is used to add user-interactive inputs to the page.

The Forms Bar is hidden by default. To display the Forms Bar, select Object��Forms��Forms Toolbar or click to checkmark the Forms Bar option box on the

Toolbar Options dialog box. (For more information, see “Toolbar Options Dialog Box.”)

Controls on the Forms Bar include the following:

Control Description

Button – Click to create a new button input object. For more information, see “Button.”

Checkbox – Click to create a new checkbox input object. For more information, see “Checkbox.”

Radio Button – Click to create a new radio button input object. For more information, see “Radio Button.”

Image – Click to create a new image input object. For more information, see “Image.”

Selection List – Click to create a new dropdown list input object. For more information, see “Selection List.”



Control Description

Text Box – Click to create a new text box input object. For more information, see “Text Box.”

Text Area – Click to create a new text area input object. For more information, see “Text Area.”

File Upload Object – Click to create a new file upload input object. For more information, see “File Upload.”

Edit Form – With a form input object selected, click to open the Form Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Form Editor Dialog Box.”



Keyboard Shortcuts

To become a power user of SiteSpinner™, you can learn and memorize the keyboard shortcuts. They can save you valuable time as you’re working on a project.

As an aid to learning and remembering them, many keyboard shortcuts are displayed in the menus along with their associated commands.

Project-Level Shortcuts

Command/Function Keyboard Shortcut

New project CTRL+N

Open project CTRL+O

Save project CTRL+S

Save project as (make a copy of project) ALT+A

Preview Project as HTML F8

Preview Project as SVG F10

Publish project CTRL+P

Open online help F1

Open context-sensitive help SHIFT+F1

Page-Level Shortcuts


Open next page in project CTRL+ TAB

Open previous page in project CTRL+ TAB+SHIFT

Edit page properties ALT+P

Turn on/turn off Grid Guide CTRL+G

Turn on/Turn off Target Resolution Guide Border

CTRL+B

Turn on/Turn off Snap Grid CTRL+M

View Page Code (HTML or SVG) ALT+C

Preview Page as HTML F7




Preview Page as SVG F9

Zoom in view of page Click mouse wheel + roll mouse wheel forward

Zoom out view of page Click mouse wheel + roll mouse wheel backward

Object-Level Shortcuts

Object Editing Shortcuts

You may use these shortcuts only when related objects or components exist in the project. For example, to use the Text Editor shortcut (ALT+T) a text object must exist on the current page.


Edit properties of selected object ENTER

Open Text Editor ALT+T

Open Object Editor ALT+O

Open Quick Properties Editor ALT+Q or ALT+ENTER

Open Geometry Editor ALT+G

Open Shading Editor ALT+S

Object Selection Shortcuts


Select all objects on page CTRL + A

Select next object on page TAB

Select previous object on page SHIFT + TAB

Lock all objects on page CTRL + L

Unlock all objects on page CTRL + U

Add object to temporary group CTRL + mouse click on object

Copy selected object CTRL + C

Paste selected object CTRL + V

Paste selected object as clone SHIFT+CTRL +V




Include selected object on particular pages ALT+I

Include selected object on all pages SHIFT+CTRL+I

Object Movement and Transformation Shortcuts


Nudge selected object Left, Right, Up, or Down

Left arrow key, Right arrow key, Up arrow key, or Down arrow key

Move selected object to next nearest Vertical Tab Guide to the Left or Right (or to left or right Target Resolution Guide Border, if no tabs)

ALT+Left arrow key or ALT+Right arrow key

Move selected object to next nearest Horizontal Tab Guide Up or Down (or to top or bottom Target Resolution Guide Border, if no tabs)

ALT+Up arrow key or ALT+Down arrow key

Resize selected object larger with constrained proportions

SHIFT+CTRL+Up arrow key or SHIFT+CTRL+Right arrow key

Resize selected object smaller with constrained proportions

SHIFT+CTRL+Down arrow key or SHIFT+CTRL+Left arrow key

Resize selected object stretched taller SHIFT+Up arrow key

Resize selected object stretched fatter SHIFT+Right arrow key

Resize selected object shrunken shorter SHIFT+Down arrow key

Resize selected object shrunken thinner SHIFT+Left arrow key

Rotate selected object clockwise CTRL+Right arrow key or CTRL+Down arrow key

Rotate selected object counter-clockwise CTRL+Left arrow key or CTRL+Up arrow key

Reset rotation of selected object CTRL+Left arrow+Right arrow keys or CTRL+Up arrow+Down arrow keys

Constrain resizing proportions CTRL+mouse click and drag

Text Object Shortcuts





Open Text Editor ALT+T or ENTER (with Text Object selected)

Save and close Text Editor ALT+ENTER

Save to Text Editor CTRL+S

Cancel ESC

New Text Object CTRL+N

Open text or HTML file in Text Editor CTRL+O

Print CTRL+P

Undo CTRL+Z

Redo CTRL+Y

Delete selected text DEL

Cut CTRL+X

Copy CTRL+C

Paste CTRL+V

Paste as Plain Text CTRL+SHIFT+V

Select all text CTRL+A

Find text CTRL+F

Find next reference of text F3

Replace selected text with other text CTRL+H

Open Link Editor dialog box to hyperlink selected text

CTRL+I

Insert Date and Time in Text Editor using most-recently selected format.

CTRL+D

Geometry Drawing Shortcuts


End polygon drawing CTRL+mouse click

Nudge selected (red) point Up, Down, Right, or Left (in vertex editing mode)

Up arrow, Down arrow, Right arrow, or Left arrow

Insert a point INSERT




Delete selected (red) point DELETE



Program Options

You can personalize the SiteSpinner™ program as well as the Work Window to suit your working preferences using options on either the Guide/Display Options dialog box or the High Render operation.

Guide/Display Options Dialog Box

Use the Guide/Display Options dialog box to set various Work Window tool settings and options.

Figure 8. Establish various Work Window tool settings and options using the Guide/Display Options dialog box.

To open the Guide/Display Options dialog box, select Options��Guide/Display Options

from the Work Window menu bar. Or, click the button: located at the point between the vertical and horizontal Rulers in the upper left corner of the Work Window.

Controls on the Guide/Display Options dialog box include the following:





Display Target Resolution Guide

Click to checkmark to display the project’s target resolution guide border (displayed as a dotted blue line) in the Work Window. By default a project’s display resolution setting is 800 x 600 pixels. Click to un-checkmark to turn off the target resolution guide border.

Display Grid Guide Click to checkmark to display the grid, displayed as a gray grid filling the Work Window. Click to un-checkmark to turn off the grid guide.

Enable Snap Grid Click to checkmark to activate the snap grid in the Work Window, automatically positioning objects to the nearest set intervals along the X and Y axes. Click to un-checkmark to turn off the snap grid.

Display Tab Guide Click to checkmark to display the tab guides, displayed as dotted green lines in the Work Window. Click to un-checkmark to turn off the tab guides.

Clear All Tabs Click to checkmark to remove all currently set tabs in the Work Window rulers.

Enable All Tip Messages

Click to checkmark to globally enable all SiteSpinner’s popup tip messages, which display when certain operations are performed or dialog boxes are opened for the first time. Each “tip” message contains an option box allowing you to disable it from displaying again. Use the Enable All Tip Messages option to restore disabled tip messages.


Click to checkmark to display the effects of anti-aliasing and color enhancement in the Work Window. Click to un-checkmark to display the Work Window in normal mode. For more information, see “High Render Work Window.”

Recently Used Files Limit

Enter the number of recently-edited files to display in the File menu and make available to open quickly. The default is 4.

Snap Grid Resolution

Click and drag the slider right to increase the snap grid resolution or to the left to decrease the snap grid resolution. Or, enter a value in pixels in the box. For more information, see “Snap Grid.”

Freehand Draw Resolution

Click and drag the slider to the right to increase the distance between points when drawing a polygon or to the left to decrease the distance. Or, enter a value in the box. For more information, see “Polygon Objects.”


Cancel Click to cancel the operation and close the dialog box.





When working with objects in the Work Window, do your geometries look jaggy and your images pixilated? You can make objects appear in the Work Window with the same high-quality resolution as they do in the web browser by using the High Render Work Window option. The High Render option applies the effects of anti-aliasing and color smoothing to objects in the Work Window.

Figure 9. A vector drawing object, as shown on the left, shows “jaggies” when the Work Window in normal view. The same geometry, shown on the right, is smoother and “anti-aliased” with the High Render Work Window option turned on.

To turn on High Render, select Options��High Render Work Window. Repeat the selection to turn off the High Render option.

Although High Render will produce a better quality image, it may cause the Work Window to perform slowly when it is displaying a complex page or if your computer has a slow processor or limited memory. If you find that editing operations become too sluggish, try turning off the High Render option.

The High Render Work Window option does not affect the quality of previewed or published objects. Objects in your project will always be published with High Render quality.

Chapter 3: Projects

This section introduces the basics of the SiteSpinner™

.IMS project file, and discusses how to open, save,

maintain, and publish your SiteSpinner™ project.

Overview of Projects 61

Working With Projects 62

Project Templates 68

Saving Projects 69

Project Preview 73

Project Maintenance 76

Project Code 79

Publishing Projects 83

Projects


Overview of Projects

Think of a SiteSpinner™ project as the casting mold for your web site. Every page you design, each picture you add, every word you write, and each hyperlink you apply – they all go into forming your project. When you finish putting your project together, and it looks and behaves just the way you want it to, you then may publish your project and upload it to a web server. Your new web site is a die-cast copy of your original project file.

Need to update your web site? No problem: Just make your changes to the project and re-publish it. Keeping your web site fresh and well-maintained has never been easier.

In this chapter, you’ll learn all about projects and how to manage and maintain them. You’ll also learn how to convert your project into a finished web site.

IMS Project File

A SiteSpinner™ project file has an .IMS extension. An IMS file contains all of the instructions that describe your project and yet are extremely compact. When you preview or publish your project, the internal IMS format is converted to HTML, Dynamic HTML, or SVG formats.

Project Options

You can set project format and other file format options on the Project Target Options dialog box (Options��Project Options). While it is good to make these formatting choices at the outset of a new project, you are free to change these settings at any time while you work. (For more information, see “Project Target Options Dialog Box.”)

Projects


Working With Projects

When you launch SiteSpinner™, a new project opens in the Work Window, ready to record your creative input. But if you have already started and saved a project at a previous session, it’s easy to open it and resume your work. When the day’s work is done, save your project until next time.

If you need to give your creativity a jump start, try working from one of SiteSpinner’s many project template files. These are pre-designed web projects that you may tailor to suit your fancy. (They are also great learning resources.) Also, while you work, preview your project frequently so you’ll know how it will look to your users.

Project Target Options Dialog Box

Set miscellaneous project options using the Project Target Options dialog box.

The advanced options on the Project Target Options dialog box, made available by clicking the More button, are recommended for use only by advanced SiteSpinner™ users.

Figure 10. Lock down various default format settings using the Project Target Options dialog box.

Projects


To open the Project Target Options dialog box, select Options��Project Options from the Work Window menu bar.

The Project Target Options dialog box includes the following controls and fields:

Control/Field Description

Default Image Format

Choose a format in which to re-render imported image files and to render line drawings (rectangles, ellipses, etc.) upon publishing your project. Click to select a radio button corresponding to the desired image format. Choose from PNG, PNG 8, GIF, JPG, or BMP. For more information, see “Rendering and Re-Rendering.”

User Picture’s Format

Recommended. Click to checkmark to re-render imported image files and to render line drawings (rectangle, ellipse, etc.)

Render Background Click to checkmark to render the backgrounds of re-rendered objects along with the objects themselves. This will generate a bitmap that includes the object’s geometry and anything that is behind it. For more information, see “Render Background.”

Size Available only with JPG image format. Click to drag the slider control to the right to reduce compression and increase image quality and file size or to the left to increase compression and reduce image quality and file size. The default setting is 75.

Apply to All Objects Click to checkmark to apply to all rendered objects in the project any changes you are making to the default image format. For example, if you created a geometry or imported any images on any of your pages, all published geometry and images will use the new format.

Publish Format Click the radio button corresponding to the type of file format you want for your published project. Choose either HTML or SVG. For more information, see “Publish Formats.”

Project Number Optional. If for some reason you do not want to accept the default project number (recommended), select a new project number from the drop-down menu, or enter a number in the box. For more information, see “Project Numbers.”

Target Resolution Click a radio button corresponding to your desired target resolution for your published project. Choose 640 x 480, 800 x 600 (default), 1024 x 768, or a custom resolution. For more information, see “Target Resolution Guide Border.”

More…/Less… Click to toggle on or off the display of the advanced user options in the Project Target Options dialog box.

Projects



The advanced options on the Project Target Options dialog box, made available by clicking the More button, are recommended for use only by advanced SiteSpinner™ users. Below are descriptions of these options.

HTML Publish Format

Select if you want to force SiteSpinner™ to generate HTML code. Use “Automatic” unless you have a specific reason not to.

SVG Publish Format Select if you want to force SiteSpinner™ to generate SVG code. Use “Automatic” unless you have a specific reason not to.

Editor Work Space Size

Optional. Enter values (in pixels) in the Width and Height boxes to set the amount of space available in the Work Window. Use these fields to set the amount of space available to you to edit in the Work Window. Or, accept the default settings of 2047 Width and 6143 Height (recommended).

Use Tables When Centering

Not recommended. Used when the “Center Page” option is selected in the Page Editor. (For more information, see “Page Editor Dialog Box.”)Forces tables to be used instead of CSS. For compatibility with older browsers.

Rendering Sample Size

Enter a value relating to level of output quality of rendered geometry and titles. Or, accept the default level of 2 (highly recommended). For more information, see “Rendering and Re-Rendering.”

Locate vmhtm.js Javascript File

Optional and for users of Web Engine only. Enter the fully qualified directory path, if different from the default, to the vmmech.js JavaScript file, which is used to control Dynamic

HTML animation. Or, you may click to browse for the file.

Locate vmsvg.js Javascript File

Optional and for users of Web Engine only. Enter the fully qualified directory path, if different from the default, to the vmsvg.js JavaScript file, which is used to control SVG

animation. Or, you may click to browse for the file.

H Pos Not recommended. Click to checkmark to make the horizontal location of all objects on all pages in your project relative to the width of the user’s browser. For more information, see “Positioning.”

H Size Not recommended. Click to checkmark to apply Horizontal Relative Positioning to all objects on all pages of your project, making their horizontal location relative to the width of the user’s browser. For more information, see “Resizing.”

Projects



No CSS Not recommended. Click to checkmark to remove all positioning coordinates from all objects on all pages in your project. For more information, see “Positioning.”

V Pos Not recommended. Click to checkmark to apply Vertical Relative Positioning to all objects on all pages of your project, making their vertical location relative to the height of the user’s browser. For more information, see “Positioning.”

V Size Not recommended. Click to checkmark to set the vertical size of all objects on all pages of your project relative to the height of the user’s browser. For more information, see “Resizing.”

Apply to All Objects Click to checkmark to accept the current H Pos, H Size, No CSS, V Pos, and V Size settings. Confirm your choice in the message box.




Opening a New Project

You may open a new SiteSpinner™ project using any of the following methods:

• Select File��New Project

• Click the New Project button: in the File bar

• Press the CTRL+N keyboard shortcut

A blank page named “index” will open in the Work Window. The project will bear the name “unnamed” in the SiteSpinner™ title bar.

Opening an Existing Project

Open an existing SiteSpinner™ project using any of the following methods:

• Select File��Open Project

• Click the Open Project button: in the File bar.

• Press the CTRL+O keyboard shortcut

• Select a project from the Recent Project list in the File menu.

The Open Project dialog box will open. Browse for an *.IMS file. Click the Open button, and the index page will open in the Work Window.

Projects


In the Open Project dialog box, you can preview the pages of a selected *.IMS file (if the function is supported by your Windows® operating system). With the Enable Preview checkbox selected, click to select an *.IMS file, and then click the forward and backward buttons to view thumbnail images of the project’s pages in the preview window.

• Click and drag a SiteSpinner™ project file from Windows® Explorer® to the Work Window. The project will open in the Work Window. (Figure 11)

• Double-click a SiteSpinner™ project file in Windows® Explorer®. The project will open in the Work Window. (Figure 11)

• Right-click a SiteSpinner™ project file in Windows® Explorer®, and then select Open. The project will open in the Work Window. (Figure 11)

Figure 11. Click and drag a project file listing in Windows® Explorer to the Work Window. The page of the project will be inserted into the current project.

You may have only one project open at a time per instance of SiteSpinner™. If you attempt to open a new project with another project already open, you will be prompted to save it first. If you wish to have multiple projects open, open additional instances of SiteSpinner™.

Combining Multiple Projects

You can combine projects by appending one to another. SiteSpinner™ will update all object, component, and page names and references in the appended project to work within the current project without conflict. The system will affix index numbers to any duplicate page names.

1. With a project open in the Work Window, select File��Append Project.

The Append File to Current Project dialog box will open.

2. Browse for an *.ims file to append to the current project.

3. Click the Open button.

Projects


The appended file will be inserted after the last page of the project currently open in the Work Window.

Projects


Project Templates

SiteSpinner™ comes packaged with many different project templates in a variety of styles to help you get started designing your own web site. Each template includes clip-art graphics from the SiteSpinner™ ClipArt folder as well as vector graphics created in the program. There are personal, business, and hobby web page templates.

Find a template you like and open it in the Work Window (File��Open Template). (The default directory location of the project templates is …\Program Files\Virtual Mechanics\SiteSpinner V2\templates.) Tailor the template to suit your needs, and then select File��Save or File��Save As command to use the Save Current Document As dialog box to save the template as your own project file. For more information, see “Saving Projects.”

Opening templates does not affect the default open project directory. Only a copy is opened. This allows changes to be made without affecting the original.

Please note that templates may be used to create any number of web sites by registered SiteSpinner™ users, but they may not be copied, resold, or distributed in any fashion without the express permission of Virtual Mechanics. These templates remain the property of Virtual Mechanics, Inc. and may be used by registered users of Virtual Mechanics products.

Using a Project Template

1. Select File��Open Template.

The Open Template dialog box will open with a list of available templates.

2. Double-click a template OR click to select a template, and then click the Open button.

The project template will open in the Work Window.

3. Edit the project template as desired.

4. Save the project. For more information, see “Saving a Copy of a Project.”

The original project template is unaffected and may be reused.

In the Open Template dialog box, you can preview the pages of a selected *.IMS file (if the function is supported by your Windows® operating system). With the Enable Preview checkbox selected, click to select an *.IMS file, and then click the forward and backward buttons to view thumbnail images of project template’s pages in the preview window.

Projects


Saving Projects

It is always a good idea to save your project (i.e., use the Save command) frequently as you work, in order to protect your project from data loss in the event of a computer crash or other system failure.

Use the Save command (File��Save or press the CTRL+S keyboard shortcut) to save the active project file with its current name and to its current location on your system. When you use the Save option for the first time, the Save Current Document As dialog box appears to allow you to name your project file, choose a directory location for your saved file, and set other project file options. (For more information, see “Save Current Document As Dialog Box.”)

You can use the Save As command to make a copy of the active project to modify or experiment with, but at no risk of harming the last-saved version of the original project file. When you use the Save As command, the Save Current Document As dialog box appears to allow you to rename the project file, choose a new directory location for the saved file, and set other project file options.

Save Current Document As Dialog Box

Even if you are only a novice user of Microsoft® Windows® applications, you are undoubtedly familiar with the standard Save As dialog box, allowing you to name or rename a project file and choose a directory location in which to store the file. SiteSpinner’s Save Current Document As dialog box offers the same functionality but with one additional setting option.

The Save Current Document As dialog box allows you to use an existing project file as a template for other projects. By “saving off” a copy of a project file, you can protect the structure and content of the original file and be free to experiment with the copy.

SiteSpinner V2 comes packaged with many different project templates in a variety of styles to help you get started designing your own web site. Find a template you like, open it in the Work Window, and then select File��Save As command to use the Save Current Document

As dialog box to “save off” the template as your own project file. For more information, see “Project Templates.”

Projects


Figure 12. The Save Current Document As dialog box allows you to make a copy of an existing project (*.ims file).

To open the Save Current Document As dialog box, with a project open in the Work

Window, select File��Save As.

Controls on the Save Current Document As dialog box include the following:


Save in Select from the drop-down list the directory on your system to which you want to save the current project file. The default directory is …\Program Files\Virtual Mechanics\SiteSpinner V2\projects.

File Name Enter an alphanumeric name for your project. Avoid using special characters.

Save As Type Do not change this field. When saved, the project file will be given an .ims extension.

Projects



When saving attached images files

Click the radio button corresponding to the disposition of resource files in the saved project. Click the Use Absolute Directory Paths option to use the full file path including the drive letter to reference resource files (default option). Click the Use Relative Directory Paths option to construct a relative directory path from the publish directory to the actual location of the resources.

This only has a visible effect when you move the project files. For example, if your project file is at C:/A/test.ims and an image in the project is at C:/A/B/pic.jpg, saved in absolute mode, you can move the project anywhere and it will look to C:/A/B/pic.jpg fro the image. In relative mode, if you move it to D:/One/Two, it will look to D:/One/Two/B/pic.jpg. If you move it to C:/G/H, it will look to C:/G/H/B/pic.jpg.

Save Click to accept the current settings and exit the dialog box.


Saving a Project

Save a SiteSpinner™ project using any of the following commands:

• Select File��Save

• Click the Save button: in the File bar

• Press the CTRL+S keyboard shortcut

If you are saving the project for the first time, the Save Current Document As dialog box will open, prompting you to enter a name and directory location for the project file. For more information, see “Save Current Document As Dialog Box.”

Saving a Copy of a Project

Save a SiteSpinner™ project with a different file name and/or to a different directory location using any of the following commands:

1. Select File��Save As or press the ALT + A keyboard command.

2. The Save Current Document As dialog box will open.

3. In the File name field, enter a name for the project (*.ims)

4. From the Save In drop-down menu, map a path to a directory location for the project file.

5. Click the Use Absolute Directory Paths radio button to use the full file path including the drive letter to reference resource files (default option), or click the Use Relative Directory Paths to construct a relative directory path from the publish directory to the actual location of the resources. (For more information, see “Save Current Document As Dialog Box.”)

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6. Click the Save button.

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Project Preview

At any time while you work, you can preview your entire project or any page in it in your

browser using the Preview command. Simply click the Preview Page button: in the Preview bar or press the F7 keyboard shortcut to open the current page in your default browser’s window (Internet Explorer®, Netscape®, etc.). Or click the Preview Project

button: or press F8 to preview the entire project.

You can preview your project in SVG code by pressing F9 to preview the current page or pressing F10 to preview the entire project. You must have an SVG viewer installed on your computer to view SVG projects.

When you choose the Preview command, SiteSpinner™ copies all referenced files and creates an HTML or SVG document of the selected page(s) and places everything in a special application subdirectory (…\Temp\SiteSpinner V2\preview). The preview files in this directory are used only on a temporary basis, and you may delete them at any time. Do not delete the Preview subdirectory itself, however. (For more information, see “Preview Options Dialog Box.”)

Preview Options Dialog Box

Manage your temporary preview files using the Preview Options dialog box.

Figure 13. Use the Preview Options dialog box to manage your SiteSpinner™ temporary preview files.

To open the Preview Options dialog box, select Options��Preview Options from the Work

Window menu bar.

The Preview Options dialog box includes the following controls and fields:


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Temporary Files Path field

Displays the current directory path to the folder set to contain your project’s temporary preview files. You may overwrite the path, if desired. The default directory is …\Temp\SiteSpinner V2\Preview\.

Click to open the Browse for Folder dialog box, where you can browse for a new directory location to place your project’s temporary preview files. When you have set a new folder and clicked the OK button, the Browse for Folder dialog box will close, and the new directory path will display in the Temporary Files Path field.

Reset to Default When you have changed the default directory location for holding your project’s temporary preview files, click to restore the default directory (…\Temp\SiteSpinner V2\Preview\).

View Files… Click to open a Windows® Explorer window showing the current contents of your project’s temporary preview files.

Delete Files… Click to open a message box asking you to confirm an operation to delete all of your project’s temporary preview files. Click OK to proceed with the delete operation, or click Cancel to stop the delete operation.




Previewing a Page

1. With a page open in the Work Window, click the Preview Page button: in the Preview bar OR press F7.

Your default browser’s window will open, displaying the current page.

2. Close the browser OR return to the Work Window to continue editing.

To preview the current page in SVG, select SVG from the Coding Language Selection drop-down menu in the Preview bar and click the

Preview Page button: or press F9.

Previewing a Project

Previewing a project is important if your current page has links to other pages in the project. If it does, and you don’t preview the whole project, you may link to old or non-existent pages.

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1. With a page open in the Work Window, click the Preview Project button: in the Preview bar OR press F8.

Your default browser’s window will open, displaying the project.

2. Close the browser OR return to the Work Window to continue editing.

To preview the current project in SVG, select SVG from the Coding Language Selection drop-down menu in the Preview bar and click the

Preview Project button: or press F10.

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Project Maintenance

Clean Components

From time to time you might change your mind about certain objects or components that you have added to your project and decide you no longer want them. When you cut an object from a single page or from multiple pages, SiteSpinner™ removes all internal references to the object but retains the object itself in the resources folder. It does no harm there, but it can greatly increase the overall size of your project.

You can check for and remove orphaned objects and components using the Clean Components command. You can manually clean up your project, or you can require SiteSpinner™ to clean it automatically when you publish your project.

Cleaning a Project Manually

Clean a project of all unused objects and components at any time using either of the following commands:

1. Select Edit��Clean Components, and then proceed to step 4.

OR

Press the ALT+O keyboard shortcut.

The Object Editor dialog box will open. For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box.”

2. Click the Components Tab.

3. Click the Clean button.

4. If you have unused objects in your project, a message box will open reporting the number of unused objects and asking if you want to delete them. Click the Yes button to delete them.

5. If you have unused components in your project, a message box will open reporting the number of unused components and asking if you want to delete them. Click the Yes button to delete them.

6. Click OK to close the dialog box. Your project will be cleaned of unused objects and components.

Cleaning a Project Automatically

Set SiteSpinner™ to clean a project of all unused objects and components before publishing your project using the following procedure:

1. With your project open, select Publish��Publish Project

OR

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Press the CTRL+P keyboard shortcut.

The Publisher dialog box will open. For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”

2. On the Profile Tab, click to checkmark the Auto Clean Project File option box.

3. Continue with the publishing operation. For more information, see “Publishing Projects.”

The Auto Clean option setting will become a part of the publishing profile you have created for the project. For more information, see “Publishing Profiles.”

Auto Backup

You can save a backup copy of your .IMS project file to the web server when you upload your project. It is always a good idea to back up your work to a remote computer in case of a system failure or hard drive crash on your own computer. This option can also allow you to update your project using a computer that has SiteSpinner™ installed but does not have your project file saved to it. You can connect to the web server and download your project file to edit it.

You can set the Auto Backup option on the Publisher dialog box. SiteSpinner™ will automatically save the project file when you publish your project, and, if you are uploading your web site via FTP (File Transfer Protocol), will copy the project file (*.ims) to your host server.

Auto Backup will back up your .IMS project file but not your images of other media.

Backing Up a Project to the Web Server

1. With your project open, select Publish��Publish Project, OR press the CTRL+P keyboard shortcut.

The Publisher dialog box will open. For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”

2. On the Profile Tab, click to checkmark the Auto Backup Project File When Publishing option box.

3. Continue with the publishing operation and upload your web site to the web host’s server. (For more information, see “Publishing Remotely.”)

The .IMS project file will uploaded together with the web site to the web server.

The Auto Backup option setting will become a part of the publishing profile you have created for the project. For more information, see “Publishing Profiles.”

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Project Numbers

A filename is composed of the names of all the parts that make an object unique. Those parts are:

1. Object itself (e.g. ‘obj1’ or ‘OOO’)

2. Geometry (e.g. ‘geo2’ or ‘ggg’)

3. Shading (if it exists) (e.g. ‘Shd3’ or ‘SSS’)

4. Index number of page it resides on (e.g. 1)

5. Project number for the project it is part of (e.g. 99)

Those five pieces of information are joined together to make a filename in the following way:

object + geometry + shading + “pg” + page index + “p” +project number

So using the example values you would get:

“obj1geo2shd3pg1p99” or “OOOgggSSSpg1p99”

Note the fixed text “pg” and “p” are always placed in front of the page and project numbers, respectively.

The extension, (.jpg, .png, etc.) is determined by the chosen image format. (See the Geometry Editor’s Rendering and Re-Rendering)

The default format is ‘png’ so in this example the file would be:

“obj1geo2shd3pg1p99.png” or “OOOgggSSSpg1p99.png”

The names of an object, geometry or shading can be set to any unique name you choose by editing the name text box in the quick properties editor object ,geometry or shading tab or in the respective item’s editor.

The page index is the page position in the page list. In future this may be changed to use the page name.

The project number is automatically set in the Project Option’s ‘Project Number’ field. It can be edited there as well.

If the ‘unique includes’ object is un-checked, then the page index is omitted from the filename. This allows the same file to be used on multiple pages in the same project in cases where the ‘include on’ other pages option is used. E.g. “obj1geo2shd3p99.png”

If the ‘unique clones’ object is un-checked, then the object name is omitted from the filename. This allows the same file to be used for multiple clones (objects with shared geometries) in the same project. E.g. “geo2shd3pg1p99.png”

The settings ‘unique includes’ and ‘unique clones’ can be found in the object editor’s component tab. The default setting is ‘checked’ (i.e., unique) for both. If you un-check them you are asserting the images are in fact the same. If they have different backgrounds or rotations, etc., you may see unexpected results because the same image will be used in all instances.

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Project Code

When you publish your project file, SiteSpinner uses it to create the web pages needed for your web site. You can choose to create HTML or SVG web pages.

You may choose which of these codes, or publish formats, is best suited for the purposes of your web site. Once you have decided, it is easy to set the publish format to either HTML or SVG. Whichever format you choose, you may view the underlying code in the Code View Window.

Publish Formats

One of the nice things about SiteSpinner™, especially for novice web designers, is that it enables you to concentrate on the design of your site without having to be concerned with the underlying HTML or SVG code. You can build an extremely sophisticated web site without ever knowing or needing to know the difference between a tag and an attribute, or ever having to search the code for a missing bracket.

HTML

HTML has been the standard coding language of web content since the earliest days of the World Wide Web. Its enduring popularity stems from its openness (the ability to see and edit a web page’s source HTML code is only a mouse click away), its compatibility (it can be read in any web browser and thus is viewable on virtually every computer in the world), and its ease of use (all you would need is a simple text editing program to create the most sophisticated HTML document ever written).

Another advantage of HTML is that it works nicely with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Style sheets allow you to customize the formatting of HTML code, so that you can use the same HTML code for different purposes. For example, one style sheet could format an HTML version of the Ten Commandments in 10-point Verdana bold font justified right, while another style sheet could format it in 18-point Courier italic, centered and blinking (ick).

Although many are frustrated with some of HTML’s limitations (particularly its use of fixed tags and attributes) and have developed alternate coding languages for use in web pages (notably XML – Extensible Markup Language), HTML remains the workhorse code format for the web and has a very secure future.

SVG

SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is a new, XML-based vector graphics format. SVG scalable graphics are extremely compact and can be rendered in full color and resized smoothly, without jaggedness or pixilation. This is because the computer redraws SVG’s graphical lines according to a geometric formula.

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SVG is an especially ideal format for animation, because images can be made to rotate, stretch, or resize smoothly and with a minimal tax on a computer’s processing power. Other advantages include its support of interactive, customizable graphics (for example, a user could turn layers in a graphic on or off to get different views) and its portability (you can easily transfer SVG images between different applications and operating platforms).

SVG is praised for its ability to faithfully render original image content for presentation on a variety of devices. As such, SVG was adopted recently as an official code format for use in the display windows of personal digital assistants (PDAs) and wireless phones. As those devices become increasingly miniaturized, smooth-resizing SVG can make their display graphics, such as icons, as small as necessary.

Currently, most web browsers require a separate plug-in in order to view SVG pages. But the future looks very good for SVG, and as more handheld devices become web-enabled, being able to use SiteSpinner™ to publish web content in SVG puts you ahead of the curve.

Setting the Project Publish Format

You may choose either HTML or SVG publish formats for your project in any of the following ways:

• Select either HTML or SVG from the Coding Language Selection drop-down menu in the Preview Bar.

• Select Options��Project Options. The Project Target Options dialog box will open. Click to select either the HTML or SVG radio button. Click OK.

• Select Publish��Publish Project, OR press the CTRL+P keyboard shortcut. The Publisher dialog box will open. On the Profiles Tab, click to select either the HTML or SVG radio button. When you are ready to publish the project, click the Publish button.

The Publish Format option setting on the Profiles Tab of the Publisher dialog box will become a part of the publishing profile you have created for the project. For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”

Code View Window

Use the Code View Window to view, copy, or print the underlying HTML or SVG code of the page currently displayed in the Work Window.

The HTML or SVG code displayed in the Code View Window is “read-only.” You cannot edit the code in the window.

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Figure 14. In the Code View Window, you can view, copy, or print your project’s underlying HTML or SVG code.

To display the Code View Window, click the Code Window button: on the Preview Bar in the Work Window, or select File��Display Code. Click the Code Window button or select File��Display Code again to close the Code View Window.

Controls in the Code View Window include the following:

Control Description

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Control Description

Refresh – Click to update the current code view to reflect any changes you have made to the page in the Work Window.

Show Relative Paths – Click to display in the code view relative paths between the directories containing the current page’s reference resource objects, such as images, audio, multimedia, etc., and the publish directory for those objects. Click again to display absolute path references to the current page’s resource objects. For more information, see “Absolute Paths to Resources” and “Relative Paths to Resources.”

Show Header Text – Click to display the page’s header information (i.e., code contained in the <HEAD> section). Click again to hide the header information.

Copy Code – Click to copy the contents of the Code View Window. You may paste the contents to a text editor, such as Windows® Notepad.

Save As – Click to open the Save As dialog box, allowing you to save the contents of the Code View Window as an HTML or SHTML (*.html or .shtml) or as a text file (.txt) , which you may open in a text editor for editing.

Print Code Text – Click to open the Print dialog box, allowing you to print the contents of the Code View Window to a Windows® printer.

Code View Format – Select a code format in which to view the underlying code of the current page. Choose either HTML or SVG.

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Publishing Projects

When you have finished designing your project and are ready to “go live” with it, SiteSpinner™ makes it easy. SiteSpinner™ includes a built-in publisher to round up all your resource files (images, multimedia, etc.) and convert your .IMS project file to web-ready HTML or SVG files. It also has an on-board FTP (File Transfer Protocol) application that you can use to upload your web site to your choice of web hosts.

When you are ready to publish your project, you have the option to publish it to your local hard-drive, so that you can test its functionality and design before going live with it. Or, you can publish it directly to a web server. The SiteSpinner publisher will work with any standard web host. Simply enter your server information; all the necessary and standard upload functions are available.

You can decide if you want to publish all the pages, a range of pages, or a specific page. Do you have multiple web sites with different hosting information? No problem: You can set up and maintain different publishing profiles, each with its own specific publishing settings. Just choose the right profile for a particular web project any time you want to publish it.

Page names in your project will automatically become your published file names, by default. However you can change page file names at publishing time, if you want to. You can even change file extensions from the default *.html or *.svg to *.cgi, *.php, *.asp, or others.

UNIX® servers are case-sensitive while Windows® servers are not. If hyperlinks do not work or image files do not display, check the case of paths and image file names. (UPPER lower CaSe.) We recommend using lower case all the time.

Publishing Profiles

SiteSpinner’s Publishing Profiles can save you these steps each time you publish. You need only enter the publishing information once, and then save the information to a specific publishing profile. Then, the next time you publish, simply open the Publisher dialog box, select the right profile, and click the Publish button. SiteSpinner™ does the rest.

Publishing profiles are maintained in the ftppro.ini file in the SiteSpinner™ application directory.

When using SiteSpinner™ on computers set up to allow individual user accounts, each user’s publishing profile is maintained separately.

For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”

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Creating a Publishing Profile

1. Select Publish��Publish Project OR press the CTRL+P keyboard shortcut.

The Publisher dialog box will open.

2. On the Profile Tab, click the New button.

A new, system-assigned profile name will appear in the Profile Name combo box. (e.g., Profile2, Profile3, etc.)

3. Click to highlight the system-assigned profile name and overwrite it with a unique, descriptive name for this publishing profile.

4. Click a radio button corresponding to your desired Export Destination for the new publishing profile. Choose either My Web Host (FTP) if you are publishing to the Internet, Files on Disk if you are publishing to a local computer, or iHostVM Host if you have a web hosting account with iHost Networks.

If you have not already done so, you may choose the Free iHostVM Trial option to publish to iHost Networks on a free, 12-hour trial basis. For more information, see “Publishing to iHost VM.”

5. Click a radio button corresponding to your desired Publish Format for the project being published with the new publishing profile. Choose either HTML or SVG.

The default Publish Format selection is HTML, but SVG will appear selected if you have chosen the SVG format in either the Project Target Options dialog box or the Coding Language Selection drop-down menu in the Preview Bar.

6. Click the Pages Tab.

7. If desired, change page names in the project by clicking to highlight a page name in the Page Names and Extensions combo box and overwriting it with a different name.

Project page names as displayed in the Page Names and Extensions combo box will become the names of the associated web pages after publishing. The first page of your web site should be called “default.html” or “index.html.”

8. If desired, change page file extensions for a page selected in the Page Names and Extensions combo box by either selecting a different extension from the drop-down

menu (.html, .htm, .asp, .shtml, .cgi, .php, .asp, .pl) or by clicking to highlight the

file extension and overwriting it with a different extension.

9. Click the radio button in the Page Range section corresponding to the range of pages you wish to publish under this publish profile. Choose either Export All Pages, Export Current Page, or set a custom page range.

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10. If desired, in the Local Publish Directory field, edit the location path of the directory

on your system or network to which your project will be published, OR click to display the Open dialog box, allowing you to map a different path.

SiteSpinner™ always publishes the files to the target directory specified in the Local Publish Directory field. Then if you are publishing to the Internet, SiteSpinner™ connects via FTP to your web host and transfers the web files from the local directory to the target directories on the remote web server. Thus, if you are publishing using the Relative Link to Files path option, you must make sure that the path relationship in the local directory between the page files and the resource files match the same relative paths on the remote server. For more information, see “Relative Paths to Resources.”

11. Click a radio button corresponding to your desired Path Option for the publishing profile. Choose from either Gather all files (recommended), Relative link to files, or Absolute link to files.

The Absolute Link to files option is not available when you are uploading your web site to a web host via FTP.

12. Click the Apply button.

If you are creating a publishing profile with an Export Destination of Files to Disk, you are finished inputting information, and your publishing profile is complete. Click the Cancel button to close the dialog box. You may now open a project to publish. For more information, see “Publishing a Project to Local Directory” and “Publishing a Project to the Internet.”

If you are creating a publishing profile with an Export Destination of My Web Host (FTP), proceed to step 13.

13. Click the FTP Tab.

14. Enter the domain name or IP address of your remote web host in the Host Name (or IP Address) field.

15. Enter your web server login name in the User Name field, overwriting the example user name.

16. Enter your web server password in the Password field.

If you are logging on to the web server using an anonymous login, click to checkmark the Anonymous Login option box. Do not enter information in the User Name field. Anonymous Logins usually require that you enter your e-mail address in the Password field.

17. Click the Browse button OR enter the host-supplied starting directory.

If your FTP login data is correct, you will be connected to your remote web server and an FTP dialog box will open displaying your remote publish directory and any files currently in it.

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On some hosts the directory that you initially connect to may not be the correct directory you need to publish your web site to. You can explore the remote host by selecting folders or by clicking the red Up arrow in the FTP dialog box.

If the dialog box does not display any of the directory information provided to you by your web host, your connection probably failed. Check your settings and try again. If repeated attempts fail, contact your web host‘s technical support.

18. Once you have found the correct publish directory on the remote server, close the FTP dialog box.

19. The valid directory path will automatically be transferred to the Remote Publish Directory field at the top of the FTP Tab.

If you know the path to the remote publish directory, you can enter it directly into the Remote Publish Directory field before connecting. Remember, however, that on some hosts this information is case- sensitive.

20. Click the Apply button.

Your publishing profile is now complete and will retain all the information you have entered in the Publisher dialog box. You may repeat these steps to create additional publishing profiles. Or, you may select a project to publish. For more information, see “Publishing a Project to Local Directory” and “Publishing a Project to the Internet.”

21. Click the Cancel button to close the Publisher dialog box.

Your publishing profile is now ready for use. For more information on publishing, see “Uploading.”

Resource Files

Almost every web site contains pictures, graphic images, Flash® movies, or other interesting audiovisual design elements. These elements, called “resources”, are not part of the underlying HTML or SVG code that defines the web page. They are standalone files that are referenced in the underlying code. They appear on the web page only when they are called to do so by the page code.

SiteSpinner™ offers three methods for managing resource files in your web project. By far the easiest method is the Gather tool, which consolidates all your resource files, drops them into the appropriate subfolders, and ships them all to the right places on the web server where your page files can find them. However there may be incidences where you will not want SiteSpinner™ to gather or publish your resources files, e.g. when the resource files already exist on the web server. In these cases you can publish your project using Absolute or Relative paths to reference your resource files.

You may set resource file path options on the Pages Tab of the Publisher dialog box. For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”

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Gathering Resources

SiteSpinner™ features a unique resource gathering tool to help keep web resources organized. With the Gather all files option set, SiteSpinner™ automatically hunts down and finds all referenced objects (such as images, sound files, etc.) wherever they are on your system or network. When you publish your project, your web resources then are automatically uploaded along with your page files to the appropriate directories on the web server, making sure that the file paths are valid. This means no more missing images on your pages!

By default, SiteSpinner™ identifies your resource files by file type and then assigns files of a type to a specific subdirectory of the local publish directory. (The default publish directory on your local computer is …\Program Files\Virtual Mechanics\SiteSpinner V2\MySite.) You can change which subdirectories that the various file types are assigned to, or you can change the names of the subdirectories. SiteSpinner™ rebuilds the paths to the resources automatically to reflect your new folder names. For more information, see “Publisher Sub-Directories Dialog Box.”

Since resource files do not include a directory path, the Gather option maintains the integrity of the entire published project when you export or move it to another directory or computer, provided that all resource files that have been gathered are also moved.

You can set the Gather all files option on the Pages Tab of the Publisher dialog box. For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”

Absolute Paths to Resources

You can publish your project with absolute path references to your resource files. With the Absolute Link to Files option set, SiteSpinner™ will place in the page code the full file path (including the drive letter) to all resource files. In other words, SiteSpinner™ will publish your web site and write into the code the same path references as those used in the raw project file. For example, if you added an image object to page that contained an image file in C:\My Documents\My Pictures, that same path would be published in the code for that page. (see Figure 15.)

Figure 15. Page code example showing an absolute path reference to a resource file.

The Absolute Path option is convenient when you are publishing on an intranet were are the files are at fixed locations for everyone who might be viewing the page (e.g., the images are on the computer ImageStorage at file:////ImageStorage/tester/apic.jpeg or are mapped drive at Z:/. This option should not be used if the web site files are to be transferred to another system since the file paths may become invalid.

You can view the absolute paths to your resource files as they appear in the page code by opening the Code View Window. For more information, see “Code View Window.”

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You can set the Absolute Link to files option on the Pages Tab of the Publisher dialog box. For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”

The Absolute Link to files option is not available when you are uploading your web site to a web host via FTP.

Relative Paths to Resources

You can publish your web site with relative path references to your resource files. With the Relative Link to files option set, SiteSpinner™ will place in the page code a relative directory path from the publish directory to the published location of the resource. (see Figure 16.)

Figure 16. Page code example showing a relative path reference to a resource file.

The Relative Path setting is useful when all of the resources are in directories relative to the published web site and you simply want to update the resources (images, music, etc.) on your web site and not the content. You can transfer (FTP) your resource files to the web server independent of the page files, and as long as you place the resource files in the right subdirectory of the root publish directory, the page files will find them. (The default resource file subdirectories are named “geometry,” “images,” “media,” etc.)

