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HTML OUTPUT

What is Everywhere HTML?
“Everywhere HTML” is the HTML generated by NetObjects Fusion which utilizes the tags recognized by the major browsers to allow your pages to look the same across those browsers. NOTE: because browsers can interpret identical tags slightly differently, there are always going to be some discrepancies from browser to browser. However, with Everywhere HTML NetObjects has accommodated many of the major tag differences.

How can I get my page to wrap to the browser window?
NetObjects Fusion generates all its code using either tables or CSS and Layers code in order to provide pixel perfect placement. However, if you wish to have your content not be placed in this way, you can choose to place all your content in-line so that no tables are generated and the content wraps within the browser window. This option is available only when you have the ZeroMargins MasterBorder selected, and have chosen to make a text box fill your entire layout. You cannot have this option with MasterBorder content, because MasterBorders require tables in order to function. If you want to have one portion of the page be fixed tables and the rest of thepage be adjustable to the browser window, you can do this by scripting in your own frames, and referencing pages you have created in NetObjects Fusion. For more information on creating a non-tabled page see our User Guide, Chapter 7, page 7-23. For more information on scripting frames, see our User Guide, Chapter 23, Creating Custom HTML Framesets and Frames.

How can I edit the HTML code?
NetObjects Fusion is an HTML code generator. This means that you set properties for different objects which NetObjects Fusion converts into the appropriate HTML tags when you preview or publish your site. Almost all elements can have their code “edited” by changing the properties in the various properties palettes within NetObjects Fusion. For code you wish to add which is not accommodated through the tools and properties, there are HTML scripting options available for every object as well as the header information of the HTML page itself. These dialogs show you what HTML is going to be generated by NetObjects Fusion, and allow you to add to that HTML. This feature allows you to add things like javascript, VBScript, and emerging technologies which are not yet incorporated into the NetObjects Fusion tool set. For more information on adding HTML and other scripts, see our User Guide, Chapter 22, Working with HTML Directly.

NetObjects Fusion also allows you to include HTML from external sources and use any HTML or text editor you like to edit that HTML. An externally maintained page can replace an entire page in the site structure, replace just a layout (so that you can use the MasterBorders availablein your site) or be added as an object within an already existing layout. For more information about utilizing external HTML, see our User Guide, Chapter 19, Referencing and Editing External HTML.

What do I do if my page is not WYSIWYG in the browser to what I see in Page view?
There are a number of reasons why this might be happening. In most cases, pages published with NetObjects Fusion show correctly in all browsers. However, there are a number of conditions which can lead to discrepancies:

    1. All my elements are jumbled on the page.

If all your elements are jumbled up on the page, this is most likely because you havepublished with an output method which your browser does not support. Version 3.0 browsers cannot see pages published with CSS and Layers code. Some version 2.0 and earlier browsers cannot interpret tables. Make sure that the browser in which you are viewing your site can support the HTML output method you have chosen.

    2. Elements near navbars move around on the page.

This problem is also usually characterized by the page looking correct in Preview, but not in Publish. This is related to a bug in the released version of NetObjects Fusion 3.0 which creates the navbar table size incorrectly under some circumstances. If you place your navigation bar inside a text box or layout region, this usually alleviates the problem.

    3. I included the center tag, but my elements aren't centering.

First, make sure that your page is not published using CSS and Layers, and also does not contain an Action. These utilize code which positions elements on your page absolutely. Relative alignments such as centering are ignored by the browsers under these circumstances.
NOTE: if an action has been added to your page at some point in the past, even if that action has been deleted, a bug in NetObjects Fusion 3.0 leaves some CSS and Layers code in that page which interferes with the center tag.

Second, the table containing your elements may be created too wide. NetObjects Fusion creates tables to contain your objects and it makes these tables the same size as the Page width dimension specified in your layout properties. It is this table containing all your layout content which is being centered. If you layout has too much “white space” to the left or right, the table may already be filling the available browser display area. Use the Size Layout to Elements command in the Object menu in your Page view to reduce the size of your layout.

There are also two bugs in NetObjects Fusion 3.0 which can cause the tables to be created too wide. One occurs when you are using a left or right frame. The width of the left or right frame is added to the table for the body frame, thus making the table too wide. The other occurs when a horizontal navbar is generating an incorrect table size. In the latter case you can place the navbar inside a text box in order to correct the problem.

    4. There is extra space at the bottom of my page even though my MasterBorder is flush with my content.

This is a bug in NetObjects Fusion 3.0 when there are Actions applied to the page. One of the Layer tags used for implementing the action has been created at an incorrect size. The amount of space can vary but does go away as soon as the Action is removed.

If none of these appear to be the problem, also check the more typical problems like font sizes and browser generated elements.

If you place objects, particularly images, such that they are exactly flush against the upper and left edges in the NetObjects Fusion page area this can cause the browser to display other elements on the page shifted slightly down in their table cells. This is primarily noticible when you have several images which are designed to be flush with each other. To make everything appear correctly, select all elements on the page using Ctrl+A (either in the layout or MasterBorder area, depending on which region contains the obejcts) and using the arrow keys, nudge all the selected objects down one pixel and to the right one pixel. The page should now preview and publish correctly.

