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Since NetObjects Fusion was introduced, it has won more than 50 industry awards and helped millions of people build great Web sites for themselves, their businesses, and their clients. NetObjects Fusion has benefited from the great ideas we’ve incorporated from customers just like you. And now, with our latest release of NetObjects Fusion MX, we’ve made site building even faster, easier, and more powerful than ever before. NetObjects Fusion MX delivers more refined, more efficient, more accessible functionality in a tightly integrated feature set. We’ve incorporated speed improvements, wizards, new component tools, and a unique set of resources in the brand new Services view. Take a closer look at what’s new:
Redesigned Control Bar
Services View
Site Wizard
User Profile
Style View Improvements
Page View Service Components
Fusion Scripting Interface (FSI)
Publish View Customizations
Deleting Remote Files
Automatic Updates
Auto Site Recovery
Site Re-optimization
Improved Site Import of NetObjects Fusion MX-generated Sites
REDESIGNED CONTROL BAR
We’ve changed the layout to provide greater ease of use. Services view, formerly the Online view, is now the first button on the left. Preview and Publish Site are now accessible in the Site and Page views, in addition to Publish view. And we’ve changed the Control Bar to a low-contrast gray so it doesn’t conflict with your site’s design while working.
SERVICES VIEW
The new Services view is the hub of NetObjects Fusion MX. Get instant access to product news, update information, online resources, NetObjects Matrix Services, site hosting options, links to Help, the Site Wizard, and links to recently opened site files. Through our unique integrated browser you can find all the resources needed to make your site more effective, and your online business more successful.
SITE WIZARD
The Site Wizard gives the novice site builder a head start on developing a Web site. It allows them to selectively add pages, choose a style, and add content. Using templates based on real-world small business sites, the Site Wizard provides an easy way to build an effective Web presence with minimal hassle. In minutes, even a complete novice can create and publish a fully functional Web site.
USER PROFILE
Once you create a user profile in NetObjects Fusion MX it will pre-populate fields in the Site Wizard, auto-fill sign-ups for new services, and quickly register your copy of NetObjects Fusion. You can create a profile when you launch the application, or later, using the Tools/Edit Profile menu.
STYLE VIEW IMPROVEMENTS
Choose from over 200 SiteStyles to give your site a professional look and feel. Simply use the Online Styles Viewer in the Style view to easily find and download a style of your choice.
PAGE VIEW SERVICE COMPONENTS
We’ve added the new Services Tool just below the Zoom Tool on the standard toolbar. The Services Tool lets you drop third-party services components onto any page in your Web site. Using our unique scripting language, Fusion Scripting Interface (see below), you can interact directly through the third party’s Web site for registration and maintenance. Once placed on the page, wizards walk you through the sign-up process and install the working component.
There are several advantages to using this very unique set of WYSIWYG components. Traditionally, you had to cut and paste chunks of HTML onto individual pages to install services like these. Using our services components, the average user can set up a service quickly using familiar visual tools and never touch any HTML. In addition, NetObjects Fusion MX will automate many of the mundane tasks such as typing in names for each unique page. These are benefits even advanced users appreciate.
Services components currently available include: Site Statistics, Page Hit Counter, Site Search, Polls, and Guest Book.
FUSION SCRIPTING INTERFACE (FSI)
The new Fusion Scripting Interface (FSI) is the underlying technology enabling the services components. Using ActiveX technology, FSI exposes functionality inside NetObjects Fusion as an API. Within a Web-browser environment you can directly interact with NetObjects Fusion using a scripting language such as JavaScript. In this way, a third-party Service Provider can accept customer requests for information, conduct transactions, then transmit the necessary data back to NetObjects Fusion to complete the component installation or modification. In addition, using FSI, NetObjects Fusion can manage separate browser-based sessions, thus creating a unique operating environment perfectly tailored to our Service Provider’s current business model.
PUBLISH VIEW CUSTOMIZATIONS
Publishing your site has been simplified considerably and is now much more customizable. Many of the menus found in the Publish view are actually unique browser pages and can be modified without changing the existing NetObjects Fusion executable. In addition, using FSI, a variety of partner hosting options have been provided so that you can choose from familiar hosting companies such as DellHost, EarthLink, or Verio.
DELETING REMOTE FILES
Maintaining remote directories on your hosting provider’s Web servers has been difficult in the past. NetObjects Fusion MX now lets you easily view remote directories and edit the contents, including deleting old files. This feature is available from the Publish/View/Delete Server Contents menu option.
AUTOMATIC UPDATES
NetObjects Fusion MX can automatically update itself through our integrated browser environment. In this way, we can conveniently offer new product enhancements and patches on a periodic basis. The beta tester will be provided with new beta updates via this mechanism on a weekly or biweekly schedule. You can set the Updates tab in the Options dialog to determine how often the program checks for new updates. One option is to check for updates when the program launches. We recommend this for dedicated online connections. The second option is to check when NetObjects Fusion connects to the Internet, for instance, during remote publishing. If there is a new update available, this information gets saved in the registry, and you will be notified the next time NetObjects Fusion is launched.
AUTO SITE RECOVERY
NetObjects Fusion MX automates the process of recovering site files (e.g., NetObjects Database Files or *.NOD) that have become unstable or corrupted. NetObjects Fusion MX automatically detects if a corrupted site file has been opened and prompts you to either exit the program or proceed with the process of recovery. The program then walks through all the records in the database and enacts repairs as necessary. Finally, the old site file is replaced with the new site. This function also reduces the size of the site file for optimal performance.
SITE RE-OPTIMIZATION
This feature lets you manually invoke the Auto Site Recovery feature.
IMPROVED IMPORT OF NETOBJECTS FUSION MX-GENERATED SITES
The ability to re-import NetObjects Fusion MX-generated sites has improved dramatically. Now you can confidently recreate your site file, if the original is no longer available. NetObjects Fusion MX recognizes NetObjects Fusion objects that it generates, such as Navigation Bars, MasterBorders, and Layout Regions, and reconstructs them precisely.
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