You can view the relative paths to your resource files as they appear in the page code by opening the Code View Window. Click the Show Relative Paths button on the Code View Window toolbar. For more information, see “Code View Window.”

You can set the Relative Link to files option on the Pages Tab of the Publisher dialog box. For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”

Uploading

The process of exporting or transferring your web-ready page files and resource files to a web server is known as “uploading.” Uploading your published web site to your web host’s server is the final step in building a web site using SiteSpinner™. And SiteSpinner™ makes it easy to choose a destination for your upload, log on to the web server (f necessary), and transfer your published web project.

There are two basic destinations for your published web site. You can publish directly to a location on your own local system or network, or you can publish to a remote web server of your choosing. Whatever your choice, SiteSpinner™ prompts you to make the correct publishing settings for any destination and prepares your project accordingly.

Publishing Locally

You can publish your web site to your own computer or to a computer on your network. The two principal reasons you might choose this option are if you want to test the look and

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performance of the web site before publishing it to the Internet or if you are building an Intranet web site to run on your organization’s network. Another reason would be if you are your own webmaster and have your own dedicated web server.

Use the Publisher dialog box to establish the settings for your locally published web project. The two most important are setting the Files on Disk Export Destination option on the Profiles Tab and mapping a path to the target publish directory in the Local Publish Directory field on the Pages Tab. For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”

If you are publishing your web site to an Intranet, consult your network or web administrator to determine the publish directory on the internal web server, and then map a path to it in the Local Publish Directory field on the Pages Tab of the Publisher dialog box.

Even if you are uploading your web site via FTP to a remote web host, SiteSpinner™ will automatically publish a copy to the location specified in the Local Publish Directory field on the Pages Tab of the Publisher dialog box.

Publishing Remotely

Unless you have your own secure, dedicated web server, in order to put your web site on the Internet you must upload it to a remote web host.

If you are uploading your web site to your own web host’s remote server, you can enter all the information that is needed to transfer your files on the FTP Tab of the Publisher dialog box. Include your web account information, such as your login name and password, as well as the web host’s domain name or IP address and the name of the target publish directory on the web server. For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”

Your web host will provide all the information you need, including any special instructions for uploading your files. Be sure to have this information handy before you begin the publishing and uploading process.

Some free hosting sites may not allow you to FTP directly to your web site or may require that you use their specialized procedures to upload your files. If you do not already know the procedure or have the required FTP information, please contact your hosting company technical support.

When you set SiteSpinner™ to upload your web site to a remote web host, SiteSpinner™ first gathers the files to the target directory specified in the Local Publish Directory field on the Pages Tab of the Publisher dialog box. SiteSpinner™ then connects via FTP to your web host and transfers the web files from the local directory to the target directories on the remote web server.

This can potentially create problems with missing resource files, such as images, audio, movies, etc. It’s not a problem if you are using the convenient Gather all files option to handle the transfer of your web site’s resource files, including images, audio, etc., because SiteSpinner™ will map out valid references to your resource files automatically. But if you are publishing using the Relative Link to Files option, you must make sure that the path relationship in the local directory between the page files and the resource files match the same relative paths on

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the remote server. For more information, see “Gathering Resources” and “Relative Paths to Resources.”

Publishing to iHost VM

You can publish your web site to iHostVM, if you do not already have an account with another web host. iHostVM offers several different hosting plans. An iHostVM account registration wizard is integrated into SiteSpinner’s publishing tool. Just click the Get a Web Site button on the iHostVM Tab on the Publisher dialog box. For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”

You can try out iHostVM web hosting for free. You can publish your web site to iHostVM’s trial server and see your web site on the Internet free for 12 hours. You are under no obligation to use iHostVM for you web hosting – you can use Virtual Mechanics products with any web hosting company you like. However, if you have an iHostVM account, you can maintain your site and your web host account directly through SiteSpinner™. To get your free, one-time trial web site, just click the Try a Free Site button on the iHostVM Tab on the Publisher dialog box. For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”

Publisher Dialog Box

Use the Publisher dialog box to set publishing options for your project.

The Publisher dialog box contains the following tabs:

• Profile Tab

• Pages Tab

• FTP Tab

• iHost VM Tab

Projects


Figure 17. Publish and upload your web project using the Publisher dialog box.

You may open the Publisher dialog box in the following ways:

• Select Publish��Publish Project from the menu bar

• Select File��Publish Project from the menu bar

• Press the CTRL+P keyboard shortcut

• Click the Publisher button: in the Publish Bar

Profile Tab

Use the Profile Tab on the Publisher dialog box to create publishing profiles for your various projects. You may create one profile, for example, to define a path to a local directory on your computer, so that you can publish as files (as CD-ROM publishing, for example) or simply to review locally before publishing. Another profile may open an FTP session on a remote server, so that your project can be published and the uploaded to your web hosting site.

Other settings on the Profile Tab include export destination, publish format, and file maintenance options.

Projects


Figure 18. Choose a publishing profile and set other project publishing options using the Profile Tab of the Publisher dialog box.

The Profile Tab on the Publisher dialog box includes the following controls and fields:


Profile Name If you are publishing using an existing publishing profile, select the desired profile name from the drop-down menu.

If you are creating a new publishing profile, enter a name in the box. (The default profile name is “Default”) Choose any descriptive name to help you distinguish among different publishing profiles.

Publishing profiles are not project-specific; they are available for you to select when you are publishing any project. Also, each project remembers its profile. So any profile you choose will be used for that project until you change it.

New Click to create a new publishing profile. It will appear in the drop-down box as “Profile2, Profile3, …”, etc. You may also overwrite a profile name to edit it.

Delete Click to delete the currently selected publishing profile.

Projects



Export Destination Click a radio button corresponding to the location to which you are publishing your project. Choose from My Web Host

(FTP), Files on Disk, iHostVM Host, or Free iHostVM

Trial. For more information, see “Uploading.”

Publish Format Click the radio button corresponding to the type of publish format you want for your published project. Choose either HTML or SVG. For more information, see “Publish Formats.”

Auto Clean Project File

Click to checkmark to search for and clean out unused objects and components prior to publishing. Recommended.

Auto Backup Project File When Publishing

Click to checkmark to save the file to the publish location. If you have selected to upload your project to your web host via FTP, your project file (*.ims) but not your images or other media will also be copied to the server. Recommended.

Publish Click to save publishing information, begin publishing the project, and exit the dialog box.

Cancel Click to exit the dialog box without saving publishing information or publishing the project.

Apply Click to save all publishing information without publishing the project or exiting the dialog box.


Pages Tab

Use the Pages Tab of the Publisher dialog box to select the pages of your project you would like to publish, make changes to file names or extensions (if required), specify a directory on your computer to publish to (when publishing locally or when publishing to your own web host via FTP), and determine file path and upload options for images and other media.

Figure 19. Select pages to publish and set references to your resource objects using the Pages Tab of the Publisher dialog box.

Projects


The Pages Tab on the Publisher dialog box includes the following controls and fields:


Page File Names and Extensions

The first drop-down menu contains the names of all pages available in the project. The second drop-down menu contains a list of extensions available in the current publish format (HTML or SVG).

You may accept the default extension for each page in the project, or you may select a page from the first drop-down menu and then assign it a different extension by selecting an extension from the second drop-down menu. Choose either .html, .htm, .asp, .shtml, .cgi, .php, .asp, .pl. Or, you may enter your own extension if it is not listed.

By default, SiteSpinner™ assigns page names as: Index, Page1, Page2, Page3, etc. You may rename a page, up to 40 alphanumeric characters, by typing over the displayed name in the Page File Names and Extensions box. Avoid using special characters, such as “ ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ) { } [ ] : ; ‘ < , > . ? / “.

Page Range Click a radio button corresponding to the set of pages you wish to publish. Choose either Export All, Export Current Page (i.e., the page displaying in the Work Window), or Export Pages and then enter a range of pages from the project.

Local Publish Directory

Displays the location path of the directory on your system to which your project will be published. You may edit the path to

map to a different location, if desired, or click . to display the Browse for Folder dialog box, allowing you to map a different path.

When you are publishing using the Relative Link to Files option (see Path Options, below), the path relationship between the Local Publish Directory and any referenced resource files (e.g., images, audio, etc.) will be used to construct the relative file path. It is consequently important to ensure that the relationship between this directory and the resource files will match the same relative paths on the remote server. To avoid having to do this, use the Gather All Files option. This will gather and place all of the files correctly for you.

Path Options Click a radio button corresponding to the type of path that will be used to reference resource files in the publish directory. Choose from Gather all files (recommended), Relative link to files, or Absolute link to files. For more information, see “Resource Files.”

Projects



If you have chosen the My Web Host (FTP) or iHostVM Host export destination option on the Profiles Tab, you may not choose the Absolute link to files option.

Sub Folders Click to open the Publisher Sub-Directories dialog box, allowing you to change the directories or directory names that resource files are published to. Sub folder can be a single name which will become a sub folder of the location where the html/svg file is placed (the root). Leaving it blank will mean no sub folder, files in that category will be placed in the root.

Add Base Click to checkmark to enable the use of a published page as an email or as a newsletter template, and then enter the domain name of the host server to which you have published the page. This adds the <BASE HREF = > tag. This will mean that when the HTML page is viewed, all images etc will be retrieved from the specified server no matter where the page itself resides. Add Base is used when you want to use the webpage as an email or as a newsletter template. It tells the HTML to look to your server (the base) for all images and external files. For more information, see “Sending a Web Page as an Email.”





FTP Tab

If you have selected the My Web Host (FTP) option on the Profile Tab of the Publisher dialog box, you can upload your project to your web host using the FTP Tab of the Publisher dialog box.

You will need to obtain connection and login information from the third-party web host in order to use SiteSpinner™ to upload your project files. Your web host should provide you with your user login name, user password, FTP host name, and starting (remote) directory.

Enter information on the FTP Tab only if you are using FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to upload your published project to a third-party web host. It is not necessary to use the FTP Tab if you are publishing your project to your own computer or web server, or if you are using iHostVM to host your web project.

Projects


Figure 20. Enter information on the FTP Tab of the Publisher dialog box if you are uploading your published project to the web server of a third-party web host.

The FTP Tab on the Publisher dialog box includes the following controls and fields:


Remote Publish Directory

Enter the path to the publish directory on your third-party web host’s computer. Or, if you have entered the necessary FTP login credentials, you can click the Browse button to connect to your web host’s web server and browse for the publish directory. This is directory on your web host’s web server to which you transfer (upload) your web site.

You must have an active Internet connection in order to FTP your project.

Browse When you have entered the necessary FTP login credentials, click to connect to the remote FTP server. Once connected, click to map a path to the publish directory on your web host’s FTP server.

Host Name (or IP Address)

Enter either the FTP host name (e.g., ftp.yourfavewebhost.com or www.yourfavewebhost.com) or the IP address (e.g., 123.33.22.1) of your web host’s FTP server.

Projects



Some web hosts require an IP address, others require a domain name, and many will accept either. If you are not sure, contact your host’s technical support representatives.

User Name Enter your FTP host user name. For more information, see “Publishing Remotely.”

Password Enter your password to log in to your web host’s FTP server. For more information, see “Publishing Remotely.”

Anonymous Login Anonymous logins are rarely used for web site hosts. Click to checkmark to disable the User Name field and enable you to login anonymously to your web host’s FTP server, if you are allowed to do so. (Anonymous logins usually require that you enter your e-mail address as your password.)

Auto Backup Project File When Publishing

Click to checkmark to save the file upon publishing. If you have selected to upload your project to your web host via FTP, your project file (*.ims) but not your images or other media will also be copied to the server. Recommended.

Save Password Click to checkmark to allow you to store your login password between FTP upload sessions. Click to un-checkmark to enter your password each time you log in to your web host’s FTP server.

Stored passwords are not encrypted and are only as secure as access to your computer’s files is.

Use Passive Mode Click to checkmark to attempt a passive-mode connection o your web host’s FTP server, if you are having trouble connecting.

Passive mode is required for some internet connections and optional for others. Often broadband connections and connections through routers require it. If your connection is not working or is intermittent, try switching Passive mode on or off.

Remote Port Enter the port number on which your web host’s web server listens for FTP connections. The default port number is 21. Most servers use this port number.

Projects



Web servers typically use port 21 for FTP connections; however some firewalls block this port for security reasons. Check with your web host if you think the Remote Port information needs to be changed.

Retry Attempts Enter the number of times to retry establishing an FTP connection if the first attempt fails. The default is 1. The retry count is also used for each file transfer. So if a file fails to upload, it will be attempted again until the retry count is reached.





iHostVM Tab

If you would like to use iHost Networks, a partner of Virtual Mechanics (makers of SiteSpinner™), as your web site’s web host, use the iHostVM Tab to register. You may publish your project to the iHostVM Free Trial Site to see what your project looks like online. Then, if you decide to use iHostVM as your web host, you can maintain your site and your web host account using the iHostVM Tab.

If you have any questions regarding iHostVM web hosting customer and technical support questions, please contact iHostVM at (888) 607-0083.

Projects


Figure 21. Upload your web project to the iHostVM web server using the iHostVM Tab on the Publisher dialog box.

The iHostVM Tab on the Publisher dialog box includes the following controls and fields:


Get a Web Site Click to start the iHostVM Instant Publisher, allowing you to open a web account and choose web hosting packages.

You must have an active Internet connection in order to upload your web project to iHostVM.

Try a Free Site Click to upload your web project to iHostVM’s 12-hour free trial site.

IHostVM Home Click to open a browser window and connect to iHost Network’s iHostVM home page.

View Your Site Available only if you have an iHostVM web account and the iHostVM profile is currently selected. Click to open a browser window and view your web site’s index or default page.

Projects



Administration Click to open a browser window and log in to your iHostVM site administration account, where you can manage your files, set email preferences, view tools, etc.

Reports Available only if you have an iHostVM web account and the iHostVM profile is currently selected. Click to open a browser window and quickly and easily view traffic to your site.

Update Account Available only if you have an iHostVM web account and the iHostVM profile is currently selected. Click to open a wizard to view and select from among the available iHostVM account packages. If you want to upgrade or downgrade your account you can do it through this wizard.

Close Account Available only if you have an iHostVM web account and the iHostVM profile is currently selected. Click to open a wizard to close your iHostVM web account.

If you are a registered user of SiteSpinner™, you may upload your web project to any web host you may choose to use.





Publisher Sub-Directories Dialog Box

You can use the Publisher Sub-Directories dialog box to change the names of the subfolders in the publish directory to which various resource files will be published.

Renaming and organizing subfolders in the publish folder is optional for most users.

Each category of resource files can contain a single directory name. The specified directory will be placed as a subfolder in the publish directory, and SiteSpinner™ will place the resource files of the specified type in it.

If you leave a specified sub-directory name field blank, SiteSpinner™ will not create a sub-directory for that category of resource files.

Projects


Figure 22. The Publisher Sub-Directories dialog box lets you name and organize subfolders in the publish directory in which to place various resource files from your project.

Open the Publisher Sub-Directories dialog box by clicking the Sub Folders button on the Pages Tab of the Publisher dialog box (Publish��Publish Project or CTRL+P).

The Publisher Sub-Directories dialog box includes the following controls and fields:


Image Files Enter a new name for the sub-directory to which image files will be placed upon publishing.

Geometry Images Enter a new name for the sub-directory to which geometry files will be placed upon publishing. Geometry files are images of rectangles, ellipses polygons. If the Use More Categories option box is un-checked it also includes rendered titles and groups.

Code and Script Files

Enter a new name for the sub-directory to which code and script files will be placed upon publishing. If the Use More

Categories option box it also includes plugins and Java files

Projects



Sound Files Enter a new name for the sub-directory to which music and sound files will be placed upon publishing.

Video Files Enter a new name for the sub-directory to which multimedia and video files will be placed upon publishing. If the Use More Categories option box is un-checked it also includes Foreign Object Flash, Shockwave files embedded SVG files, and ‘Other’ Foreign Object files

External Files Enter a new name for the sub-directory to which “ride-along” files will be placed upon publishing (i.e., foreign objects of the publish file format.)

Use More Categories

Click to checkmark to show additional, more advanced subfolder options. This option divides up the basic categories for finer control of the published location of a file types.

If ‘Use More Categories’ if un-checked all collected files are put in one of the six base categories. If it is checked they are further separated into 13 categories.

Embedded HTML Files

Enter a new name for the sub-directory to which any page files used in IFrames except those pages that are in the current project will be placed upon publishing.

Plugins, Java Files Enter a new name for the sub-directory to which plug-ins and Java files will be placed upon publishing.

Embedded Flash Files

Enter a new name for the sub-directory to which Macromedia® Flash® and Shockwave® files will be placed upon publishing.

Embedded SVG Enter a new name for the sub-directory to which SVG files will be placed upon publishing.

Other Foreign Objects

Enter a new name for the sub-directory to which foreign object files of “other file type” format will be placed upon publishing.

Re-rendered Groups

Enter a new name for the sub-directory to which re-rendered group object files will be placed upon publishing.

Re-rendered Titles Enter a new name for the sub-directory to which re-rendered title object files will be placed upon publishing.



Set Defaults Click to restore the original, default sub-directory names.

Projects



Clear All Click to remove all sub-directory names. This will cause all resource files to be placed directly in the publish directory without sub-directories.

Export Progress Dialog Box

The Export Progress dialog box appears when you click the Publish button on the Publisher dialog box. It displays the publishing target information that you set in the Publisher dialog box, and reports file transfer data.

You can use the Export Progress dialog box to accomplish the following:

• Confirm publishing profile information, particularly the Destination Directory to which all published files are being transferred.

• View publishing progress using the Transfer Progress bar.

• Diagnose errors in the publishing process using the File Transfer box.

• Interrupt the publishing process using the Stop Transfer button.

Figure 23. Track the progress of and diagnose errors in the publishing process using the Export Progress dialog box.

The Export Progress dialog box includes the following controls and fields:

Projects



Transfer Profile Displays the publishing profile name under which the project is being publishing. For more information, see “Publishing Profiles.”

Destination Dir. Displays the path to the Local Publish Directory that you specified on the Pages Tab of the Publisher dialog box. For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”

Source File Displays the path of the file being published. For more information, see “IMS Project File.”

File Bytes Sent Displays the total size of the current file and the transferred amount. For example, a 2555 byte file will display 0 of 2555, then, perhaps, 1600 of 2555, and then finally 2555 of 2555

Total Displays a summary of data bytes processed as a result of the publishing operation.

Transfer Progress Displays the total amount to be transferred for the publishing session and the number of bytes currently transferred (e.g., 12345 of 345444).

File Transfer Displays a running list of file transfer operations that SiteSpinner™ performs during the publishing process. When the file transfer is complete, a result statement will appear at the end of the list. You may use the vertical scrollbar to review file transfer operations to locate any transfer errors.

Stop Transfer Click to cancel publishing operations.

OK Click to close the dialog box.

Publishing a Project to Local Directory

1. With the project you want to publish open in the Work Window, select Publish��Publish Project OR press the CTRL+P keyboard shortcut.


2. If you have set a publishing profile with an Export Destination of Files on Disk, select that profile from the Profile Name drop-down menu on the Profile Tab, and then proceed to step 10. For more information, see “Publishing Profiles.”

OR

On the Profile Tab, click the Files on Disk radio button in the Export Destination section.


Projects






6. If desired, change page file extensions for a page selected in the Page Names and Extensions combo box by either selecting a different extension from the drop-down menu (.html, .htm, .asp, .shtml, .cgi, .php, .asp, .pl) or by clicking to highlight the file extension and overwriting it with a different extension.

You may not change page file extensions if you have chosen the SVG publish format.




If you intend later to move or export the published files, it is recommended that you publish to an empty directory. This is to avoid mixing your published files with any files that may already exist in that directory.

9. Click a radio button corresponding to your desired Path Option for the publishing profile. Choose from either Gather all files (recommended), Relative link to files, or Absolute link to files.

10. Click the Publish button. The Export Progress dialog box will open, the project files will be converted to the target publish format, and all files related to the project will appear in the location specified in the Local Publish Directory field.

11. When you are finished, click the Cancel button to close the Publisher dialog box.

Projects


Publishing a Project to the Internet

You must have an active Internet connection in order to publish to the Internet.

1. With the project you want to publish open in the Work Window, select Publish��Publish Project OR press the CTRL+P keyboard shortcut.


2. If you have set a publishing profile with an Export Destination of My Web Host (FTP) , select that profile from the Profile Name drop-down menu on the Profile Tab, and then proceed to step 23. For more information, see “Publishing Profiles.”

OR

On the Profile Tab, click the My Web Host (FTP) radio button in the Export Destination section.






6. If desired, change page file extensions for a page selected in the Page Names and Extensions combo box by either selecting a different extension from the drop-down menu (.html, .htm, .asp, .shtml, .cgi, .php, .asp, .pl) or by clicking to highlight the file extension and overwriting it with a different extension.

You may not change page file extensions if you have chosen the SVG publish format.


Projects




SiteSpinner™ always publishes the files to the target directory specified in the Local Publish Directory field. Then if you are publishing to the Internet, SiteSpinner™ connects via FTP to your web host and transfers the web files from the local directory to the target directories on the remote web server. Thus, if you are publishing using the Relative Link to Files path option, you must make sure that the path relationship in the local directory between the page files and the resource files match the same relative paths on the remote server. For more information, see “Relative Paths to Resources.”

9. Click a radio button corresponding to your desired Path Option for the publishing profile. Choose from either Gather all files (recommended) or Relative link to files.

10. Click the FTP Tab.

11. Enter the domain name or IP address of your remote web host in the Host Name (or IP Address) field.

12. Enter your web server login name in the User Name field, overwriting the example user name.

13. Enter your web server password in the Password field.

If you are logging on to the web server using an anonymous login, click to checkmark the Anonymous Login option box. Do not enter information in the User Name field. Anonymous Logins usually require that you enter your e-mail address in the Password field.

14. Click the Browse button.

If your FTP login data is correct, you will be connected to your remote web server and an FTP dialog box will open displaying your remote publish directory and any files currently in it.

On some hosts the directory that you initially connect to may not be the correct directory you need to publish your web site to. You can explore the remote host by selecting folders or by clicking the red Up arrow in the FTP dialog box.

If the dialog box does not display any of the directory information provided to you by your web host, your connection probably failed. Check your settings and try again. If repeated attempts fail, contact your web host‘s technical support.

15. Once you have found the correct publish directory on the remote server, close the FTP dialog box.

Projects


The valid directory path will automatically be transferred to the Remote Publish Directory field at the top of the FTP Tab.

If you know the path to the remote publish directory, you can enter it directly into the Remote Publish Directory field before connecting. Remember, however, that on some hosts this information is case- sensitive.

16. Click the Publish button.

The Export Progress dialog box will open, and SiteSpinner™ will publish your project first to the local directory specified in the Local Publish Directory field on the Pages Tab. Then it will begin exporting the published web site via FTP to your web host’s web server. The name of each file that is being FTP’d will be displayed in a transfer message box.

A putfile error message indicates that the file was not transferred, usually because of a lost connection, a read-protected file, or a write-protected remote directory. Check your connection, FTP settings, and permissions on the remote server.

17. When you are finished, click the Cancel button to close the Publisher dialog box.

Sending a Web Page as an Email

You can send a web page you have created in SiteSpinner™ in the body of an email. This is a great way to draw traffic to your web site or to send a colorful brochure to friends and business associates.

Keep in mind that the recipients of your email must be able to read HTML in their email client programs. If they cannot (or have disabled HTML decoding), your email will not appear or function in the way you designed it to.

1. Design a single web page that you want to send as the body of an email.

2. Open the Publisher dialog box. (For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”)

3. Click the Pages tab.

4. Check the Add Base option.

5. Enter the path to the server where your page is to be published to.

6. Publish your page to your web host. Be sure to use the Gather option.

7. Try to view your page through your browser. If the images are missing then you made an error with the file path.

8. If all is OK, use the Code View option to copy and then paste your code into your email or newsletter program. Be sure to run a check email to yourself to verify that all the images are appearing.

Chapter 4: Pages

In this section, you will learn about pages in

SiteSpinner™ -- not only the project pages on which you

build your web content but also the published pages of

your finished web project.

Overview of Pages 110

Working With Pages 125

Page Layout 133

Page Effects 144

Pages


Overview of Pages

Just as a book is meaningless without pages, so are a SiteSpinner™ project or a published web site. When visitors connect to your web site, it isn’t the web site itself that they connect to – it’s one of its pages. Similarly, your web site could boast the most killer multimedia, graphical, or application content on the Internet, but visitors would never see it – because there would be no place to reference it from – if there were no pages.

When we discuss pages in SiteSpinner™, we are talking about one of two things. First are the pages of your project file. These are the drawing boards on which you add and position text, geometry, image, and other objects. The individual, unpublished pages of your SiteSpinner™ project are maintained and organized internally by the application code. They are not visible as separate entities, except through the page selection commands that make them appear, one at a time, in the Work Window.

The second type of pages are the finished web pages that are given life after you complete your project design, and issue the Publish command, which converts your raw project pages to either an HTML or SVG format. These are the pages that you would ordinarily transfer to a web server and make available on the World Wide Web.

If you have published in the HTML format, web pages will have HTML file extensions, although you may assign them alternate file extensions to suit the type of web server you are publishing to, such as .ASP, .CGI, or .PHP. (For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”) If you are publishing SVG web pages, they will have .SVG extensions. In any case, a web page file name and extension is the last part of the URL web address that your visitors’ browsers look up in order to navigate to your web site.

In this chapter, you’ll learn all about pages and how to work with them to control the presentation of your web project.

Page Editor Dialog Box

The Page Editor dialog box allows you to set various page properties, such as page name, title and meta tag information, special effects, music, and page backgrounds.

You can open the Page Editor dialog box in any of the following ways:

• Select Page��Page Editor from the Work Window menu bar

• Click the Page Editor button: in the Components Bar

• Click the Page Editor button: in the Page Bar (hidden by default)

• Press the ALT + P keyboard shortcut

• In the Work Window, double-click the currently displayed page

Pages


• In the Work Window, right-click on the currently displayed page and select Edit Page Properties

Figure 24. Use the Page Editor dialog box to set various page properties.

The Page Editor dialog box comprises the following seven tabs:

• Page Select Tab

• Title, Meta Tags Tab

• Header Tab

• Links Tab

• Special Effects Tab

• Music Tab

• Background Tab

Page Select Tab

Use the Page Select Tab on the Page Editor dialog box to select a page for editing, rename a page, set a page’s HTML file extension, or add or delete a page from your project.

If you set the HTML extension to ‘.svg’, the page will be published in SVG format. This can be useful if you are embedding SVG pages inside HTML pages and want both in the same project.

Pages


Figure 25. Manage your project pages using the Page Select Tab of the Page Editor dialog box.

Controls on the Page Select Tab of the Page Editor dialog box include the following:


Current Page Displays a thumbnail view of the page currently selected for editing.

Select Page Displays the name of the page currently open in the Work Window, which is also the page currently selected for editing. To edit another page in the project, select it from the drop-down menu. Any changes to the previous page will be save when a new page is selected.

By default, SiteSpinner™ assigns page names as: Index, Page1, Page2, Page3, etc. You may rename a page, up to 48 alphanumeric characters, by typing over the displayed name in the Select Page box. Avoid using special characters, such as “ ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ) { } [ ] : ; ‘ < , > . ? / “.

The first page of your web project should be called “default.html” or “index.html”.

Pages



Select a file extension

Select from the drop-down menu a file extension for the selected page to be used upon publishing the project. Choose either .html, .htm, .asp, .shtml, .cgi, .php, .asp, .pl. Or, you may enter your own extension.

If you are publishing your project in SVG format, you may accept any file extension setting for individual pages. You can choose a global SVG setting for the entire project from the Coding Language Selection drop-down menu in the Preview Bar or in the Project Target Options dialog box. These settings override individual page file formats. For more information, see “Project Target Options Dialog Box.”

If you assign the a page an .svg extension, it will be published as SVG regardless of the global publish setting you establish in the Coding Language Selection drop-down menu in the Preview Bar or in the Project Target Options dialog box. This is useful for mixed HTML/SVG projects.

All Pages Click to apply the file extension option displayed in the Select a file extension box to all pages in the project.

Create Click to add a new, blank page after the last page of the project.

Delete Click to remove the page whose name is displayed in the Select Page box and that is currently open for editing. If there is only one page in the project, SiteSpinner™ will empty it of all content but will not delete it.


Cancel Click to cancel any changes to the currently selected page and close the dialog box.


Title, Meta Tags Tab

Use the Title, Meta Tags Tab on the Page Editor dialog box to set the attributes of your project’s HTML that will make your web site more easily located on the World Wide Web. Settings on this tab will add keywords and other elements to the <HEAD> section of your HTML. Meta tags on your pages can increase their chances of being found and positioned by some Internet search engines.

Pages


Figure 26. Set keywords and other meta information about your web site using the Title, Meta Tags Tab on the Page Editor dialog box.

Controls on the Title, Meta Tags Tab of the Page Editor dialog box include the following:


Page Title Enter a clear, descriptive, and relatively brief title for your page. A web page’s title is often used by search engines and the browser to identify the HTML document.

Your setting will be entered in the HTML as the <TITLE> element. By default, the page name in the project will be used.

Description Enter a descriptive phrase for your page, using many of entries in the Keywords field. Your setting will be entered in the HTML as a meta tag named “Description.”

Keywords Enter words that appear frequently in the content of your web site, or enter words that you would like search engines to use to locate and index your site. Separate keywords by a comma.

No ‘Generator’ Tag SiteSpinner™ automatically inserts a meta tag into the <HEAD> section of the HTML to identify the version of the software you used to build and publish the page. This can be helpful information should you request technical support. Click to checkmark to exclude this meta tag from the page.

Pages



Copyright Enter your company or copyright name. The current year automatically will be affixed to the copyright meta tag in the <HEAD> section.

Name The Meta Name edit box can be used to create a custom Meta tag. Meta name will be included as: <META NAME=”contents of Name field”>. If the Meta Name edit box is left blank, a custom meta tag will not be included.

List The Meta Content edit box can be used to create a custom Meta tag. Meta Content will be included as: <META CONTENT=”contents of List field”>. If the Meta Content edit box is left blank, a custom Meta tag will not be included.




Header Tab

Use the Header Tab on the dialog box to insert custom header information, such as CSS or JavaScript.

Figure 27. Add custom header information to your web page using the Header Tab on the Page Editor dialog box.

Controls on the Header Tab of the Page Editor dialog box include the following:

Pages



Custom Header Select a header from the Header Selection dropdown menu, or click the New Header button. Enter script statements, style sheet declarations, or other custom header information to be added to the <HEAD> section of the current page.

Header Selection Displays the header object currently selected for editing or [no custom header] if no header object is selected. Select a different header object from the drop-down menu.

New Header Click to add a new header object to the Header Selection drop-down menu and to select the new header object for editing.

You may rename a header object by typing over the displayed name in the Header Selection box.

All Pages Click to apply the currently selected header object to all pages in the project.

Enable Password protection

Click to checkmark to include a JavaScript password in the document header. The user will be prompted to enter the password to view the page.

SiteSpinner’s page-level password function is not secure or encrypted. For robust, site-level password protection, contact your web host.

Password Enter an alphanumeric password that the user must match when the password option is enabled.

Link on failed password

Enter the URL of the alternate page to display when the user fails to enter the valid password to view the current page.




Links, Fonts Tab

Use the Links, Fonts Tab on the Page Editor dialog box to set hyperlink colors, underlining, and hover effects for the page. These colors only apply to links on text. Links on images are not affected. You can set the colors of individual links from within the text editor’s link editor. You may also specify parameters to redirect users to a different web page after a specified interval if the current page becomes inactive.

Pages


Figure 28. Use the Links, Fonts Tab of the Page Editor dialog box to set global hyperlinks colors and page-redirection specifications.

Controls on the Links, Fonts Tab of the Page Editor dialog box include the following:


Unvisited Click to open the Color dialog box, allowing you to set the color of unvisited hyperlinks. The button text displays the currently selected color.

Visited Click to open the Color dialog box, allowing you to set the color of already-visited hyperlinks. The button text displays the currently selected color.

Selected Click to open the Color dialog box, allowing you to set the color of selected hyperlinks (i.e., link has focus (dotted rectangle) and mouse has passed over once. The definition of a selected link varies from browser to browser.) The button text displays the currently selected color.

Hover With the Use Hover option box selected (checkmarked), click to open the Color dialog box, allowing you to set the color to display hyperlinks when the user moves the mouse pointer over them. The button text displays the currently selected color.

Use Hover Click to checkmark to enable you to set a color to display hyperlinks when the user hovers the mouse pointer over them.

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Do not underline links

Click to checkmark to remove the underline from hyperlinked text.

All Pages Click to apply the current hyperlink color settings to all pages in the project.

Character Set Optional. Click a radio button corresponding to the character set to use when the user’s browser is interpreting text in the HTML. Choose from among UTF8, ANSI or Other. If you choose Other, you must enter a character set name in the next field or leave it blank to use no character set (not recommended). Generally this won’t affect you, unless you are using special characters in your file names or page name. For instance, if you wanted to use accented (ê for example) characters in your page name, you would need to specify the ANSI character set which will use the Western European character set iso-8859-1. Some European users may use this functionality.

Default Font Click to open the Font dialog box, allowing you to set default text attributes for all text in your project. For more information, see “Font Dialog Box.”

Redirect to New Location

Click to checkmark to create an automatic hyperlink that will redirect visitors of the current page to a new location or file (specified below) after the chosen time delay.

Link Type Select from the drop-down menu the type of hyperlink you want to apply to the automatic redirect hyperlink. Choose from among internal project page (-page-) or Internet (http://). Or, you may leave the Link Type menu blank for other types of links. For more information, see “Hyperlinking.”

URL If you are hyperlinking to an Internet web page (http://), select from the drop-down menu a target or destination for the hyperlink. The menu will display pre-defined hyperlinks that you have added to the Link Manager. If the desired hyperlink is not in the drop-down menu, enter a new hyperlink target. (For more information, see “Link Manager Dialog Box.”)

If you are hyperlinking to an internal project page (-page-), select from the drop-down menu the page name within the current project you want to link to. For more information, see “Hyperlinking.”

For more information, see “Hyperlinking.”

Pages



Delay before redirection (in seconds)

Click and drag the slider to the right to increase the delay interval before the current page automatically hyperlinks to the redirect target or to the left to decrease the delay interval. Or, you may enter a value in seconds in the box. (The default delay interval is 10 seconds.)




Special Effects Tab

Use the Special Effects Tab on the Page Editor dialog box to set miscellaneous options, such as image copying, page transitions, background scrolling, and page centering.

Figure 29. Apply miscellaneous settings to your page using the options on the Special Effects Tab of the Page Editor dialog box.

Controls on the Special Effects Tab of the Page Editor dialog box include the following:


Pages



No ‘Image Copy’ Toolbar

On large images viewed in Microsoft® Internet Explorer® browsers, a floating toolbar will pop up that will allow you o save, print, or email the image. Click to checkmark if you want to prevent this toolbar from appearing in the current page. Click to un-checkmark to allow this toolbar. By default, the No ‘Image Copy’ Toolbar option box is selected (checkmarked).

Note that this option will not disallow users from right-clicking the image and choosing either the Save Picture As or Save Target As options.

Transition IN Select from the drop-down menu a transition effect to apply to the current page when the page is loaded in the browser.

Then select from the Duration drop-down menu a value in seconds for the transition effect to last. Choose a value between 1 and 30.

Transition OUT Select from the drop-down menu a transition effect to apply to the current page when the page is exited.

Then select from the Duration drop-down menu a value in seconds for the transition effect to last. Choose a value between 1 and 30.

Transitions are visible only in Microsoft® Internet Explorer® browsers.

Center Page Horizontally

Click to checkmark to center the content of the page within the width of the browser window in which it is being viewed. This setting will ensure that your page appears in the center of the window if it is viewed in a browser window that is wider than your page.

Fixed Background Click to checkmark to freeze the background, so that it will not scroll when the foreground content is scrolled. This is a good setting to use with watermark image settings in the page background properties. For more information, see “Background.”

All Pages Click to apply the current special effects settings to all pages in the project.




Pages


Music Tab

Use the Music Tab on the Page Editor dialog box to define background music for the current page. The music will begin playing when the page is loaded in the user’s browser.

Figure 30. Add background music to your page using the Music Tab of the Page Editor dialog box.

Controls on the Music Tab of the Page Editor dialog box include the following:


Select New Click to display the Open dialog box, allowing you to browse for music files to add to your page. Select from MIDI, Basic Audio, WAV, or AIFF file formats. The absolute path to the file you select will appear in the box. You cannot edit the path.

Enable Music Click to checkmark to enable the playing of the selected music file. Click to un-checkmark to ignore the selected audio file.

Continuous Play Click to checkmark to set the selected audio file to play continuously while the page is displayed. Click to un-checkmark to play the audio file once and then stop.

All Pages Click to apply the current page music settings to all pages in the project.




Pages


Background Tab

Use the Background Tab on the Page Editor dialog box to set a color and/or a background image for the current page.

Figure 31. Use the Background Tab on the Page Editor dialog box to apply a color or background image to the page.

Controls on the Background Tab of the Page Editor dialog box include the following:


Thumbnail View Displays a preview of editing operations. With gradient effects selected (i.e., Linear, Cylinder, or Radial), allows you to modify shading direction and rate of change.

Red Click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the red channel of the base background color. Or, you may enter a decimal value in the field. If you are creating a gradient fill background, with the complementary color activated (by clicking the color preview buttons below the Thumbnail View), you may set the value of the Red channel of the complementary color.

Green Click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the red channel of the base background color. Or, you may enter a decimal value in the field. If you are creating a gradient fill background, with the complementary color activated (by clicking the color preview buttons below the Thumbnail View), you may set the value of the Green channel of the complementary color.

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Blue Click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the red channel of the base background color. Or, you may enter a decimal value in the field. If you are creating a gradient fill background, with the complementary color activated (by clicking the color preview buttons below the Thumbnail View), you may set the value of the Blue channel of the complementary color.

Flip When creating gradient effects to a background color, click to switch the settings of the base and complementary colors.

Gradient color backgrounds will only be visible when viewed as SVG pages. For more information, see “Background.”

Color Click to open the Color dialog box and select a system or custom color. When you are finished, the values of the selected color will appear in the Red, Green, and Blue fields. You may use this function to pick colors for the base background color, if you are creating a flat-colored background, or for both the base and complementary colors, if you are creating a gradient background.

Click and drag to use the color dropper tool to pick up a color anywhere on your computer screen. Release the mouse button to set the decimal values of the selected color in the Red, Green, and Blue fields. You may use this tool to pick colors for the base background color, if you are creating a flat-colored background, or for both the base and complementary colors, if you are creating a gradient background.

No-Scroll Background

Click to checkmark to freeze the background, so that it will not scroll when the foreground content is scrolled. This is a good setting to use with watermark image settings in the page background properties. For more information, see “Background.”.

Radial Click to apply a radial shading pattern between the base and complementary colors. Radial shading appears as one color blending radially from the center into the other color. You can change the radius of the shading using the controls in the Thumbnail View.

Cylinder Click to apply a cylindrical shading pattern between the base and complementary colors. Cylindrical shading appears as one color blending horizontally into the other color at both the top and bottom. You can change the position or direction of the shading using the controls in the Thumbnail View.

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Linear Click to apply a linear shading pattern between the base and complementary colors. Linear shading appears as one color blending vertically into the other color from left to right. You can change the position or direction of the shading using the controls in the Thumbnail View.

Solid Click to set the background properties to a solid-color fill. This will cancel either the gradient-fill or image-fill background settings.

Image Displays the Open dialog box to browse for an image file to insert as a background property onto the current page. The image will be placed at the top left of the browser window, and the unfilled portion of the background will be filled with the selected background color. For more information, see “Background.”.

To delete an image from the background, click the Solid button.

Tile Click to display the Open dialog box to browse for an image file to apply in a tiled (repeated) pattern to background.

X With a tiled background selected, click to checkmark to apply tiling to the page background along the horizontal axis. Checkmarking only the X axis and leaving the Y axis un-checkmarked will apply one column of tiled images along one row of tiled images along the top of the page background.

Y With a tiled background selected, click to checkmark to apply tiling to the page background along the vertical axis. Checkmarking only the Y axis and leaving the X axis un-checkmarked will apply the far left side of the page background.

All Pages Click to apply the current background settings to all pages in the project.




Pages


Working With Pages

Pages are the containers for all visual (and audio) elements of your web project. Each page that you include in your SiteSpinner™ project will be translated into a finished web page when you publish your project.

This section examines the routine tasks you will perform with regard to pages, including adding, renaming, deleting, cutting, copying, and pasting a page.

New Pages

You can add new, blank pages to your SiteSpinner™ project. Or, you can insert pages from another SiteSpinner™ project.

You can include up to 998 pages in your project. However, be aware that every page you include in your project will be converted to a web page upon publishing, and your web host may impose a limit on the number of pages or the overall size of your web site.

Adding a Page to a Project

Use any of the following procedures to add a page to a project:

In the Work Window:

1. With a project page open in the Work Window, click the Add New Page button: in the Page bar

OR

Select Page��Add New Page

OR

Right-click on the page displaying in the Work Window and select Page��Append Page.

A new, blank page will be added to the end of the project and will open in the Work Window.

2. Repeat as desired to add additional pages to the end of the project.

In the Work Window:

1. With a project page open in the Work Window, right-click and then select Page��Paste Page.

Pages


A new, blank page will be added to the end of the project and will open in the Work Window.


In the Page Editor:

1. Select Page��Page Editor

OR

Right-click on the Work Window and select Edit Page Properties

OR

Press the CTRL+SHIFT+E keyboard shortcut.

The Page Editor dialog box will open.

2. On the Page Select Tab, click the Create button.

A new, blank page will be added to the end of the project and will open in the Work Window. You may rename the page on the Page Editor dialog box, if you wish. For more information, see “Renaming a Page.”


4. When you are finished, click OK to close the dialog box.

Inserting Pages from Another Project

In the Work Window:

1. With a project page open in the Work Window, select File��Append Project.

The Append File to Current Project dialog box will open.

2. Click to display the Look in drop-down menu to browse for a separate SiteSpinner™ project file (*.ims) to insert in the current project.

3. When you have located the project you want to insert, click to select it. The project name will appear in the File name field.

4. Click the OK button.

The pages of the inserted project will be added to the end of the current project.

SiteSpinner™ will alter the page names of the appended project if they conflict with page names in the current project. You may rename them as desired. For more information, see “Renaming a Page.”

Page Navigation

The SiteSpinner™ Work Window displays only one page at a time. But it’s easy to move around your project and open different pages in the Work Window.

Pages


Opening a Different Page in the Work Window

Open a different page from the page currently displaying in the Work Window using any of the following methods:

• Click to activate the drop-down menu in the Page Selection combo box on the Page bar, and select a different page.

• Click to highlight the currently displaying page name in the Page Selection combo box on the Page bar, and press the Up arrow to open the preceding project page, or press the Down arrow to open the succeeding project page.

• Press the CTRL+ TAB keyboard shortcut to open the succeeding project page, or press the CTRL+ TAB+SHIFT keyboard shortcut to open the preceding project page.

Page Names

When you open a new SiteSpinner™ project, a new, blank page will appear in the Work

Window. By default, this page is named “Index.” You can view the name of the currently displaying page in the Page Selection combo box in the Page Bar.

When you add (or “append”) a page to your project, the system will assign it a default, incremented page name. You may change the system-given name to a different name that makes more sense to you in the context of your project, and it’s a good idea to do so, with the exception of the “Index” page. The “Index” page name should not be changed, because an index page is required if you want a default home page.

Your new page name may contain up to 40 alphanumeric characters. Avoid using special characters, such as “-space- ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ) { } [ ] : ; ‘ < , > . ? / “.

By default, SiteSpinner™ will give a published web page the same name as its origin page in your project. For example, a project page named “services” will be named “services.html,” if you are publishing to the HTML format, or “services.svg,” if you are publishing to the SVG format. You may change the names of your published output files on the Pages Tab of the Publisher dialog box. For more information, see “Publisher Dialog Box.”

Figure 32. The Page Selection combo box in the Page bar shows system-assigned page names, left. The Page Selection combo box shows all the page names renamed (except the Index page), right.

Renaming a Page

Use either of the following methods to rename a project page:

Pages


In the Work Window:

1. Click to open the drop-down menu of the Page Selection combo box in the Page bar.

2. Select the page whose name you want to change. The selected page will open in the Work Window.

3. Change the name by overwriting the existing name in the box.

In the Page Editor:

1. Select Page��Page Editor

OR

Right-click on the Work Window and select Edit Page Properties

OR

Press the CTRL+SHIFT+E keyboard shortcut.

The Page Editor dialog box will open.

2. On the Page Select Tab, click to display the drop-down menu of the Page Selection combo box in the Page bar.

3. Select the page whose name you want to change. A thumbnail image of the page will appear in the Current Page window.

4. Change the name by overwriting the existing name in the box.

5. Click OK. The renamed page will open in the Work Window.

If you enter the name of page that already exists in the project, the system will drop the last letter of the new page name to distinguish it from the existing page.

Page names may contain up to 40 alphanumeric characters. Avoid using special characters, such as “ ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ) { } [ ] : ; ‘ < , > . ? / “.

Page Manipulation

You can speed up your work by copying pages and pasting them elsewhere in your project. The page and all objects on it will be duplicated, and depending on their copy options the duplicated objects may have different properties than their source originals.

You can also cut a page to temporarily save it for pasting later, or you may delete a page to remove it from the project entirely and for good.

Don’t be confused between the cut, copy, and paste commands for pages and the cut, copy, and paste commands for objects. Although the two sets of commands are partially interrelated, the controls and menu options for each command are different. For more information, see “Object Manipulation.”

Pages


Cut Page

When you cut a page, the page, its properties, and all of its objects are retained in the system’s temporary memory. It will remain there until you open the Page Editor, paste the page somewhere else in the project, or select another page to cut or copy.

If you paste a cut page, it will appear at the end of the project’s sequence of pages and with a new, system-defined name. If you cut or copy another page, then the page you originally cut will be emptied from the system’s temporary memory (i.e., deleted).

Cutting and Pasting a Page

1. With the Work Window displaying the page that you want to cut, select Page��Cut Page

OR

Click the Cut Page button: in the Page bar

OR

Right-click the page and select Page��Cut Page

A message box will open asking you to confirm that you want to cut the page.

2. Click the Yes button to close the message box.

The cut page will disappear from the Work Window.

3. Select Page��Paste Page

OR

Click the Paste Page button: in the Page bar

OR

Right-click on the page displaying in the Work Window and select Page��Paste Page.

The cut page will reappear as the last page of the project with a new, system-assigned name.

4. Rename the page using the original page name or any name you like. For more information, see “Renaming a Page.”

Copy Page

The page copy/paste operation is straightforward and unremarkable in SiteSpinner™. You simply select a page to copy, issue the copy command, issue the paste command, and then the page and everything on it is replicated exactly.

Pages


But the handling of objects copied and then pasted with the page requires some discussion. That’s because objects may possess one of four different target copy options, as set on the Object Editor dialog box (see “Object Editor Dialog Box.”). Depending on which of the four options it has, a pasted object may behave differently on the pasted page than its copied original does on the copied page. Thus it’s important to understand the differences before you perform a page copy/paste operation.

Object target copy options are discussed more fully in “Target Copy Options” but are summarized as follows:

Copy

When you paste a page that contains objects with a target copy option of Copy, these objects will be identical to their copied originals on the copied page. You may reposition, transform, or edit the geometry or shading components of the pasted objects, and the results will be completely independent of their copied originals. All objects by default have a target copy option of Copy.

Clone

When you paste a page that contains objects with a target copy option of Clone, the copy will share the original object’s geometry ( and shading if used), and therefore any changes to the geometry or shading components of the pasted objects will be applied to the copied originals as well as to any object in the project that shares those components. Otherwise, pasted clone objects behave the same as pasted copy objects – you can reposition or transform them independently of their copied originals.

Include

When you paste a page that contains objects with a target copy option of Include, these objects will be identical to the originals on the copied page. Therefore any changes you make to include objects – repositioning, transforming, or component editing – will be reflected on every page in which they appear. Included object are a second instance of the same object, not a copy of the object

Private

Objects on a copied page that have a target copy option of Private will not be copied to the pasted page. They are exclusive to the page onto which they were originally inserted.

Copying and Pasting a Page

1. With the Work Window displaying the page that you want to cut, select Page��Copy Page

OR

Click the Copy Page button: in the Page bar

OR

Right-click the page and select Page��Copy Page

Pages


2. Select Page��Paste Page

OR

Click the Paste Page button: in the Page bar

OR

Right-click on the page displaying in the Work Window and select Page��Paste Page.

The copied page will appear as the last page of the project with a new, system-assigned name.


Delete Page

You can take a page out of your project entirely by using the Delete command. Deleting a page that contains include objects will not delete those objects from other pages.

Deleting a Page

1. With the Work Window displaying the page that you want to delete, select Page��Delete Page

OR

Click the Delete Page button: in the Page bar. (The Delete Page button is not visible by default. For more information, see “Page Bar.”)

A message box will open asking you to confirm your Delete Page command.

2. Click the Yes button.

The message box will close, and the page will be deleted from the project.

Resequencing Project Pages

You can move a page from its current position in the project page sequence (as displayed in the Page Selection drop-down menu on the Page Bar and in the Page Editor dialog box) to become the last page at the end of the project. You can repeat the resequencing procedure until the page is in the desired position in the page sequence.

Resequencing pages is useful only as an aid to the project editing process. Page order is unimportant in the published project, because you can assign hyperlinks to connect the web pages.

1. Open the page in the project you want to move to the end of the project page sequence.

2. Cut the page. For more information, see “Cut Page.”

Pages


3. Paste the page. For more information, see “Cutting and Pasting a Page.”

The cut page will reappear as the last page of the project with a new, system-assigned name.


5. Repeat the preceding steps until the page is in the desired position in the page sequence.

Pages


Page Layout

One of the hallmarks of a professionally designed web page is a crisp, neat, orderly page layout. Text and graphical elements arranged in strong, purposeful lines on the page avoid a cluttered look and are more pleasing to the eye. Consistent placement from page to page of visual elements, such as banners and navigational button bars (“nav bars”), helps keep your users from becoming lost in your web site.

With SiteSpinner™, you just drag and drop objects on the page and move them around to where you want them. You can use Tab Guides and the Grid Guide to line them up perfectly, and then you can lock them in place so that they will stay there from page to page. Use the automatic centering option to keep your content always in the viewable area of the browser window. No more page margin settings, and no more guessing.

This section takes a look at the techniques you can use to lay out a project page so that it looks just the way you want it to in the browser window.

Alignment

Strong visual lines help organize the contents of a web page and lend it a crisp, professional appearance. As you plan and design your page, you will want precise and consistent alignment of text and graphical objects, such as banners, navigation bars, columns of text, and photo galleries, so that they will appear neat and orderly on each page that displays in your user’s web browser.

SiteSpinner™ offers different tools and aids to help you position and align objects on the page precisely where you want them. Among them are the Snap Grid and Tab Guides.

Snap Grid

The Grid Guide provides a visual reference of the pixel positions of the various objects you have added to the page. (The Grid Guide looks like graph paper or a window screen in the background of the Work Window. It does not show up in the published page. For more information, see “Grid Guide.”) While the Grid Guide can help you align your screen elements, it does not prevent misalignment.

The Snap Grid takes some of the guesswork out of using the Grid Guide. With the Snap Grid enabled, when you move an object in the Work Window it jumps to the nearest grid border. It’s a timesaver – just click and drag objects to the same approximate location on the page that you want them, and – snap! – the Snap Grid finishes the job and aligns them precisely.

The pixel distance between snap grid borders is 10, by default. However, you can change the setting using the Snap Grid Resolution control on the Guide/Display Options dialog box (Options��Guide/Display Options) Lower resolutions offer finer control and less “snapping;” higher resolutions will more easily “snap” objects but may crowd objects unintentionally.

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You can toggle the Snap Grid off or on by selecting View��Enable Snap Grid, or by pressing the CTRL+M keyboard shortcut. Or, you can select/deselect the Enable Snap Grid option box on the Guide/Display Options dialog box. (For more information, see “Guide/Display Options Dialog Box.”)

The Snap Grid and Grid Guide are controlled separately. The Snap Grid will work even when the Grid Guide is turned off and not visible in the Work Window.

You can also transform or resize objects with the Snap Grid enabled in order to stretch or skew them in precise degrees or pixel increments. For more information, see “Transform Object.”

Tab Guides

If you know exactly where on the page you want to align a text box and title, a navigation bar, or a gallery of images, etc., and you want to repeat the alignment layout on multiple pages, using Tab Guides will save time and trouble.

You can draw horizontal and vertical Tab Guides by setting tab stops in the X or Y Ruler. (For more information, see “Tab Guides.”)Tab Guides will appear as horizontal or vertical green dotted lines across the Work Window. Then, you can select an object or group of objects and click a button in the Align Bar to automatically position the selection against the Tab Guides.

You can move a Tab Guide by clicking it in the Ruler and dragging it either left or right.

Aligning Objects Using Tab Guides

1. Decide where in the Work Window you would like to align an object or group of objects. You may align objects vertically or horizontally.

2. Click in the X or Y Ruler to set a tab stop at the pixel location you determined in step 1. A Tab Guide will be drawn across the Work Window at the selected location.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2, if desired, to create additional Tab Guides.

4. Click to select an object

OR

Create a group of objects. For more information, see “Group Objects.”

5. To move the selection to the next nearest vertical Tab Guide to the left or right, click

the Align Left Edge button: or the Align Right Edge button: in the Align Bar, OR press the ALT+Left Arrow or ALT+Right Arrow keyboard shortcuts

OR

To move the selection to the next nearest horizontal Tab Guide up or down, click the

Align Top Edge button: or the Align Bottom Edge button: in the Align Bar, OR press the ALT+Up Arrow or ALT+Down Arrow keyboard shortcuts

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OR

To move the selection so that its center aligns with the next nearest vertical Tab Guide or the vertical center of the target display resolution, click the Horizontal

Align Center button:

OR

To move the selection so that its center aligns with the next nearest horizontal Tab Guide or the horizontal center of the target display resolution, click the Vertical Align

Center button:

If no tab stops have been set, alignment operations will align selection edges with the left, right, top, or bottom Target Resolution Guide Borders, depending upon which alignment direction is chosen.

Removing Tab Guides

To remove a single Tab Guide:

1. Locate the tab stop in the X or Y Ruler that controls the Tab Guide you wish to remove.

2. Click the tab stop, and then drag it with your mouse off of the Ruler.

The tab stop and its associated Tab Guide will be removed.

To remove all Tab Guides:

1. Select Options�� Guide/Display Options.

The Guide/Display Options dialog box will open.

2. Click the Clear all Tabs button.

3. Click OK.

All tab stops and their associated Tab Guides will be removed.

Any objects aligned at a Tab Guide will remain in place after a Tab Guide is removed.

Spacing

SiteSpinner™ offers a handy tool for automatically positioning objects evenly spaced from one another on a page. This concept is known as “spacing.”

If you have a set of objects that you want an exact amount of space between, first group the objects, and then click either the Space Evenly Vertically or Space Evenly Horizontally button in the Align Bar. The objects’ centers will be aligned between the first and last objects in the group. (For more information about grouping, see “Group Objects.”)

This is a useful tool for evening up the spaces between buttons or images in a photo gallery.

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Spacing Objects Evenly

1. Click to select three or more objects in the Work Window, creating a group. (For more information, see “Group Objects.”)

You must select at least three objects to activate the Space Evenly buttons in the Align Bar.

2. To space the centers of the objects evenly along a horizontal plane between the first selected and last selected object, click the Space Evenly Horizontally button in the Align Bar

OR

To space the centers of the objects evenly along a vertical plane between the first selected and last selected object, click the Space Evenly Vertically button in the Align Bar.

You may space objects evenly both horizontally or vertically.

Positioning

The concept of positioning has two levels of meaning in SiteSpinner™. The first level relates to how objects are positioned in the Work Window as you edit them. You can move, transform, or otherwise reposition an object in numerous ways. This meaning of positioning is discussed in “Move Object” and “Transform Object.”

The second meaning of positioning has to do with how objects will appear and behave in the browser window when the page is previewed or published. The properties that control this type of positioning can be changed using different settings and can affect how your users will view your web site.

Absolute Positioning

By default, objects will appear to the user in the same positions as they appeared to you in the Work Window. This property is known as Absolute Positioning. When you place an object on the page, and then when you move it around the Work Window, SiteSpinner™ keeps track of its absolute pixels coordinates. After publishing, the object will appear in the user’s browser window at this exact position regardless of the actual dimensions of the browser window. The effect is that if the browser window is minimized or made smaller, the elements on the displaying page may disappear from view.

Absolute Positioning affords you more control over the appearance of your web page. But it may result in some of your web page being hidden to users whose browser windows are smaller than the target resolution for which you designed your web site.

To assign Absolute Positioning to objects, you needn’t do anything. As mentioned earlier, it is a default setting that is applied to all objects as you add them to your page. If, however, you wish to reassign Absolute Positioning to objects that have been given Relative Positioning or No CSS Positioning, you may do it per object using the Object Editor dialog box or

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globally using the Project Target Options dialog box. (For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box” and “Project Target Options Dialog Box.”)

Relative Positioning

You can overcome the possibility that some objects using Absolute Positioning might be hidden from certain users by using Relative Positioning instead – a method which, when combined with Relative Sizing, is referred to as “dynamic layout.” (For more information, see “Dynamic Layout.”)

When objects are positioned using Relative Positioning, the project’s target resolution is factored in to determine the position of objects relative to the edges of the browser window. That is, the target resolution guide border represents the inside edges of the browser window. Any position relative to the guide border will be appear relative to the browser window in the final page. The effect of Relative Positioning is that if the browser window is minimized or made smaller, the elements on the displaying page are “scrunched” together.

Relative horizontal Positioning can be made relative to the left, center or right of the page. Likewise Vertical positioning can be relative to the top, middle or bottom of the page.

If, for example, an object is assigned Relative Horizontal Positioning and is positioned in the center of the Work Window, it will appear in the center of the browser regardless of the browser’s actual resolution or size. Similarly, if an object is assigned Relative Vertical Positioning and is positioned halfway between the top and bottom edges of the Work

Window, it will appear at the vertical center of the browser window regardless of the actual height of the browser.

You can assign Relative Horizontal and/or Vertical Positioning to an object using the Transformations Tab of the Object Editor dialog box or the Relative Horizontal Positioning and/or Relative Vertical Positioning buttons on the Align Bar. (For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box” and “Align Bar.”) Or, you can apply Relative Horizontal and/or Vertical Positioning settings globally to all objects in your project on the Project Target Options dialog box. This will set the default for all objects, so we don’t recommend it unless you are sure your want all new objects to have relative positioning. (For more information, see “Project Target Options Dialog Box.”)

If the object has other objects or background images behind it, care must be taken. Objects will render their own backgrounds unless a transparent image format is used. If the background is rendered in the image and the image is then repositioned, the background will no longer match.

No CSS Positioning

No CSS Positioning is primarily an advanced setting for users who know HTML and want to exclude CSS code from the object. By using the No CSS Positioning setting, you can tell SiteSpinner™ to leave positioning coordinates entirely out of the underlying project code. Thus, the actual location of an object without CSS positioning will depend upon other factors, including which browser is being used, whether the object is a member of a group or table, the location of other objects on the page, and so on. With No CSS on, the objects’ position in the work window will not affect the actual position when published.

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The No CSS Positioning option will help ensure that every part of your page will be visible to your users. However, it affords the least control over where page elements will appear with regard to page layout.

No CSS Positioning settings are used primarily on code objects or imported HTML that include their own positioning. It also is a useful option when you are setting tables to be a percentage of the browser window size.

You can assign No CSS Positioning to an object using the Transformations Tab of the Object Editor dialog box. (For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box.”) Or, you can apply the No CSS Positioning setting globally to all objects in your project on the Project Target Options dialog box. (For more information, see “Project Target Options Dialog Box.”)

Setting Positioning Attributes

To set the positioning attributes for a single object:

1. Double-click the object in the Work Window whose positioning attributes you wish to set.

The Object Editor dialog box will open. For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box.”

2. Click the Transformations Tab.

3. To remove all positioning attributes for the object from the underlying HTML or SVG code, click to checkmark the No CSS Positioning option box, and then proceed to step 6

OR

If you want to set absolute or relative positioning attributes for the object, proceed to step 4.

4. To set an absolute horizontal position for the object, click the Absolute Horizontal Position radio button

OR

To set a relative horizontal position for the object, click the Relative Horizontal Position radio button.

5. To set an absolute vertical position for the object, click the Absolute Vertical Position radio button

OR

To set a relative vertical position for the object, click the Relative Vertical Position radio button.

6. When you are finished, click OK. The dialog box will close.

To set the positioning attributes for all objects in the project:

By default, all objects are initially set with Absolute Positioning attributes.

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1. Select Options��Project Options.

The Project Target Options dialog box will open. For more information, see “Project Target Options Dialog Box.”

2. Click the More button to expand the dialog box.

3. To remove all positioning attributes for all objects from the underlying HTML or SVG code, click to checkmark the No CSS option box, and then proceed to step 6

OR

If you want to set relative positioning attributes for all objects, proceed to step 4.

4. To set relative horizontal positioning for all objects, click to checkmark the H Pos option box.

5. To set relative vertical positioning for all objects, click to checkmark the V Pos option box.

6. Click OK. The dialog box will close, and the positioning settings will be applied to all new objects in the project and to new, blank projects.

The setting will not affect existing objects. To apply settings to existing objects in the project click the Apply to all objects button.

Centering

With the page Centering setting, SiteSpinner™ offers a unique method for overcoming uncertainties about target resolution and browser size. If you apply this setting to your page, you can be certain that its contents will always fit your user’s browser window.

A page using the Centering feature will always stay in the horizontal center of the page if the browser window is larger then the page. If the browser window is smaller, the page’s right side will not be visible. This page-level positioning attribute can be used even if objects have been given Absolute, Relative, or No CSS Positioning attributes.

Using relative positioning with page centering may produce unexpected results.

To set a page to use Centering, click to select the Center Page Horizontally option box on the Special Effects Tab of the Page Editor dialog box. You may then click the All Pages button to apply Centering to all pages in the project. For more information, see “Page Editor Dialog Box.”

Centering a Page

Be sure that the content of your page is contained within the boundaries of the Target Resolution Guide Border. For more information, see “Target Resolution Guide Border.”

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1. With the page that you want to center displaying in the Work Window, double-click the page or press the CTRL+SHIFT+E keyboard shortcut.

The Page Editor dialog box will open. For more information, see “Page Editor Dialog Box.”

2. Click the Special Effects Tab.

3. Click to checkmark the Center Page Horizontally option box.

4. If you wish to apply centering to all pages in the project, click the All Pages button

OR

If you wish to apply centering only to the current page, proceed to step 5.

5. Click OK. The dialog box will close.

Resizing

The concept of resizing has two levels of meaning in SiteSpinner™. The first level relates to ways you can resize objects in the Work Window as you edit them. You can resize, scale, skew, or otherwise transform an object in numerous ways. This meaning of resizing is discussed in “Scale Object.”

The second meaning of resizing has to do with how objects will appear and behave in the browser window when the page is previewed or published. The properties that control this type of resizing can be changed using different settings and can affect how your users will view your web site.

Relative Sizing

You can set some or all objects to automatically resize to fit a user’s browser window using the Relative Sizing option – a method which, when combined with Relative Positioning, is referred to as “dynamic layout.” (For more information, see “Dynamic Layout.”)

When objects are set to use Relative Sizing, the project’s target resolution is factored in to determine the size of objects relative to the edges of the browser window. The effects of Relative Sizing are that if the browser window is minimized or made smaller, geometric shapes and drawings are scaled smaller, images and titles are resized smaller, and text is re-wrapped within its containing text box. The opposite effect is observed when the browser window is maximized or made larger.

If, for example, an object is assigned Relative Horizontal Sizing, it will expand or contract right and left if the browser is resized. Similarly, if an object is assigned Relative Vertical Sizing, it will expand or contract top and bottom if the browser is resized.

When Relative Sizing is not selected, an object will be an absolute size, regardless of the height of the browser window.

Setting an object so that its edges touch the guide border means it will be 100% of the browser window size.

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Because the browser is doing the re-sizing resizing may not look good in all cases. A small image made large will look pixilated.

With both vertical and horizontal sizing, aspect ratio becomes an issue.

You can assign Relative Horizontal and/or Vertical Sizing to an object using the Relative Horizontal Sizing and/or Relative Vertical Sizing buttons on the Align Bar. (For more information, see “Align Bar.”) Or, you can apply Relative Horizontal and/or Vertical Sizing settings globally to all objects in your project on the Project Target Options dialog box. (For more information, see “Project Target Options Dialog Box.”)

Setting Relative Sizing Attributes

To set relative sizing attributes for a single object:

1. Click to select the object in the Work Window whose sizing attributes you wish to set.

2. To set a relative horizontal sizing for the object, click the Relative Horizontal Sizing

button: in the Align Bar

OR

To set a relative vertical sizing for the object, click the Relative Vertical Sizing

button: in the Align Bar.

OR

To set both relative and vertical horizontal sizing for the object, click both the

Relative Horizontal Sizing button: and the Relative Vertical Sizing button:

.

The selected object will now resize relative to the size of the browser window.

To set relative sizing attributes for all objects in the project:

By default, all objects are initially set with absolute sizing attributes.




3. To set relative horizontal positioning for all objects, click to checkmark the H Size option box.

4. To set relative vertical positioning for all objects, click to checkmark the V Size option box.

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5. Click OK. The dialog box will close, and your sizing settings will be applied to all objects in the project and to new, blank projects.

The setting will not affect existing objects. To apply settings to existing objects in the project click the Apply to all objects button.

Dynamic Layout

SiteSpinner™ lets you apply settings that will automatically adjust the positioning and size (scaling) of the page contents to fit the browser window. This is a function that is known as “dynamic layout.”

A page built with a dynamic layout applies relative positioning and relative sizing attributes to reposition and resize page content based on the size of your user’s browser window.

A full dynamic layout requires that you apply relative positioning and sizing attributes to all objects in the project.

Creating a Dynamic Layout




3. Click to checkmark the H Pos option box

4. Click to checkmark the V Pos option box

5. Click to checkmark the H Size option box.

6. Click to checkmark the V Size option box.

7. Click OK. The dialog box will close, and your dynamic layout settings will be applied to all objects in the project.

Z Order (Layers)

Imagine that the Work Window was three-dimensional, and that you could turn it so that its bottom edge was at eye level. Imagine that you could see the objects arranged on the page like puzzle pieces on a table. Some objects may appear to be placed one on top of another, and others may be overlapping.

This third dimension of page layout is known as “Z order.” If the X axis relates to width and the Y axis to height, then the Z order relates to depth. Although Z order cannot be seen and has no associated ruler, just as can you position objects along X and Y (horizontal and vertical) axes, you can also position them in the Z order.

Every object on the page is its own Z order or layer, positioned in back to front order, so that objects at the front will take precedence over objects behind. When you create a new object, it is assigned a Z order or layer superior to all other objects on the page.

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Z order gives you the ability to superimpose images one on top of another, and this is obviously an important element in page design. However, you must be careful not to cover hyperlinked object, and when selecting an object underneath another you may need to hold down the Shift key.

SiteSpinner™ offers special techniques for manipulating objects in the Z order. The To Front, Forward, Back, and To Back buttons on the Align Bar can help you position objects exactly where you want them in the Z order. Also, you can select an object that is behind another object by pressing the Shift key while clicking the object you want to select. (This will not change the object’s Z order.)

Moving an Object to a Different Layer (Z Order)

1. Find the object on the page whose Z order (layer) you wish to change.

2. Click to select the object. (If the object is hidden behind another object, SHIFT+Click the object to select it. For more information, see “Selecting an Object Hidden Behind Another Object.”)

3. To move the object to the first layer in the Z order (superior to all other objects on the

page), click the To Front button: on the Align Bar

OR

To move the object to one layer forward in the Z order, click the Forward button: on the Align Bar

OR

To move the object one layer backward in the Z order, click the Back button: on the Align Bar

OR

To move the object to the last layer in the Z order (inferior to all other objects on the

page), click the To Back button: on the Align Bar.

Selecting an Object Hidden Behind Another Object

1. Find the object on the page that is hidden behind another object (using the Tab key or referring to the object list)

2. Press the Shift key.

3. Click your mouse on the object.

The object is now selected. You may move it with your mouse pointer to a different position on the page, transform it in the Work Window, or double-click it to open the Object Editor dialog box to edit its properties.

While the SHIFT key is held down, subsequent clicks will select the next object is the Z-Order. So even if you have several objects stacked you can reach them all.

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Page Effects

Want to spice up your web page? You can add effects to one or more of the pages on your web site, including a colored or image page background, music to play when the page loads in the browser, or special transition effects as the page loads or is exited.

Be sensitive to the fact that some page effects can increase the overall file size of your web project, can increase download times for your users, and some may simply not be appropriate. Certain page background colors or images, for example, when used in combination with certain colored type faces may cause eyestrain among your users. Also, a music file attached to your web page may startle or annoy your users when it starts to play.

Background

You can add a colored background to a page, or you can add a background image, either a single image or an image “tiled” (repeated) to fill the background of the page. If you are publishing in SVG format, you can add a gradient colored background.

Use the Background Tab of the Page Editor dialog box to set page background properties. For more information, see “Page Editor Dialog Box.”

Adding a Background Color to a Page

1. With the page to which you want to add a background color open in the Work Window, double-click on the page to open the Page Editor. For more information, see “Page Editor Dialog Box.”

2. Click the Background Tab.

3. Click and drag the Red, Green, and Blue Fill Color sliders right or left to select a color

OR

Enter decimal values in the Red, Green, and Blue fields

OR

Click and drag the Color Dropper anywhere on your computer screen to pick up a color. When you have picked up the desired color, release the mouse button.

The selected color will appear in the Thumbnail View.

4. If you want to apply the background color to only the current page, proceed to step 5

OR

If you want to apply the background color to all pages in the project, click the All Pages button.

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5. Click OK. The dialog box will close, and the selected color will appear on the page background in the Work Window.

Adding a Background Image to a Page

1. With the page to which you want to add a background image open in the Work Window, double-click on the page to open the Page Editor. For more information, see “Page Editor Dialog Box.”


3. If you want to add only a single image to the page background, click the Image button

OR

If you want to add an image to be tiled across your page background, click the Tile button

The Open dialog box will open.

4. Browse for the image on your system that you want to add as a background image.

5. When the name of the image appears in the File name field, click the Open button.

The Open dialog box will close, and the selected image will appear in the Thumbnail View.

6. If you are adding only a single image to the page background, proceed to step 8

OR

If you are adding a tiled image to the page background, and you want to fill the entire page background with tiled images, leave both the X and Y checkboxes checked

OR

If you are adding a tiled image to the page background, and you want the tiled images to appear in one column along the far left of the page background, click to deselect (uncheckmark) the X checkbox

OR

If you are adding a tiled image to the page background, and you want the tiled images to appear in one row along the top of the page background, click to deselect (uncheckmark) the Y checkbox

7. If you want to apply the background image to only the current page, proceed to step 8

OR

If you want to apply the background image to all pages in the project, click the All Pages button.

8. Click OK. The dialog box will close.

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If you selected a single image background, the selected image will appear in the upper left corner of the page. If you selected a tiled image background, the image will appear tiled to fill the page background.

Adding a Gradient Background Color to a Page

You may add a gradient background color only if you are publishing in SVG format and will not appear in the work window. They only appear in the published SVG page.

1. With the page to which you want to add a gradient background open in the Work Window, double-click on the page to open the Page Editor. For more information, see “Page Editor Dialog Box.”


3. Click and drag the Red, Green, and Blue Fill Color sliders right or left to select a base color for the gradient pattern

OR

Enter values in the Red, Green, and Blue fields

OR

Click and drag the Color Dropper anywhere on your computer screen to pick up a base color for the gradient pattern. When you have picked up the desired color, release the mouse button.

4. If you want to apply a radial gradient pattern, click the Radial button

OR

If you want to apply a cylindrical gradient pattern, click the Cylinder button

OR

If you want to apply a linear gradient pattern, click the Linear button.

5. Click and drag the Red, Green, and Blue Fill Color sliders right or left to select a complementary color for the gradient pattern

OR

Enter values in the Red, Green, and Blue fields

OR

Click and drag the Color Dropper anywhere on your computer screen to pick up a complementary color for the gradient pattern. When you have picked up the desired color, release the mouse button.

The selected gradient colors and pattern will appear in the Thumbnail View.

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6. If you want to apply the gradient background to only the current page, proceed to step 7

OR

If you want to apply the gradient background to all pages in the project, click the All Pages button.

7. Click OK. The dialog box will close, and the selected gradient pattern will appear on the page background in the Work Window.

Music

You can add music or any sound file to a page, and it will play automatically when the page loads in the browser. Background music is played by passing the location of an audio file to the browser audio player. The specific audio file formats supported by the browser may vary or change from time to time, but generally MIDI, Wave, AU, MP3, and AIFF file formats are supported by most browsers. MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) audio files are generally preferred for their compact file sizes.

Use the Music Tab on the Page Editor dialog box to attach a sound or music file to your page. For more information, see “Page Editor Dialog Box.”

You can let your users control the playing of music or sound files through a browser-based audio player. Do this by inserting a sound file foreign object. For more information, see “Adding a Foreign Object.”

Adding Background Music to a Page

1. With the page to which you want to add a background open in the Work Window, double-click on the page to open the Page Editor. For more information, see “Page Editor Dialog Box.”

2. Click the Music Tab.

3. Enter the full path to a music or sound file on your system in the field, and then proceed to step 6.

OR

Click the Select New button.


4. Browse for the music or sound file on your system that you want to add as background music.

5. When the name of the music or sound file appears in the File name field, click the Open button.

The Open dialog box will close, and the path to the file will appear in the field on the Music Tab.

6. Click to checkmark the Enable Music option box.

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7. If you want the music or sound file to play just once while the page is open in the browser, proceed to step 8

OR

If you want the music or sound file to play continuously while the page is open in the browser, click to checkmark the Play Continuously option box.

8. Click OK. The dialog box will close, and the music or sound file will be attached to the current page.

Transitions

For users with Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 4.0 or newer browsers, you can add transition effects to the web page. There are a variety of transition effects you can apply, such as wipes and dissolves, when the page is opened as well as when the page is exited. You can also set how long the transition effects will last.

Adding Transition Effects to a Page

Only users using a Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 4.0 or newer browser will be able to see transition effects. The browser must also have the page transition option enabled.

1. With the page to which you want to add a transition effects open in the Work Window, double-click on the page to open the Page Editor. For more information, see “Page Editor Dialog Box.”

2. Click the Special Effects Tab.

3. To set a transition effect to be applied when the web page is loaded in the browser, select an effect from the Transition IN drop-down menu, and then select a duration in second for the transition effect from the Duration drop-down menu.

4. To set a transition effect to be applied when the web page is exited, select an effect from the Transition OUT drop-down menu, and the select a duration in second for the transition effect from the Duration drop-down menu.

5. If you want to apply the transition effect to only the current page, proceed to step 6

OR

If you want to apply the transition effect to all pages in the project, click the All Pages button.

6. Click OK. The dialog box will close, and the transition effects will be applied.

The effects are not visible in the Work Window. The effects will be visible only when viewing the page in an Internet Explorer browser and only when moving to or from one page from or to another (depending on if it’s an in or out effect.) If you open just a single page in the browser, you won’t see the effect

Chapter 5: Objects

This section discusses the most fundamental element of

web design using SiteSpinner™ -- the object. It examines

the different types of objects you can add to a page and

the ways you can move, transform, and edit them.

Overview of Objects 150

Working With Objects 151

Object Manipulation 162

Components 177

Editing Objects 200

Object Types 239

Object Types 308

Objects


Overview of Objects

An object is the most basic creative element in SiteSpinner™. If a museum is your SiteSpinner™ project and the museum walls the pages of your project, then the paintings are the objects. The objects that you add to your pages are the substance of what visitors to your web site will see, hear, and experience. Consequently, the most fundamental and recurrent activity of building a web site using SiteSpinner™ is adding and editing objects.

The typical web site visitor has sophisticated expectations. With the many different types of objects available in your SiteSpinner™ tool kit, you can design and build a web site with sophisticated content and functionality. Among the types of objects are the following:

• Text objects allow you to add and format text content.

• You can organize the contents of a page with page headings that you create using Title objects.

• You can add bars, boxes, borders, or other page layout elements using Rectangle or Horizontal or Vertical Line objects or Polygon or Curve vector drawing objects.

• Navigation buttons are easy to create out of Rectangle, Triangle, Star, or Ellipse objects.

• Image objects contain imported photographs or other image graphics.

• If you know a little JavaScript, VBScript, or other scripting languages, you can add clever functionality to your web page using hidden Code objects.

• With Table objects, you can easily organize and format photo galleries or lists.

• Imported foreign objects are the workhorse of the group: Use them to add Macromedia® Flash® files, movies, music files, plug-ins, or other special content.

As sophisticated as SiteSpinner™ objects are, they are wonderfully easy to work with. The simplest way to add an object to a page is to click its associated button in the Components

Bar. If you’re adding a shape or vector drawing, you can begin drawing on the page right away. If you’re adding text, a title, an image, or a foreign object, just let SiteSpinner™ guide you. Then save your work, and the object will be inserted on the page. You can move or transform objects with your mouse pointer right there in the Work Window, or you can use their associated editors to edit them more precisely.

In this chapter, you’ll learn all about objects – including what they are and all of the many ways you can use them to quickly and easily build your web site.

Objects


Working With Objects

An object is the principal element displayed on a page. What you do to objects as you work in SiteSpinner™ will determine largely how your project looks and behaves once it is published.

This section examines the routine tasks you will perform with regard to objects, including adding, renaming, selecting, grouping, cutting, copying, pasting, including, and deleting an object.

New Objects

You can add an object to a page using two different methods:

• By clicking the button in the Components Bar that corresponds to the type of object you want to add

• By selecting the type of object you want to add from the Object menu

You can add certain object types to your page using other methods. For more information, see “Object Types.”

SiteSpinner™ will respond to your new object command in different ways, depending upon the type of object you have selected.

Adding a Rectangle Object

1. With a page open in the Work Window, click the Rectangle button: in the Components Bar

OR

Select Object��Shapes��Rectangle.

The mouse pointer turns into a crosshairs cursor in the Work Window and displays the current X and Y position coordinates on the page.

2. Move the mouse pointer to the position on the page where you want to place the rectangle.

3. Click and drag the mouse in any direction on the page to draw the rectangle.

4. When you are finished, release the mouse button. The rectangle object is added to the page and registered as an object in the project file. You may rename, move, transform, or edit the object. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

Objects


Drawing a Square

Use the following procedure to add a rectangle object with square dimensions:

1. With a page open in the Work Window, click the Rectangle button: in the Components Bar.


2. Click once on the page where you want to place the square.

The Set Size dialog box will open. For more information, see “Set Size Dialog Box.”

3. Accept the default Width and Height settings of 100, and proceed to step 4

OR

Edit the Width and Height settings, if desired, keeping the new settings identical.

4. Click OK. The dialog box will close. The square is added to the page and registered as a rectangle object in the project file.

5. To scale the square larger or smaller while constraining its proportions, press the CTRL key while clicking and dragging one of the square’s corner control points.

You may rename, move, transform, or edit the object. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

Adding a Straight Line

Use the following procedure to add a line segment as a shape object:

1. With a page open in the Work Window, select Object��Shapes��Horizontal Line to draw a horizontal line object

OR

Select Object��Shapes��Vertical Line to draw a vertical line object.

A temporary line object 100 pixels long appears in the Work Window adjacent to the mouse pointer. The mouse pointer turns into a crosshairs cursor in the Work Window and displays the current X and Y position coordinates on the page.

2. Move the mouse pointer to the position on the page where you want to place the line segment.

3. Click and release the mouse.

The line segment is added to the page and registered as a polygon object in the project file. You may rename, move, transform, or edit the object. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

Objects


Adding a Triangle Object

Use the following procedure to add a triangle as a shape object:

1. With a page open in the Work Window, select Object��Shapes��Triangle.

A temporary triangle object appears in the Work Window adjacent to the mouse pointer. The mouse pointer turns into a crosshairs cursor in the Work Window and displays the current X and Y position coordinates on the page.

2. Move the mouse pointer to the position on the page where you want to place the triangle.


The triangle is added to the page and registered as a polygon object in the project file. You may rename, move, transform, or edit the object. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

Adding a Star Object

Use the following procedure to add a star as a shape object:

1. With a page open in the Work Window, select Object��Shapes��Star.

A temporary five-pointed star object appears in the Work Window adjacent to the mouse pointer. The mouse pointer turns into a crosshairs cursor in the Work Window and displays the current X and Y position coordinates on the page.

2. Move the mouse pointer to the position on the page where you want to place the star.


The star is added to the page and registered as a polygon object in the project file. You may rename, move, transform, or edit the object. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

Adding an Ellipse Object

1. With a page open in the Work Window, click the Ellipse button: in the Components Bar

OR

Select Object��Shapes��Ellipse.


2. Move the mouse pointer to the position on the page where you want to place the ellipse.

3. Click and drag the mouse in any direction on the page to draw the ellipse.

4. When you are finished, release the mouse button. The ellipse object is added to the page and registered as an object in the project file. You may rename, move,

Objects


transform, or edit the object. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

Drawing a Circle

Use the following procedure to add an ellipse object with circular dimensions:

1. With a page open in the Work Window, click the Ellipse button: in the Components Bar.


2. Click once on the page where you want to place the circle.

The Set Size dialog box will open. For more information, see “Set Size Dialog Box.”

3. Accept the default Width and Height settings of 100, and proceed to step 4

OR

Edit the Width and Height settings, if desired, keeping the new settings identical.

4. Click OK. The dialog box will close. The circle is added to the page and registered as an ellipse object in the project file.

5. To scale the circle larger or smaller while constraining its proportions, press the CTRL key while clicking and dragging one of the object’s corner control points.

You may rename, move, transform, or edit the object. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

Adding a Polygon Object

1. With a page open in the Work Window, click the Polygon button: in the Components Bar

OR

Select Object��Shapes��Polygon.


2. Move the mouse pointer to the position on the page where you want to place the polygon.

3. To freehand draw while allowing SiteSpinner™ to determine the number of editable points along each side of the polygon, click and drag the mouse smoothly in any direction on the page (For more information, see “Guide/Display Options Dialog Box.”)

OR

Objects


To draw while placing one editable point in each corner of the polygon, click and release the mouse at the beginning point, move your cursor in any direction on the page, click and release your mouse again to add another point, and move your cursor in another direction on the page. Repeat these actions to continue drawing the polygon.

4. To complete the drawing as a closed polygon, click the first point

OR

To complete the drawing as an open polygon, double-click the mouse.

The polygon object is added to the page and registered as an object in the project file. You may rename, move, transform, or edit the object. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

Adding a Curve Object

1. With a page open in the Work Window, click the Curve button: in the Components Bar

OR

Select Object��Shapes��Spline.


2. To draw a continuous curve object, press and hold the left mouse button while moving the mouse in any direction on the page. The Work Window will display the curve object you have drawn. When you are finished, double-click the mouse to complete the drawing and display the curve object’s anchor and control points.

OR

To draw a curve object based on anchor and control points, move the mouse pointer to the position on the page where you want to start the curve object, and then click and release the mouse to place the first anchor point of the curve. Move the mouse pointer in any direction on the page, and then click and release the mouse to create the control point for the preceding anchor point. If desired, repeat to add additional anchor and control points to the curve object. When you are finished, double-click the mouse to complete the drawing.

The curve object is added to the page and registered as an object in the project file. You may rename, move, transform, or edit the object. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

Adding a Title Object

1. With a page open in the Work Window, click the Title button: in the Components Bar

Objects


OR

Select Object��Title.

The Title Editor dialog box will open. For more information, see “Title Editor Dialog Box.”

2. Enter a title in the Title Editor window.

3. Choose Font, Style, Size, Color, and Alignment options for the title.

4. If you want any jagged edges of the title object to be smoothed, click to checkmark the Anti-Alias option box.

5. When you are finished, click OK. The dialog box will close. The title object is added to the page and registered as an object in the project file. You may rename, move, transform, or edit the object. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

Adding an Image Object

1. With a page open in the Work Window, click the Picture button: in the Components Bar

OR

Select Object��Image.

The Open dialog box will appear. For more information, see “Open Dialog Box.”

2. Browse for the image file on your system or network (in .png, .png, .jpg, or .gif format) that you want to add to the page.

3. With the name of the desired image file displaying in the File name field, click the Open button. The image object is added to the page and registered as an object in the project file. You may rename, move, transform, or edit the object. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

You can select multiple images files in the File Open dialog and open them all at once. Hold SHIFT to select a range or CTRL to select individual files

You may also add an image object to a page by pasting an image that you have cut or copied from another application.

You may also add an image by clicking to select an image file in Windows® Explorer® or from a web page, and then dragging it onto the page in the Work Window. If the image includes a hyperlink, the image will not drag/drop (the link will), so you must right-click and select Copy then paste the image. When you save the project file, you will be prompted to save the pasted image separately to a specified location on your system.

Objects


Adding a Code Object

1. With a page open in the Work Window, click the Code button: in the Components Bar

OR

Select Object��Code.

The Text Editor dialog box will open in Code Edit Mode. For more information, see “Text Editor Dialog Box (Code Edit Mode).”

Enter code in the Code Editor window

OR

Select File��Open File to open a text or HTML file in the Title Editor

OR

Paste code copied from another application.

2. Click the No CSS toolbar button to strip the code object of any positioning tags in the page code (HTML or SVG), if desired. For more information, see “No CSS Positioning.”

3. When you are finished, click the Save and Close button. The code object is added to the page and registered as an object in the project file. You may rename, move, transform, or edit the object. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

Adding a Text Object

1. With a page open in the Work Window, click the Text button: in the Components Bar

OR

Press the CTRL+T keyboard shortcut

OR

Select Object��Text.

The Text Editor dialog box will open in Text Edit Mode. For more information, see “Text Editor Dialog Box (Text Edit Mode).”

2. Enter text in the Text Editor window

OR

Select File��Open File to open a text document in the Title Editor

Objects


OR

Paste text copied from another application.

3. Choose Font, Style, Size, and Color options for the text.

4. Apply a hyperlink to selected text using the Link Editor dialog box, if desired. For more information, see “Hyperlinking.”

5. Add an Auto Scroll bar to help your users view a lengthy text passage, if desired. For more information, see “Auto Scroll.”

6. Check your text entry for spelling by selecting Tools��Spelling Checker, if desired. For more information, see “Check Spelling Dialog Box.”

7. When you are finished, click the Save and Close button. The text object is added to the page and registered as an object in the project file. You may rename, move, transform, or edit the object. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

You may also paste text copied from another application directly onto the page in the Work Window, thus creating a text object. The text will lose any formatting it had in the original application. You may reformat the text in the Text Editor. For more information, see “Text Objects.”

When you import text that contains tables, the Text Editor will strip the text out of the tables and remove the tables.

Adding a Foreign Object

1. With a page open in the Work Window, click the Import Foreign Object button:

in the Components Bar

OR

Select Object��Import Foreign Object.

The Foreign Object/Media dialog box will open. For more information, see “Foreign Object/Media Dialog Box.”

2. From the Format drop-down list, select the type of foreign or media object you want to add to the page.

3. Click the Filepath button.

The Open dialog box will appear.

4. Browse for the foreign or media object on your system or network that you want to add to the page.

5. If you are adding a HTML IFrame or SVG foreign object, click the Page List button and select from the drop-down menu the project page you wish to add, if desired.

6. Add a Codebase and Name and Value parameters, if desired.

Objects


7. If you are adding a media object, select the Auto-Start, Continuous Play, or Visible Control option box, if desired.

8. When you are finished, click OK. The foreign object is added to the page and registered as an object in the project file. You may rename, move, transform, or edit the object. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

Adding a Table Object

1. With a page open in the Work Window, click the Table button: in the Components Bar

OR

Select Object��Table.

The mouse pointer turns into a crosshairs-and-object cursor in the Work Window and displays the current X and Y position coordinates of the upper left corner of the table.

2. Move the mouse pointer to the position on the page where you want to place the table.

3. When you are finished, release the mouse button. The table object is added to the page and registered as an object in the project file. You may rename, move, transform, or edit the object. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

Set Size Dialog Box

Use the Set Size dialog box to establish initial dimensions for a shape geometry that you are adding to a page.

The Set Size dialog box appears only when you create a shape geometry at less than 3x3 pixels. This is done to prevent tiny objects from being created accidentally.

Figure 33. Establish the dimensions of a Rectangle or Ellipse object using the Set Size dialog box.

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Open the Set Size dialog box by clicking the Rectangle button: or the Ellipse button:

in the Components Bar and then clicking on the current page in the Work Window.

Controls on the Set Size dialog box include the following:


Width Use the spinner to set an initial pixel width for the shape geometry, or enter a value in the combo box.

Height Use the spinner to set an initial pixel height for the shape geometry, or enter a value in the combo box.



Object Names

When you add an object, SiteSpinner™ will automatically give it a name beginning with the “obj-“ prefix. You can view a selected object’s name in the following locations:

• On the Status Bar at the bottom of the Work Window

• In the Object Selection combo box on the Page Bar

• In the Object Selection combo box on the Components Tab of the Object Editor dialog box

• In the Object Selection combo box on the Object Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box.

Although the system-given object name will be unique (that is, no other object in the project will share it), it won’t necessarily be descriptive or memorable. You can change the name of the object to something more descriptive by typing over the system-assigned name with a new name in any of the Object Selection combo boxes.

An object name may contain up to 10 alphanumeric characters. It cannot contain blanks or non-standard characters or begin with a numeral.

Renaming an Object

Use any of the following procedures to rename an object:

In the Work Window:

1. Click to select on the current page the object you want to rename.

Its current name will appear in the Object Selection combo box of the Page Bar. For more information, see “Page Bar.”

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2. Click the object name in the Object Selection combo box of the Page Bar to highlight it.

3. Enter a new name, up to 10 alphanumeric characters, overwriting the old name.

4. Click the Work Window or other edit box.

The object is now renamed.

In the Quick Properties Editor dialog box:


2. Press the ALT+Q keyboard shortcut to open the Quick Properties Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Quick Properties Editor Dialog Box.”

3. Click the Objects Tab.

The current name of the object will appear in the Object Selection combo box.

4. Click the object name in the Object Selection combo box to highlight it

5. Enter a new name, up to 10 alphanumeric characters, overwriting the old name.

6. Click the Work Window or other edit box.


In the Object Editor dialog box:


2. Press the ALT+O keyboard shortcut to open the Object Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box.”


The current name of the object will appear highlighted in the Object Selection combo box.

4. In the Object Selection combo box, enter a new name for the object, up to 10 alphanumeric characters, overwriting the old name.

5. Click OK to close the dialog box.


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Object Manipulation

You can speed up your work by copying objects and pasting them elsewhere in your project. You can assign various target copy options to an object that can control what happens when its pasted duplicates are edited. This can further maximize your efficiency.

You can also cut an object to save it for pasting later, or you may delete an object to remove it from the project entirely.

Don’t be confused between the cut, copy, and paste commands for objects and the cut, copy, and paste commands for pages. Although the two sets of commands are partially interrelated, the controls and menu options for each command are different. For more information, see “Page Manipulation.”

Select Object

Before you can manipulate, move, transform, or edit an object, you must first select it. This tells SiteSpinner™ which object it is that you want to work with.

A selected object will appear outlined in the Work Window with a dotted bounding box. Depending on the editing mode you are working in, a selected object may also display various transformation controls.

The simplest way to select an object is to click it with your mouse. Sometimes, however, objects may be positioned on top of one another so that when you attempt to select one, you select the wrong one.

To select an object that is hidden behind another object, hold the Shift key down while you click your mouse. You will see the object’s bounding box, even if you can’t see its contents. If it’s hidden behind multiple objects, keep clicking until it is selected. (For more information, see “Z Order (Layers).”)

You can also quickly select all objects that are above or below a selected object’s Z order. Or, you can select all objects that are positioned on the page to the right or to the left of a selected object. (For more information, see “Selecting Objects Layered Above or Below an Object” and “Selecting Objects to the Right or Left of an Object.”)

Selecting an Object on the Current Page

Use any of the following procedures to select an object:

• Click the visible object once in the Work Window.

• Select an object from the Object Selection combo box of the Page Bar.

• Press the Tab key to select the next ordered object on the current page.

• Press the Shift+Tab keyboard shortcut to select the previous ordered object on the current page.

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Selecting an Object on Another Page

Use either of the following procedures to select an object on a page other than the page displaying in the Work Window:

In the Quick Properties Editor dialog box:

1. Press the ALT+Q keyboard shortcut to open the Quick Properties Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Quick Properties Editor Dialog Box.”

2. Click the Objects Tab.

3. From the Object Selection combo box, choose any object in the project to select.

4. Exit the dialog box.

The outline of the selected object is now visible on the current page.

In the Object Editor dialog box:

1. Press the ALT+O keyboard shortcut to open the Object Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box.”


3. From the Object Selection combo box, choose any object in the project to select.

4. Click OK to close the dialog box.

The bounding box outline of the selected object is now visible on the current page.

Selecting a Hidden Object

Use any of the following procedures to select an object that is not visible or is obscured behind other objects:

• Place your mouse in the approximate area in the Work Window where the hidden object is located, press the SHIFT key, and click your mouse. Keep clicking until the object you want is selected.

• Press the Tab key repeatedly until the object on the page is selected.

Selecting Objects Layered Above or Below an Object

1. Right-click an object in the Work Window.

2. To select all objects layered (Z-ordered) above the object, select Select, and then select Select All Above

OR

To select all objects layered (Z-ordered) below the object, select Select, and then select Select All Below.

Selecting Objects to the Right or Left of an Object

1. Right-click an object in the Work Window.

2. To select all objects positioned to the left the object, select Select, and then select Select All To Left

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OR

To select all objects positioned to the right of the object, select Select, and then select Select All To Right.

Group Objects

Selecting objects as a group can also save editing time. A group is a collection of objects that can be manipulated as a single object. Thus you can transform or edit a group of objects with the same effort it would take for just one.

There are two types of grouped objects: Temporary Groups and Permanent Groups.

Temporary Groups (“Selections”)

Objects can be collected into groups by selecting them together. Whenever you select multiple objects at the same time, you are putting them into a temporary group, or “selection.”

There are three ways to establish temporary groups. If the objects you wish to group are relatively close to one another on the page, simply click the Work Window away from the objects and drag your mouse pointer over them to draw a bounding box. Only objects that are completely within the bounding box will be selected. The bounding box indicates that the objects are all selected as a temporary group object, and the Status Bar at the bottom of the Work Window will indicate how many objects are selected.

If the objects you wish to group are not close to one another, click one object, press the CTRL key, and then click again on additional items to add them to the temporary group. Clicking an object a second time, with the CTRL key pressed, will remove it from the selection.

The last way to form a temporary group is to select all objects on the page by choosing Edit��Select All or by pressing the CTRL+A keyboard shortcut.

Once objects are in temporary groups, you can do the following to them:

• Use the Aligning buttons on the Align Bar to align and position the grouped objects relative to one another. For more information, see “Align Bar.”

• Make the grouped objects all the same width, the same height, or both. For more information, see “Align Bar.”

• Move, rotate, scale, or skew them as a group in Work Window editing modes. For more information, see “Move Object” and “Transform Object.”

• Copy the grouped objects and paste, clone, or include them on other pages of the project. For more information, see “Paste Object,” “Clone Object,” and “Include Object.”

You can also open the Quick Properties Editor, the Object Editor, the Shading Editor, or the Geometry Editor to apply transformations and colors, but these settings will apply only to the temporary group object and not to the objects themselves.

Most importantly, you can convert a temporary group into a permanent group using the group command. Unless a temporary group is converted into a permanent group, it will be dissolved

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when you click your mouse anywhere else on the Work Window or perform any other operation

Permanent Groups

When you convert a temporary group of selected objects into a permanent group, you are actually creating a brand new object. All the manipulations you can perform on a temporary group you can also perform on a permanent group.

However, because a permanent group is actually a separate object, you can edit it as you would any object, such as the following:

• Apply shading to the interior of group object. For more information, see “Shading Component.”

• Add a border to the group object. For more information, see “Borders and Outlines.”

• Change the re-rendering file format. For more information, see “Rendering and Re-Rendering.”

• Apply a hyperlink. For more information, see “Hyperlinking.”

When there is a conflict between the permanent group object itself and objects in the group, the permanent group object will take priority.

You can ungroup the objects and dissolve their permanent group at any time. Any repositioning, re-alignment, or transformations you made to the objects as a group will persist, but any attributes applied to the group will disappear.

Selecting Multiple Objects to Form a Temporary Group

Use any of the following methods to form a temporary group:

• In the Work Window, click an object to select it, press and hold the CTRL key, and then click to select as many additional objects as desired.

• Click the Work Window away from the objects you wish to make into a temporary group and drag your mouse pointer over them to draw a bounding box.

• To form a temporary group consisting of all objects on the page, select Edit�Select All or press the CTRL+A keyboard shortcut.

A bounding box will surround the selected objects indicating the formation of a temporary group, and the Status Bar at the bottom of the Work Window will indicate how many objects are selected.

You may now move, scale, rotate, skew, align, or resize the objects relative to one another as a group. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

Creating a Permanent Group Object

1. Select multiple objects to form a temporary group. For more information, see “Selecting Multiple Objects to Form a Temporary Group.”

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2. Right-click the group of objects, and then select Group Selected Objects

OR

Click the Group button: in the Align Bar

OR

Select Arrange��Group.

A new group object will be created in the project.

3. Rename the group object, if desired. For more information, see “Renaming an Object.”

You may now move, scale, rotate, skew, align, or resize the objects relative to one another or otherwise edit the group object. For more information, see “Object Names,” “Move Object,” “Transform Object,” and “Editing Objects.”

An included object cannot be part of a group and also appear on other pages. If you add an included object to a group it will no longer appear on any other pages. Once it is removed from the group it will reappear on the pages it is included on. If you want the included object to appear on the other pages you must “include” the group on those pages

Ungrouping Objects

Use any of the following procedures to dissolve a permanent group and disassociate formerly grouped objects from one another:

• Right-click the permanent group object, and then select Ungroup Objects

• Select the permanent group object, and then click the Ungroup button: in the Align Bar

• Select the permanent group object, and then select Arrange��Ungroup.

Any repositioning, re-alignment, or transformations made to the objects as a group will persist, but any edits made to the group object will disappear.

Cut Object

There are two reasons why you would cut an object: either to remove it entirely from its current position on the page or to relocate it to a different position anywhere else in the project.

When you cut an object it is retained in the system’s temporary memory. It will remain there until you either paste it somewhere else in the project or select another object to cut or copy.

The cut command removes an object only from the current page. It does not affect the object anywhere else in the project that it has been pasted, cloned, or included. That is the difference

Objects


between cutting and deleting an object. Deleting an object removes the object permanently from all pages in which it has been included. (For more information, see “Delete Object.”)

The easiest way to cut a selected object is to use the CTRL+X keyboard shortcut.

Copy Object

Use the copy command to duplicate an object for pasting or cloning elsewhere in the project. For more information, see “Paste Object” and “Clone Object.”

The easiest way to copy a selected object is to use the CTRL+C keyboard shortcut.

Paste Object

Use the paste command to add a cut or copied object to any page in the project. A pasted object will be a completely independent replica of the cut or copied original object.

The easiest way to paste a cut or copied object is to use the CTRL+V keyboard shortcut.

Currently you cannot paste an object from one program to another (even to a second instance of SiteSpinner). However, a representation of the object is placed on the Windows clipboard in the form of a bitmap. In that way you can, for example, copy an ellipse or title object, and then paste a picture of the ellipse or title into another Windows program. Because of that you may encounter cases where you have copied an object and then deleted it. In that situation only, the bitmap remains on the clipboard. If you then paste into SiteSpinner, you will paste the bitmap not the object. A warning message will appear if this happens.

You can mouse click on the page where you want to add the pasted object before you issue the paste command. If that position is not on a visible part of the Work Window the object is pasted to the center of the visible Work Window.

Cutting and Pasting an Object

1. Select the object you want to cut and paste. For more information, see “Select Object.”

2. Press the CTRL+X keyboard shortcut

OR

Right-click and select Cut

OR

Click the Cut button: in the File Bar

OR

Objects


Select Edit��Cut.

The object will be removed from its current location.

3. Click the current page or a different page in the project at the position you want to paste the cut object.

4. Press the CTRL+V keyboard shortcut

OR

Right-click and select Paste

OR

Click the Paste Duplicate Object button: in the File Bar

OR

Select Edit��Paste.

The object will be pasted at the chosen position on the page.

If pasting a selection (temporary group) be sure not to click in the Work Window. Otherwise the selection will be dissolved an there will be nothing to paste.

5. To paste additional duplicates of the copied object as desired, repeat steps 3 and 4.

Copying and Pasting an Object

1. Select the object you want to cut and paste. For more information, see “Select Object.”

2. Press the CTRL+C keyboard shortcut

OR

Right-click and select Copy

OR

Click the Copy button: in the File Bar

OR

Select Edit��Copy.

3. Click the current page or a different page in the project at the position you want to paste the copied object.

4. Press the CTRL+V keyboard shortcut

OR

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Right-click and select Paste

OR

Click the Paste Duplicate Object button: in the File Bar

OR

Select Edit��Paste.

The duplicate object will be pasted at the chosen position on the page.

5. To paste additional duplicates of the copied object, repeat steps 3 and 4 as desired.

If you are copying an object from one page to another and do not click the other page at the position you want to paste the copied object, the object will be copied to the same position on the other page as it appears on the original page.

Clone Object

A clone is an object that has been copied and then pasted using the special clone command. Think of a Clone as an Include that can be moved or scaled (or rotated, shaded, etc.) independently. So if you have a company name that appears on the top of one page in red and on another in blue and very small on the bottom of every page in black, you can use a cloned Title and give each a different shading and scaling. Then when you fix a typo in the name all instances will change. You can’t do that with an Include, because the Include shares an object (which controls position scaling, shading etc).

A clone is a second object that shares a common geometry with the first object. (It may also share shading, if a shading is present during the clone process.) So, any changes to the geometry‘s attributes will be reflected in both objects. Any changes in the object‘s attributes will be seen only in the object that was changed.

The geometry‘s attributes are:

• The actual shape (hence the term geometry). This may be a polygon, an image, text or other (foreign object)

• The outline: color and thickness

• The base size: width and height

• If the geometry is an image, then also Filename, and image file format; if it is a Foreign Object, then filename and other Foreign Object options

The object’s main visible attributes are the transformations, such as the following:

• Position

• Scaling

Objects


• Rotation

• Skew

The objects other attributes are all the other settings listed in the Object Editor, e.g., links, options components

An important point is that size is different than scaling. Size is the actual dimensions or the shape. Scaling is a multiplier applied to the size. So if you have a 10 x 10 rectangle with a scaling of X: 1 Y: 1 the rectangle will appear to 10 x 10. but if a the second cloned object had a scaling of X: 2 Y: 2 that rectangle will appear to 20 x 20

In that way, a clone of a rectangle can appear to be two different sizes if two different scalings are applied to the two different objects.

If you change the size of the geometry in the above example to 20 x20, you would see a 20x20 and a 40 x40 rectangle.

Clones can be handy timesavers when you are creating a series or set of like objects – a panel of buttons, for example. You can create one button and then clone it multiple times. Then any editing or you perform on one button will affect them all.

The easiest way to clone a copied object is with the CTRL+SHIFT+V keyboard shortcut.

You can reduce the overall file size of your published web site by telling SiteSpinner™ to use only one instance of a resource to be shared among an object and its clone(s). Establish this setting before you clone an object by deselecting (un-checkmarking) the Unique Clones option on the Components Tab of the Object Editor dialog box. Then when you publish the project, SiteSpinner™ will render only one instance of the resource file (geometry, image, or media), instead one instance per object.

If the clones are different scales, rotations, etc. use unique clones. Otherwise, because the same image will be used for all, you may get unexpected results in the published page.

When you clone a selection of objects (i.e., a “temporary group”), SiteSpinner™ clones each object in the group, not the group object.

Cloning an Object

1. Select the object you want to clone. For more information, see “Select Object.”

2. Press the CTRL+C keyboard shortcut

OR

Right-click and select Copy

OR

Click the Copy button: in the File Bar

Objects


OR

Select Edit�Copy.

3. Click the current page or a different page in the project at the position you want to paste the clone.

4. Press the CTRL+ SHIFT+V keyboard shortcut

OR

Right-click and select Clone

OR

Click the Paste Clone button: in the File Bar

OR

Select Edit��Paste Clone.

The clone will be pasted at the chosen position on the page.

5. To paste additional clones of the copied object, repeat steps 3 and 4 as desired.

Include Object

One of the banes of the web designer is updating “boilerplate” information that is present in many places throughout a web site, such as contact or copyright information, a logo, or hyperlinks. You can place such information on every page that needs it, but when the information changes it can be a tedious and error-prone procedure to hunt down all of its occurrences and revise each individually.

SiteSpinner’s “include” feature makes updating boilerplate information a breeze. You can create an object, position it on the page where you want it, and then set it to be included on any or all other pages in the project. An include object will be added to every page you designate in exactly the same location and with the same attributes as the original object. Then, any moves, transformations, or edits to the object on any page will automatically be applied to it on every page to which it has been included.

Among the benefits of the include option are the following:

• You can create a single navigation bar and include it on all your pages. If you need to add or modify it in any way, it will automatically change on all pages in your project.

• You can create a web page template by including the common elements to ensure that every page is identical.

• You can create common elements that can be shared by more than one page, such as contact information, email addresses, copyright lines, logos, personal portraits, etc.

You can reduce the overall file size of your published web site by telling SiteSpinner™ to use one instance of a resource to be shared among an

Objects


object and its includes. Establish this setting by deselecting (un-checkmarking) the Unique Includes option on the Components Tab of the Object Editor dialog box. Then when you publish the project, SiteSpinner™ will render only one instance of the resource file (geometry, image, or media), instead one instance per object.

If the included object will have a different background on different pages and the background will be part of the image, then that include object will need to be unique or you will see another page’s background in the object.

Page Selection - Include Dialog Box

Use the Page Selection- Include dialog box to quickly include a selected object on specific pages or all pages of your project. You may also choose to remove the object from specific pages or all pages.

If the included object will have a different background on different pages and

the background will be part of the image, then that include object will need to be unique or you will see another page’s background in the object.

When you open the Page Selection - Include dialog box, it will checkmark the same pages you had checked the last time you used it. Those checkmarked pages do not indicate which pages the object is currently included on. (This is done to allow you to repeat an include on the same selection of pages without re-selecting the set of pages each time.) Click the Current Includes button to view which pages the object is currently included on.

The Page Selection - Include option is enabled only in projects with more than one page.

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Figure 34. The Page Selection - Include dialog box lets you quickly include an object on selected pages of your project.

Open the Page Selection – Include dialog box by right-clicking an object and selecting Include, or by selecting an object in the Work Window and selecting Edit��Include��Include

On.

Controls on the Page Selection - Include dialog box include the following:


Page Selection box Click to checkmark each of the pages in the project on which you want to include the selected object.

Remove included object from un-checked pages

Click to checkmark to remove the object from all pages that are not selected (i.e., un-checkmarked) in the Page Selection box. For more information, see “Copy Page.”

All Pages Click to checkmark all pages in the Page Selection box and include the selected object on all pages in the project.

No Pages Click to un-checkmark all pages in the Page Selection box and to remove the selected object from all pages in the project.

Current Includes Click to show in the Page Selection box which pages the selected object is currently included on. These pages will appear checkmarked.



Objects


Including an Object on Certain Pages


1. Select the object you want to include on other pages. For more information, see “Select Object.”

2. Right-click the object, and then select Include On

OR

Press the ALT+I keyboard shortcut

OR

Select Edit��Include��Include On.

The Page Selection – Include dialog box will open.

3. In the Page Selection box, click to checkmark the pages in the project on which you want to include the selected object.

4. When you are finished, click OK. The dialog box will close, and the object will be included in the same location and with the same attributes on all selected pages.

Including an Object on All Pages


1. Select the object you want to include on every page in the project. For more information, see “Select Object.”

2. Right-click the object, and then select Include on All Pages

OR

Press the CTRL+SHIFT+I keyboard shortcut

OR

Select Edit��Include��Include on All Pages.

The object will be included in the same location and with the same attributes on all pages in the project.

You can remove the include object from some or all of the pages by pressing the ALT+I keyboard shortcut to open the Page Selection – Include dialog box, deselecting (un-checkmarking) the pages you want the include object removed from, selecting (checkmarking) the Remove included object from un-checked pages option box, and clicking OK.

Objects


Delete Object

Deleting an object removes an object from a page and on any other pages on which it has been included. (For more information, see “Include Object.”) Use the delete command to remove an object entirely from the project.

The delete command differs from the cut command in that the cut operation retains a cut object in temporary memory. For more information, see “Cut Object.”

The easiest way to delete an object is to select it and press the Delete key.

You can clean your project of unused objects before publishing. For more information, see “Clean Components.”

Deleting an Object

1. Select the object you want to delete. For more information, see “Select Object.”

2. Press the Delete key

OR

Right-click and select Delete

OR

Click the Delete Object button: in the Page Bar (not visible by default)

OR

Select Edit��Delete.

The object and all of its unshared components will be removed entirely from the project.

Target Copy Options

When you copy and paste a page to add an additional page to your project, all the objects on it are pasted onto the new page just as they appeared on the copied page. By default, they will be completely independent replicas of their copied original objects (i.e., they have target copy options of Copy).

However, before you execute the page copy and paste operation, you can save some editing time later by first assigning target copy options to the objects on the copied page. Depending on which target copy option you choose, any changes to an object can change the attributes of its pasted duplicates or of the original object itself. For more information, see “Copy Target Copy Option,” “Clone Target Copy Option,” “Include Target Copy Option,” and “Private Target Copy Option.”

An object’s target copy option is provided as a convenience for the page copy and paste operation. It does not affect your ability to otherwise copy, paste,

Objects


clone, or include the individual object. For more information, see “Object Manipulation.”

Copy Target Copy Option

An object with a target copy option of Copy that is copied and pasted to a new page using the page copy and paste operation will be identical to its copied original. You may reposition, transform, or edit the components of the pasted object, and the results will be completely independent of its copied original. All objects by default have a target copy option of Copy.

Clone Target Copy Option

An object with a target copy option of Clone that is copied and pasted to a new page using the page copy and paste operation shares the same components as its copied original. You can move, skew, or rotate the pasted object, and the results will be completely independent of its copied original. But any changes to the sizing or geometry or shading components of the pasted object will also be applied to the copied original.

Include Target Copy Option

An object with a target copy option of Include that is copied and pasted to a new page using the page copy and paste operation will be identical to its copied original. However, any changes you make to include objects – repositioning, transforming, or component editing – will be reflected on every page in which they appear. Included objects are useful for titles, tables of contents, logos, links, or any other elements that must appear identical across multiple pages in your project.

Private Target Copy Option

An object with a target copy option of Private that is part of a page copy and paste operation will not be pasted to the new page. It belongs privately to the original copied page.

Objects


Components

When you create an object, what you are really creating is a placeholder reference in the application code. You are simply telling SiteSpinner™ that something new – an object – now exists.

An object becomes meaningful – and, in most cases, visible – only once its components are defined. At the minimum an object should always have a geometry component. It may also have a shading component, although it is not required.

Components are powerful and may appear complex, but because SiteSpinner™ automatically applies a geometry component to every object that you add, there is really no need to be confused. Indeed, you can become a crackerjack web designer using SiteSpinner™ without ever editing a component or even concerning yourself with the concept.

However you can save editing time and resources by becoming familiar with components and how they work. Objects can share components among them, saving you the trouble of defining separate components for each object and reducing the eventual file size of your published web project. This can be important in instances where there is limited space for your web site on your host’s web server.

This section discusses the two types of object components: geometry and shading.

You can clean your project of unused components at any time. For more information, see “Clean Components.”

Geometry Component

Although it is technically possible for an object to be without one, for all practical purposes an object must have a geometry component. The geometry component provides the essential definition of an object’s appearance and functionality.

If you are confused about the relationship between an object and its geometry, consider the following analogy: The geometry is a physical thing, let’s say a vase, and the object is a video camera taking its picture. You can zoom in or out or rotate the camera. That makes it appear bigger or smaller or rotated but it doesn’t affect the vase.

If you remove the vase, there is nothing to see. If you change the contrast or hue, that is analogous to applying shading. If you have several cameras on the same vase, that is cloning. If one camera zooms in, the vase only appears bigger in that one. But if you somehow make the vase bigger or paint it red, it will be bigger or red in all cameras.

When you add an object to the page, SiteSpinner™ automatically assigns it a geometry component bearing a system-defined name. For example, if you add an image object, its geometry component consists of the image file you imported to the object. This saves you the trouble of manually defining a geometry component.

Objects


But if you were to remove the image object’s geometry component using the Object Editor (selecting [no geometry]), the object would still exist in the project but would be invisible. If you were to change its geometry component, the object itself would be unchanged although it would appear entirely different and may even become a different object type, since the object gets its “type” from the geometry.

You can have objects share geometry components to save editing time and reduce the overall file size of your published project. For example, you can add a rectangle object, define its geometry component, add another rectangle, and then assign it the geometry component of the first rectangle. The two rectangle objects are now clones. (For more information, see “Clone Object.”

The default prefixes of the system-assigned names of geometry components include “geo-“ for shape, vector drawing, table, image, and foreign objects, “rtf-“ for text objects, “title-“ for title objects, and “code-“ for code objects. You may rename geometry components, if you wish.

Borders and Outlines

An object’s geometry component also includes a vector outline. You can edit the outline to apply a rectangular colored border to any object, except rectangle, ellipse, polygon, or curve objects. Editing the vector outline of rectangle, ellipse, polygon, or curve objects affects the line width and color of the objects themselves. (For more information, see “Adding a Border to an Object.”)

For many users, editing a border or outline is the extent of any editing operations they perform on an object’s geometry component.

To edit borders and outlines, use the Outline Tab of the Geometry Editor dialog box or the Outline Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box.

Geometry Editor Dialog Box

Use the Geometry Editor dialog box to perform various operations to an object’s geometry component, such as assign a color and width to a shape, apply a border to an image, and set a finished output file format for the object.

Objects


Figure 35. Perform various editing operations to an object’s geometry component using the Geometry Editor dialog box.

With an object selected you can open the Geometry Editor dialog box associated with the selected object in the following ways:

• Click the Geometry Editor button: on the Object Bar

• Select Object��Geometry Editor

• Right-click the object, and then select Edit Geometry

• Press the ALT+G keyboard shortcut.

Or, you may open the Geometry Editor dialog box with no object selected using the following methods:

• Click the Geometry Editor button: on the Object Bar

• Select Object��Geometry Editor

• Press the ALT+G keyboard shortcut

In the Geometry Editor dialog box, the geometry component most recently edited will appear selected, but you may select any geometry in the project from the Geometry Selection drop-down menu.

The Geometry Editor dialog box includes the following two tabs:

• Options Tab

• Outline Tab

Objects


Options Tab

Use the Options Tab of the Geometry Editor dialog box to establish the name, file name, and directory location (if the geometry is an image) of a geometry component and to set rendering options for publishing.

Figure 36. Set the identity and location of a geometry or establish rendering settings using the Options Tab of the Geometry Editor dialog box.

Controls on the Options Tab of the Geometry Editor dialog box include the following:


Thumbnail View Displays the object currently selected for editing.

Geometry Selection

If you have opened the Geometry Editor dialog box without first selecting an object in the Work Window, the geometry most recently edited will appear selected. However, you may select any geometry in the project from the drop-down menu. If you have first selected an object and then opened the Geometry Editor dialog box, the geometry name is displayed.

Type Displays the geometry type (i.e., Rectangle, Ellipse, Import Object, Rich Text, etc.)

Image File Path Available only with an image object selected. Displays the location path of the object’s source image. You may edit the path to map to a different source image, if desired.

Available only with an image object selected. Click to display the Open dialog box, allowing you to change the path of the selected object’s source image.

Objects



New Dir Click to open the Change Image Directory dialog box, allowing you to globally remap the source directory locations of all image objects in the project. For more information, see “Change Image Directory Dialog Box.”

Rendering File Format

Click a radio button corresponding to the output file format you wish to assign to the selected geometry. Choose from PNG, PNG 8, JPG, GIF, or BMP. For more information, see “Rendering and Re-Rendering.”

Use Image’s Format

Available as a default option only for image objects. Click to un-checkmark to activate the Rendering File Format radio buttons, allowing you to assign a different output file format to the selected geometry. Otherwise, the image’s original format will be used. For more information, see “Rendering and Re-Rendering.”

Render Background

Click to checkmark to render any objects on the page that are behind this geometry into the background of the geometry’s output image. For more information, see “Render Background.”




Outline Tab

The Outline Tab allows you to change the color, width, and size of a vector geometry (i.e., rectangle, ellipsis, curve, etc.) or add a border to an image.

Objects


Figure 37. Change the color, width, or size of a vector geometry or add a border to an image using the Outline Tab of the Geometry Editor dialog box.

When you add a border to an object, by default it will pick up the outline size and color of the last-clicked object (unless it was a text, table or foreign object with no outline). Click an empty place in the Work Window to reset.

Controls on the Options Tab of the Geometry Editor dialog box include the following:


Thumbnail View Displays the object currently selected for editing. Also shows preview of editing operations.

Red Click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the red hue of the selected geometry. Or, you may enter a value in the field.

Green Click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the green hue of the selected geometry. Or, you may enter a value in the field.

Blue Click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the blue hue of the selected geometry. Or, you may enter a value in the field.

Color Click to open the Color dialog box and select a system or custom color. When you are finished, the values of the selected color will appear in the Red, Green, and Blue fields.

Click and drag to use the color dropper tool to pick up a color anywhere on your computer screen. Release the mouse button to set the values of the selected color in the Red, Green, and Blue fields.

Objects



Line Width Click and drag the slider right to increase or left to reduce the width in pixels of the selected geometry. Or, you may enter a pixel value in the field. The default value is 1. (Not available for image object geometries.)

No Line Click to set the value in the Line Width field to 0. The selected geometry will appear as a dotted line in the Work Window and will be invisible in the Preview Window or when published.

Geometry Size Displays the current width and height in pixels of the selected geometry. Use the spinners to change the width and/or height, or enter values in the fields. . (Not available for image object geometries.)

Open End Click to checkmark to make the last point of the selected curve or polygon geometry unconnected to the first point, leaving it open. Click to un-checkmark to connect the last and first points of the selected curve or polygon geometry, closing it.




Changing an Object’s Geometry Component

1. Select the object whose geometry component you want to edit.

2. Press the ALT+O keyboard shortcut

OR

Click the Object Editor button: in the Object Bar

OR

Select Object��Object Editor.

The Object Editor dialog box will open.


4. From the Geometry drop-down menu, select the geometry component you wish to apply to the selected object. A preview of the geometry component will appear in the Thumbnail View.

5. When you are finished, click OK. The new geometry component will be applied to the selected object.

Objects


Adding a Border to an Object

You may add a border to an image, table, text, title, or foreign object. (You may also add a border to a code object but doing so would negate the invisibility of code objects.)

1. Select the object to which you want to add a border.

2. Press the ALT+G keyboard shortcut

OR

Right-click the object, and then select Edit Geometry

OR

Click the Geometry Editor button: in the Object Bar

OR

Select Object��Geometry Editor.

The Geometry Editor dialog box will open.

3. Click the Outline Tab.

4. Use the Red, Green, and Blue sliders to choose a color for the border

OR

Click and drag the Color Dropper button: anywhere on your computer screen to pick up a color

OR

Click the Color button to open the Color dialog box to select a system or custom color. For more information, see “Color Dialog Box.”

5. Click and drag the Line Width slider to the right to select a width in pixels for the border

OR

Enter a pixel width value in the box.

A preview of the border will appear in the Thumbnail View window.

6. When you are finished, click OK. The border will be applied to the selected object.

Since there is not the option of adding space between the object and border or of offsetting the border, you may find these borders do not suit your purpose. Keep in mind that you can also add a separate, independent rectangle object and then group it to join it with the object.

Objects


Shading Component

No object is required to have a shading component. But you can add a shading component to apply a unique or unusual effect to an object.

Shading describes how the interior of an object will appear. When you want to fill a rectangle, ellipse, polygon, or curve with a color, you use a flat-color shading component. You can also combine two shading colors to create unusual linear, cylindrical, or radial gradient effects. Or, you can assign an image to fill an object, in either a stretched, scaled, or tiled effect, and you can select a color to be rendered transparent, an effect known as a “texture mapping.” For more information, see “Creating an Image Fill (Texture Mapping).”

You can also apply transparency to image objects, allowing any objects or the background to show through partially.

Shading components save you time in two ways. Once you have created a shading component that you like, you can share it among a limitless number of objects. This saves you the trouble of recreating shading effects for individual objects. Then, if you ever want to change the shading for those objects that share it, all you have to do is edit the shading component. The changes will apply to all objects that share the edited shading component.

Use the Shading Editor dialog box to edit shading components for objects. For more information, see “Shading Editor Dialog Box.”

Shading Editor Dialog Box

Use the Shading Editor dialog box to create and manage shading components. For shape, vector drawing, and title objects, you can create flat or gradient color fills or scaled, stretched, or tiled image fills. Text and code objects can only have solid color fills (except in SVG output). You can tint or adjust the contrast and brightness levels and map the transparency of image objects.

Objects


Figure 38. Use the Shading Editor dialog box to create interesting and reusable shading components to apply to objects.

With an object selected you can open the Shading Editor dialog box associated with the selected object using the following methods:

• Click the Edit Shading button: on the Object Bar

• Select Object��Shading Editor

• Right-click the object, and then select Edit Shading

• Press the ALT+S keyboard shortcut.

With no object selected, you can open the Shading Editor dialog box using the following methods:

• Click the Edit Shading button: on the Object Bar

• Select Object��Shading Editor

• Press the ALT+S keyboard shortcut.

In the Shading Editor dialog box, the shading most recently edited will appear selected, but you may select any shading in the project from the Shading Selection drop-down menu.

The Shading Editor dialog box includes the following two tabs:

• Selection Tab

• Fill Settings Tab

Objects


Selection Tab

Use the Selection Tab of the Shading Editor dialog box to select a shading component for editing, create a new shading component, or set a texture file path or fill method.

Figure 39. The Selection Tab of the Shading Editor lets you select a shading component to edit or create a new one.

Controls on the Selection Tab of the Shading Editor dialog box include the following:


Thumbnail View Displays the shading component currently selected for editing.

Current Shading If you have opened the Shading Editor dialog box without first selecting in the Work Window an object bearing a shading component, the name of the last available shading component (sorted alphanumerically) will appear selected. However, you may select any shading in the project from the drop-down menu. If you have first selected an object bearing a shading component and then opened the Shading Editor dialog box, its shading is displayed.

Delete Click to delete the currently selected shading component from the system. Once you confirm the delete operation, all objects bearing the deleted shading component will then bear a “no shading” reference.

Create Click to create a new shading component. It will appear in the Current Shading box.

Objects



Texture File Path Displays the location path of a textured fill shading component’s source image. You may edit the path to specify a different source image, if desired.

You can quickly choose a path to a textured fill source image by clicking the Scale, Stretch, or Tile buttons on the Fill Settings Tab of the Shading Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Creating an Image Fill (Texture Mapping).”

Fill Method Click a radio button corresponding to the way you want to apply the fill to the shading component.




Fill Settings Tab

On the Fill Settings Tab, choose colors, textures, and effects to apply to your shading component.

Figure 40. Choose colors, fill textures, and effects to apply to a shading component using the Fill Settings Tab of the Shading Editor dialog box.

Controls on the Fill Settings Tab of the Shading Editor dialog box include the following:


Objects



Thumbnail View Displays a preview of editing operations. With gradient effects selected (i.e., Linear, Cylinder, or Radial), allows you to modify rate of change.

Color 1/Bright When in RGB mode, click to select the base color using either the Red, Green, or Blue controls, or the Color button or Color Dropper tool. When in HSV mode, click to alter the hue, saturation, and brightness of the base color.

When the shading component is based on an image or pattern (and not on colors), click the Bright button to adjust the image brightness along the Red, Green, and Blue channels.

Color 2/Contrast When in RGB mode, click to select the complementary color using either the Red, Green, or Blue controls, or the Color button or Color Dropper tool. When in HSV mode, click to alter the hue, saturation, and brightness of the complementary color.

When the shading component is based on an image or pattern fills (and not on color fills), click the Contrast button to adjust the image contrast along the Red, Green, and Blue channels.

RGB When you are working with a color fill (not image or pattern fills), click to enter RGB mode to adjust the Red, Green, and Blue channels of the color fill. If you are working with an image or pattern fill (and not a color fill), you will be working automatically in RGB mode.

HSV Available only with color fill selection (not image or pattern fills). Click to enter HSV mode to adjust the Hue, Saturation, and Brightness intensities of the color fill.

Red/Hue When you are working in RGB mode, click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the Red channel of the selected shading. Or, you may enter a value in the field.

When you are working in HSV mode, click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the Hue intensity of the selected shading. Or, you may enter a value in the field. (Default value is 0.)

Green/Saturation When you are working in RGB mode, click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the Green channel of the selected shading. Or, you may enter a value in the field. (Default value is 255.)

When you are working in HSV mode, click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the Saturation intensity of the selected shading. Or, you may enter a value in the field. (Default value is 0.)

Objects



Blue/Brightness When you are working in RGB mode, click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the Blue channel of the selected shading. Or, you may enter a value in the field. (Default value is 255.)

When you are working in HSV mode, click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the Brightness intensity of the selected shading. Or, you may enter a value in the field. (Default value is 100.)

Color Click to open the Color dialog box and select a system or custom color. When you are finished, the values of the selected color will appear in the Red, Green, and Blue fields. You may use this function to pick colors for Color 1, if you are creating a flat color fill, or for both Color 1 and Color 2, if you are creating a color effect fill.

The color dropper performs two functions:

1. To establish fill colors: Click and drag to use the color dropper tool to pick up a color anywhere on your computer screen. Release the mouse button to set the values of the selected color in the Red, Green, and Blue fields. You may use this tool to pick colors for Color 1, if you are creating a flat color fill, or for both Color 1 and Color 2, if you are creating a color effect fill.

2. To set a color to be rendered transparent: With Transparency Mapping enabled, click the Transparency Setting Control, and then click and drag to use the color dropper tool to pick up a color anywhere on your computer screen. Release the mouse button. The selected color is now set to be transparent (as indicated by the Transparency Setting Control).

Lock Available only when image object is selected. Click to lock the Red, Green, and Blue sliders, and to activate the Brightness and Contrast controls. Use the sliders in either Brightness or Contrast mode to adjust these settings along the Red, Green, and Blue channels.

Objects



Transparency Mapping

When you are using an image fill, click to checkmark to enable transparency. The color appearing in the Transparency Mapping setting window (to the right of the option box) will be rendered transparent in the selected shading component.

The transparency in image mode and shading mode work differently.

In shading mode:

The transparency slider affect the selected color That is, color 1, color 2 or transparency color whichever button is depressed.

If color 1 or 2, the transparency slider makes that color transparent to the amount selected (0 = no transparency, 255 = full transparency) So if you have a two color gradient and one color is fully transparent, the gradient will fade into transparency.

Transparency mapping in shading mode means that, when the transparency color is selected, each of the red, green and blue channels can be made transparent to varying amounts from 0 = none to 255 = full as the respective slider is moved.

The t transparency slider, when the transparency color is selected, adjusts the general transparency of the shading.

For tile, scale and stretch modes, The image mode below applies for transparency mapping . The transparency slider currently has no effect on color 1 or 2 in these modes.

In image mode:

The transparency slider value is the same whether brightness or contrast is selected. It affects the general transparency of the image from 0=none to255= full.

Transparency mapping means that any pixel that matches the transparency color will be made 100% transparent.

When the transparency color is selected, the transparency slider increases the range of the Transparency mapping color. In other words, if the transparent color is pure blue and the trans slider is 0, only pixels matching pure blue will be transparent. As the slider is moved up more shades or blue are made transparent, then other colors, then eventually, at 255, all colors are made transparent.

Transparency Setting Control

After enabling Transparency Mapping, click to set the color dropper to pick up a color to be made transparent. (Or, you may select a transparency color using the Red, Green, Blue sliders or fields.) When you are finished, the control will display the selected transparency color.

Objects



Flat Click to cancel any color effects (Linear, Cylindrical, or Radial) and apply only the 1 (base) color to the fill.

Linear Click to apply a linear shading pattern between the base (Color 1) and complementary (Color 2) colors. Linear shading appears as one color blending vertically into the other color from left to right. You can change the transition point of the gradient using the controls in theThumbnail View window.

Cylinder Click to apply a cylindrical shading pattern between the base (Color 1) and complementary (Color 2) colors. Cylindrical shading appears as one color blending horizontally into the other color at both the top and bottom. You can change the transition point of the gradient using the controls in the Thumbnail View window.

Radial Click to apply a radial shading pattern between the base (Color 1) and complementary (Color 2) colors. Radial shading appears as one color blending radially from the center into the other color. You can change the center point and the radius of the gradient using the controls in the Thumbnail View window.

Scale Click to display the Open dialog box to browse for an image file to apply to the shading. The image fill will be scaled to fit the dimensions of a geometry while maintaining aspect ratio.

Stretch Click to display the Open dialog box to browse for an image file to apply to the shading. The image fill will be stretched to fit the dimensions of a geometry.

Tile Click to display the Open dialog box to browse for image files to apply in a tiled (repeated) pattern to the shading. Generally, smaller image files work best; however you may discover some interesting effects by tiling large image files.




Color Dialog Box

The Color dialog box is a standard Microsoft® Windows® interface, but it is available in so many places in SiteSpinner™ that it we are compelled to discuss it in this help guide. Use it to set red, green, and blue values for various objects and components.

Objects


Figure 41. Ubiquitous and useful, the Color dialog box allows you to select system or custom colors to apply to many different objects and components in SiteSpinner™.

You may open the Color dialog box any time you have the option of setting system or custom colors for an object, component, or text.

Controls on the Color dialog box include the following:


Basic colors Click to select one of the 48 basic (or system) colors to apply to a selected object, component, or text.

Custom colors Click to select one of the 16 custom colors to apply to a selected object, component, or text.

Define Custom Colors

Click to expand the Color dialog box to allow you to choose and set a custom color.

Color Matrix Click anywhere to define a color. The selected color will appear in the Color/Solid preview window, and its Red, Green, and Blue and Hue, Saturation, and Luminance values will appear in the fields below the Color Matrix.

HSV slider Click and drag up or down to change the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance values of the selected color from the Color Matrix. The new values will appear in the Hue, Sat, and Lum boxes.

Color/Solid Displays a preview of a custom color.

Hue Displays the hue value of a color. If you change the hue, the values for red, green, and blue will be changed to match. Values range from 0 to 239. You may enter a value.

Objects



Sat Displays the saturation value of a color. Saturation is the strength or purity of color in a specified hue, up to a maximum of 240. The higher the saturation, the purer the color. You may enter a value.

Lum Displays the saturation value of a color. Saturation is the strength or purity of color in a specified hue, up to a maximum of 240. The higher the saturation, the purer the color. You may enter a value.

Red Displays the value of the red channel in a color. You may enter a value.

Green Displays the value of the green channel in a color. You may enter a value.

Blue Displays the value of the blue channel in a color. You may enter a value.

Add to Custom Colors

Click to add the custom color you have defined to custom colors where you may click to apply it to the selected object, component, or text.



Creating a Flat Color Fill

Use the following procedure to create a flat fill color you can add to a rectangle, ellipse, polygon, curve, table or text object:

1. Click the Edit Shading button: on the Object Bar

OR

Select Object��Shading Editor

OR

Press the ALT+S keyboard shortcut

The Shading Editor dialog box will open.

2. Click the Selection Tab.

3. Click the Create button. A message box will appear asking you to confirm that you want to create a new shading component.

4. Click Yes. The message box will close.

5. Rename the shading component, if you wish, by overwriting the system-defined name in the Current Shading combo box.

Objects


6. Click the Fill Settings Tab.

7. Use the Red, Green, and Blue sliders to choose a color for the flat color fill

OR


OR


8. When you are finished, click OK. The dialog box will close, and the new flat color fill shading component is loaded and ready to apply to objects.

New shading components bearing the same attributes of the newly created shading component will be created automatically and applied to new rectangle and ellipse objects that you add.

Creating a Gradient Color Fill

Use the following procedure to create a gradient fill color you can add to a rectangle, ellipse, polygon, or curve object:


OR


OR








7. Use the Red, Green, and Blue sliders to choose a color for the base color (Color 1) of the gradient

OR

Objects



OR


8. To apply a linear gradient, click the Linear button

OR

To apply a cylindrical gradient, click the Cylinder button

OR

To apply a radial gradient, click the Radial button.

9. Use the Red, Green, and Blue sliders to choose a color for the complementary color (Color 2) of the gradient

OR


OR


10. When you are finished, click OK. The dialog box will close, and the new gradient fill shading component is loaded and ready to apply to objects.

Creating an Image Fill (Texture Mapping)

Use the following procedure to create an image fill (texture map) you can add to a rectangle, ellipse, polygon, curve, or text object:


OR


OR





Objects





7. To scale the image to the best fit inside the object without distorting it, click the Scale button

OR

To stretch the image to fill the entire object, click the Stretch button

OR

To repeat the image without scaling until the entire object is filled, click the Tile button.


8. Browse your system for the image file you want to use for the image fill.

9. When the image’s file name appears in the File name field, click the Open button

The Open dialog box will close, and the selected image will appear in the Preview Window of the Shading Editor dialog box.

10. When you are finished, click OK. The dialog box will close, and the new image fill (texture map) shading component is loaded and ready to apply to objects.

If you are creating an image fill shading component to apply to a polygon where the lines of the shape cross each other to form closed sections (e.g., a pentastar), you can use the Fill Method option on the Selection Tab to select either Alternate or Winding fill methods. Alternate will leave the middle part of the object empty, while Winding will fill all parts of the object.

Changing an Object’s Shading Component

1. Select the object to which you want to apply a shading component.

2. Press the ALT+Q keyboard shortcut

OR

Click the Quick Properties Editor button: in the Components Bar

OR

Select Object��Quick Properties Editor.

The Quick Properties Editor dialog box will open.

3. Click the Shading Tab.

Objects


4. From the Shading Selection drop-down menu, select the shading component you wish to apply to the selected object. A preview of the shading component will appear in the Thumbnail View and in the object itself in the Work Window.

Not all types of shading components can be applied to all objects. Check the preview of the object itself in the Work Window to see if it will accept the desired shading component.

Adjusting an Image’s Brightness and Contrast

1. Click the image object whose brightness and/or contrast you want to adjust.


OR


OR




4. Click the Lock button.

The Red, Green, and Blue sliders will now controlled together.

5. To adjust the image’s brightness, click the Bright button

OR

To adjust the image’s contrast, click the Contrast button.

6. Click and drag either the Red, Green, or Blue slider right or left to increase or decrease the brightness or contrast settings.

The image will display the effects of the settings in the Thumbnail View.

7. When you are finished, click OK. The dialog box will close, and the image object will reflect the new settings.

Tinting an Image

1. Click the image object whose brightness and/or contrast you want to adjust.


OR


OR

Objects





4. Click and drag the Red, Green, and Blue sliders right or left to apply different tint effects.

The image will display the effects of the settings in the Thumbnail View.

5. When you are finished, click OK. The dialog box will close, and the image object will reflect the new settings.

Objects


Editing Objects

Once you have added objects to a page, you can modify their properties so that they display and behave exactly the way you want them to. In particular, you can edit an object’s transformation matrix, the collection of properties that determines an object’s position, size, skew, and rotation.

Much of the editing you will want to perform can be done using your mouse and keyboard right in the Work Window. With either the Page Layout or Object Edit buttons activated, you can click and drag an object to reposition it on the page. Or, you can use one of the on-screen transformation tools to resize or scale an object or to skew or rotate it to create interesting effects.

Alternately you can edit objects using one of SiteSpinner’s specialized editing tools. The Object Editor offers an extensive object editing interface, whereas the Quick Properties Editor gives you easy access to some of the most commonly used editing operations. Also, if you are working with a shape or vector drawing object, you can use the controls on Vertex Editor to create intricate patterns, such as splines, pie shapes, arcs, or rounded rectangles.

This section discusses methods used to edit objects and examines the tools used to accomplish them.

Object Editor Dialog Box

The Object Editor dialog box contains an advanced set of options for controlling an object’s appearance, positioning, hyperlinking, resolution, copy options, and target output. If you are unsure why an object is appearing or behaving in a particular way, check the settings on the Object Editor dialog box.

The most commonly used options for editing objects are available on the Quick Properties Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Quick Properties Editor Dialog Box.”

Objects


Figure 42. Control an object’s appearance, positioning, hyperlinking, and other elements using the Object Editor dialog box.

You can open the Object Editor dialog box in the following ways:

• Double-click a shape, drawing, or image object in the Work Window, or click a shape, drawing, or image object and press Enter.

• With an object selected, click the Object Editor button on the Object Bar, select Object��Object Editor, or press ALT+O. The Object Editor dialog box associated with the selected object will open.

• With no object selected, click the Object Editor button on the Object Bar, select Object��Object Editor, or press ALT+O. From the Object Selection drop-down menu on the Components Tab you may then select any object in the project to edit.

The Object Editor dialog box contains the following four tabs:

• Components Tab

• Transformations Tab

• Link Tab

• Options Tab

Components Tab

Use the Components Tab on the Object Editor dialog box to control an object’s geometry, shading, and copy options. You may also clean your project of unneeded objects or components.

Objects


Figure 43. Set an object’s geometry or shading components or its copy options using the Components Tab of the Object Editor dialog box.

Controls on the Components Tab of the Object Editor dialog box include the following:


Object Selection If you have opened the Object Editor dialog box without first selecting an object in the Work Window, select an object to edit from the drop-down menu. (The menu contains all objects in the project.) If you have first selected an object and then opened the Object Editor dialog box, the object name is displayed.

You may rename an object, up to 10 alphanumeric characters, by typing over the displayed name in the Object Selection box.

Object Displays the type of object selected, such as ellipse, image, imported object, table, etc.

Click to open the Geometry Editor dialog box to edit the selected object’s geometry. For more information, see “Geometry Editor Dialog Box.”

Geometry Selection

If an object is not selected, the Geometry Selection is disabled. If an object is selected, then the associated geometry is displayed. If a different geometry is selected, that will change the object. That is the object that will use the new geometry.

Objects



Click to open the Shading Editor dialog box to edit and create custom color shadings to apply to objects. For more information, see “Shading Editor Dialog Box.”

Shading Selection If an object is not selected, the Shading Selection is disabled. If an object is selected, then the associated shading is displayed. If a different shading is selected, that will change the object. That is the object that will use the new shading.


Page Copy Method Select from the drop-down menu the target copy option of the selected object. Choose from Copy, Clone, Include, or Private. For more information, see “Target Copy Options.”

Delete Click to remove the object from the project.

Clean Click to remove all unused objects and components from the project. For more information, see “Clean Components.”

Stats Click to open the Object Statistics message box, allowing you to view the current properties settings of the selected object. For more information, see “Object Statistics Message Box.”

Unique Clones Click to checkmark to tell SiteSpinner™ to create individual resource files in the published project for the selected object’s clone copies. Click to un-checkmark to share one resource file among the clone copies of the selected object. For more information, see “Clone Object.”

Unique Includes Click to checkmark to tell SiteSpinner™ to create individual resource files in the published project for the selected object’s include copies. Click to un-checkmark to share one resource file among include copies of the selected object. For more information, see “Include Object.”




Transformations Tab

Use the Transformations Tab on the Object Editor dialog box to precisely set an object’s positioning, scaling, skew, and rotation.

Using the Quick Properties Editor dialog box allows you to see the changes as you adjust the numbers and may be helpful for transformations. (For more information, see “Quick Properties Editor Dialog Box.”)

Objects


Figure 44. Precisely set an object’s positioning, scaling, skew, or rotation using the Transformations Tab of the Object Editor dialog box.

Controls on the Transformations Tab of the Object Editor dialog box include the following:


Horizontal Position Use the spinner to move the selected object left or right along the horizontal (X) axis. Or, you may enter a coordinate in the box (in pixels) to position the object precisely where you want it along the horizontal axis.

Click to select either the Absolute or Relative radio button. Absolute means the object will be positioned at the exact horizontal pixel coordinate you specify. Relative means the object will be positioned relative to the project’s target resolution, as set in the Project Target Options dialog box. (For more information, see “Positioning.”)

Vertical Position Use the spinner to move the selected object up or down along the vertical (Y) axis. Or, you may enter a coordinate in the box (in pixels) to position the object precisely where along the vertical you want it.

Click to select either the Absolute or Relative radio button. Absolute means the object will be positioned at the exact horizontal pixel coordinate you specify. Relative means the object will be positioned relative to the project’s target resolution, as set in the Project Target Options dialog box. (For more information, see “Positioning.”)

Objects



Horizontal Scaling Use the spinner to stretch or shrink the object horizontally. Or, you may enter a factor in the box (in pixels) to increase or reduce precisely the horizontal scale of the object. The default scaling factor is 1; thus, entering 2.00 in the box would increase the object’s scale horizontally by two times.

Mirror Click to flip the object horizontally.

Maintain Aspect Ratio

Click to checkmark to apply identical scaling factors to both the Horizontal and Vertical axes.

Vertical Scaling Use the spinner to stretch or shrink the object vertically. Or, you may enter a factor in the box (in pixels) to increase or reduce precisely the vertical scale of the object. The default scaling factor is 1; thus, entering 0.50 in the box would reduce by half the object’s scale vertically.

Flip Click to flip the object vertically.

Skew X Use the spinner to slant the object along the horizontal axis. Or, you may enter an angle, in degrees, in the box to skew the object horizontally.

Skew Y Use the spinner to slant the object along the vertical axis. Or, you may enter an angle, in degrees, in the box to skew the object vertically.

Text, table, code, or foreign objects cannot be skewed.

Rotation Use the spinner to rotate the object clockwise or counter-clockwise around its axis. Or, you may enter a degree to rotate the object precisely. (Enter a negative value to rotate counter-clockwise.)

Text, table, code, or foreign objects cannot be rotated.

No CSS Positioning

Click to checkmark to strip any positioning code from the HTML for the selected object. This option is used primarily on code objects or imported HTML that include their own positioning. For more information, see “No CSS Positioning.”

Reset Click to remove all transformation settings for the selected object. This will cause the object to appear at the top left corner of the Work Window without any scaling, skew, or rotation.

Objects



Lock/Unlock Click to toggle the locking and unlocking of the selected object. Locking protects the object from accidental transformations. Unlocking a locked object will permit transformation of the object. For more information, see “Lock/Unlock Object.”




Link Tab

Use the Link Tab on the Object Editor dialog box to apply hyperlinks to objects.

To avoid conflicts between hyperlinked text and hyperlinked text objects, always assign text hyperlinks using the Link Editor dialog box, available from the Insert�Insert Link (URL) menu option in the Text Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Text” and “Link Editor Dialog Box.”

Figure 45. Set hyperlink properties for an object using the Link Tab of the Object Editor dialog box.

Controls on the Link Tab of the Object Editor dialog box include the following:


Objects



Link Type Select from the drop-down menu the type of hyperlink you want to apply to the selected object. Choose from among internal project page ([page]), Internet (http://), email (mailto:), external file ([ file ]),FTP, or Telnet link types (protocols).

Or, you may leave the Link Type menu blank if the protocol is already in the URL text. This is useful when you want to use a protocol that is not in the Link type list (e.g., https://www.test.com or JavaScript:alert (’hey there’). You may also leave the Link Type menu blank if the URL is a partial URL (e.g., ../somefile.html).This is useful if you know that the file will exist in some location relative to the web page. For more information, see “Hyperlinking.”

Select or enter the URL to link to:

If you are hyperlinking to an Internet web page (http://), email address (mailto:), FTP site (ftp://), or Telnet site (telnet:), select from the drop-down menu a target or destination for the hyperlink. The menu will display pre-defined hyperlinks that are being maintained by your project’s Link Manager. If the desired hyperlink is not in the drop-down menu, enter a new hyperlink target. (To automatically add it to the drop-down menu for future use, click to checkmark the Add New URLs to the URL List option box. For more information, see “Hyperlinking.”)

If you are hyperlinking to an page that is part of the project, select the link type “-page-“ then choose a page from the drop-down URL list. For more information, see “Hyperlinking.”

If you are hyperlinking to an external file and know the location where the file will be after publishing, enter its path. It can be an absolute or relative path (e.g., http://www.somewhere/somefile.html or ../somefile.html) For more information, see “Hyperlinking.”

Do not enter a link type protocol (i.e., http://: or mailto:) in the URL field, unless you select the –blank—Link Type.

Assign a title: Enter a title or information about the link to be displayed when the user hovers the mouse point over the hyperlink. If you are linking to a popup image, the title will appear in the title bar of the new popup window containing the image.

Code If desired, enter code to provide additional functionality (i.e. “OnClick=[something]”) to the hyperlink.

Open this link in a new Window

Click to checkmark to open the target page in a new browser window.

Objects



Always add new URL’s to the URL list

Click to checkmark to automatically store in the system all of the hyperlinks you create. For more information, see “Link Manager Dialog Box.”

Popup Fullsized Image

Available only with an image object selected. Click to checkmark to set a hyperlink that opens a pop-up window containing a full-size rendering of the selected image when clicked. This is useful when you are linking a thumbnail image to its full-size image.

Enable Link when published

Click to checkmark to enable the link in the published project. For the hyperlink to work in the published project, this option must be enabled. Click to un-checkmark to disable the link in the published project.

Enable page links in work window

Available for internal project (-page-) hyperlinks only. Click to activate the hyperlink in the Work Window for simplified navigation while you are working.

Find File Click to display the Open dialog box, where you can browse your system for an external file to be linked to the selected object. After you have located the desired file and clicked the Open button, the file path will appear in the Select or enter the URL to link to: field and the Link Type dropdown list will display the [ file ] option. When the page or project is previewed or published, clicking the linked object will open the external file (and its associated plug-in program, if necessary and if installed) in a new browser window or allow the user to either run or save the file.

The external file will be gathered and published together with the web project if the “Gather all files” option is enabled on the Pages tab of the Publisher dialog box. (For more information, see “ Publisher Dialog Box.”)

Manager Click to open the Link Editor dialog box, to manage your stored hyperlinks and import or export additional links. For more information, see “Link Manager Dialog Box.”

Test Click to launch the hyperlink you have entered. If it is successful, the hyperlink target will open or launch This does not test the integrity of the link and will not launch partial link or a -page- link. It is just a way to visit the site with your browser, to see if it’s the correct place, or to launch a mailto: or Telnet URL in its applicable program




Objects


Options Tab

Use the Options Tab on the Object Editor dialog box to set miscellaneous appearance and performance options for an object.

Figure 46. Set miscellaneous appearance and performance options using the Options Tab of the Object Editor dialog box.

Controls on the Options Tab of the Object Editor dialog box include the following:

Control Options Description

Static HTML Click to checkmark to exclude the selected object from being published when HTML with Effects mode is used for publishing.

HTML with Effects Click to checkmark to exclude the selected object from being published when Static HTML mode is user for publishing.

Dynamic HTML Click to checkmark to exclude the selected object from being published in Dynamic HTML (DHTML).

Exclude from target output

SVG Click to checkmark to exclude the selected object from being published in SVG mode.

Objects



Static HTML, HTML with Effects and Dynamic HTML are HTML code generation modes. The specific mode used in a particular case is determined by the contents of a page. For example, if Mouseover FX are used, HTML with Effects code will be generated. These modes are chosen automatically and should not be a concern. They are provided here merely as categories for greater control when excluding objects. To exclude an object whenever any HTML mode is used, check all 3 HTML options.

Hidden while loading

Click to checkmark to make the selected object invisible until the published page is finished loading in the browser window.

Hidden after loading

Click to checkmark to make the selected object invisible after the published page is finished loading in the browser window.

Hidden on Mouse Over

Click to checkmark to make the selected object invisible when the user moves the mouse pointer to the object.

Visibility

Hidden on Mouse Leave

Click to checkmark to make the selected object invisible when the user moves the mouse pointer away from the object.

Initial Behavior Settings

Not available in SiteSpinner™.

Rendering Options

Re-Render Click to checkmark to have SiteSpinner™ redraw the image at its current resolution after applying any scaling, skew, or rotation operations. Click to un-checkmark to maintain the image in its original format. For more information, see “Rendering and Re-Rendering.”

Animated gifs by default are not re-rendered since it would prevent the animation from playing

Objects



Enable Anti-Aliasing

Click to checkmark to smooth the jagged edges of vector geometry, title objects, and rotated images that are to be published in HTML format. SVG will usually perform its own anti-aliasing.




Object Statistics Message Box

The Object Statistics message box provides a summary of the current properties settings of a selected object. The information displayed is “read-only;” you may not edit object properties in the Object Statistics message box.

Figure 47. The Object Statistics message box displays the current properties settings of a selected object.

Objects


To open the Object Statistics message box, choose an object from the Object Selection drop-down menu on the Components Tab of the Object Editor dialog box, and then click the Stats button. For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box.”

Quick Properties Editor Dialog Box

Think of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box as “Object Editor Lite.” Although it features many of the same controls as the Object Editor dialog box, the Quick Properties Editor dialog box offers a convenient way to change some common object properties.

Many of the editing operations you perform using the Quick Properties Editor are visible in “real time.” That is, the selected object will display the effects of the edit in the Work Window as you are editing, and you don’t need to click an OK button or close the dialog box to see them.

Figure 48. The Quick Properties Editor dialog box offers a convenient way to change common object properties.

You can open the Quick Properties Editor dialog box in the following ways:

• Click the Quick Properties Editor button on the Components Bar

• Select Object��Quick Properties

• Press the ALT+Q

• Press the ALT+ENTER keyboard shortcut.

• Right-click an object and select Quick Properties.

With an object selected prior to performing these actions, the selected object’s properties will be ready for editing in the Quick Properties Editor dialog box. With no object selected prior to performing these actions, the Quick Properties Editor dialog box will open, and you may then select any object in the project to edit from the Object Selection drop-down menu on the Object Tab. Selecting an object in the Quick Properties Editor dialog box selects it in the Work Window also.

The Quick Properties Editor dialog box contains the following four tabs:

Objects


• Object Tab

• Outline Tab

• Shading Tab

• Link Tab

Object Tab

Use the Object Tab on the Quick Properties Editor dialog box to quickly adjust an object’s transformations, position, and resolution.

Figure 49. Change an object’s transformations using the Object Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box.

Controls on the Object Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box include the following:



Position Use the X spinner to move the object left or right along the horizontal axis. Use the Y spinner to move the object up or down along the vertical axis. Or, you may enter coordinates in the X or Y boxes (in pixels) to position the object precisely where you want it.

Scale Use the X spinner to stretch or shrink the object horizontally. Use the Y spinner to stretch or shrink the object vertically. Or, you may enter factors in the X or Y boxes to increase or reduce precisely the scale of the object. The default scaling factor in each box is 1.00; thus, entering 2.00 in the X box would increase the object’s scale horizontally by two times, and entering 0.50 in the Y box would reduce by half the object’s scale vertically.

Objects



Skew Use the X spinner to slant the object along the horizontal axis. Use the Y spinner to slant the object along the vertical axis. Or, you may enter degrees in the X or Y boxes to skew the object at precise angles.

Text, table, code, form, and foreign objects cannot be skewed.

Rotate Use the spinner to rotate the object clockwise or counter-clockwise around its axis. Or, you may enter a degree to rotate the object precisely. (Enter a negative value to rotate counter-clockwise.)

Text, table, code, foreign objects cannot be rotated.

Reset Click to restore transformation settings (Scale, Skew, and Rotate) to their default values.

Anti-Alias Click to checkmark to smooth the jagged edges of vector geometry, title objects, and rotated images that are to be published in HTML format. SVG will usually perform its own anti-aliasing.

Anti-aliasing will not be visible in the Work Window unless the High Render work window option box is selected (checkmarked).

Re-Render Click to checkmark to have SiteSpinner™ redraw the image at its current resolution after applying any scaling, skew, or rotation. For more information, see “Rendering and Re-Rendering.”

High Render work window

Click to checkmark to display the Work Window in high-resolution mode. The shows the effects of anti-aliasing and super-sampling but may slow down the display. This setting applies not just to the selected object but also to all objects that require this operation.

Object Selection If you have opened the Quick Properties Editor dialog box without first selecting an object in the Work Window, select an object to edit from the drop-down menu. (The menu contains all objects in the project.) If you have first selected an object and then opened the Quick Properties Editor dialog box, the object name is displayed.

Objects



You may rename an object by typing over the displayed name in the Object Selection box.

Lock/Unlock Click to toggle the locking and unlocking of the selected object. Locking protects the object from accidental transformation Unlocking a locked object will permit editing of the object.

Object Editor Click to open the Object Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box.”


Outline Tab

Use the Outline Tab on the Quick Properties Editor dialog box to quickly adjust an object’s geometry. You may also use the Outline Tab to apply borders to image objects.

Figure 50. Change an object’s geometry and apply borders using the Outline Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box.

Controls on the Outline Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box include the following:


Thumbnail View Displays the geometry currently selected for editing.

Red Click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the outline of the selected geometry. Or, you may enter a value in the field.

Green Click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the outline of the selected geometry. Or, you may enter a value in the field.

Blue Click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the outline of the selected geometry. Or, you may enter a value in the field.

Objects



Thick Click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the outline of the selected geometry. Or, you may enter a pixel value in the field.

Width Use the spinner to increase or reduce the width in pixels of the selected geometry. Or, you may enter a pixel value in the field. (Not editable for image object geometries.)

Height Use the spinner to increase or reduce the height in pixels of the selected geometry. Or, you may enter a pixel value in the field. (Not editable for image object geometries.)

Click and drag to use the color dropper tool to pick up a color anywhere on your computer screen. Release the mouse button to set the values of the selected color in the Red, Green, and Blue fields.

Color Click to open the Color dialog box and select a system or custom color. When you are finished, the values of the selected color will appear in the Red, Green, and Blue fields. For more information, see “Color Dialog Box.”

Geometry Selection

If you have opened the Quick Properties Editor dialog box without first selecting an object in the Work Window, select an object on the Object tab or click an object in the Work Window. The menu contains all geometry components in the project.) If you have first selected an object and then opened the Quick Properties Editor dialog box, the geometry component name is displayed. You can change the geometry attached to the selected object by choose another one from the list

Click to open the Vertex Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Vertex Editor Dialog Box.”

Click to open the Geometry Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Geometry Component.”


Shading Tab

Use the Shading Tab on the Quick Properties Editor dialog box to quickly adjust an object’s shading. You may also use the Shading Tab to create new shading components to apply to selected objects.

Objects


Figure 51. The Shading Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box lets you adjust an object’s shading.

Controls on the Shading Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box include the following:


Thumbnail View Displays a preview of editing operations applied to the shading component currently selected for editing.

Red Click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the red channel of the selected color Or, you may enter a value in the field.

Green Click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the green channel of the selected color. Or, you may enter a value in the field.

Blue Click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the blue channel of the selected color. Or, you may enter a value in the field.

Trans. Click and drag the slider left or right to adjust the transparency of the selected shading. Or, you may enter a transparency value in the field. Note that some object types like text and tables that do not support gradients, do not support transparency either.

1 Available only when you are creating a color effect fill, such as linear, cylindrical, or radial, that uses both a base color and a complementary color. Click to select the base color using either the Red, Green, or Blue controls, or the Pick button or Color Dropper tool.

2 Available only when you are creating a color effect fill, such as flat, linear, cylindrical, or radial, that uses both a base color and a complementary color. Click to select the complementary color using either the Red, Green, or Blue controls, or the Pick button or Color Dropper tool.

Flip Click to reverse the selections of the base and complementary colors for linear, cylindrical, and radial shadings.

Objects



Pick Click to open the Color dialog box and select a system or custom color. When you are finished, the values of the selected color will appear in the Red, Green, and Blue fields. You may use this tool to pick colors for 1, if you are creating a flat color fill, or for both 1 and 2, if you are creating a color effect fill.

Click and drag to use the color dropper tool to pick up a color anywhere on your computer screen. Release the mouse button to set the values of the selected color in the Red, Green, and Blue fields. You may use this tool to pick colors for 1 (base color), if you are creating a flat color fill, or for both 1 and 2 (base and complementary color), if you are creating a color effect fill.

Flat Click to cancel any color effects (Linear, Cylindrical, or Radial) and apply only the 2 (complementary) color to the fill.

Lin Click to apply a linear shading pattern between the base and complementary colors. Linear shading appears as one color blending vertically into the other color from left to right. You can change the direction of the shading using the Shading Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Shading Editor Dialog Box.”

Cal Click to apply a cylindrical shading pattern between the base and complementary colors. Cylindrical shading appears as one color blending horizontally into the other color at both the top and bottom. You can change the direction of the shading using the Shading Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Shading Editor Dialog Box.”

Red Click to apply a radial shading pattern between the base and complementary colors. Radial shading appears as one color blending radially from the center into the other color. You can change the direction of the shading using the Shading Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Shading Editor Dialog Box.”

Tile Click to display the Open dialog box to browse for image files to apply in a tiled (repeated) pattern to the shading. Generally, smaller image files work best; however you may discover some interesting effects by tiling large image files.

Shading Selection If an object is not selected, the Shading Selection is disabled. If an object is selected, then the associated shading is displayed. If a different shading is selected, that will change the object. That is the object that will use the new shading. You may choose another shading component to apply to the selected object from the drop-down menu. (The menu contains all shadings currently defined in the project.) Note that changing the settings of the shading of one object will affect all other objects using the same shading.

Objects



You may rename a shading component by typing over the displayed name in the Shading Selection box.

Click to create a new shading component and apply it to the selected objects.

Click to open the Shading Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Shading Editor Dialog Box.”


Link Tab

Use the Link Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box to apply hyperlinks to objects.

An easy way to open the Link Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box is to right-click an object, and then select Edit Link.

To avoid conflicts between hyperlinked text and hyperlinked text objects, always assign text hyperlinks using the Link Editor dialog box, available from the Insert�Insert Link (URL) menu option in the Text Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Text” and “Link Editor Dialog Box.”

Figure 52. Apply hyperlinks to objects using the Link Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box.

Controls on the Link Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box include the following:


Objects



Link Type Select from the drop-down menu the type of hyperlink you want to apply to the selected object. Choose from among internal project page ([page]), Internet (http://), email (mailto:), external file ([ file ]),FTP, or Telnet link types (protocols).


URL If you are hyperlinking to an Internet web page (http://), email address (mailto:), FTP site (ftp://), or Telnet site (telnet:), select from the drop-down menu a target or destination for the hyperlink. The menu will display pre-defined hyperlinks that are being maintained by your project’s Link Manager. If the desired hyperlink is not in the drop-down menu, enter a new hyperlink target. (To automatically add it to the drop-down menu for future use, click to checkmark the Add New URLs to the URL List option box. For more information, see “Hyperlinking.”)

If you are hyperlinking to an page that is part of the project, select the link type “-page-“ then choose a page from the drop-down URL list. For more information, see “Hyperlinking.”

If you are hyperlinking to an external file and know the location where the file will be after publishing, enter its path. It can be an absolute or relative path (e.g., http://www.somewhere/somefile.html or ../somefile.html) For more information, see “Hyperlinking.”

Do not enter a link type protocol (i.e., http://: or mailto:) in the URL field, unless you select the –blank—Link Type.

Title Enter a title or information, up to 65 characters, about the link to be displayed when the user hovers the mouse point over the hyperlink.

Code If desired, enter code to provide additional functionality (i.e. “OnClick=[something]”) to the hyperlink.

Open in a new window

Click to checkmark to open the target page in a new browser window, if you have selected an internal project page or an Internet hyperlink (-page- or http://) from the Link Type drop-down menu.

Objects



Popup Fullsized image

Available only with an image object selected. Click to checkmark to set a hyperlink that opens a pop-up window containing a full-size rendering of the selected image when clicked. This is useful when you are linking a thumbnail image to its full-size image.

Always add new URLs to the URL list

Click to checkmark to automatically store in the Link Manager all of the hyperlinks you create. For more information, see “Link Manager Dialog Box.”

Test Link Available only with an Internet hyperlink selected (http://). Click to test the hyperlink you are creating. If it is successful, the hyperlink target will open or launch. If it is unsuccessful, nothing will occur.



Manager Click to open the Link Editor dialog box, to manage your stored hyperlinks and import or export additional links. For more information, see “Link Manager Dialog Box.”

To open a context-sensitive help topic when using the Link Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box, press F1.

Vertex Editor Dialog Box

Use the Vertex Editor to create intricate patterns. You can apply rounded corners to rectangles, convert an ellipse into a pie shape or arc or move the control points on a polygon or curve. Extrude operations let you rotate, scale, or move an object’s geometry in real time while appending duplicates of existing points.

The vertex editing operations that are available depend on the type of object that is selected.

Objects


Figure 53. Use the Vertex Editor dialog box to set points in polygon and curve objects and create intricate designs.

After completing vertex editing operations, be sure to click either the Page Layout or Object Edit buttons.

You may open the Vertex Editor dialog box in any of the following ways:

• Click the Edit Vertices button: in the Components Bar, and then click a polygon or curve object in the Work Window.

• With a polygon or curve object selected in the Work Window, select Object��Resize.

• With a title object that has been converted to a path selected, select Object��Resize.

• On the Outline Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box, click the Edit

Vertices button: .

If using any of the preceding methods fails to open the Vertex Editor dialog box, select Object�Show Vertex Editor.

Controls on the Vertex Editor dialog box include the following:


Extrude Move Click to enter Extrude Move mode, which allows you to move the initial geometry across the origin while duplicating points.

Extrude Scale Click to enter Extrude Scale mode, which allows you to scale the geometry around the origin while duplicating points.

Objects



Extrude Rotate Click to enter Extrude Rotate mode, which allows you to rotate the geometry around the origin while duplicating points.

Move X, Move Y With the Extrude function set in Move mode, use the sliders to change the direction and extent of the move horizontally and vertically (or enter numbers in the boxes).Move the origin to change the center of the scale operation.

Scale X, Scale Y With the Extrude function set in Scale mode, use the slider to select the amount of the scale horizontally and vertically (or enter numbers in the boxes).Move the origin to change the center of the scale operation.

Angle With the Extrude function set in Rotate mode, use the slider to select the number of degrees to rotate the geometry (or enter numbers in the boxes). Move the origin to change the center of the rotation.

Copies Click and drag the slider to the right to select the number of copies of the geometry to be generated. Or, enter a number in the box.

Linear Extrusion Click to checkmark to form the geometry and its copies into three-dimensional shapes along a linear path.

Insert Click to add a new point ahead of the currently selected point (visible in red).

Delete Click to delete the currently selected point (visible in red).

Open End Click to checkmark to make the last point of the selected curve or polygon geometry unconnected to the first point, leaving it open. Click to un-checkmark to connect the last and first points of the selected curve or polygon geometry, closing it.

Point Displays the order number of the currently selected point.

X Displays the position along the horizontal axis of the currently selected point.

Y Displays the position along the vertical axis of the currently selected point.

Save Click to save the current changes. Restore will restore to last saved version or the original is no save was made.

Restore Click to revert to the original (or last saved) version of the geometry.

Close Click to cancel the operation and close the dialog box.

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Move Object

Certainly one of the most frequently performed tasks in SiteSpinner™ is repositioning objects you have added to a page, so that they appear where you want them in the Work Window, and, subsequently, in your published web project.

When you add an object, it is positioned on the page using absolute coordinates. This will result in the object being displayed in the exact same position in the browser window when it is published or previewed. (The absolute positioning property can be changed so that objects are positioned in the browser relative to the browser window size. For more information, see “Relative Positioning.”)

By far the easiest way to reposition or move an object is manually in the Work Window using your mouse and keyboard. With either the Page Layout or Object Edit buttons in the Components Bar activated, you can click and drag an object wherever you want it. The object can be positioned within the viewable area of your project’s target display resolution, or you can have it hanging partially off the page. (For more information, see “Target Resolution Guide Border.”)

To keep an object from becoming part of a table when you are moving it on the page, press and hold the ALT key while you are dragging it. Similarly, to keep an object from breaking free from a table when your clicking and dragging to move the table, hold the ALT key while you drag.

You can also move an object in “baby steps” using the nudge keys. With an object selected, press the Left, Right, Up, or Down keyboard arrow keys to nudge the object in 1 pixel increments along either the horizontal or vertical axes.

SiteSpinner™ offers some automated functions that can help you manually move objects in the Work Window more quickly and with greater precision. You can use the Tab key to make an object jump to a predefined Tab Guide, which you can use to align objects evenly either vertically or horizontally. Or, you can drag an object most of the way to a certain area of the page, and then let the Snap Grid “snap” the object into precise pixel coordinates. (For more information, see “Alignment.”)

If you require still greater precision when moving objects, you can use the Horizontal and Vertical Positioning controls in the Object Editor or the X and Y Position controls in the Quick Properties Editor. You can select an object to move, and then use the controls to set an exact positioning coordinate along the horizontal and vertical axes. For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box” and “Quick Properties Editor Dialog Box.”

When you move an object, it will remain selected even when it is moved behind another object.

If you lose an object, you can click the Reset button on the Object Tab of the Quick Properties Editor to move and scale it back to its default location. For more information, see “Quick Properties Editor Dialog Box.”

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Moving an Object in the Work Window

1. Click the Page Layout button: in the Components Bar

OR

Click the Object Edit button: in the Components Bar.

2. In the Work Window, select the object that you want to move. For more information, see “Select Object.”

3. Click the object and drag it to a new position in the Work Window.

You can also move an object in “baby steps” using the nudge keys. With an object selected, press the Left, Right, Up, or Down arrow keys to nudge the object in 1 pixel increments along either the horizontal or vertical axes.

You may use the Snap Grid to snap the object to a precise pixel position, or you may use the Tab Guide to align the object horizontally or vertically. For more information, see “Snap Grid” and “Tab Guides.”

Moving an Object to Precise Pixel Coordinates

Use either of the following procedures to move a selected object to a precise position in the Work Window:

Using the Quick Properties Editor:

1. In the Work Window, select the object that you want to move.


OR


OR



3. Click the Object Tab.

4. Use the X Position spinner to move the object along the horizontal axis

OR

Enter a pixel position along the horizontal axis in the box.

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5. Use the Y Position spinner to move the object along the vertical axis

OR

Enter a pixel position along the vertical axis in the box.

6. When you are finished, exit the Quick Properties Editor dialog box. The dialog box will close, and the object will be moved to the specified position.

Using the Object Editor:



OR

Click the Object Editor button: in the Align Bar

OR




4. Use the Horizontal Position spinner to move the object along the horizontal axis

OR

Enter a pixel position in the box.

5. Use the Vertical Position spinner to move the object along the vertical axis

OR

Enter a pixel position in the box.

6. When you are finished, click OK. The dialog box will close, and the object will be moved to the specified position.

By default, the object is set with Absolute positioning attributes. You may change the object’s attribute to Relative or No CSS positioning. For more information, see “Positioning.”

Transform Object

You can edit an object’s transformation matrix to modify the object’s appearance and add interesting effects. You can scale an object to stretch it in any direction, skew it to apply lateral distortion, or rotate it to change its clockwise orientation.

You can apply transformations interactively in the Work Window using your mouse and keyboard, or you can use the Quick Properties Editor or the Object Editor to apply specific transformations.

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Scale Object

Scaling means resizing, stretching, or shrinking an object to give it new overall height and width dimensions. Any object can be scaled. However, the scaling operation will have different effects depending on the type of object it is being applied to. For example, scaling a text object will not resize the text; rather it will resize the text box and cause the text inside to re-wrap.

To avoid pixilation or jagged lines when you are enlarging an object such as an image or vector drawing, be sure the object’s anti-aliasing option is enabled. Anti-aliasing is enabled by default for all rendered object types.

The easiest way to scale an object is manually in the Work Window using your mouse. With an object selected and either the Page Layout or Object Edit buttons in the Components Bar activated, you can click and drag the object’s eight scaling control points in or out to resize the object’s height and width dimensions. You will know that you have grabbed a scaling control point when your mouse pointer becomes a double-headed arrow. As you drag, the new pixel dimensions of the object are displayed near the mouse pointer.

To maintain the object’s aspect ratio, press and hold the CTRL key while dragging a scaling control point with your mouse.

Figure 54. You can scale an object selected in the Work Window using your mouse and/or keyboard.

You can also resize a selected object in 1-pixel increments by pressing and holding the Shift key while pressing the Up, Down, Right, or Left arrow keys. Similarly, you can resize an object with constrained proportions by pressing and holding the Shift and CTRL keys while pressing a directional arrow key.

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When the Snap Grid is enabled, an object is scaled when the mouse is used at the current snap grid resolution. For more information, see “Snap Grid.”

If you require precision when scaling objects, you can use the Horizontal and Vertical Scaling controls in the Object Editor or the X and Y Scale controls in the Quick Properties Editor. You can select an object to scale, and then use the controls to adjust horizontal or vertical sizes changes by a factor of 1/100th. For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box” and “Quick Properties Editor Dialog Box.”

Resizing an Object

Use any of the following procedures to resize (scale) an object:

In the Work Window:


OR


By default, unless another tool is selected in the Components Bar, the Page Layout button is active.

2. In the Work Window, select the object that you want to resize. For more information, see “Select Object.”

3. Click one of the eight scaling control points that appear on the object’s bounding box, and drag the control point in or out to resize the object.

You can also resize an object in “baby steps” using the directional arrow keys. With an object selected, press the Shift key and the Left, Right, Up, or Down arrow keys to resize the object in 1 pixel increments along either the horizontal or vertical axes.

You can scale an object with constrained proportions by pressing and holding the Shift and CTRL keys while the Left, Right, Up, or Down arrow keys.


1. In the Work Window, select the object that you want to resize.


OR

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OR




4. Use the X Scale spinner to make the object wider

OR

Enter a proportional resize value in the box.

Use the Y Scale spinner to make the object longer

OR


5. When you are finished, exit the Quick Properties Editor dialog box. The dialog box will close, and the object will be resized to new proportions.


1. In the Work Window, select the object that you want to resize.


OR


OR




4. Use the Horizontal Scaling spinner to make the object wider

OR


Use the Vertical Scaling spinner to make the object longer

OR


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5. To apply the same scaling factor to both the horizontal and vertical axes, click to checkmark the Maintain Aspect Ratio option box.

6. When you are finished, click OK. The dialog box will close, and the object will be resized to new proportions.

Reversing an Object

You can reverse or flip a rendered object horizontally using the following procedure:

1. In the Work Window, select the object that you want to reverse.


OR


OR




4. Click the Mirror button.

5. Click OK. The dialog box will close, and the selected rendered object will be reversed from left to right in the Work Window.

Flipping an Object

You can flip a rendered object vertically using the following procedure:

1. In the Work Window, select the object that you want to reverse.


OR


OR




4. Click the Flip button.

5. Click OK. The dialog box will close, and the selected rendered object will be flipped

from top to bottom in the Work Window.

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Skew Object

Skewing is somewhat like rotation but on a single axis. It slides an object’s top and bottom edges or right and left edges in opposite directions. The skewing operation appears to shift an object sideways or laterally and can yield some dramatic and interesting effects. For example, you can make image objects appear to be falling randomly like leaves from a tree, or you can create the appearance of three-dimensional cubes out of images or rectangles.

Code, text, table, or foreign objects may not be skewed.

The easiest way to skew an object is manually in the Work Window using your mouse. With an object selected and the Object Edit button in the Components Bar activated, you can click and drag the object’s four skewing control points left and right or in and out to skew the object vertically or horizontally. You will know that your mouse is over a skewing control point when your mouse pointer becomes a black parallelogram. As you drag, the degree of the skew is displayed near the mouse pointer.

Figure 55. You can skew an object to create unusual effects.

When the Snap Grid is enabled, an object is skewed by whole degrees. For more information, see “Snap Grid.”

If you require precision when skewing objects, you can use the X and Y Skew controls in either the Object Editor or the Quick Properties Editor. You can select an object to skew, and then use the controls to adjust the skew in 1 degree increments either horizontally or vertically. For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box” and “Quick Properties Editor Dialog Box.”

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Skewing an Object

Use any of the following procedures to skew an object:

In the Work Window:


OR


By default, unless another tool is selected in the Components Bar, the Page Layout button is active.

2. In the Work Window, select the object that you want to skew. For more information, see “Select Object.”

3. Click one of the four skewing control points that appear on the object’s bounding box, and drag the control point left or right or up or down to skew the object.


1. In the Work Window, select the object that you want to skew.


OR


OR




4. Use the Skew X spinner to skew the object horizontally

OR

Enter a skew value in the box.

Use the Skew Y spinner to skew the object vertically

OR


5. When you are finished, exit the Quick Properties Editor dialog box. The dialog box will close, and the object will be skewed.

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1. In the Work Window, select the object that you want to skew.


OR


OR




4. Use the Skew X spinner to skew the object horizontally

OR


Use the Skew Y spinner to skew the object vertically

OR


5. When you are finished, click OK. The dialog box will close, and the object will be skewed.

Rotate Object

You can rotate an object around a movable origin (or pivot point) to create unusual effects. Rotating lets you turn an object on its side, upside down, or any other angle you choose.

Code, text, table, or foreign objects may not be skewed. However, if you want to rotate text, add it as a title object. Be careful not to resize the title object, or the text may become distorted.

The easiest way to rotate an object is manually in the Work Window using your mouse. With an object selected and the Object Edit button in the Components Bar activated, you can click and drag the object’s four rotation control points in a circular motion to rotate the object in either clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. You will know that your mouse is over you have grabbed a rotation control point when your mouse pointer becomes a double-sided curved arrow. As you drag, the angle of the rotation is displayed in degrees near the mouse pointer.

An object will always rotate around its origin. In an object that has never before been rotated, you can find its origin in the center of the object. You can click and drag the origin anywhere in the Work Window. This will change the behavior of the object as it rotates.

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Figure 56. You can rotate an object to change its orientation.

You can also rotate a selected object clockwise in 1-degree increments by pressing and holding the CTRL key while pressing the Right or Down arrow keys. Similarly, you can rotate a selected object counter-clockwise in 1-degree increments by pressing and holding the CTRL key while pressing the Left or Up arrow keys.

When the Snap Grid is enabled, you can temporarily override the Snap Grid by pressing the Shift key while rotating an object with your mouse. For more information, see “Snap Grid.”

You can reset a rotated object to it original orientation by pressing and holding the CTRL key while pressing the Left and Right arrow keys or the Up and Down arrow keys.

If you require precision when rotating objects, you can use the X and Y Rotate controls in either the Object Editor or Rotation control the Quick Properties Editor. You can select an object to rotate, and then use the controls to adjust the rotation in 1 degree increments. For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box” and “Quick Properties Editor Dialog Box.”

Rotating an Object

Use any of the following procedures to rotate an object:

In the Work Window:

1. Click the Object Edit button: in the Components Bar.

2. In the Work Window, select the object that you want to rotate. For more information, see “Select Object.”

3. If you want to rotate the object tightly around its own center, proceed to step 4

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OR

If you want to make broader rotation transformations, click and drag the object’s pivot point to another location in the Work Window.

4. Click one of the four rotation control points that appear on the object’s bounding box, and drag it in a circular motion to rotate the object.

You can rotate a selected object clockwise in 1-degree increments by pressing and holding the CTRL key while pressing the Right or Down arrow keys. Similarly, you can rotate a selected object counter-clockwise in 1-degree increments by pressing and holding the CTRL key while pressing the Left or Up arrow keys.

You can reset a rotated object to it original orientation by pressing and holding the CTRL key while pressing the Left and Right arrow keys or the Up and Down arrow keys.


1. In the Work Window, select the object that you want to rotate.


OR


OR




4. Use the Rotate spinner to change the rotation angle

OR

Enter a rotation angle degree value (0.00 to 360.00 degrees) in the box. The object will be rotated to a new angle.




OR


OR

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4. Use the Rotation spinner to change the rotation angle

OR

Enter a rotation angle degree value (0.00 to 360.00 degrees) in the box.

5. When you are finished, click OK. The dialog box will close, and the object will be rotated to a new angle.

Reset Transformations

By clicking a single button, you can undo all transformation edits performed on an object. The reset command will undo all scale, skew, and rotation operations.

Use the Reset button on the Transformations Tab of the Object Editor or the Object Tab of the Quick Properties Editor to undo an object’s transformations.

Removing Transformations

1. In the Work Window, select the object whose transformations you want to undo.


OR


OR




4. Click the Reset button.

5. Click OK. The dialog box will close, and all move, scale, skew, and rotate edits performed on the object will be undone. The object will be repositioned in the upper left corner of the Work Window.

You can also undo transformations using the Reset button on the Object Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box. Click the button, and then confirm in the message box that you want to reset the object’s transformations.

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Lock/Unlock Object

Once an object is positioned and transformed the way you want it, you can prevent it from being accidentally moved, scaled, skewed, or rotated by using the lock option. When an object is locked, transformation operations cannot be performed on it. You may still edit other properties, however, such as adding a hyperlink or a shading component.

When selected in the Work Window, locked objects appear with a lock icon.

You can lock individual objects or, more usefully, you can lock down an entire page by selecting Edit��Lock All or by pressing the ALT+L keyboard shortcut.

Individually locked objects on a page cannot be selected as part of a temporary group. For more information, see “Temporary Groups.”

Tools for locking objects are available throughout SiteSpinner™ but most prominently as a

button: on the Components Bar.

Of course, you may unlock a locked object at any time. If an object refuses to move, accept transformation edits, or be added to a group, check to see if it is locked, and then unlock it.

Locking an Object

1. In the Work Window, select the object that you want to lock. For more information, see “Select Object.”

2. Right-click the object, and then select Lock

OR

Click the Lock Object button: in the Components Bar

Transformations to the object are prohibited.

You may also lock an object by clicking the Lock icon on the Transformations Tab of the Object Editor and Quick Properties Editor dialog boxes.

Locking a Page

1. Press the ALT+L keyboard shortcut

OR

Click the Lock button: in the Components Bar

OR

Select Edit��Lock All.

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Transformations to all objects on the page are prohibited, effectively locking the page.

Unlocking an Object

1. In the Work Window, select the object that you want to lock. For more information, see “Select Object.”

2. Right-click, and then select Unlock

OR

Click the Unlock Object button: in the Components Bar

You may again perform transformations to the object.

You may also lock an object by clicking the Lock icon on the Transformations Tab of the Object Editor dialog box.

Unlocking a Page

1. With the page open in the Work Window that you want to unlock, press the ALT+U keyboard shortcut

OR

Right-click the permanent group object, and then select Unlock

OR

Click the Unlock button: in the Components Bar

OR

Select Edit��Unlock All.

The group object is unlocked but still intact, and the member objects will still behave as part of the group.

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Object Types

You can add 10 different types of objects to your SiteSpinner™ project, including rectangle, ellipse, polygon, curve, text, title, code, table, image, and foreign/media objects. Each object type has its own properties and characteristics, and many offer unique editing tools that allow you to modify them to obtain your desired look and performance.

Adding objects to your page is a snap: Just click the button in the Components Bar that is associated with the type of object you want. If you’re adding a shape or vector drawing object, just begin drawing on the page right away. For other objects, an editor automatically opens. Just enter or point to the necessary input, close the editor, and your object is added to the page.

This section takes a look at each type of object and its unique properties and applications.

Rectangle Objects

A rectangle object is perhaps the most versatile object type. You can use it to add page elements such as frames, panels, borders, or boxes. You can create squares, rectangles, or rounded rectangles. Rectangle objects can be made into hyperlink buttons that when clicked allow your visitors to navigate to other web pages.

Because a rectangle object can accept just about any shading component available (except image brightness and contrast), including flat or gradient colors and scaled, stretched, or tiled images, you can make a rectangle look dramatically different than just a plain four-sided box. Don’t forget to try applying scaling, skewing, or rotation transformations to your rectangle for even more interesting effects.

Drawing a Rounded Rectangle

1. With the page open in the Work Window on which you want to draw a rounded rectangle, add a rectangle object. For more information, see “Adding a Rectangle Object.”

2. Click the Edit Vertices button: in the Components Bar.

The mouse pointer will become a crosshairs, and the rectangle object will display two small control points at the top left and bottom right corners, each flanked by two tiny “x’s”.

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Figure 57. The mouse pointer becomes a crosshairs, and the control points become visible.

3. Click the “x” nearer to the oblong side of the rectangle and drag it in a direction parallel to the oblong side.

Figure 58. Click and drag an “x” parallel to the oblong side of the rectangle.

4. About one-third of the way, release the mouse button.

A small red control point will appear at the release point.

5. Return your mouse pointer to the same corner.

6. Click the remaining “x” and drag it in a direction parallel to the short side of the rectangle.

A rounded corner will be created that connects the two points.

Figure 59. Click and drag the “x” parallel to the short side of the rectangle.

7. Click and drag to adjust both control points to achieve the desired effect.

8. When you are finished, click either the Page Layout or Object Edit button to return to normal edit mode.

The rounded rectangle object is drawn on the page.

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Figure 60. The rounded rectangle is drawn on the page.

Ellipse Objects

Ellipse objects allow you to add circles, ovals, or other elliptical shapes to your page. You can use the Vertex Editor to create arcs and pie shapes, pie pieces, wedges, fans, shells, “Pac-Men,” etc. out of ellipse objects.

Ellipse objects can be an important part of your page design. You can use them to add buttons. You can apply fill shading components, such as gradient fills to make marbles, or image fills to create a “periscope” effect. By applying the rotate and skew transformations, you can make a variety of unusual shapes.

Drawing a Pie Shape

1. With the page open in the Work Window on which you want to draw a pie shape, draw a circle. For more information, see “Drawing a Circle.”

2. Click the Edit Vertices button: in the Components Bar.

The mouse pointer will become a crosshairs, and the ellipse object will display two small control points at the top left and bottom right corners. Two tiny “x’s” will appear at the 3 o’clock position on the circle.

Figure 61. Click the outermost “x” on the circle.

3. Click the outermost “x” and drag it in a counter-clockwise direction around the circumference of the circle.

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Figure 62. Drag the mouse counterclockwise along the circumference.

4. Release the mouse at a desired point on the circumference.

The circle will be redrawn as a pie-shape.

Figure 63. The circle will be redrawn as a pie shape.

Click and drag the “x’s” and control points in various directions to experiment making other shapes, including pie pieces, wedges, teardrops, fans, watermelon slices, or shells.

Line Objects (Horizontal and Vertical)

Using a line shape object is the easiest way to add straight lines, polylines, hairlines, bounding borders, or other lines to your page. A line object start out as a straight horizontal or vertical line, 100 pixels long and 1 pixel thickness. But using the Geometry Editor, you can quickly increase its length, thickness (stroke), and color. Or you can also use the editing tools in the Work Window to scale, skew, or rotate the line object or move it to a different position on the page. And of course don’t forget to try out the unique tools in the Vertex Editor dialog box, to transform your simple line object into a one-of-a-kind ornament. (For more information, see “Geometry Editor Dialog Box,” “Transform Object,” and “Vertex Editor Dialog Box.”)

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You can customize the Components Bar to show a toolbar button for adding a Horizontal or Vertical Line object. For more information, see “Customize Toolbar Dialog Box.”

Triangle Objects

You can easily add a triangle shape object to your page. A triangle is a useful shape for creating buttons or ornamental patterns on your web page. The initial triangle shape is a simple equilateral triangle, but using the editing tools in the Work Window, you can easily scale, skew, and rotate it so that it becomes a complex, three-sided shape. You can change its thickness or color using the Geometry Editor, and you can add fill colors or images using the Shading Editor. Or, use the Vertex Editor to transform the triangle into a complex extruded shape. (For more information, see “Transform Object,” “Geometry Editor Dialog Box,” “Shading Editor Dialog Box,” and “Vertex Editor Dialog Box.”)

You can customize the Components Bar to show a toolbar button for adding a Triangle object. For more information, see “Customize Toolbar Dialog Box.”

Star Objects

Star shapes can make fun and unusual button objects for your web page and are easy to add to your page from the Object menu. The star you initially add to the page is a simple 5-pointed star, 1 pixel in thickness. But you can transform the star into a much different shape using the editing tools in the Work Window. You can also edit the star’s geometry and shading components. (Try filling a larger star with a photo image, as on an old Hollywood marquee!) You can make very ornate extruded shape objects from stars using the Copy and Rotate settings on the Vertex Editor dialog box – be sure to try it out. (For more information, see “Transform Object,” “Geometry Editor Dialog Box,” “Shading Editor Dialog Box,” and “Vertex Editor Dialog Box.”)

You can customize the Components Bar to show a toolbar button for adding a Star object. For more information, see “Customize Toolbar Dialog Box.”

Polygon Objects

By adding a polygon object, you can create complex shapes out of a series of connected points. You can add as many points as you like simply with a click of the mouse. Or, you can “sketch” a polygon vector drawing simply by clicking and dragging your mouse around the Work Window, and a new point will be created whenever the mouse moves beyond a preset distance. Then you can use the Vertex Editor to change the position of any point after it has been created.

Change the number of pixels between points on a polygon object by using the Freehand Draw Resolution slider on the Guide/Display Options dialog box. For more information, see “Guide/Display Options Dialog Box.”

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Using the Open End option on either the Vertex Editor or Geometry Editor dialog box, you can automatically close the polygon object or leave it open-ended. If you select to close the polygon, the last point will be automatically connected to the first point.

You can change the color and the thickness of the polygon sides using controls on the Outline Tab of the Geometry Editor. Use the Shading Editor to fill the polygon with a flat or gradient fill color or a scaled, stretched, or tiled image.

You can create the same intricate drawings by applying extrude operations to polygon objects. The types and patterns of designs you can create are limited only by your imagination. For more information, see “Drawing an Intricate Design (Spline.”

Curve Objects

You can use a curve object to create paths and complex arched shapes. Select the curve command (Object��Spline), and then hold the left mouse button down while moving the mouse around to draw the curve object. Or, you can click on the page to place a point, and then click the mouse twice more to set control points that you can use to transform the curve. A fourth click is the end point (at start of the next section of curve if you choose to continue).Then you can use the Vertex Editor to change the position of any point after it has been created.

If you are moving a vertex in curve object, the vertex’s control point will also move unless you press and hold the CTRL key.

Using the Open End option on either the Vertex Editor or Geometry Editor dialog box, you can automatically close the curve object or leave it open-ended. If you select to close the curve, the last point will be automatically connected to the first point.

You can change the color and the thickness of curves using controls on the Outline Tab of the Geometry Editor. Use the Shading Editor to fill the curve with a flat or gradient fill color or a scaled, stretched, or tiled image.

You can create intricate spline drawings by applying extrude operations to curve objects. The types and patterns of designs you can create are limited only by your imagination. For more information, see “Drawing an Intricate Design (Spline).”

Drawing an Intricate Design (Spline)

Drawing intricate designs using the following procedure can be very demanding of your system resources which may slow down your system. Start with a small number of copies first to see how it works.. Save your project file before beginning the drawing operation.

1. With the page to which you want to add an intricate design open in the Work Window, draw a polygon or curve. For more information, see “Adding a Polygon Object” and “Adding a Curve Object.”

2. When you are finished, double-click the object to close it.

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3. Click the Edit Vertices button: on the Components Bar.

The Vertex Editor dialog box will open.

Figure 64. Open the Vertex Editor to perform extrude operations.

4. Click the Move button.

5. Use the Copies slider to select a number of copies of the vector drawing you want to have in your intricate design

OR

Enter a value in the box.

The vector drawing will be copied the number of times you specified.

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Figure 65. Click the Move button and make copies of your drawing.

6. Click the Scale button.

7. Use the Scale slider to resize the drawing and its copies

OR


8. Use the Copies slider to select a number of copies in the scale

OR


Figure 66. Click the Scale button to resize the drawing.

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9. Click the Rotate button.

10. Use the Angle slider to select an angle of rotation for the drawing and its copies.

Figure 67. Click the Rotate button and change the angle of the drawing and its copies.

11. When the intricate design looks the way you want it, click the Save button,

12. Click the Close button. The Vertex Editor dialog box will close, and your intricate design will appear on the page.

13. Click the Page Layout button: or the Object Edit button: in the Components Bar to return to normal editing mode.

You may apply shading components using the Shading Editor, or add color or line thickness to the curve object using the Geometry Editor. For more information, see “Shading Component” and “Borders and Outlines.”

The more complex the intricate design, the more demanding on your computer’s resources. Be especially cautious when using the Copies slider to replicate curves.

Image Objects

Use image objects to add photos and other picture files to your web site. SiteSpinner™ has numerous on-board image-editing tools, so you will seldom find the need to open a separate photo editing application.

Besides the basic commands for adding an object, you may also add an image object to a page by pasting an image that you have cut or copied from another application. Or, you can click to select an image file in Windows® Explorer®, and then drag it onto the page in the Work

Window.

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Once you have added a picture to a page, you can resize it smoothly while maintaining its proportions. Click to select the image object, press the CTRL key, and then click and drag one of the corner control points to resize the image. You can also transform it using skewing or rotation operations. (For more information, see “Transform Object.”)

You can use the Shading Editor to increase the brightness of an image, improve its contrast, or add a tint. You can also choose a color to be mapped transparent – that is, whatever is behind the image (another image or the page background) will show through in places where the color you select would otherwise appear. You can create use a ghostly transparency effect to “fade” images to allow objects or the page background to partially show through. Enhancements are applied to a re-rendered version of the original image and will not affect the original image file. For more information, see “Shading Editor Dialog Box.”

When you add an image, it is placed on the page in its original image format. However, if you change the image in any way, such as scaling it or adding transparency, SiteSpinner™ will create a copy of (or “re-render”) the image, so as not to overwrite your original image. (Re-rendering can be disabled in some cases.) For more information, see “Rendering and Re-Rendering.”

Fading an Image

Use the following procedure to fade an image object, so that objects behind it or the page background can be seen through it.

1. Select the image object you want to fade.


OR


OR



3. Click the Shading Tab.

4. Click and drag the Trans. slider to the right to increase the amount of transparency. A preview of the image with the transparency effect applied to it will appear in the Thumbnail View and in the object itself in the Work Window. The transparency effect will be applied to the selected image object.

Creating a Thumbnails and Pop-up Gallery

1. With the page to which you want to add thumbnail and pop-up gallery open in the Work Window, add an image. For more information, see “Adding an Image Object.”

2. Resize the image object smaller while maintaining its aspect ratio by clicking to select it, pressing the CTRL key, and clicking and dragging a corner control point inward.

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3. Right-click the image object, and then select Popup Fullsized Image.

4. Press the F7 keyboard shortcut to preview the page.

When you click the resized (smaller) image, the full-sized version will open in a pop-up window.

5. Repeat steps 1 through 3 to build your thumbnail and pop-up gallery.

You may also click to checkmark the Popup Fullsized Image option box on the Link tab on either the Object Editor or Quick Properties Editor dialog boxes to set the link between the resized image and its full-sized version.

Open Dialog Box

Use the Open dialog box to browse for image files on your system or network to add to your page.

You can import images in .GIF, .PNG, .JPG or .JPEG, or .png file formats.

Figure 68. Use the Open dialog box to browse for image files to add to your page.

The Open dialog box appears when you click the Picture button: on the Components

Bar or when you select Object��Image.

Options on the Open dialog box include the following:


Location Shortcut Provides shortcuts to locations on your system from which you can browse for image files. Click a button corresponding to a shortcut.

Look in Displays the currently selected directory location. You may select a different directory from the drop-down menu.

Results Pane Lists the files in the selected directory. You may click an image file to display its name in the File name field, or you may double-click an image file to import it to the image object you have added to your page. You can select multiple images for opening, too.

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Preview Window Displays a thumbnail view of an image highlighted in the Results Pane.

Enable Preview Click to checkmark to enable the thumbnail view in the Preview Window. Click to un-checkmark to turn off the thumbnail view in the Preview Window.

File Size Displays the size in bytes of a file highlighted in the Results Pane.

Width Displays the width in pixels of a file highlighted in the Results Pane.

Height Displays the height in pixels of a file highlighted in the Results Pane.

File name Displays the name and file format extension of a file highlighted in the Results Pane.

Files of type Use the drop-down menu to limit the files displaying in the Results Pane to only files of a specific file format.

Open Click to accept the file displayed in the File name field. The dialog box will close, and the file will be imported to the image object on the page.


Change Image Directory Dialog Box

Use the Change Image Directory dialog box to tell SiteSpinner that an image file is at a new location. This is a useful utility when, for example, you have if you have renamed your image files or moved your project to a new location.

To open the Change Image Directory dialog box, click the New Dir button on the Options Tab of the Geometry Editor dialog box.

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Figure 69. Remap image source locations from one directory to another using the Change Image Directory dialog box.

This operation will affect all image objects in the project whose image source files are in the old directory. If you see a placeholder in the Work Window or Preview Screen where an image used to be, it may mean you will have to remap the missing image source file. For more information, see “Resource Files.”

Fields and controls on the Change Image Directory dialog box include the following:


Old Directory Displays the current location of the image object whose geometry is being edited in the Geometry Editor dialog box.

You may edit the displayed path, or you may click to display the Open dialog box, allowing you to map a different path.

New Directory Enter a fully qualified path to a new directory, or click to display the Open dialog box, allowing you to select a new directory.



Text Objects

Naturally you will want to add text to your web project, and SiteSpinner™ not only makes it easy to do but also gives you a generous palette of tools you can use to make your text appear just the way you want it.

Text provides many of the formatting features you will find in most word processors. These include: font faces, font sizes, justification, bolding, bullets etc. The Text Editor dialog box also provides the ability to assign hyperlinks within the text. Formatted text is consequently best suited for creating large blocks of text.

Enter and format your text using the Text Editor in Text Edit Mode. (One way to tell if you’re in Text Edit Mode is that the Format Selection drop-down menu reads “Rich Text.”

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For more information, see “Toolbar.”) You can enter text directly into the Text Editor, or you can paste text from other applications or open an *.rtf or *.txt text file in the Text Editor. You can even open HTML files, and the Text Editor will change automatically from Text Edit Mode to Code Edit Mode. (For more information, see “Text Editor Dialog Box (Code Edit Mode).”)

When you save and close the Text Editor, your text appears wrapped at the right boundary of the text object in the Work Window. The initial size of the text object is calculated to fit all the text; however, you can click and drag any of the six black control points on the object boundary to resize the object box, and the text will re-wrap accordingly. Increase the width of the bounding box to fit more text on a line, or decrease the width to reduce the number of words per line.

You may click the object itself and drag it to any position on the page. You can shade the object as you desire using the Shading Editor. For more information, see “Shading Component.”

You cannot scale, skew, or rotate text objects in Text Edit Mode. If you want to apply these effects to text, change to Title Edit Mode by selecting Title from the Format Selection drop-down list. For more information, see “Text Editor Dialog Box (Title Edit Mode).”

Auto Scroll

If the text object contains a quantity of text that exceeds the desired dimensions of the text box, you may wish to add a vertical and/or horizontal scrollbar, so that your users can scroll down or across to see all of it. Do so by enabling the Auto-Scroll option (Format��Use Auto

Scroll Box or click the Auto-Scroll button in the Text Editor toolbar). If you do not enable the Auto-Scroll option, the text will use as much space as is required to display it completely.

If you are importing text to add to your page, and you know that quantity of imported text will be a lot, you can enable the Auto-Scroll option first and then paste your text in the Text Editor. When you save and close the Text Editor, the text will appear in a box sized 400x400 pixels. Of course you can open the Text Editor at any time and add a scrollbars to any text object whose dimensions are small enough to warrant them.

The scrollbars will not be visible in the Work Window. To see scrollbars applied to a text object, open the page in the Preview Window or publish the page.

In older browsers, such as Netscape 4, the scrollbar will not be visible. In those browsers the text will be truncated at the bottom boundary of the text box.

You can drag/drop or paste text from another application onto the Work Window. It will appear as unformatted, plain text (10 pt Courier New). Open the Text Editor dialog box to reformat it as you please.

If the scrollbar does not appear in the Preview Window or in the published project, and you have verified that you enabled the Auto Scroll option, check to make sure the boundaries of the text object box do not extend beyond the

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Guide Border (of your target display resolution) in the Work Window. If the boundaries of the text object do extend beyond the Guide Border either vertically or horizontally, the scrollbar will not be visible.

Text Editor Dialog Box (Text Edit Mode)

Use the Text Editor to enter and format text to add to a page. After you open the Text Editor, you can choose a font, size, or color for your text, type in your text, click the Save and Close button at the bottom of the Text Editor dialog box, and voila, your text is added to the current page. It’s that simple!

You can open the Text Editor dialog box in Text Edit Mode in any of the following ways:

• Select Object��Text from the Work Window menu bar

• Click the Formatted Text button: in the Components Bar

• Press the CTRL+T keyboard shortcut

• In the Work Window, double-click a text object

• Select a text object with your mouse and then press Enter

Figure 70. Use the Text Editor in Text Edit Mode to add text to your page.

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At the top of the Text Editor dialog box in Text Edit Mode is a menu bar, offering numerous options to allow you to make your text exactly how you want it. Menus include the following:

• File Menu

• Edit Menu

• Insert Menu

• Format Menu

• Tools Menu

• Options Menu

• Help Menu

Many of the same controls in the menus are also available in the toolbar, which is just below the menu bar in the Text Editor dialog box. Unlike the toolbars in the Work Window, however, the Text Editor toolbar is not undockable.

Another useful feature of the Text Editor dialog box is the Ruler, which you can use to resize the text object box horizontally from its absolute position in the Work Window. Click and drag the margin controller to the left or right to shrink or expand the right boundary of the text object box.

You can maximize the Text Editor, unlike other SiteSpinner™ dialog boxes, by clicking the Maximize button at the top right of the dialog box or enlarge it by clicking and dragging the bottom right corner.

Controls at the bottom of the Text Editor dialog box include the following:


Save and Close Click to accept the current state of the text in the Text Editor, close the dialog box, and return to the Work Window. The text object will be made available for positioning or transformation in the Work Window.

Cancel Cancels the operation and closes the Text Editor dialog box.

File Menu

The File Menu on the Text Editor dialog box offers the following options:


New Creates a new, blank object. If an existing text or code object is already open for editing, you will be prompted to save it first.

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Open File Import an existing file. Browse for a file to open using the Open dialog box. You may import Rich Text (*.rtf), Plain Text, (*.txt), and HTML (*.html, *.htm) file formats. The extension will determine the format of the imported file. (Unrecognized extensions will be imported as Plain Text.)

Save Object Saves the object to the project. This only saves the text to the project. It does not save your project files to disk. (If you are typing large amounts of text you may want to save the project periodically to avoid data loss if the power fails )

You must save the text or code object before you can exit the Text Editor dialog box and return to the Work Window. The quickest way to do this is to click the Save and Close button at the bottom of the dialog box.

Save As File Opens the Save As dialog box, allowing you to export the contents of the Text Editor dialog box in either Rich Text (*.rtf), Plain Text, (*.txt), and HTML (*.html, *.htm) file formats.

Print Opens the Print dialog box, allowing you to print contents of the Text Editor to a selected Windows® printer.

Open Word Processor

Launches the word processing application on your system (such as Microsoft® Word®) that is configured to open the Rich Text (*.rtf) file type.

Save and Close Saves the current text and attributes and closes the Text Editor dialog box, returning you to the Work Window.

Cancel Cancels the operation and closes the Text Editor dialog box.

Edit Menu

The Edit Menu on the Text Editor dialog box offers the following options:


Undo Reverses the previous editing operation.

Redo Reapplies an edit operation that has just been undone.

Delete Deletes the current selection.

Cut Cuts highlighted text in the Text Editor dialog box and copies it to the clipboard.

Copy Copies highlighted text in the Text Editor dialog box.

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Paste Inserts cut or copied text. You may also paste text copied from other text editors or word processing applications into the Text Editor.

Paste Plain Text Inserts cut or copied text as unformatted, plain text (10 pt. Courier New). This is useful is you are pasting from a external source with unusual formatting (such as documents with tables or images) that may cause the text to be displayed in an unusual way.

Select All Highlights all text in the Text Editor dialog box.

Find Opens the Find dialog box, allowing you to specify a term or phrase to search for in the Text Editor dialog box.

Find Next Searches the Text Editor dialog box for additional instances of the term or phrase most recently entered in the Find dialog box.

Replace Opens the Replace dialog box, allowing you to replace all instances of a search term or phrase with a substitute term or phrase.

Insert Menu

The Insert Menu on the Text Editor dialog box offers the following options:


Date and Time Opens the Date and Time dialog box, allowing you to choose the current date or time to insert in the Text Editor dialog box.

Insert Link (URL) Opens the Link Editor dialog box to allow you to create or edit a hyperlink for the selected text object. For more information, see “Link Editor Dialog Box.” (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Be careful when applying hyperlinks to text inside the Text Editor dialog box. Because hyperlinks applied to the whole text object take precedence over links on words within the object, your text hyperlink may not work.

Format Menu

The Format Menu on the Text Editor dialog box offers the following options:


Text Object Style Rich Text Select Rich Text format for the text object.

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Title Text Select Title Text format for the text object.

Generic Code Select Generic Code format for the text object.

Font Opens the Font dialog box, allowing you to specify a font, font size, style, and effect to apply to text in the Text Editor dialog box. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Save Current Font Settings

Saves your current font settings. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Reload Saved Font Settings

Recalls your last saved font settings and applies them to highlighted text in the Text Editor dialog box. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Show All Font Character Sets

Displays all language character sets (e.g., Greek, Western, Baltic, etc.) for each available web-safe font. Note that even when selected only the charsets you have available on your system can be used.

Bold Applies a boldface effect to the highlighted text in the Text Editor dialog box. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Underline Underlines the highlighted text in the Text Editor dialog box. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Italic Italicizes the highlighted text in the Text Editor dialog box. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Strike Through Applies a strikethrough effect to highlighted text in the Text Editor dialog box. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Justify Left Sets line justification to the left. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Center Centers line justification. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

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Right Sets line justification to the right. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Full Right and left justifies the selected text (i.e., spreads the text horizontally to fill the text object). Note that some browsers do not recognize full text justification and that it will be visible only on preview or publishing. In the Work Window it will appear left justified.. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Color Opens the Color dialog box that allows you to select a system or custom color to apply to highlighted text. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

No CSS Positioning

Select to toggle on or off the removal of the CSS positioning attributes (that is, the <div> </div> wrapper) from the underlying code. (Available only in Code Edit Mode. Other modes can turn off CSS positioning in the Object Editor if required.)

Use Auto-Scroll Box

Adds a vertical scrollbar to your text object. This is useful if you have long text passages. If you do not add a scrollbar to text that exceeds the vertical dimensions of the text object, the text will be cut off. (Not available in Code or Title Edit Mode.)

Tools Menu

The Tools Menu on the Text Editor dialog box offers the following options:


Spelling Checker Opens the Check Spelling dialog box, allowing you to scan the text for misspelled words and make corrections.

Link List Editor Opens the Link Manager dialog box, to manage your stored hyperlinks and import or export additional links. For more information, see “Link Manager Dialog Box.”

Options Menu

The Options Menu on the Text Editor dialog box offers the following options:

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Options and Filters Opens the Options and Filters dialog box, allowing you to set program options for the Text Editor and apply global filters to text content. For more information, see “Options and Filters Dialog Box.” (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Expand Hyperlinks Select to automatically convert typed URLs (e.g., www.virtualmechanics.com) to hyperlinks and show the underlying code in both the Text Editor dialog box and the Work Window.

Auto Spell Checking

Select to check spelling as you type. Misspelled words will appear highlighted. You may set auto spell checking options with the Options�Spelling Preferences command. For more information, see “Options (Spelling Preferences) Dialog Box.”

Spelling Preferences

Opens the Options dialog box, allowing you to set auto spell checking options. For more information, see “Options (Spelling Preferences) Dialog Box.”

Dictionaries Opens the Dictionaries dialog box, allowing you to open and close dictionaries and edit the contents of an open dictionary. For more information, see “Dictionaries Dialog Box.”

Editor Toggle Color

Opens the Color dialog box, allowing you to select a custom color to apply to the Text Editor background. For more information, see “Color Dialog Box.”

Toggle Background

Select to alternate the Text Editor background between a custom color and the default color. Your selection will not affect the actual background color of the text object. To change the background color of the object itself, use the Shading Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Shading Editor Dialog Box.”

Help Menu

The Help Menu on the Text Editor dialog box offers the following options:


Help Opens a context-sensitive help topic.

Toolbar

Use the buttons on the toolbar of the Text Editor dialog box to perform many of the operations available in the menus.

Controls on the toolbar of the Text Editor dialog box include the following:

Control Description

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Control Description

New – Click to create a new, blank text object. If an existing text object is already open for editing, you will be prompted to save it first.

Open – Click to import an existing text file. Browse for a text file to open using the Open dialog box. You may import Rich Text (*.rtf), Plain Text, (*.txt), and HTML (*.html, *.htm) file formats. The extension will determine the format of the imported file. (Unrecognized extensions will be imported as Plain Text.)

Print – Click to open the Print dialog box, allowing you to print the current text to a selected Windows® printer.

Save – Click to save the text object to the system. SiteSpinner™ will assign it a default name, which will be visible in the Text Object Selection drop-down menu.

You must save or cancel the text object before you can exit the Text Editor dialog box and return to the Work Window. Do this by clicking the Save and Close button at the bottom of the dialog box. Or, press ALT+ENTER for a fast “Save and Close.”

Save As – Click to open the Save As dialog box, allowing you to export the contents of the Text Editor dialog box in either Rich Text (*.rtf), Plain Text, (*.txt), and HTML (*.html, *.htm) file formats.

Cut – Click to cut highlighted text in the Text Editor dialog box and copy it to the clipboard.

Copy – Click to copy highlighted text in the Text Editor dialog box.

Paste – Click to insert cut or copied text. You may also paste text copied from other text editors or word processing applications into the Text Editor.

Undo – Click to reverse the previous editing operation.

Redo – Click to reapply an edit operation that has just been undone.

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Control Description

Object Selection – If you have opened the Text Editor dialog box without first selecting a text or code object in the Work Window, a new text object is created. However, you may select any code, text, or title object in the project from the drop-down menu. If you have first selected an object and then opened the Text Editor dialog box, the object’s name is displayed.

You may rename a text or code object by typing over the displayed name in the Object Selection box. Names must not begin with a numeral or contain any special characters or blanks.

Format Selection – Select an object format from the drop-down menu. Choose among Title, Rich Text, or Generic Code. (Counter format is not available in SiteSpinner™.) The Text Editor will change to accommodate the format selected.

Background Color – Click to toggle the background color of the Text Editor dialog box text area between the default white and a custom color. The custom color can be useful is for example you are working with a light font color that would otherwise be difficult to see. You may set the custom color yourself, using the Color dialog box (on the Text Editor dialog box, Options�Editor Toggle Color). Your selection will not affect the actual background color of the text object. To change the background color, use the Shading Editor dialog box. For more information, see “Changing an Object’s Shading Component.”

Autoscroll – Click to add a vertical scrollbar to your text object. This is useful if you have long text passages. If you do not add a scrollbar to text that exceeds the vertical dimensions of the text object, the text will be cut off. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Font Selection – Select from the drop-down menu a font to apply to highlighted text in the Text Editor dialog box. Or, type in the name of the font. The menu offers all fonts available on your system. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

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Control Description

“Web-safe” fonts are marked with a green OK symbol. Web-safe fonts are fonts that were installed on your system together with your Microsoft® Internet Explorer® browser. You can use these fonts fully confident that your users will view your text using the same font as you intended.

Font Size – Select a font size for the selected text in the Text Editor dialog box. By default, the menu options are Point Size values. You may change the options to Pixel Size values by changing a setting in the Options and Filters dialog box (on the Text Editor dialog box, Options��Options and

Filters). For more information, see “Options and Filters Dialog Box.” (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Bold – Click to apply a boldface effect to the highlighted text in the Text Editor dialog box. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Underline – Click to underline the highlighted text in the Text Editor dialog box. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Italic – Click to italicize the highlighted text in the Text Editor dialog box. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Strikethrough – Click to apply a strikethrough effect to highlighted text in the Text Editor dialog box. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Justify Left – Click to set line justification to the left. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Center – Click to center line justification. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Justify Right – Click to set line justification to the right. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Full Justify – Click to monospace the selected text (spread the text horizontally to fill the text object). Note that some browsers do not recognize full text justification. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Bulleted List – Click to apply bullets at the start of each new paragraph in the text. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Numbered List – Click to number each new paragraph in the text consecutively beginning with 1.

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Control Description

Font Color – Click to open the Color dialog box to select a system or custom color to apply to highlighted text. (Not available in Code Edit Mode.)

Color Picker – Click and drag to use the color dropper tool to pick up a color anywhere on your computer screen. Release the mouse button, and the control will display the selected color. The text object will then bear the selected color.

Link Editor – Click to open the Link Editor dialog box to allow you to create or edit a hyperlink for the selected text object. For more information, see “Link Editor Dialog Box.” (Not available in Code or Title Edit Mode.)

Be careful when applying hyperlinks to text inside the Text Editor dialog box. Because hyperlinks applied to an object take precedence over links within the object, your text hyperlink may not work.

Expanded Hyperlink View – Click to toggle between the display in the Text Editor of hyperlinked text and its underlying code.

No CSS Formatting – Click to toggle on or off the removal of any scaling or positioning code from the HTML. (Not available in Text or Title Edit Mode.)

Find Dialog Box

The Find dialog box allows you to search your text for a particular word, phrase, punctuation, or other text element.

To open the Find dialog box, select Edit��Find from the Text Editor dialog box menu bar. Or, press the CTRL+F keyboard shortcut.

Figure 71. Use the Find dialog box to search your text for a particular word, phrase, punctuation, or other text element.

Options on the Find dialog box include the following:


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Find What Enter the text or text element you want to find.

Match whole word only

Click to checkmark to find only whole words specified in the Find What field.

Match Case Click to checkmark to find only text with uppercase and lowercase characters as specified in the Find What field.

Direction Click the radio button corresponding to the direction to search starting from the insertion point in the document. Click Up to search from the insertion point to the top. Click Down to search from the insertion point to the bottom.

Find Next Click to find the next instance of the text specified in the Find What field.


Replace Dialog Box

The Replace dialog box allows you to search your text or a portion of your text for a particular word, phrase, punctuation, or other text element and substitute a different word, phrase, punctuation, or text element.

The Replace function can be a powerful and time-saving editing tool. However it is easy to make mistakes using it. Become acquainted with the Undo command before going too far with it.

To open the Replace dialog box, select Edit��Replace from the Text Editor dialog box menu bar. Or, press the CTRL+H keyboard shortcut.

Figure 72. Make global changes to certain text or text elements using the Replace dialog box.

Options on the Replace dialog box include the following:


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Find Text Enter the text or text element you want to find.

Replace with Enter the text or text element you want to substitute for the text specified in the Find Text field.

Match whole word Click to checkmark to find only whole words specified in the Find Text field.

Match case Click to checkmark to find only text with uppercase and lowercase characters as specified in the Find What field.

Replace In Click the radio button corresponding to the desired search and replace parameters. Click Selection to search and replace only in a block of text highlighted in the Text Editor. Click Whole Text to search and replace in the entire contents of the Text Editor.

Find Next Click to find the next instance of the text specified in the Find Text field.

Replace Click to substitute the current instance of the text specified in the Find Text field with the contents of the Replace with field.

Replace All Click to substitute all instances of the text specified in the Find Text field with the contents of the Replace with field.


Date and Time Dialog Box

Use the Date and Time dialog box to format and insert the current time and date into the Text Editor.

To quickly insert the date and time in the Text Editor in the most-recently selected format, press the CTRL+D keyboard shortcut.

Figure 73. Select the exact time and current date to insert into your text.

Options on the Date and Time dialog box include the following:

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Date and Time Selection

Select from the drop-down menu the exact time or current date in a variety of formats to insert into your text. Note that the date and time remain static in your web project; they are not automatically or dynamically updated.



Font Dialog Box

The Font dialog box allows you to specify a font, font size, style, and effect to apply to text in the Text Editor dialog box.

To open the Font dialog box, select Format��Font from the Text Editor dialog box menu bar.

To quickly change just the color of selected text in the Text Editor dialog box,

click the Font Color: button. This option will also give you many more color choices than those available on the Font dialog box.

Figure 74. Use the Font dialog box to set the font, font style, size, and effects for text in the Text Editor.

Options on the Font dialog box include the following:


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Font Select from the drop-down menu a font to apply to the text. The menu contains all available fonts on your system.

Font Style Select from the drop-down menu a style for the specified font. Choose from Regular, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic.

Size Enter or select from the drop-down menu a point size for the specified font. You may not enter a font size larger than 72.

Strikeout Click to checkmark to apply a strikethrough to text formatted with the selected font.

Underline Click to checkmark to apply an underline to text formatted with the selected font.

Color Select from the drop-down menu a color for the specified font.

Sample Displays a sample of how text will appear with the specified font settings.

Script Select from the drop-down menu a language script for the specified font, such as Hebrew, Thai, Cyrillic, or Symbol. When you select a different language script, the character set for that language becomes available for creating multilingual documents.



Check Spelling Dialog Box

The Check Spelling dialog box appears if a word requiring your attention is detected. You can use the dialog box to specify whether the word should be ignored or replaced.

Note that the labels of some buttons and text boxes in the dialog box change according to the context.

To open the Check Spelling dialog box, select Tools��Spelling Checker from the Text Editor dialog box menu bar.

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Figure 75. Use the Check Spelling dialog box to hunt down misspellings, enter corrections, and update your user dictionary.

Controls on the Check Spelling dialog box include the following:


Not in dictionary Displays a detected misspelled word. The word is considered misspelled because it could not be located in any open dictionaries or was marked with an exclude action. You can edit the word in this box or select a suggestion from the list. Then, click the Change button to correct the word, or press the Ignore button to skip the word.

Suggestions Displays a list of suggested replacements for the word reported as misspelled. The word selected in the Suggestions list will be used as the replacement when the Change or Change All buttons are pressed, unless the word in the problem box was edited.

Ignore Click to skips this occurrence of a misspelled word. If the same misspelled word appears later, it will be reported again.

Ignore All Click to skip this and all further occurrences of a misspelled word. You might use this button if the word reported as a misspelling is actually spelled correctly. If the word is one you use frequently, you may wish to ignore it permanently by selecting the Add button.

Add Available only if a user dictionary has been selected in the Add Words To drop-down menu. Click to add the reported word to the dictionary selected in the Add Words To drop-down menu. Use if a correctly spelled word you use often is reported as a misspelling (e.g., your family name). If the word is not used frequently, you may want to select the Ignore or Ignore All buttons instead.

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Change Click to replace the reported word. If the problem word was edited, the edited word is used as the replacement. Otherwise, the selected suggestion is used as the replacement. Only this occurrence of the reported word is replaced. If you want this and all following occurrences of the word replaced, click the Change All button.

Change All Click to replace this and all following occurrences of the reported word. If the problem word was edited, the edited word is used as the replacement. Otherwise, the selected suggestion is used as the replacement. If you want only this occurrence of the word to be replaced, use the Change button. If the reported word is one you frequently misspell, you might consider adding it to a user dictionary via the Dictionaries Dialog. You can display the Dictionaries dialog by selecting the Dictionaries button.

Suggest Click to search more thoroughly for suggested replacements for the current misspelled word. Subsequent clicks may yield more suggestions. The Suggest button is disabled once all possible suggestions have been located.

Options Click to open the Options dialog box, allowing you to set spelling-checker options.

Dictionaries Click to display the Dictionaries dialog box, allowing you to open or close user dictionaries and to edit the contents of user dictionaries.


Add Words To Select a dictionary to which to add words when you click the Add button. The Add Words To list shows all user dictionaries currently open. You can open or close other dictionaries via the Dictionaries dialog box, which is accessible by clicking the Dictionaries button.

Cancel Click to end the operation and close the dialog box.

Options and Filters Dialog Box

The Options and Filters dialog box lets you set how text is handled and formatted by the Text Editor and the web browser.

To open the Options and Filters dialog box, select Options��Options and Filters from the Text Editor dialog box menu bar.

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Figure 76. Determine the way the Text Editor and the web browser will handle text using the Options and Filters dialog box.

Controls on the Options and Filters dialog box include the following:


Enable Auto Spell checking

Click to checkmark to set the spell checker to be enabled as you type in the Text Editor dialog box.

Use Pixel Sized Fonts

Click to checkmark to fix the size of the fonts used for text at a specified pixel size. Click to un-checkmark to use size=”n” HTML font sizing (instead of pixel sizing). This will to allow browsers to override the font size with the Text Size option.

Hide URL Anchor tags.

Click to checkmark to hide the HTML code that creates hyperlinks in your text.

Convert URLs to Anchor Tags

Click to checkmark to automatically convert typed Internet URLs (e.g., www.virtualmechanics.com) to full anchor tags without your having to enter link type information.

Options

Use Version 1 Filters

Click to checkmark to use IMS Web Spinner text filters. This will automatically deselect (un-checkmark) all filter options except Convert Extended character set.

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Convert Extended Character Set

Click to checkmark to automatically apply filters to extended characters so that they may be read correctly on your web page. Extended characters are certain keyboard characters, such as ampersands, angle brackets, etc., that are used by the web browser to interpret HTML code. Note that not all web browsers are capable of displaying “extended characters.”

Convert Tag Brackets <>

Click to checkmark to apply a filter to angle bracket characters so that they may be interpreted correctly on your web page. Normally in HTML, brackets are treated as part of the HTML code. With this option enabled, the brackets are converted to special codes that force them to be displayed as text.

Convert Multiple Blanks

Click to checkmark to apply a filter to blank spaces so that they may be interpreted correctly on your web page as spaces between texts. Normally in HTML, multiple spaces are treated as a single space. With this option selected the spaces are converted to a special codes ( ) that force all spaces to be displayed.

Filters

Convert Ampersand &

Click to checkmark to apply a filter to ampersands so that they may be interpreted correctly on your web page. Normally in HTML ampersands are treated as part of the HTML code. With this option selected the ampersands are converted to special codes that force them to be displayed as text.

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Convert Quotes Click to checkmark to apply a filter to quotation marks so that they may be interpreted correctly on your web page. Normally in HTML quotation marks are treated as part of the HTML code to open or close section text. With this option selected, the quotation marks are converted to special codes (") that force them to be displayed as text.

Options (Spelling Preferences) Dialog Box

You can use the Options (Spelling Preferences) dialog box to specify how the spelling checker operates.

To open the Options (Spelling Preferences) dialog box, select Options��Spelling

Preferences from the Text Editor dialog box menu bar. Or, from the Check Spelling dialog box, click the Options button. (For more information, see “Check Spelling Dialog Box.”)

Figure 77. Use the Options (Spelling Preferences) dialog box to set preferences for the Spelling Checker.

Controls on the Options (Spelling Preferences) dialog box include the following:


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Ignore Capitalized Words

Click to ignore any words beginning with a capital letter (i.e., are skipped over without being checked). You might enable this option if the text being checked contains many proper names.

Ignore All-Caps Words

Click to ignore any words containing all capital letters (i.e., are skipped without being checked). You might enable this option if the text being checked contains many acronyms.

Ignore Words with Numbers

Click to ignore any words containing embedded digits (i.e., are skipped without being checked). Examples of such words include Win95 and Q4. You might enable this option if the text being checked contains many code words or other symbols containing digits.

Ignore Words with Mixed Case

Click to ignore any words containing an unusual mixture of upper- and lower-case letters (i.e., are skipped without being checked). Examples of such words include MicroHouse and CapsLock. You might enable this option if the text being checked contains many variable names or other symbols which use case changes to distinguish words.

Ignore Domain Names

Click to ignore any words that appear to be Internet domain names (such as wintertree-software.com) (i.e., are skipped without being checked).

Report Doubled Words

Click to report any word appearing twice in a row via the Check Spelling dialog box.

Case Sensitive Click to distinguish between capitalized and non-capitalized words. For example, canada is considered different from Canada, so canada would be reported as a misspelling. When the option is disabled, canada and Canada are considered identical. Note that the performance of the spelling checker will be reduced if this option is disabled.

Phonetic Suggestions

Click to make suggestions based on phonetic (sounds-like) similarity to the misspelled word. This option tends to improve suggestions for badly misspelled words. Enabling this option will increase the time required to locate suggestions. Note that either this option or the Typographical Suggestions option must be enabled or no suggestions will be offered.

Typographical Suggestions

Click to make suggestions based on typographical (looks-like) similarity to the misspelled word. This option is appropriate for people who are generally good spellers. Note that either this option or the Phonetic Suggestions option must be enabled or no suggestions will be offered.

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Suggest Split Words

Click to make two separate words suggested as a replacement for a misspelling containing two joined words. For example, is the would be suggested as a replacement for isthe.

Auto Correct Click to change words marked with “Auto Change” actions automatically to their specified replacements. When disabled, you will be prompted before the words are changed.

Main Dictionary Language

Select from the drop-down menu the language of the main dictionary used to check spelling. The list shows only languages for which dictionaries are installed on your system. To check spelling in a different language, select the language in the list.

Suggestions Click a radio button corresponding to your desired speed and accuracy of the initial search for suggested replacements for misspelled words. When a misspelled word is detected, a search is automatically made for suggestions. This option controls the speed and accuracy of this automatic search. Clicking the Suggest button in the Check Spelling dialog box causes an increasingly more accurate (but slower) search for suggestions.



Dictionaries Dialog Box

The Dictionaries dialog box allows you to open and close user dictionaries and edit the contents of an open user dictionary. The contents of dictionaries are saved in *.tlx files on your system. You can open some or all of your user dictionary files at any time. When you request a spelling check of your text, the Spelling Checker searches only open dictionaries.

To open the Dictionaries dialog box, select Options��Dictionaries from the Text Editor dialog box menu bar.

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Figure 78. Open and close your spelling checker dictionaries and edit their contents using the Dictionaries dialog box.

When using SiteSpinner™ on computers set up to allow individual user accounts, each user’s dictionary file is maintained separately.

Controls on the Dictionaries dialog box include the following:


Words Contains the list of words in the currently selected dictionary. You may enter words in the Word box, but the total length should be limited to 63 characters.

Action Select an action from the drop-down menu telling the spelling checker what to do when it finds a word in the dictionary. Choose from the following actions:

• Auto change (use case of other word): Select to automatically replace one word with another, always with the same case pattern as the other word. This action is useful for automatically expanding abbreviations. For example, you could enter the word TBD with to be determined as the other word and “Auto change (use case of other word)” as the action. The spelling checker will automatically replace TBD with to be determined wherever it appears. Note that the replacement is made automatically only if the “Auto Change” option is enabled (see the Options Dialog for information on the Auto Change option).

• Auto change (use case of checked word): Select to

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automatically replace one word with another. For example, if you often type recieve instead of receive, you might enter the word recieve with receive as the other word and “Auto change (use case of checked word)” as the action. The spelling checker will automatically correct recieve wherever it appears. If recieve was capitalized (Recieve), the spelling checker would automatically replace it with Receive. Note that the replacement is made automatically only if the “Auto Change” option is enabled on the Options dialog box. For more information, see “.”

• Conditionally change (use case of checked word): Select to optionally replace one word with another. For example, if you often type recieve instead of receive, you might enter the word recieve with receive as the other word and “Auto change (use case of checked word)” as the action. The spelling checker will ask if you want to replace recieve with receive. If recieve was capitalized (Recieve), the spelling checker would ask if you wanted to replace it with Receive.

• Conditionally change (use case of other word): Select to optionally replace one word with another, always with the same case pattern as the other word. This action is useful for optionally expanding abbreviations. For example, you could enter the word TBD with to be determined as the other word and “Conditionally change (use case of other word)” as the action. The spelling checker will ask if you want to replace TBD with to be determined.

• Exclude (treat as misspelled): Select to indicate to the spelling checker that the word is misspelled, even if it is listed in another dictionary. Words marked with this action will never be offered as suggestions for misspelled words, and they will be reported as misspellings when they are encountered by the spelling checker. Note that the spelling checker looks up words in user dictionaries in the order in which they appear in the Files list. If you want to exclude a word, make sure it doesn’t appear in a previous user dictionary.

• Ignore (skip): Select to tell the spelling checker that the word is spelled correctly, and so can be skipped over. This is the most common action.

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Other Word Displays an alternate word associated with the currently selected word. The other word is used in the “Auto change” and “Conditionally change” actions to supply a replacement word. You may enter more than one word in the Other Word box, but the total length should be limited to 63 characters.

Add Word Click to enter the word displayed in the Words combo box to the currently selected dictionary. The currently selected action and other word are associated with the word. You can use the Add Word button to change the action or other word associated with a word. Note that the Add Word button is enabled only when a new word is typed in the edit area of the Words list. The words you add may contain virtually any character, but only words that contain embedded periods should have trailing periods (e.g., U.S.A. is OK, but USA. is not).

Delete Word Click to remove the word appearing in the edit area of the Words combo box from the currently selected dictionary. The associated action and other word are also removed.

Export Click to open the Export Dictionary dialog box, allowing you to name and save the contents of the currently selected dictionary to a text file. The words are written to the file one per line.

Import Click to open the Import Dictionary dialog box, allowing you to add the words contained within an existing text file to the currently selected dictionary. Each word in the selected file is loaded into the dictionary. Note that importing a large list of words may take some time.

Files Select a dictionary file from the drop-down menu. When you select a file from the menu, its contents are displayed in the Words list.

Language Displays the language (e.g., English or French) of the words in the currently selected dictionary.

Add File Click to open a user dictionary file. The Add Dictionary File dialog box appears, allowing you to select a dictionary file to open. The set of open dictionary files is remembered, so that once you add a dictionary file you don’t need to add it again. You can open other applications’ user dictionary files.

New File Click to create a new user dictionary file. The New Dictionary dialog box appears, allowing you to specify attributes of the new dictionary. For more information, see “New Dictionary Dialog Box.”

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Remove File Click to close the currently selected dictionary file. Closed dictionaries are not checked during a spelling check. Although the file is closed, it is not deleted. Closed dictionary files can be later reopened clicking the Add File button.


Close Click to close the dialog box.

New Dictionary Dialog Box

Use the New Dictionary dialog box to specify the attributes of a new user dictionary.

To open the New Dictionary dialog box, click the New File button on the Dictionaries dialog box. For more information, see “Dictionaries Dialog Box.”

Figure 79. The New Dictionary dialog box allows you to set the attributes of a new user dictionary.

Options on the New Dictionary dialog box include the following:


File Name Enter a name of the *.tlx file that will hold the contents of the new dictionary. You may use the Browse button to display a dialog showing the names of other dictionary files.

Browse Click to display the Create Dictionary File dialog box, allowing you to browse the names of other user dictionary files on your system. You may view the names of existing dictionary files or enter the name of the new dictionary file.

Language Select from the drop-down menu the language (e.g., French, English, etc.) of the words your new user dictionary will contain. If the language you want to use is not listed, select “Any.”

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Title Objects

Title objects are used whenever you want text to be rendered as an image. With text rendered as an image, you do not need to worry about how it will appear on other browsers. It will always be the same regardless of font availability or user text size choices. In addition, as an image it may have gradients, tiled images, transparency, rotation, stretching. or skewing applied to it.

However, being an image, it will be larger that pure text and so will take longer to load on a web page. Because of that, titles are best used for short pieces of text like headings or titles. Long passages are best left as text objects.

You can create, edit, and format title objects using either the Title Editor dialog box or the Text Editor dialog box in Title Edit Mode. (For more information, see “Title Editor Dialog Box” and “Text Editor Dialog Box (Title Edit Mode).”)

Unlike text, a title can be scaled by clicking and dragging the control points on the title object box to make it larger or smaller. As the object box changes size, the title is stretched to fit the box. This can be useful for applying a different look to the title, but carried too far it can also distort the title and make it unreadable.

This property also means that titles will not wrap inside the object box as text does; instead the object box will initially expand horizontally to accommodate the text, spilling off the edges of your page if necessary. Thus for practical purposes a title should not contain too many words.

Also unlike with text objects, you may apply scale, skew, and rotate transformations to title objects. This can create some very interesting effects. If you had wanted to apply a transformation to some text but were prevented from doing so with a text object, try making the text a title object. (From the Format Selection drop-down menu on the toolbar, select Title.) Again, this trick is best applied to text content of only a few words.

When exporting HTML a title object will be rendered into a bitmap image format. If anti-alias and re-render are unchecked, and the title is not rotated, skewed or shaded (except flat), the title is rendered as text. In other words: if anti-alias and re-render are unchecked, and the title is in a form that can be represented as pure text, it will be. Since a title is rendered into a bitmap when exporting to HTML, it will take longer to download than just text.

You can convert a title object into a set of lines and curves, for the purposes of performing vector editing. To make this conversion, right-click the title object and select Convert to Path.

If the title object has the Re-Render option enabled (on the Object Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box), text is sent as path in SVG mode (i.e., as a drawing of the text).

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You cannot apply hyperlinks to title text in the Title Editor dialog box or the Text Editor dialog box in Title Edit Mode. However, you may make the title object a hyperlink once you save it to the Work Window by using the Object Editor or Quick Properties Editor dialog boxes. For more information, see “Object Editor Dialog Box” and “Quick Properties Editor Dialog Box.”

Title Editor Dialog Box

Use the Title Editor to add titles and headings to the pages of your web project. Also, because of the unique properties of a title object, you can use the Title Editor to apply skewing and rotation transformation to small quantities of text.

You can open the Title Editor dialog box in any of the following ways:

• Select Object��Title from the Work Window menu bar

• Click the Rendered Title button: in the Components Bar

• In the Work Window, double-click a title object

• Select a title object with your mouse, and then press Enter

Figure 80. The Title Editor dialog box allows you to insert title objects, which bear unique properties, on your page.

Options on the Title Editor dialog box include the following:


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Font Select from the drop-down menu a font to apply to the title. The menu contains all available fonts on your system.

“Web-safe” fonts are marked with a green OK symbol. Web-safe fonts are fonts that were installed on your system together with your Microsoft® Internet Explorer® browser. You can use these fonts fully confident that your users will view your text using the same font as you intended.

Size Enter or select from the drop-down menu a point size for the specified font. Do not attempt to enter a value larger than 72, or the system may crash.

Bold Click to checkmark to apply a boldface effect to the title.

Italic Click to checkmark to italicize the title.

Underline Click to checkmark to underline the title.

Color Opens the Color dialog box that allows you to select a system or custom color to apply to the title.

Click and drag to use the color dropper tool to pick up a color anywhere on your computer screen. Release the mouse button, and the control will display the selected color. The title object will then bear the selected color.

If title text is the same color as the page background, the Title Editor background color is adjusted so that the text is visible in it.

Anti-Alias Click to checkmark to smooth the jagged edges of the title object.

Left Justified Click to checkmark to left justify the title.

Centered Click to checkmark to center the title.

Right Justified Click to checkmark to right justify the title.



Text Editor Dialog Box (Title Edit Mode)

Use the Text Editor dialog box in Title Edit Mode to quickly convert and format rich text content into a title object. This will allow you to take advantage of the unique transformation properties of title objects. (For more information, see “Transform Object.”)

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To open the Text Editor dialog box in Title Edit Mode, select Title from the Format

Selection drop-down menu in the Text Editor toolbar. For more information, see “Toolbar.”

Figure 81. By switching the Text Editor dialog box from Text Edit Mode to Title Edit Mode, you can quickly convert text objects into title objects.

Converting text objects to title objects will strip the text of all inline formatting, including bulleted and numbered lists, special characters, and hyperlinks.

Once you have reformatted a text object as a title object and saved it to the Work Window, if you revert the title object back to a text object, you will lose all formatting. Before saving and closing, however, you may switch between Text Edit and Title Edit modes using the Format

Selection drop-down menu in the toolbar. (You will still lose all formatting.)

The Text Editor in Title Edit Mode features a menu bar and toolbar that offer many of the same options as in Text Edit Mode. For full descriptions of the options available in the menus and the toolbar, see “Text Editor Dialog Box (Text Edit Mode).”

Code Objects

The main reason for Code Objects is to add code for the things that SiteSpinner doesn’t do automatically. That is, if SiteSpinner can’t do something you can put the code in to do it.

A code object is best for the following:

• Copy the snippets from an old page that does special things.

• Use a form editor to create a web form and drop it in a code object.

• Use a menu creator to create code that can be dropped in.

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• Special objects like shopping carts for ecommerce can often be added this way.

• Any scripting can be dropped in.

You can insert a file containing the advanced function code into the SiteSpinner™ code object. Save and close the code object, and it will appear as a placeholder on your page in the Work

Window. But when you open the page in the Preview Window, the browser will interpret the code and support the advanced functionality. This can allow you to add useful elements such as counters, calendars, or forms to your project…and send you speeding toward the realm of the web developer (and not just web designer)! (For more information, see “Adding Functional Code to a Page.”)

A code object can be given flat shading and outlines (like text objects), which may be useful for code objects that produces visible objects on the page.

It is often better to place scripts in the head section of your HTML document rather than in the body section. This helps ensure that all code definitions are processed and defined correctly and helps guard against errors. However, if you are using code from another source, be sure to follow any instructions given for placing the code. For more information, see “Page Editor Dialog Box.”

Text Editor Dialog Box (Code Edit Mode)

The “Code Editor” is really the Text Editor set in Code Edit Mode.

You can enter code directly in the Code Editor. However, SiteSpinner™ does not perform any error checking on the code. The Code Editor will open any file format at text, but most often you will open text, rich text, or HTML files.)

When you are finished, click the Save and Close button at the bottom of the Text Editor dialog box or press the ALT + Enter keyboard shortcut. You will see the code text inside the code object on the Work Window. This is just a placeholder; the code text won’t be visible on the published page. In the meantime, however, you can open the Preview Window to test the execution of your code.

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Figure 82. You can add code objects to the body section of your page using the Text Editor dialog box in Code Edit Mode.

You can open the Text Editor dialog box in Code Edit Mode in any of the following ways:

• Select Object��Code from the Work Window menu bar

• Click the Code Text button: in the Components Bar

• In the Work Window, double-click a code object

• Select a code object with your mouse and then press Enter

• With the Text Editor dialog box in Text Edit and Title Edit Mode, select Generic Code from the Format Selection drop-down menu in the toolbar.

The Text Editor in Code Edit Mode features a menu bar and toolbar that offer several tools and editing options – most notably the No CSS Positioning option – although not as many as in Text Edit Mode. For full descriptions of the options available in the menus and the toolbar, see “Text Editor Dialog Box (Text Edit Mode).”

Code Positioning

Regular code objects are placed between the <body> and <body> tags.

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You can adjust the position of a code object within the HTML (or SVG) text by moving it with the Z-order buttons. ‘To Back’ will place it a the top. To Front will place it at the bottom. Back and forward will move it up or down by one object.

Sometimes you may have a need for code outside the body or header tags. There is a special case for code objects that have one of a set reserved geometry names. Using one of these in a code object will place the code outside the body tags. The names are TOPMOST, BOTTOMMOST, and BELOWBODY. They must be all capital letters. Any code having a geometry name that begins with one of these will be used as follows.

The geometry name is the name displayed in the dropdown name list in the Code Editor dialog box. This is not the same as the object name.

• TOPMOST – places the contents of the code object before all other text on a web page.

• BOTTOMMOST – places the contents of the code object below all other text on a web page.

• BELOWBODY – places the contents of the code object just below the closing </body> tag.

Only the contents of the code object are used. No CSS positioning code is added.

You can have more than one of each type of special code placements by appending suffixes (e.g., TOPMOST, TOPMOSTA, and TOPMOSTtwo will all be placed topmost on the page(s) they occupy). This will allow more than type per project or multiple per project.

If there is more than one of a type on a page, no linefeed is placed between them. Place a linefeed in the code if you need one.

Importing External Web Page Code into SiteSpinner™

The following procedure explains how to import the source code from an existing web page into a SiteSpinner™ project page:

1. With the page to which you want to import your external web page open in the Work

Window, click the Code button: in the Components Bar

OR


The Text Editor dialog box in Code Edit mode will open.

2. Select File�Open File

OR

Press the CTRL+O keyboard shortcut

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The Open dialog box will appear.

3. Browse for the *.HTM, *.HTML, or *.TXT file that is the source for the external web page you wish to import.

4. When the file name is displayed in the File name field, click the Open button.

The dialog box will close, and the source code of the external web page will appear in the Code Editor window.

If a message box appears asking if you would like to copy the <HEAD> and <BODY> tags from the imported HTML file, click No.

5. Click the Save and Close button.

The code object will appear as a placeholder on the page.

6. Move and scale the code object to fit the boundaries of the page’s Target Resolution Guide Border. (For more information, see “Target Resolution Guide Border,” “Move Object,” and “Scale Object.”)

7. Click the Preview Current Page button: on the Preview Bar to view the imported web page.

Locate any missing resource files (e.g., images, multimedia, etc.) in their original resource directory and copy them to your SiteSpinner™ project directory. You may use the Change Image Directory dialog box to help you remap the locations of resource files. For more information, see “Change Image Directory Dialog Box.”

You may now finish the web project in SiteSpinner™. Add additional text, titles, image, multimedia, and other objects. If necessary move them on your page so that they are located in the positions you want them in the Z-order (layer) above the code object containing the imported web page source code. You may need to preview the page frequently as you work. Use the Gather All Files option when you publish the project. (For more information, see “Publishing Projects.”)

Adding Functional Code to a Page

You can add scripts or other functional code to your web page using the Code Editor. The following procedure shows a simple example, adding the familiar “Hello World” message box using JavaScript:

1. With the page to which you want to add functional code open in the Work Window,

click the Code button: in the Components Bar

OR


The Text Editor dialog box in Code Edit mode will open.

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2. Enter the following functional code in the Code Editor:

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE=”JavaScript”> alert(“Hello World!”);

</SCRIPT>

3. Click the Save and Close button.

The code object will appear as a placeholder on the page.

4. Click the Preview Current Page button: on the Preview Bar to view the page with the JavaScript message box.

Targeting Code to Specific Output Formats

You can target the code to a specific output format. Use this option to target SVG code to SVG publishing and HTML code to HTML publishing, for example.

1. In the Work Window, click to select the code object which you want to target to specific output formats.


OR

Click the Object Editor button: in the Object Bar.


3. Click the Options menu.

4. In the Exclude from target output section, click to checkmark the output formats you do not want the code object to be available in.

5. When you are finished, click OK. The dialog box will close, and the selected code object will be added to the page only in the output formats you did not select in step 4.

Table Objects

Tables are handy for a variety of purposes in SiteSpinner™. But one of the traditional uses of tables in web design – as layout grid for page elements – has been made obsolete in SiteSpinner™. The program’s use of rendered objects that you can simply drag anywhere on the screen and paste-include on all pages has done away with the old-fashioned use of table columns and rows as frames for button bars and content.

However, tables still may be important to your web project, perhaps as a means to present data, lists, or directories. If so, SiteSpinner™ makes it easy to set up tables, so that you can easily edit them and the text, images, or other objects you put inside them. For more information, see “Table Editor Dialog Box.”

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Table Editor Dialog Box

Use the Table Editor dialog box to set all of the properties of a table, including table dimensions, border size and color, background color, and cell border, padding, spacing, and alignment.

To open the Table Editor dialog box, select Object��Table, or click the Table button: in the Components Bar.

Figure 83. Use the Table Editor dialog box to set table and cell properties.

When you add contents to a table such as text or image objects, the objects become embedded in the table. This means, for example, that when you click and drag a table object to move it on the page, any added text or other objects move along with it.

To add more than one object to a cell, make a permanent group out of the objects first.

To edit the contents of a cell right-click on the cell and select the appropriate edit function (e.g., Edit Text, Edit Geometry etc).

To keep an object from breaking free from a table when you’re clicking and dragging to move the table, hold the ALT key while you drag. Similarly, to keep an object from becoming part of a table when you are moving it on the page, press and hold the ALT key while you are dragging it.

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A unique feature of the Table Editor is the Dynamic Layout Window, which not only displays a thumbnail view of the table and its properties but also allows you to double-click any object in the table to open its associated editor.

Options on the Table Editor dialog box include the following:


Border Click to checkmark to open the Color dialog box to assign a color to the table borders. The default color is black, and the default for table backgrounds is no color. For more information, see “.”

Back Click to checkmark to open the Color dialog box to assign a color to the table background. The default is no color (i.e., is transparent).

Vertical Alignment Click one of the three buttons (Top Alignment, Center Vertical Alignment, or Bottom Alignment) to set vertical alignment for all objects in the table.

Horizontal Alignment

Click one of the three buttons (Left Alignment, Center Horizontal Alignment, or Right Alignment) to set horizontal alignment for all objects in the table.

Border Use the spinner to increase or reduce the width in pixels of the table border. Or, you may enter a pixel value in the field. The default setting is 1.

Padding Padding is the space between the cell’s border and the object’s border. Use the spinner to increase or reduce the size in pixels of the cell padding. Or, you may enter a pixel value in the field. The default setting is 1.

Space Space in the space between one cell border and the next Use the spinner to increase or reduce the space in pixels of cell borders. Or, you may enter a pixel value in the field. The default setting is 1.

Width Use the spinner to increase or reduce the width of the table in pixels. Or, you may enter a pixel value in the field. The default setting is 20. An HTML Table’s cell cannot be less that 5 pixels wide. So the table width cannot be less than the number of cells multiplied by 5 plus the spacing, padding, and border widths. Click the Pixel radio button to set the width in pixels, or click the Percent radio button to set the width of the table to be a percentage of the browser window size.

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Height Use the spinner to increase or reduce the height of the table in pixels. Or, you may enter a pixel value in the field. The default setting is 50. An HTML Table’s cell cannot be less that 20 pixels high. So the table height cannot be less than the number of cells multiplied by 5 plus the spacing, padding, and border widths. Click the Pixel radio button to set the height in pixels, or click the Percent radio button to set the height of the table to be a percentage of the browser window size.

Variable Cell Sizes Click the radio button to adjust the height and width of table cells to fit the size of any objects placed in them.

Fixed Cell Sizes Click the radio button to fix the size of table cells regardless of the size of any objects placed in them. This setting will automatically scale down any image objects but will truncate large quantities of text in text objects.

No CSS Click to checkmark to turn off absolute positioning of the table.

Row Use the spinner to increase or reduce the number of rows in the table. Or, you may enter a pixel value in the field. The default setting is 2. The minimum is 1; the maximum is 99.

Col. Use the spinner to increase or reduce the number of columns in the table. Or, you may enter a pixel value in the field. The default setting is 2. The minimum is 1; the maximum is 99.

Thumbnail Window

Displays the object, if any, that occupies the currently selected cell.

Object Selection Select from the drop-down menu any object in the project to insert into the cell that appears highlighted in red in the Dynamic Layout Window. The selected object will display in the Thumbnail Window.

Lock Cell Size Click to toggle on or off the ability to set the individual width and height of a selected cell in the table.

Use the top spinner to increase or reduce the width of the selected cell, or enter a value in the field. Click the px radio button to set the width in pixels, or click the % radio button to set the width as a percentage of the table.

Use the bottom spinner to increase or reduce the height of the selected cell, or enter a value in the field. Click the px radio button to set the height in pixels, or click the % radio button to set the height as a percentage of the table.

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Span Cells Use the Column spinner to select the number of columns the selected cell will span toward the right, or enter a value in the field. This has the effect of deleting columns in the row of the selected cell as the selected cell spans those cell positions.

Use the Row spinner to select the number of rows the selected cell will span toward the bottom, or enter a value in the field. This has the effect of deleting rows in the column of the selected cell as the selected cell spans those cell positions.

Unlock All Click to disable the ability to set the individual size of all cells in the table.

Color Click to open the Color dialog box to set a custom color to apply to the selected cell. The color you select will display in the small box to the left. (You may also click this box to open the Color dialog box.)

Individual Cell Alignment

Click to checkmark to activate alignment of any object in the selected cell. Click one in the set of three buttons to the left (Top Alignment, Center Vertical Alignment, or Bottom Alignment) to set vertical alignment for the object. Click one in the set of three buttons to the right (Top Alignment, Center Horizontal Alignment, or Bottom Alignment) to set horizontal alignment for the object.

If the Individual Cell Alignment option is not selected (checkmarked), then vertical and horizontal alignment settings for the entire table will be applied to the selected cell.

Dynamic Layout Window

Displays the currently selected table object. You may select an individual cell for editing by clicking it in the window; a dotted red border will appear around the selected cell. In cells that contain a text, image, or foreign/media object, you can open the editor associated with the object by double-clicking the cell in the window. You can also drag a cell from one location to another to move, copy, insert, swap, or span the source and destination cells and their contents.


Cancel Click to close the dialog box.

Foreign Objects

A foreign object is a catch-all object type for the many different types of resources that you can add to a page. While many foreign objects are often multimedia resources, such as movie, music, or Macromedia Flash™ files, Java applets, plug-ins, and HTML IFrames are also foreign

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objects that can be added to your page. You (and your web page viewers) will appreciate the extended functionality and interactivity that foreign objects can bring to your web project.

Specify a type of foreign object and any additional parameters using the Foreign Object/Media dialog box. Simply find the file on your system and SiteSpinner™ will take care of the rest. Then, if you have added a visible object, you can then move and resize the viewing frame the same as you would any other object.

With the exception of the Publish File option, foreign objects will not be used in pages with an SVG output format.

Be aware that foreign object or multimedia file can fail for many different reasons. They include the following:

• The user’s browser does not support the format.

• A player, plug-in, or codec is not installed on the viewer’s system.

• The host server is not set up to support the format.

• The host server does not have the correct MIME-type set.

• The host server does not support streaming media.

• The parameters for the foreign object are not set correctly.

• The media or code is corrupt or invalid.

Publish File

This option is used to include a file with your project when you publish but not have it associated with your page. This does not embed the file into the page, but simply uploads the file to your server. This is often used when you plan to have a link to that file on the page.

The publish file is only moved to the publish location (when your publish) It is not moved during preview so if you want to link to that file and have the link work during preview, you must place a copy of the file in your preview directory.

General Plug-In

You can embed a plug-in on a page that also has a multimedia file. A plug-in is a small program that takes over a section of a browser window and displays music, animation, or videos. When a visitor downloads content on your web site that requires a plug-in, the browser opens the plug-in to a specified dimension and location in the browser window and then plays the multimedia file. A plug-in helps ensure that the multimedia file will play in whatever browser your users might be using.

You can add a plug-in to your web site so that users can download the plug-in they need to enjoy the multimedia file. Select General Plug-in from the Format drop-down menu on the Foreign Object/Media dialog box to upload a plug-in to the host’s web server. You may

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consider adding a text object with instructional text to help your users figure out what to do to install the plug-in.

HTML IFrames

You can embed other web pages in your web page using HTML IFrames. For example, you can display another page in your project or even another page from out on the Internet.

If you are embedding a web page from the Internet in your IFrame, enter its full URL in the Filepath field. (You can use a partial URL is the page is on your site.) If you are embedding a page from the current project, click the Page List button, and then select the page name from the drop-down menu. Since you cannot embed the page your IFrame is on, you must have more than one page in project before you can do this.

You can move and resize the IFrame in the Work Window just as you would any other object. To turn off the IFrame border, click to un-checkmark the Visible Control option box. Click to checkmark the Use Scroll Bar option box to add vertical and horizontal scroll bars to the IFrame. The scrollbar will appear only if the content of the embedded page is larger than the frame.

You can also change some of the frame’s parameters. For example, to change the margin width of the frame, in the Name field, enter MARGINWIDTH, and in the Value field, enter the number of pixels for the margin width. To change the margin height of the frame, in the Name field, enter MARGINHEIGHT, and in the Value field, enter the number of pixels for the margin height. Note that some older browsers do not support this feature.

SVG

This option embeds an SVG file in the current page. This will cause the browser to embed an SVG player on the page in the frame location and display the SVG in that. The benefit of doing this over using regular SVG output is that the browser scroll bar is enabled. Also, this ensures that the SVG page is displayed properly on servers that do not have the correct MIME setting. In addition, as with other embedded media, advanced users can control the contents of an embedded SVG page using script in the HTML page. Note that a SVG player must still be installed on the viewer’s system.

Java Applet

You can embed a Java applet on your page. A Java applet is a small Java program that users can download from your host web server and run on their browser (providing their browser is Java-compatible and enabled). Many simple, “data-input” games are Java applets.

Java applets are cross-platform, meaning that they can run on any type of computer or with any computer operating system. They can modify their display, play sounds, interact with scripts, and open data transfer connections between the web server and the user’s browser.

When you have selected Java applet from the Format drop-down menu on the Foreign Object/Media dialog box, other fields will become enabled. In the Class ID field, enter the name of the Java applet file (usually *.class). In the Codebase field, enter the URL path to the applet file. It is best to enter a relative path (e.g., ../classes/); don’t include http:// or the

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name of the file itself. In the Parameters fields, enter any required name and value parameters for the applet, such as keywords, datastrings, URLs, or object elements.

Shockwave

Embeds a Shockwave file in the web page. Locate the file on your system that you want to add to the page. The Class ID and Codebase fields are pre-populated to automatically download the plug-in required to play the file. You can edit these as required to change the class ID and raise or lower the required code version.

Flash

Embeds a Flash file (*.SWF) into the web page. The Class ID and Codebase fields are pre-populated to automatically download the plug-in required to play the file. You can edit these as required to change the class ID and raise or lower the required code version.

QuickTime

Embeds a QuickTime movie file into the web page.

RealAudio

Embeds a RealAudio file into the web page.

Video

Embeds a video file into the web page. SiteSpinner™ and will attempt to determine the type of file and the appropriate settings for each type of video file. The actual player used on the viewer’s browser will be determined by the viewer’s browser and settings.

Sound/Music

Embeds a sound or a music file into the page. This calls up the installed sound/music player and associated control.

Other File Type

This option is for other file types not mentioned above. You must know the correct parameter for the file you are embedding.

Foreign Object/Media Dialog Box

The Foreign Object/Media dialog box offers an extensive complement of tools for adding media files, plug-ins, scripts, or special code to your web project.

To open the Foreign Object/Media dialog box, select Object��Import Foreign Object, or

click the Import Foreign Object button: in the Components Bar. You may also

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double-click a foreign object/media object in the Work Window or select it and then press Enter to open the Foreign Object/Media dialog box.

Figure 84. Add multimedia, plugins, scripts, or other external files using the Foreign Object/Media dialog box.

Options on the Foreign Object/Media dialog box include the following:


Name Displays the name of the foreign/media object currently selected for editing. You may select any foreign/media object from the drop-down menu to edit. This name is a geometry name and can also be seen in the Geometry Editor dialog box.

You may rename an object by typing over the displayed name in the Name box.

Format Select from the drop-down menu the type of foreign/media object you want to embed on the page. Select from Publish File, General Plug-In, HTML (IFrame), SVG, Java Applet, Shockwave, Flash, QuickTime, RealAudio, Video, Sound/Music, or Other File Type. For more information, see “Foreign Objects.”

Filepath Click to display the Open dialog box, allowing you to browse for the file you want to insert. Or, you may enter the path and file name in the field (not recommended).

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Page List Click to enable a drop-down menu, allowing you to select a page in the current project to insert in the object. Available only with HTML (IFrame) or SVG format.

Class ID Optional. Enter the reference name of the control that the user’s browser can automatically download if it is not already installed. The browser will need this information in order to run the application. The Codebase and Classid parameters work together and are application-specific. If you are unsure what to enter, consult the application’s help documentation.

Codebase Optional. Enter the location of the control that the user’s browser can automatically download if it is not already installed. The browser will need this information in order to run the application. The Codebase and Classid parameters work together and are application-specific. If you are unsure what to enter, consult the application’s help documentation.

Parameters Enter Name and Value parameters for the embedded object.

Auto Start Click to checkmark to set the embedded media object to execute without user intervention. Available only with General Plug-In, Java Applet, Shockwave, Flash, QuickTime, RealAudio, Video, Sound/Music, or Other File Type format.

Continuous Play Click to checkmark to set the embedded media object to play in the user’s browser without stopping unless stopped by the user. Available only with General Plug-In, Java Applet, Shockwave, Flash, QuickTime, RealAudio, Video, Sound/Music, or Other File Type format.

Use Scroll Bar Click to checkmark to enable scrolling in the HTML IFrame. Available only with HTML (IFrame) format.

Visible Control Click to checkmark to make frame borders visible where the object is embedded in the browser. This varies based on format. For IFrames is shows the border, for sound it shows the control (play, pause, etc. buttons) or makes it invisible. For video it shows or hides the buttons (the video image is always visible). For flash it shows the full (right-click) menu vs. the short menu. Click to un-checkmark to hide frame borders. Available only with General Plug-In, HTML (IFrame), Java Applet, Shockwave, Flash, QuickTime, RealAudio, Video, Sound/Music, or Other File Type format.




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Form Input Objects

With eight different types of form input objects at your disposal, you can enable two-way communication between users and your web site. Determine what information you want to collect from your users, and then add buttons (either standard or graphical), checkboxes, radio buttons, dropdown lists, text entry boxes (fields), free text areas, or file upload objects to design the best form for your purpose. Then open the Form Editor dialog box and set the properties of the form object, so that it looks and behaves exactly as you want it to.

To add a form input object to your SiteSpinner™ project, simply click the button in the Forms Bar that is associated with the type of input you want, and then click the page that is open in the Work Window. The selected input object is added to the page where you clicked.

Using editing tools available in the Work Window, you can move an input object to another position on the page, and you can scale (make larger or smaller) any form object, except checkboxes or radio buttons. You can edit the components of input objects, such as applying shading or an outline border, using the Quick Properties Editor dialog box or the Shading Editor or Geometry Editor dialog boxes. However form input objects cannot be skewed, rotated, or flipped.

This section discusses each type of form input object and its uses. It also offers some tips on creating simple yet powerful forms you can build into your web site.

Button

You can add a button input to the page. Common buttons include Submit (which the user can click to send form data to the server) and Reset (which the user can click to restore the form to its default or cleared settings).

By default, buttons are 100 pixels wide by 30 pixels high.

Checkbox

Used in groups, checkbox input fields are used to allow users to select multiple items from a list of choices. Checkboxes work independently of others in the group, and users can select or deselect as many as they desire. An example of a group of checkboxes would include, “Select the ones you want (choose all that apply).”

A single checkbox input lets users accept or not accept a single condition. An example of a common use of a single checkbox would be “Yes, please sign me up for email updates.”

Checkbox input fields added in SiteSpinner™ by default are unchecked; however you can make a checkbox checked by default for your end user to either leave checked or to purposely uncheck.

Besides text that identifies the context for each checkbox group, you must also add a text label next to each checkbox that describes the choice users are committing to when they click it or leave it unchecked.

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Radio Button

Radio button input fields force users to choose one option from a group of options. Radio buttons should always appear in groups of two or, at most, three, where each radio button offers a clear and distinct choice in contrast to the others in the group. Where there are more than three options for a user to choose from among, it is recommended that you use a dropdown list instead of radio buttons. Similarly, where a user can make multiple choices from a group, use checkboxes instead of radio buttons.

One radio button in a group should be checked by default, and the form should be set up to trigger the unchecking of other radio buttons in the group when the user selects one. SiteSpinner™ does this automatically when you add a group of radio buttons to a form object. However, if you want to place on the page additional groups of radio buttons that behave independently of one another, you must create separate form objects.

Besides text that identifies the context for each radio button group, you must also add a text label next to each radio button that describes the choice users are committing to when they click it or leave it checked by default.

Image

Image inputs are actually button inputs, except that you can skin the button with an image.The image input by default includes a 1-pixel bounding box, but if you want to remove it, use the Outline Tab of the Geometry Editor dialog box to set the line width to 0.

Selection List

A selection list input (or “option menu”) is possibly the most versatile of form inputs. You can use it to offer numerous input choices or only a handful. You can also set it to allow the user to make multiple choices from a single selection list, by mouse clicking each choice while pressing the CTRL key.

To populate the list of menu options in the selection list, click the Values button on the Options List tab of the Form Editor dialog box. Click the Insert button, and then add a Name and related Value for each option you want to include in the selection list. If you want one of the options to be pre-selected as the default choice in the input field, click to checkmark the box to the left of the option name. When you are finished, click OK to accept the menu options.

To allow users to select more than one option from the dropdown menu, click to checkmark the Multiple option box on the Options List tab of the Form Editor dialog box.

To make a more common dropdown menu out of a selection list, click to checkmark the Drop-Down Menu option box. Dropdown menus are useful, because you can include a very large number of values , but the input takes up the same amount of space on your page either way.

Text Box

A text box, or “field,” is a blank area where users can enter brief text input. Common uses of text boxes include obtaining a user’s First Name, Last Name, Address Line One, City, State, Email Address, Phone Number, etc.

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Each text box input object should have its own unique name attribute. Otherwise when you process the form the data from one form field might get confused with that of another.

By default, text boxes contain a Value: the name “Text Box.” You can either clear the value (to make the text box blank), or overwrite it with your own default value or with a value that provides an example of the input you are looking for. Most often you will clear the value, and use a descriptive or instructive field label to prompt the user on what information to enter. Use a text object to provide the field label. (For more information, see “Text Objects.”)

From a design perspective, fields look best when they are a uniform length and are hard-aligned vertically along either their left or right edges. Remember too that it’s always better to group related fields (and other form controls) together (e.g., an address information group consisting of text box fields, dropdown lists, and submit and clear buttons).

Text Area

Text areas are free-form text input boxes. They are commonly used to collect user comments, feedback, stories, etc. They are different from text boxes (fields) in that generally there is no or a high limit to the number of characters a text area will accept and that once the capacity of the text area has been reached a vertical scrollbar is enabled to allow viewing of the entire contents of the text area.

Text area objects as added to the page are likely too small for your purposes, so be sure to use the tools in the Work Window to scale the object larger.

Text areas commonly have a default value to prompt the user on the purpose of the text area (e.g., “Please enter your comments here.”)

File Upload

You can allow your users to upload files through your website using a file upload box form input. In certain instances this may be easier than FTPing or emailing a file. Files may include an image, a media file, a scanned document, a text document, or others.

The file upload box input consists of a text box (field) in which users can enter the directory path to the file that they want to upload to your website from their systems, and a Browse button that they can click instead to map a path to the file (much easier and more accurate). The file upload actually takes place when the user clicks the Submit button on the form.

Be forewarned that there is some extra processing and handling involved with uploaded files. So before adding a file upload box to your web page, be sure to check with your web host that they will support file upload.

Form Editor Dialog Box

You can set the properties of your form and form inputs using the Form Editor dialog box. Use forms to build online forms used to process and/or store user input. You can set up simple or sophisticated two-way communication between visitors to your web page and available web services, including online ordering, joining email list subscriptions, performing searches of keywords, posting feedback, and many more.

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The Form Editor dialog box is unique in SiteSpinner™ in that along with the constant Form

Tab, it contains an additional tab that differs depending on the selected form input. For example, if you open the Form Editor dialog box with a file upload form input selected, in addition to the Form Tab the File Upload Tab will be available. Use the Form Tab to set the properties of the form, and use the File Upload Tab to set the properties of the file upload input.

Figure 85. Use the Form Object dialog box to set form object and input field properties.

You can open the Form Editor dialog box in the following ways:

• Double-click a form object.

• With a form object selected, press Enter

• With a form object selected, click the Edit Form button: in the Form Bar

• With a form object selected, select Object��Forms��Edit Form Item

• Right-click a form object and select Edit Form Item.

The Form Editor dialog box contains the following tabs:

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• Form Tab

• Form Item Tab

The name of the Form Item tab changes dynamically depending on the currently selected input field. For example if a button input object is selected, the Form Item tab becomes the Button tab, if a file upload input object is selected, the Form Item tab becomes the File Browse tab, etc.

Form Tab

Use the options on the Form Tab of the Form Editor dialog box to set the properties of the form object. A form object consists of the various input objects that work together to collect and transmit user input.

Controls on the Form Tab of the Form Editor dialog box include the following:


Form ID Displays the name of the currently selected form. To work with a different form in the project, select its name from the dropdown menu. You may rename a selected form by overwriting its highlighted name in this field.

Action Enter or select from the dropdown menu the program or CGI script URL that will process the form data on the web server.

Encoding Select the manner in which form data is to be encoded. The default encoding type, “application/x-www-form-urlencoded,” is satisfactory for most form output. However, you should use the “multipart/form-data” encoding type for submitting a file upload. (For more information, see “File Upload.”) To create “mailto” forms, where all the form data bypasses the server application and instead is sent in the body of an email, use the “text/plain” encoding type.

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Method Select the means by which the browser will send the data to the server. Select from the following methods:

• GET - The GET method will create a query string by appending the form data to the action URL. It is best used with short forms (10 or fewer fields) that do not include text area or file upload form inputs. Generally the GET method is used to allow the user to view data in a database.

• POST- The POST method sends the form data to the server as a separate package, outside the request message. Generally the POST method is used for longer forms and to allow the user to store or update data in a database (e.g., online ordering, subscriptions, etc.)

On Submit Enter a scripting event that will take place when a user attempts to submit the form data. Most often the scripting event is a simple validation check to make sure the form fields do not contain errors. (You will need to write the script that you identify in the value of this field.)

On Reset Enter an event handler for when a user clicks the form reset button. Often before clearing the fields of data, the event handler calls a message box allowing the user to confirm that the reset request is not in error.

Other Use this field to enter additional form processing tags. Use the [TAGNAME]=”[TAG]” format.

Font Select a font from the dropdown menu to globally apply to text labels of input fields in the form. Or, accept the [default] selection.

Be aware that because different browsers may interpret fonts differently, fonts and form inputs may not appear as you intended. To assist you, we recommend using fonts that are "web safe." Web-safe fonts appear in

the dropdown menu with the symbol.

Size Select from the dropdown menu a font size to globally apply to text labels of input fields in the form.

Default Click to checkmark to accept default text label characteristics for the form. Or, click to uncheckmark to enable controls for text label characteristics.

Bold Disabled when Default option box is uncheckmarked. Click to apply a boldface effect to text labels of input fields in the form.

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Italic Disabled when Default option box is uncheckmarked. Click to italicize text labels of input fields in the form.

Color Disabled when Default option box is uncheckmarked. Click to open the Color dialog box that allows you to select a system or custom color to globally apply to the text labels.

Disabled when Default option box is uncheckmarked. Click and drag to use the color dropper tool to pick up a color anywhere on your computer screen. Release the mouse button, and the control will display the selected color. Text labels in the form will then bear the selected color.

Align Disabled when Default option box is uncheckmarked. Click the Left radio button to globally align text labels along the left margins of the form inputs; click the Center radio button to globally center the text labels of the form inputs, or click the Right radio button to globally align text labels along the right margins of the form inputs.

New Form Click to create a new form object. You will be prompted to save the current form. The new form object will retain the properties settings of the previous form object.

To revert to the default properties settings for form objects, press the CTRL key while clicking the New Form button.

Hidden Values Use to add hidden input fields. Click to open the Hidden Field Values dialog box, and then click the Insert button. Enter the hidden field name, and then click the Value column and enter the hidden field value. Click the OK button.



Apply Click to accept the current settings without exiting the dialog box.


Form Item Tab

Use the Form Item tab of the Form Editor dialog box to set the properties of a selected form input field.

The name of the Form Item tab changes dynamically depending on the currently selected input field. For example if a button input object is selected, the Form Item tab becomes the Button

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tab, if a file upload input object is selected, the Form Item tab becomes the File Browse tab, etc.

Figure 86. Specify a form input field's properties using the Form Item tab of the Form Editor dialog box.

Controls on the Form Item Tab of the Form Editor dialog box include the following:


Form Displays the name of the currently selected form. To work with a different form in the project, select its name from the dropdown menu. You may rename a selected form by overwriting its highlighted name in this field.

Type Displays the input type of the currently selected form field. You can change the input type by selecting a different input type from the dropdown menu.

Name Displays the object name of the currently selected form input. You can rename the form input by overwriting its highlighted name in this field.

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Value The Value attribute serves multiple uses. For button, checkbox, and radio button inputs, the value is what is passed to the server when the form is submitted (e.g., “Yes,” “Submit,” etc.)

For text inputs (text boxes and text areas), if desired, enter a value to be preset in the input field. This is most commonly used either to save your users from entering information or to prompt them for the type of information to enter in the input field. For example, you may went to include a value such as “Enter comments here” in a text area input. Frequently with text inputs, however, you will want to clear the Value field.

Other If desired, enter code to provide additional functionality (i.e. “OnClick=[something]”) to the input action.

Font Not available for checkbox, radio button, or image inputs. Select a font from the dropdown menu to apply to the text label of the selected input field. Or, accept the [default] selection.

Be aware that because different browsers may interpret fonts differently, fonts and form inputs may not appear as you intended. To assist you, we recommend using fonts that are "web safe." Web-safe fonts appear in

the dropdown menu with the symbol.

Size Not available for checkbox, radio button, or image inputs. Select from the dropdown menu a font size to apply to the text labels of the selected input field.

Default Not available for checkbox, radio button, or image inputs. Click to checkmark to accept default text label characteristics for the selected form input. Or, click to uncheckmark to enable controls for text label characteristics.

Bold Not available for checkbox, radio button, or image inputs. Disabled when Default option box is uncheckmarked. Click to apply a boldface effect to the text label of the selected input field.

Italic Not available for checkbox, radio button, or image inputs. Disabled when Default option box is uncheckmarked. Click to italicize the text label of the selected input field.

Color Not available for checkbox, radio button, or image inputs. Disabled when Default option box is uncheckmarked. Click to open the Color dialog box that allows you to select a system or custom color to apply to the text label of the selected form input.

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Not available for checkbox, radio button, or image inputs. Disabled when Default option box is uncheckmarked. Click and drag to use the color dropper tool to pick up a color anywhere on your computer screen. Release the mouse button, and the control will display the selected color. The text label in the selected form input will then bear the selected color.

Align Disabled when Default option box is uncheckmarked. Click the Left radio button to globally align text labels along the left margins of the form inputs; click the Center radio button to globally center the text labels of the form inputs, or click the Right radio button to globally align text labels along the right margins of the form inputs.

Width Not available for checkbox or radio button inputs. Select from the dropdown menu the pixel width of a border to apply around the input field. The default value is “0” (no border).

Style Not available for checkbox or radio button inputs. Select from the dropdown menu the border style of a border to apply around the input field. The default value is “system.”

Color Not available for checkbox or radio button inputs. Click to open the Color dialog box that allows you to select a system or custom color to apply to the border of the selected form input.

Not available for checkbox or radio button inputs. Click and drag to use the color dropper tool to pick up a color anywhere on your computer screen. Release the mouse button, and the control will display the selected color. The border of the selected form input will then bear the selected color.

Disabled Click to set the selected form input as disabled (unselectable).

Checked Available only for checkbox, radio button, and file upload form inputs. Click to preset the selected form input as active (enabled) by default.

Read Only Available only with Text Box, Password, Text Area, and File Upload inputs. Click to disallow users from entering text in the field.

Multiple Available only when a selection list input is selected. Click to checkmark to allow users to select more than one option from the selection list by pressing the CTRL key while clicking.

Drop-Down List Available only when a selection list input is selected.Click to make the selection list a dropdown menu.

New Form Click to create a new form object. You will be prompted to save the current form. The new form object will retain the properties settings of the previous form object.

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Values Available only when a selection list input is selected. Click to open the Drop-Down List Values dialog box, where you can enter and order selection values in a dropdown menu. You can also set one or more options to be pre-selected.

Image Available only when image input is selected. Click to display the Open dialog box to browse for image files to apply to the image input.



Apply Click to accept the current settings without exiting the dialog box.


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Object Effects

This section addresses these unique aspects of objects and explores how your editing decisions can determine object effects.

Rendering and Re-Rendering

Although all types of rendered objects – rectangles, ellipses, polygons, curves, modified images, and even titles – end up as image files, there are key differences in the reasons and strategies for the way SiteSpinner™ handles these objects.

The re-render operation applies primarily to HTML output. SVG can perform many of these operations directly on shapes, vector drawings, or the original images.

Render, in this context, means to create a representation of an object in the form of a bitmapped image. Technically re-render is used when the object is already in the form of an image but is rendered again to show changes. Render and re-render are used somewhat interchangeably here, and both mean creating a new image from the original object.

For example, taking an object, say a title or a rectangle, and turning it into a bitmapped image that can be displayed on a web page is rendering it.

Another example would be taking an existing image that has been modified (say stretched) and turning it into a bitmapped image that shows the modifications. That would be re-rendering it.

But in both cases we can say the object is re-rendered as a new image. Whenever you re-render an object, you are creating an image file for that object when you publish your project. This file will then be a required part of your uploaded site.

If these were not re-rendered, that would mean leaving the object as it is. So the title would be left as text. The image would be left as it was, and the browser would be asked to stretch it. Simple rectangles with flat shading can be rendered by the finished HTML code and don't produce an image file. However, rectangles with complex shading (e.g., a gradient fill) will be rendered as an image file.

By default, all rendered objects will be rendered in the .PNG format. That’s because the PNG format produces the highest quality graphic images with full color and no loss of quality do to compression. For more information, see “Image Target Formats.”

However, each image format has its own strengths and weaknesses. The optimal choice of format depends on the characteristics of the specific image. You can change the re-rendering file format, either for individual rendered objects or globally to affect all rendered objects, to PNG 8, JPG, GIF, or BMP format. The reasons you might change re-rendering file formats could include any of the following:

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• You are concerned about the overall size of the project, and you know that some file formats compress the image data better than others.

• You are concerned that certain file formats won’t handle certain effects, such as transparency, as well as you would like.

• You are concerned that an image or drawing will suffer quality loss if re-rendered in a certain file format.

To change the re-rendering format for an individual object, use the Geometry Editor dialog box. To change the re-rendering format for all rendered objects in the project, use the Project Target Options dialog box.

Re-rendering settings for individual rendered objects take priority over global re-rendering settings. That is, you can set a global re-rendering format for the entire project but then use different settings for individual objects.

When working with a group object, if you select the re-render option on the Object Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box, the group will be rendered as a single image composed of all the objects it contains. If you de-select the re-render option, then each object in the group will be rendered independently (as images, text, etc.).

Only animated gifs default to re-render off, because re-rendering an animated GIF will disable the animation.

Image Object Re-Rendering

When you add an image object, it is placed on the page at its original size resolution and in its original image format. For example, if a picture file imported to an image object is 446 x 555 pixels and in the .JPG file format, that’s the size and format in which it will be displayed – or “rendered” – on the page. If you do not make any changes to the image, the original image file is used unchanged.

When you change the image object in any way, such as scaling or anti-aliasing it, SiteSpinner™ by default creates a copy of – or “re-renders” – the image. In other words, as soon as you preview or publish the page, SiteSpinner™ takes a snapshot of the image object reflecting your edits and transformations and saves the snapshot with a new name and in a new format (and in a new location). Whenever changes are made – for example, the addition of a shading component – SiteSpinner™ will re-render the object over again.

Shape and Drawing Object Re-Rendering

When you add a shape (rectangle or ellipse) or vector drawing (polygon or curve) object, SiteSpinner™ by default renders the object’s geometry at its current size resolution and converts it to a PNG-format image file.

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A rectangle shape with a tile image shading will tile the single image if re-render and anti-alias are turned off (instead of rendering the tiled image regardless of whether re-render was on or off).

Image Target Formats

There are certain advantages to using one “re-rendering” file format over the others, depending upon your application.

JPEG is a lossy format which means the cost of JPEG’s greater compression levels is some blurriness in the image. PNG on the other hand, will always display the image without any loss in quality. However, on some image JPEG can produces much smaller files.

The level of compression a format will provide depends greatly on the contents of the image. Even the same image, when rotated may produce different results. Although there are rules of thumb, if size is critical, always test the image with all formats to see which is best.

The table below compares the various file formats:

Format Description

PNG The preferred format and will produce the highest quality graphic images with full color..

PNG 8 This is an 8-bits-per-pixel PNG and supports single color transparency. The files will generally be smaller than full color PNG, but the colors will be fewer (256 maximum). SiteSpinner™ chooses the optimal set of colors for each PNG 8 object when your project is previewed or published, so it often looks as good as full-color PNG, but not always. For example, gradients or photographs may look banded.

GIF GIF should pretty much work like PNG8. Some very old browsers will support GIF but not PNG8. PNG8 can use true or simulated transparency but GIF always uses true. They use different compression algorithms, so the size may be different depending on the contents of the image.

Re-rendered GIF images do not support animation.

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Format Description

JPG Best for photographic images. Will export the geometry using full color but without transparency. This format is preferred for images such as photographs that have many shades of color blending into one another (as opposed to those that have large sections with solid colors which are better suited to PNG).

Use the Size slider on the Project Target Options dialog box to set the compression level. A lower number will produce a smaller file size, but a lower-quality image. Conversely, a higher number will produce a better looking image, but the file size will be bigger. The default setting is 75. A quality setting higher than 95 is not recommended, as it will result in a much larger file with little discernable difference in quality. Even raising the value above 75 will increase the file’s size without giving you dramatically better images. If you find the results in quality over 90 are not adequate, PNG may be a better format to use.

BMP Uncompressed bitmap format. Will produce a full-color BMP image of the vector geometry. BMP is not recommended for use on web pages due to its extremely large file size and the fact that many browsers do not support it. Exporting to a BMP format may be useful if you wish to convert the image to another format using a third-party image program

Setting Rendering File Format for All Objects


The Project Target Options dialog box will open.

2. In the Default Image Format section, click to select the radio button corresponding to your desired output file format for re-rendered objects. Choose from PNG, PNG 8, GIF, JPG, or BMP

OR

If you want the re-rendered file format to be the same as the original file format as it was imported into SiteSpinner™ (image objects only), click to checkmark the Use Picture’s Format option box.

If an image is not re-rendered, the original image file will be used.

3. Click the Apply to All Images button.

A message box will appear asking you to confirm your choice. This will apply the settings to all objects in the current project. If you don’t click this button the current objects will be left as they are. Either way, the format settings you choose here will be applied to all new objects.


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5. Click OK. The Project Target Options dialog box will close, and all rendered objects in the project will be re-rendered in the selected file format.

The setting will not affect existing objects. To apply settings to existing objects in the project click the Apply to all Images button.

You may override the global project setting for individual objects. For more information, see “Setting Rendering File Format for an Object.”

Setting Rendering File Format for an Object

1. In the Work Window, click to select a rendered object whose output file format you want to set individually.

Rendered objects include rectangle, ellipse, polygon, curve, title, and image objects.

2. Press the ALT+G keyboard shortcut

OR

Right-click the object, and then select Edit Geometry

OR

Click the Geometry Editor button: in the Object Bar

OR

Select Object��Geometry Editor.

The Geometry Editor dialog box will open.

3. Click the Options Tab.

4. Click to un-checkmark the Use Image’s Format option box.

Options in the Rendering File Format section will become available.

5. In the Rendering File Format section, click to select the radio button corresponding to your desired output file format for re-rendered objects. Choose from PNG, PNG 8, GIF, JPG, or BMP.

6. If you have selected the JPEG format, click and drag the Quality/Size slider either right or left

OR


A lower setting will reduce the image quality but minimize the file size. A higher setting improves image quality but increases file size.

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7. If you have selected either the PNG, JPG, or BMP file format, click to checkmark the Render Background option box.

8. Click OK. The individual object will be re-rendered when published using the selected output file format. This setting will supersede the global re-rendered file format. For more information, see “Setting Rendering File Format for All Objects.”

Anti-Aliasing

Images, shapes, vector drawings, and title objects can all be automatically anti-aliased (or “smoothed”) to produce extremely smooth edges, without the need to transfer images from a paint program each time you make a change to your web page. This is done by carefully blending the objects edges with any objects or background behind them.

SiteSpinner™ will anti-alias titles, shapes, and imported images even when they are rotated or shaded. When you publish, images will automatically be re-rendered with any changes you have made to the web page.

Render Background

With Render Background on, anything visible behind the object, on the page, will be drawn into the rendered image of the object. This will simulate full transparency in the non-rectangular areas of the image.

This is required because HTML only allows for rectangular images. So, if you draw an ellipse, or rotate a rectangle, there will be areas within the image rectangle that are not part of the shape. Even with rectangular images, a piece of the background is drawn to allow the object to be anti-aliased against it.

If you turn Render Background off, one of two things can happen:

• If the image format supports transparency (PNG8 GIF), the areas of background will be made transparent

• If the image format does not support transparency, the page’s background color (color only - no page background image), will be used to fill the background area.

Generally, using the default of ‘render background’ checked will do the right thing for an object but if, for example, your object uses relative positioning and will move with respect to the objects under them, you will need to use true transparency to prevent to wrong section of background from being drawn into the object’s rendered image. Or, if an object was part a Special Effect and appeared only on mouse-over, you might want it to hide everything behind it and have the background only show the page’s color.

GIF always has transparency turned on so “render background” is not an option if GIF is used.

You may set the Render Background option globally to affect all rendered objects using the Project Target Options dialog box. (For more information, see “Project Target Options Dialog Box.”) Or, you may set the Render Background option on the Options Tab of the Geometry Editor dialog box. (For more information, see “Geometry Editor Dialog Box.”)

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The figures below show the effects of the Render Background option. The first image shows images juxtaposed on a page with the option turned off. Note how data appears to be missing. The second image shows images juxtaposed with the option enabled.

Do not place transparent objects that have the background rendered into the object’s image over a text object since the appearance of a text object is dependent on the viewer’s system configuration.

Figure 87. Images on a page with the Render Background option disabled and without true transparency.

Figure 88. Images on a page with the Render Background option enabled.

Hyperlinking

Certainly one of the unique characteristics of web publishing is the ability to hyperlink web pages together. Just as the old saying goes that “all roads lead to Rome,” all web pages lead to your web page, thanks to the power of hyperlinking.

In SiteSpinner™, you can apply a hyperlink to any object. Or, you can hyperlink selected text in the Text Editor.

You can apply different kinds of hyperlinks. You can link to a remote web site anywhere on the Internet, or you can link to another page in your web site. You can create a link to open the user’s email application to compose and send an email, or you can link to a “ridealong” file that you can upload to your web directory along with your web project. This file can be any kind of document or even an executable. Finally, you can initiate an FTP or Telnet file transfer session.

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For easy access, all hyperlinks in your project are maintained by the Link Manager. The Link Manager allows you to maintain the list that is displayed in the URL dropdown list when http:// URL type is chosen. For more information, see “Link Manager Dialog Box.”

You can set hyperlinks to other pages in your project to work in the Work Window, to help you edit your pages faster. Set the Enable Page Links in Work Window option on the Links Tab of the Object Editor dialog box.

If a hyperlink does not work in the Work Window, check to see if the hyperlinked object is hidden on a Z-order layer behind another object. Press the Shift key while clicking the object to select it, and then click the To Front button in the Align Bar. This will move the object to a superior position in the page’s Z order.

Multiple links on the same object may cause unexpected results and are not recommended. For example, if you have a link on a text object itself and links on the words inside the text object you may see odd results. Likewise a link on a group object and links on the objects inside the group may not do what you expect.

An easy way to assign a hyperlink to an object is to right-click it, and then select Edit Link. The Link Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box will appear.

Link Editor Dialog Box

The Link Editor dialog box allows you apply text (or “inline”) hyperlinks to words you have selected in the Text Editor and to manage your Link Library. (For more information, see “Text Editor Dialog Box (Text Edit Mode).”)

To open the Link Editor dialog box, with the Text Editor dialog box displayed, select Insert��Insert Link (URL), or press the CTRL+I keyboard shortcut. Or, click the Link Editor

button: on the Text Editor toolbar.

The Link Editor dialog box is not available with the Text Editor in Code Edit or Title Edit Mode.

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Figure 89. Add inline (text) hyperlinks using the Link Editor dialog box.

Be careful of conflicts between inline hyperlinks (assigned to text using the Link Editor dialog box) and text object hyperlinks (assigned using the Link Tab on the Quick Properties Editor dialog box or the Object Editor dialog box). If you update a hyperlink and clicking the hyperlink takes you to the old target and not the new one, check to make sure inline and object hyperlinks are not conflicting.

Options on the Link Editor dialog box include the following:


Select URL Select from the drop-down menu the type of hyperlink you want to apply to the selected object. Choose from among internal project page ([page]), Internet (http://), email (mailto:), external file ([ file ]),FTP, or Telnet link types (protocols).


Link Type Select from the drop-down menu the type of hyperlink you want to apply to the selected object. Choose from among (-blank-), internal project page (-page-), Internet (http://), email (mailto:), FTP, or Telnet hyperlinks.

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Text link to click on

If you have already selected text in the Text Editor to make into a hyperlink, displays the selected text. Or, if you have not selected text, enter the text that will become hyperlinked when you have completed the operation. The hyperlinked text will be inserted where you had placed the cursor before opening the Link Editor dialog box.

Assign a title Enter a descriptive title or information about the link to be displayed when the user hovers the mouse over the link without clicking it. Optional.

Assign a bookmark name

Optional, unless you are creating a bookmark. Enter a unique name for the bookmark. For more information, see “Adding a Bookmark to Text.”

Open this link in a new Window

Click to checkmark to open the hyperlink target in a new browser window when the user clicks the hyperlink, instead of opening the hyperlink target in the current browser window. Adding this name will allow you to later create a link to the particular place on the page that this named word occupies.

Add New URLs to the URL List

Click to checkmark to automatically add any hyperlink addresses you enter in the Select URL field to the Link Manager. For more information, see “Link Manager Dialog Box.”

Do Not Underline Link

Click to checkmark to remove the underline from hyperlinked text.

Assign Unique Color

Click to checkmark and then click the Color button to open the Color dialog box, allowing you to select an alternate color to the default medium blue color assigned to hyperlinked text.

Manager Click to open the Link Manager dialog box, allowing you to manage the hyperlinks list. For more information, see “Link Manager Dialog Box.”

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Test Click to launch the URL in its default application. To test remote links, i.e., Internet, email, ftp, or Telnet, you must have an active connection to the Internet. To test internal page links, complete the hyperlink operation and then test the hyperlink on the Preview Page.




Link Manager Dialog Box

The Link Manager stores all of the hyperlinks in your project for convenient access while you work. It also allows you to export hyperlinks from your current project for use in other projects or import hyperlinks from other projects for use in your current project.

Hyperlinks maintained by the Link Manager will appear in the URL drop-down menus on the Links Tab of the Quick Properties Editor dialog box, the Link Tab on the Object Editor dialog box, and the Link Editor dialog box. This will allow you to select them to quickly assign hyperlinks to objects or to inline text. For more information, see “Link Editor Dialog Box.”

Also, you can easily maintain and manage the hyperlinks (URLs) in your Netscape® Bookmarks or Microsoft® Internet Explorer® Favorites menus using the Link Manager. You can import your Bookmarks or Favorites menu list into the Link Manager and delete dead or unwanted hyperlinks, or you can give a menu listing a new name that is more helpful to you. You can update a listing with a new hyperlink. Or, you can combine multiple Bookmarks or Favorites lists or reorganize the lists into different submenu folders. Then when you are finished you can export the new hyperlink list, ready to be re-imported into Netscape or Internet Explorer.

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Figure 90. Use the Link Manager dialog box to maintain your Favorites or Bookmarks menu.

When using SiteSpinner™ on computers set up to allow individual user accounts, each user’s link library is maintained separately.

The Link Manager dialog box includes the following controls and fields:


Import URL List Click to display the Open dialog box to browse for a list of hyperlinks (in *.htm or text formats) to open in the Link Manager.

Export URL List Click to open the Save As dialog box to save the edited hyperlinks list with a selected name and directory location.

Browse the Internet

With a web page hyperlink highlighted in the URL List Box, click to open the web page in your default web browser. You must be connected to the Internet.

Always add new URLs to the list

Click to checkmark to automatically store in the Link Manager all of the hyperlinks you create.

URL List Box Displays hyperlinks currently available.

Add Click to add the hyperlink displayed in the URL field to the URL List Box.

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Replace Click to update a hyperlink highlighted in the URL List Box with the data in the URL and Title fields.

Delete Click to remove a hyperlink from the URL List Box.

Delete All Click to remove all hyperlinks from the URL List Box.

URL Displays the Internet address of a hyperlink highlighted in the URL List Box. You may edit this or enter a new Internet address, then replace the current selection or add a new item to the URL List Box.

Title Displays the title associated with the current URL. This will be placed in the Title field of the Link Editor dialog box when you click OK.

OK Click to accept the current settings and exit the dialog box and place the selected URL and title into the Link Editor.



Adding a Bookmark to Text

Bookmarks help your users navigate through long passages of text on a single web page. You’ve probably seen them and used the hyperlinked words that say “top” or “click to return to top.” Click the hyperlinked text, and you are brought back to the start of the text passage (and, in all likelihood, the top of the web page where all the navigation buttons and controls are).

This procedure shows you how to define a bookmark at the top of a long passage of text and then create a hyperlink reference to the bookmark.

You can also link to a bookmark on another page by using ./somepage.html#somebookmark or http://www.somewhere.com/somepage.html#somebookmark.

You can use any object as a bookmark by using its geometry name with a G in front. For example: If you have an button made from a rectangle, and the rectangle’s geometry name is “geo1”, use the bookmark #Ggeo1. In this example you may prefer to rename the geometry, (in the Geometry Editor) to say, “launchbutton.” The bookmark would then be #Glaunchbutton.

1. Open the Text Editor dialog box in Text Edit Mode. For more information, see “Text Editor Dialog Box (Text Edit Mode).”

2. Enter a passage of text

OR

Insert a passage of text. For more information, see “Adding a Text Object.”

3. Place the cursor to the left of the first character position of the text. This is where you will create the bookmark.

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Figure 91. Define your bookmark at the top of the long text passage.

4. Press the CTRL+I keyboard shortcut

OR

Click the Link Editor button: in the Text Editor toolbar.

The Link Editor dialog box will open.

5. In the Assign a Bookmark Name field, enter “top.”

6. Click OK. The Link Editor dialog box will close.

Figure 92. Enter the bookmark name and click OK to save the setting.

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7. Navigate to a location in your long passage of text where you will want to create a hyperlink reference to your bookmark, and then place your cursor in that location.

8. Re-open the Link Editor dialog box. (Press CTRL+I or click the Link Editor button:

in the Text Editor toolbar.)

9. In the Text Link to Click On field, enter “top.”

10. In the Select URL field, enter “#top.”

11. Click OK. The Link Editor dialog box will close, and the hyperlinked word “top” will appear in the Text Editor window where you had placed your cursor.

Figure 93. Create your hyperlink reference to the bookmark.

12. Click the Save and Close button. The Text Editor dialog box will close.

13. Click the Preview Page button to see and to test your bookmark hyperlink. For more information, see “Project Preview.”

14. Repeat steps 1 though 12 to add additional hyperlink references, as you desire.

Special FX

Mouse-over effects are easy to create. SiteSpinner™ allows you to create varied image and object special effects using options from the Special FX menu. These effects can be useful when you are creating games, web-based training or tutorials, or message boxes.

By default an object will always be visible. By toggling the Loading Effects (Special FX��Loading��Hide While Loading or Special FX��Loading��Hide After Loading) or options on or off, you can make a selected object invisible during or after the loading of the page.

You can set an object to respond to the movement of the mouse pointer using the Mouse Over options (Special FX��Mouse Over��Hide on Mouse Over or Special FX->Mouse

Over��Hide on Mouse Leave). For example, you could create tooltip descriptions or special

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instructions that would appear only when the user moves the mouse pointer to a button or control.

You can create relatively complicated mouse trigger effects using the Mouse Trigger Effects dialog box (Special FX��Mouse Effects). You can trigger one object to hide itself and display another object when the user either hovers or clicks the mouse on the trigger object. Or, you can set the trigger object to display an object while remaining visible. You can create group objects and set them either as trigger or display objects. For example, by using a trigger object to show a display object, you can create a popup message or graphic.

Mouse Trigger Effect Dialog Box

Use the Mouse Trigger Effect dialog box to set up user interaction among the objects on the page.

To open the Mouse Trigger Effect dialog box, select Special FX�Mouse Effects, or press the ALT + X keyboard shortcut. If you select an object first, it will be listed as the trigger object and the effect for that object, if there is one, will be displayed.

Each effect is associated with the trigger object. That is, it is the trigger object that contains the effect and each object can only have one trigger effect. Conversely, an object can be the display object of multiple effects.

Figure 94. The Mouse Trigger Effect dialog box helps you add some user interaction and special effects to your web page.

The Mouse Trigger Effect dialog box includes the following controls and fields:


Event Select from the drop-down menu what you want the user to do to trigger the action. Choose either when the mouse pointer is over the trigger object or when the mouse button is pressed on the trigger object.

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Trigger Object Select from the drop-down menu the object that you want the user to mouse over or click on to trigger the action. Choose any object on the current page. Once you have set a trigger object and its options, you can select another trigger object and then choose options for it. If you have not clicked the Apply button before doing this you will be prompted to save the previous trigger.

Action Select from the drop-down menu what you want to happen when the user moves the mouse over or clicks on the trigger object. Choose either Hide the trigger object and make the display object visible, Show the display object, Make the trigger object visible and hide the display object, or Hide the display object

Display Object Select from the drop-down menu the object that you want to be affected when the user triggers the action. Choose any object on the current page.

Only if trigger object is visible

Click to checkmark the option box to limit a selected mouse trigger effect to occurring only if the trigger object is in an unhidden state.

Remove Effect Click to remove any effect from the currently displayed trigger object. If a trigger object does not have a display object selected, there is no effect set.

One time action Click to checkmark the option box to limit a selected mouse trigger effect to occur only once.



Apply Click to apply the current action to the selected objects. This allows you to set up additional actions between objects without exiting the dialog box.

Making a Dropdown Menu

You can make a dropdown menu on your page without having to know JavaScript.

1. Make buttons out of text or image objects.

2. Stack one on top of the other. The top button will be always visible and will display the menu name. The buttons below it will be the dropdown menu options.

3. Create a temporary group. This will be your first group of buttons. (For more information, see “Selecting Multiple Objects to Form a Temporary Group.”)

4. Copy and paste the group to create a second group of buttons. (For more information, see “Copying and Pasting an Object.”)

5. Apply contrasting shading to the menu name button on the first group of buttons.

Index


6. Apply the same shading to the menu option buttons on the second group of buttons.

Figure 95. Apply contrasting shading to the two groups of buttons.

7. Set the Z-order (layer) of the second group of buttons to be above the first group of buttons. (For more information, see “Moving an Object to a Different Layer (Z Order).”)

8. Assign navigational hyperlinks to each of the second group of buttons. (For more information, see “Hyperlinking.”)

9. In the Mouse Trigger Effect dialog box, assign a mouse-over effect to the first menu option button of the first group of buttons to show its counterpart in the second group of buttons, but only if the first menu option button is visible. (For more information, see “Mouse Trigger Effect Dialog Box.”)

10. Repeat step for the remaining buttons in the first group of buttons.

11. Form a permanent group out of the first group of buttons. (For more information, see “Creating a Permanent Group Object.”)

Make a note of the object name of the menu name button in the first group of buttons. This will make it easier to set the next mouse effect.

12. In the Mouse Trigger Effect dialog box, assign a mouse-over effect to the menu name button in the first group of buttons to show the permanent group you created in step , and then make it disappear when the mouse is moved off by clicking the One Time Action option box.

Instead of "mouse pointer is over", you could use "mouse button is pressed on". This means that the menu drop-down would be activated with a click instead of a mouse over.

13. Click and drag the second group of buttons, and position it to be superimposed precisely on top of the first group of buttons. (For more information, see “Move Object.”)

Figure 96. Click and drag to superimpose the second group of buttons on top of the first group of buttons.

Index


14. Preview the page and see that the menu name button from the first group of buttons is all that is visible initially. (For more information, see “Previewing a Page.”) Mouse over the menu name button in the first group to show the menu name button in the second group and the menu option buttons from the first group. Mousing over the menu option buttons shows their counterparts in the second group of buttons. Clicking a menu option button will open the page to which you hyperlinked.

Index


Index

Absolute Paths, 82, 87

Absolute Positioning, 136, 137, 138

Align Bar, 34, 37, 48, 50, 134, 135, 136, 137,

141, 143, 164, 166, 226, 229, 230, 233, 235,

236, 315

Alignment, 30, 48, 133, 156, 224, 289, 291

Anti-Aliasing, 211, 313

Arrange Menu, 30

Auto Backup, 77, 93, 97

Auto Scroll, 158, 252

Background, 26, 47, 111, 120, 122, 123, 124,

144, 145, 146, 147, 259, 261, 313

Background Tab, 26, 47, 111, 122, 144, 145,

146

Borders, 165, 178, 247

Box, 252, 258, 259, 272, 319, 320

Change Image Directory Dialog Box, 181,

250, 286

Check Spelling Dialog Box, 158, 267, 272

Clean Components, 25, 76, 175, 177, 203

Clone Object, 25, 42, 164, 167, 169, 178, 203

Clone Target Copy Option, 175, 176

Code Edit Mode, 28, 45, 157, 252, 256, 257,

258, 259, 261, 262, 263, 283, 284

Code Objects, 28, 45, 282

Code Positioning, 284

Code View Window, 46, 79, 80, 81, 82, 87, 88

Color Dialog Box, 184, 192, 195, 196, 216,

259

Component, 165, 185, 197, 247, 252, 261

Components Bar, 33, 37, 44, 110, 150, 151,

152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160,

197, 212, 222, 224, 225, 227, 228, 229, 231,

232, 233, 234, 235, 237, 238, 239, 241, 245,

247, 248, 249, 253, 280, 284, 285, 286, 288,

294, 297

Components Tab, 76, 160, 161, 163, 170, 172,

183, 201, 202, 212

Context-Sensitive Help, 15, 46

Copy Object, 24, 42, 167

Copy Page, 26, 47, 129, 130, 173

Copy Target Copy Option, 175, 176

CSS Positioning, 136, 137, 138, 139, 157,

205, 258, 284

Curve Objects, 28, 44, 244

Customize Toolbar Dialog Box, 40

Cut Object, 24, 42, 166, 175

Cut Page, 26, 46, 129, 131

Date, 256, 265, 266

Day, 16, 35

Delete Object, 24, 43, 167, 175

Delete Page, 47, 131

Dictionaries Dialog Box, 259, 274, 278

Drawing Object Re-Rendering, 309

Dynamic Layout, 137, 140, 142, 289, 290, 291

Edit Menu, 24, 254, 255

Editing, 149, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156,

157, 158, 159, 165, 166, 178, 200

Editor Dialog Box, 12, 30, 50, 185, 203, 218,

219, 248, 259

Ellipse Objects, 27, 44, 241

Export Progress Dialog Box, 103

File Menu, 23, 254

Fill Settings Tab, 186, 188, 195, 197, 198, 199

Filters Dialog Box, 259, 262, 269

Find Dialog Box, 263

Flash, 28, 45, 86, 102, 150, 291, 294, 295, 296

Font, 11, 14, 118, 156, 158, 257, 261, 262,

263, 266, 267, 281

Font Dialog Box, 266

Foreign Object/Media Dialog Box, 158, 294

Foreign Objects, 28, 45, 102, 291, 295

Format Menu, 254, 256

FTP Tab, 85, 86, 89, 90, 95, 96, 107, 108

Gathering, 87, 90

Gathering Resources, 87, 90

General Plug-In, 292, 295, 296

Geometry Component, 177, 183, 216

Geometry Drawing Shortcuts, 55

Geometry Editor Dialog Box, 30, 50, 178,

202, 313

Getting Help As You Work, 11, 15

Grid Guide, 20, 21, 22, 34, 43, 52, 58, 133,

134

Group Objects, 31, 49, 134, 135, 136, 164

Index


Guide/Display Options Dialog Box, 21, 22,

24, 34, 57, 134, 154, 243

Header Tab, 111, 115

Help Menu, 35, 254, 259

High Render Work Window, 34, 58, 59

HTML, 15, 19, 24, 28, 32, 45, 46, 52, 55, 61,

63, 64, 73, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 86, 93, 94,

95, 102, 104, 105, 106, 108, 110, 111, 113,

114, 118, 127, 137, 138, 139, 157, 158, 205,

209, 210, 211, 214, 252, 255, 260, 263, 270,

271, 272, 279, 283, 285, 286, 287, 289, 290,

291, 293, 295, 296, 308, 313

Hyperlink, 263

IFrames, 28, 45, 102, 291, 293, 296

iHost VM, 84, 90

Image Object Re-Rendering, 309

Image Objects, 28, 44, 247

Image Target Formats, 308, 310

IMS Project File, 61, 104

Include Dialog Box, 172

Include Object, 25, 164, 171, 175, 203

Include Target Copy Option, 175, 176

Insert Menu, 254, 256

Internet, 12, 15, 16, 17, 35, 36, 73, 84, 85, 86,

89, 90, 96, 99, 106, 107, 110, 113, 118, 120,

148, 207, 220, 221, 270, 273, 293, 314, 316,

318, 319, 320

Java Applet, 293, 295, 296

Keyboard Shortcuts, 18, 52

Layout Tools, 18, 20, 21

Link Editor Dialog Box, 206, 219, 256, 263,

315, 318

Link Manager Dialog Box, 34, 118, 208, 221,

258, 315, 317, 318

Link Tab, 201, 206, 213, 219, 221, 315, 316,

318

Locally, 88

Lock/Unlock Object, 25, 27, 44, 206, 237

Menus, 18, 20, 23, 254

Meta Tags Tab, 111, 113, 114

Mouse Trigger Effect Dialog Box, 33, 323

Move Object, 27, 44, 136, 151, 152, 153, 154,

155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 164, 165, 166, 224,

286

Music, 26, 111, 121, 147

Music Tab, 26, 111, 121, 147

New Dictionary Dialog Box, 277, 278

New Objects, 151

New Pages, 26, 46, 125

Object Bar, 34, 37, 48, 50, 179, 183, 184, 186,

194, 195, 196, 198, 201, 287, 312

Object Editing Shortcuts, 53

Object Editor Dialog Box, 26, 29, 47, 50, 76,

130, 137, 138, 161, 163, 200, 212, 215, 224,

228, 231, 234, 280

Object Effects, 308

Object Manipulation, 128, 149, 162, 176

Object Menu, 27

Object Movement, 54

Object Names, 47, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155,

156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 165, 166

Object Selection Shortcuts, 53

Object Statistics Message Box, 203, 211

Object Tab, 160, 212, 213, 224, 225, 229, 232,

235, 236, 279, 301, 304, 309

Object Types, 149, 151, 239

Object-Level Shortcuts, 53

Objects, 25, 42, 59, 63, 65, 130, 134, 136,

137, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156,

157, 158, 159, 161, 163, 164, 165, 166, 177,

200, 311, 313, 324

Online Support, 17, 35

Open Dialog Box, 156, 249

Options, 20, 21, 22, 33, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 50,

57, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 73, 80, 84, 94, 105,

106, 113, 133, 134, 135, 137, 138, 139, 141,

142, 179, 180, 182, 201, 204, 209, 243, 249,

250, 254, 258, 259, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265,

266, 269, 270, 272, 274, 275, 278, 280, 287,

289, 295, 309, 311, 312, 313, 316

Options Dialog Box, 33, 38

Options Menu, 34, 254, 258

Options Tab, 179, 180, 182, 201, 209, 250,

312, 313

Organization, 12

Other File Type, 294, 295, 296

Outline Tab, 178, 179, 181, 182, 184, 213,

215, 222, 244, 301

Outlines, 165, 178, 247

Overview, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, 60, 61, 109, 110,

149, 150

Index


Page Bar, 29, 33, 37, 45, 46, 110, 127, 131,

160, 161, 162, 175

Page Editor Dialog Box, 26, 45, 47, 64, 110,

139, 140, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 283

Page Effects, 109, 144

Page Layout, 21, 27, 44, 109, 133, 200, 222,

224, 225, 227, 228, 232, 240, 247

Page Manipulation, 128, 162

Page Menu, 26

Page Names, 46, 84, 105, 106, 127

Page Navigation, 47, 126

Page Select Tab, 111, 112, 126, 128

Page Selection, 25, 46, 127, 128, 131, 172,

173, 174

Page-Level Shortcuts, 52

Pages, 20, 25, 46, 84, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 93,

94, 101, 104, 105, 106, 108, 109, 110, 113,

116, 118, 120, 121, 124, 125, 126, 127, 131,

139, 140, 144, 145, 147, 148, 173, 174

Pages Tab, 84, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 93, 94, 101,

104, 105, 106, 108, 127

Paste Object, 25, 42, 164, 167

Permanent Groups, 164, 165

Polygon Objects, 28, 44, 58, 243

Positioning, 48, 64, 65, 136, 137, 138, 204,

224, 226

Preferences, 259, 272

Preview Bar, 15, 34, 37, 45, 80, 81, 84, 105,

106, 113, 286, 287

Private Target Copy Option, 175, 176

Profile Tab, 77, 84, 90, 91, 92, 95, 104, 106

Profiles, 77, 80, 83, 89, 95, 104, 106

Program Options, 18, 57

Project Code, 24, 32, 46, 60, 79

Project Maintenance, 60, 76

Project Numbers, 63, 78

Project Options, 34, 61, 63, 73, 80, 139, 141,

142, 311

Project Preview, 32, 46, 60, 73, 322

Project Target Options Dialog Box, 20, 21, 34,

61, 62, 113, 137, 138, 139, 141, 142, 313

Project Templates, 23, 60, 68, 69

Project-Level Shortcuts, 52

Projects, 12, 20, 23, 24, 42, 60, 61, 66, 68, 69,

77, 83, 286

Publish File, 292, 295

Publish Formats, 63, 79, 93

Publish Menu, 32

Publisher Dialog Box, 32, 46, 77, 80, 83, 86,

87, 88, 89, 90, 104, 108, 110, 127

Publisher Sub-Directories Dialog Box, 87, 100

Publishing, 24, 60, 77, 83, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89,

90, 92, 93, 97, 104, 106, 286

Quick Properties Editor Dialog Box, 29, 33,

45, 161, 163, 200, 203, 212, 224, 228, 231,

234, 280

QuickTime, 294, 295, 296

RealAudio, 294, 295, 296

Rectangle Objects, 27, 44, 239

Relative Paths, 82, 85, 88, 90, 107

Relative Positioning, 48, 64, 65, 136, 137,

140, 224

Relative Sizing, 137, 140, 141

Remotely, 77, 89, 97

Render Background, 63, 181, 313, 314

Replace Dialog Box, 264

Re-Rendering, 63, 64, 165, 181, 210, 214,

248, 308

Reset Transformations, 236

Resource Files, 86, 94, 251

Resources, 82, 85, 87, 88, 90, 107

Rotate Object, 233

Rulers, 20, 21, 34, 43, 57

Save Current Document As Dialog Box, 23,

24, 69, 71

Saving, 42, 60, 68, 69, 71

Scale Object, 140, 227, 286

Select Object, 25, 47, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155,

156, 157, 158, 159, 162, 167, 168, 170, 174,

175, 179, 183, 184, 186, 194, 195, 196, 197,

198, 212, 225, 226, 228, 229, 230, 232, 233,

234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 248, 253, 280, 284,

285, 286, 300, 312

Selection Tab, 186, 187, 194, 195, 196, 197

Set Size Dialog Box, 152, 154, 159

Shading, 12, 30, 50, 53, 78, 164, 165, 185,

186, 187, 188, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199,

203, 213, 216, 217, 218, 219, 243, 244, 247,

248, 252, 259, 261

Shape, 241, 309

Shockwave, 102, 294, 295, 296

Index


SiteSpinner™, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,

19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 42, 52,

57, 60, 61, 62, 64, 65, 66, 68, 71, 73, 76, 77,

79, 80, 83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 94, 95, 98,

100, 104, 107, 108, 109, 110, 112, 113, 114,

125, 126, 127, 129, 133, 135, 136, 137, 139,

140, 142, 143, 149, 150, 151, 154, 160, 162,

170, 171, 177, 192, 193, 203, 210, 214, 224,

237, 239, 247, 248, 251, 254, 260, 261, 283,

285, 286, 287, 292, 294, 308, 309, 310, 311,

313, 314, 322

SiteSpinner™ Online Help, 15, 35

Skew Object, 231

Snap Grid, 22, 34, 43, 52, 58, 133, 134, 224,

225, 228, 231, 234

Sound/Music, 294, 295, 296

Special Effects Tab, 111, 119, 139, 140, 148

Special FX, 32, 33, 322, 323

Special FX Menu, 32

Spelling, 158, 258, 259, 267, 268, 272, 273,

274

Status Bar, 16, 21, 22, 33, 160, 164, 165

SVG, 19, 24, 28, 32, 45, 46, 52, 53, 61, 63,

64, 73, 74, 75, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 86, 93,

94, 102, 104, 105, 106, 110, 111, 113, 123,

127, 138, 139, 144, 146, 157, 158, 185, 209,

211, 214, 279, 285, 287, 292, 293, 295, 296,

308

Symbol Conventions, 11, 14

Tab, 20, 21, 22, 34, 54, 58, 80, 89, 90, 95, 98,

99, 111, 116, 117, 133, 134, 135, 143, 161,

162, 163, 170, 178, 197, 213, 215, 216, 217,

224, 225, 248, 315, 318

Tab Guides, 21, 22, 34, 133, 134, 135, 225

Table Editor Dialog Box, 287, 288

Table Objects, 28, 45, 287

Target Copy Options, 26, 130, 175, 203

Target Resolution Guide Border, 21, 34, 43,

52, 54, 63, 135, 139, 224, 286

Temporary Groups, 164, 237

Text Edit Mode, 28, 45, 157, 251, 252, 253,

254, 282, 284, 315, 320

Text Editor Dialog Box, 157, 252, 253, 279,

281, 282, 283, 284, 315, 320

Text Object Shortcuts, 54

Text Objects, 28, 45, 158, 251

Time Dialog Box, 265

Title, 28, 44, 111, 113, 114, 150, 155, 156,

157, 169, 207, 220, 252, 257, 258, 261, 263,

279, 280, 281, 282, 284, 315, 320

Title Edit Mode, 252, 258, 263, 279, 280, 281,

282, 284, 315

Title Editor Dialog Box, 156, 279, 280

Title Objects, 28, 44, 279

Toolbars, 18, 20, 23, 37

Tools Menu, 254, 258

Tooltips, 16

Transform Object, 27, 44, 134, 136, 151, 152,

153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 164, 165,

166, 226, 248, 281

Transformation Shortcuts, 54

Transformations Tab, 137, 138, 201, 203, 204,

226, 229, 230, 233, 236, 237, 238

Transitions, 120, 148

Tutorials, 15, 35

Usage Conventions, 11, 13

User Forums, 16, 17, 35

User Guide, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19

User Guide Assumptions, 12

User Guide Design, 12

Vertex Editor Dialog Box, 27, 44, 216, 221

Video, 102, 294, 295, 296

View Menu, 33

With Objects, 149, 151

With Pages, 109, 125

With Projects, 60, 62

Work Window, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 30,

32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44,

45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 57, 58, 59, 62, 63, 64, 65,

66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 73, 74, 75, 80, 81, 82, 94,

104, 106, 110, 111, 112, 125, 126, 127, 128,

129, 130, 131, 133, 134, 136, 137, 138, 140,

141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 150,

151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159,

160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 167, 168, 173,

180, 183, 187, 198, 200, 201, 202, 205, 208,

212, 214, 216, 222, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228,

229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237,

238, 239, 241, 243, 244, 247, 248, 251, 252,

253, 254, 255, 258, 259, 260, 261, 280, 282,

283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 293, 295, 312, 315

Work Window Editing Space, 20

Index


Working, 60, 62, 109, 125, 149, 151 Z Order, 31, 49, 142, 143, 162, 325