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IMPORT

How can I import a site I already have in HTML?
There are two different methods of importing your Web site into NetObjects Fusion. You can perform a Local Import, or a Remote Import. In order to access either of these options, you must first start a new Blank Web site in Fusion. Start the application, click the Blank Site button, and assign the new site a name. Once Fusion creates the Web site, and you are in Site view, choose New Site from the File menu. From the New Site sub menu, you can choose either From Local Import (i.e., used when your Web site is currently on your hard drive), or From Remote Import (i.e., when your Web site is currently on a remote Web server). For specific instructions on how to perform these import options, see our User Guide, Chapter 3, Importing and Exporting.

How can I import another NetObjects Fusion site?
To import a NetObjects Fusion site file into another NetObjects Fusion site file, you must first switch to Site view. Select the page you wish to be the parent for the site or template file you are importing. Select Import Template from the File menu. You can choose to import either a previously saved template or a regular site file. Browse to the file you want to import, select it, and then click Open. NetObjects Fusion imports the file. The original of the file is left intact in its original location but all pages and assets of the imported file are added to the parent site.

How can I import just one page?
You can import a single page into your NetObjects Fusion Web site, by first switching to Page view, and then choosing the Import HTML page option from the File menu. In the Open dialog box, browse to and select the desired page. When you click Open, Fusion imports the page, and adds that page's assets to the Web site´s assets list. You can also import just one page from Site view. This can either be a Page template (choose Import Template from the File menu) or an HTML page (choose Reference HTML from the File Menu.) For more information on importing pages, see our User Guide, Chapter 3, Importing and Exporting.

Why doesn't my imported site structure look like my original?
NetObjects Fusion creates the site structure for an imported HTML site based on the links which are available in that page. The first page which is targeted is considered to be the home page. Any hyperlink on that page is assumed to lead to children pages. Therefore every page which is linked to your home page appears in your imported site structure as a child of the home page. Then, on each of those pages, any page linked to which is NOT already in the site is imported as a child of that page. The order in which pages are read is top to bottom, left to right.

Two main ways of displaying and linking Web pages produces more unusual results: HTML frames and Javascript. With HTML frames a page your Web site is represented by a frameset page and two or more content pages which that frameset references. Since in NetObjects Fusion frames can only be applied through the MasterBorders, there is no direct equivalent to a frameset document within the design environment. NetObjects Fusion imports this page and leaves it as an External HTML document. The content pages it references are imported as the children of that frameset page. Anywhere a separate frameset exists in your site, it is imported into NetObjects Fusion in this fashion. Thus there may be "extra" pages in your site structure.

In the case of Javascript, the problem is that NetObjects Fusion does not generate nor interpret Javascript. Depending on how the Javascript has been added to your page, NetObjects Fusion may not even be able to import the script itself. However, no links which are implemented solely through Javascript or a Java applet are understood by the import code, and any pages which are only linked to by this method will be imported. Thus some pages might be “missing” in the imported structure.

Why doesn´t my imported page or pages look like my original?
NetObjects Fusion works best when the original HTML uses tables or CSS and Layers code to exactly place elements on the page. When you place an element into a page in your NetObjects Fusion site, the program translates the location of the element into a coordinate position on the layout grid. When you import an HTML page, or an entire Web site into Fusion, Fusion must translate the position of elements in the original pages onto this grid. If the original HTML uses percentage based tables, or no tables at all NetObjects Fusion uses a “best guess” algorithm to place these elements. In these cases it usually impossible to translate the location of the elements onto a coordinate grid with 100% accuracy, so some editing of the imported page's elements may be necessary after import.

If you are importing a site which was originally created in NetObjects Fusion you will notice that none of the information which was formerly in your MasterBorders is included in new MasterBorders. Also your navigation bars and banners will merely be images and no longer automated. This is because there is no equivalent code in HTML to define a “MasterBorder” or “navigation bars.” In HTML all elements are a part of a single layout, and all navigation elements are independant linked images. Therefore, if you wish to use MasterBorders or navigation elements in your newly imported site, you will need to create these after you import.

What other types of files can I import besides HTML?
You can drag and drop Rich Text Format and Text-Only files into Page view in NetObjects Fusion. These file types can also be imported using the Import Page option in the File menu (check this) All other files types either need to be converted into HTML format first, or the original files can be linked to as external files in a variety of ways. For more information on referencing external files see our User Guide, Chapters 14 (linking to external files) and 19 (referencing external HTML).

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JAVA AND JAVASCRIPT

Does NetObjects Fusion support Java?
NetObjects Fusion supports placing Java applets into your Web pages. The Java tool allows you to specify all supporting files as well as all parameters for any particular applet. The documentation for the applet you are using should always be consulted prior to adding the applet to you NetObjects Fusion site so that you know what supporting files and parameters are required by your applet. You will need to Publish the site in order to see the applets in action, as Preview will not write the code appropriately. For more information on adding Java applets see our User Guide, Chapter 16, Adding Java and ActiveX.

How can I use Java applets where the code is created by another program or a wizard?
You can add Java applets created in another program by adding the HTML using our External HTML options. Usually a Java wizard creates a final output which consists of HTML code which references back to the class files and other supporting files the Java applet requires. Reference the HTML code generated by the Wizard using the External HTML tool on your NetObjects Fusion page. You should specify that you want to Manage External HTML assets. This makes sure that NetObjects Fusion tracks all the supporting files required for the applet to function. Remember that each applet is different and may have different requirements, so always consult the documentation provided with the applet program as to how the end result is to be included in a Web page and where the files are required to exist on the server.

What do I do if the parameters don't show up in the properties?
Java Parameters will appear in the Parameters field if the Java Applet uses the "GetParamInfo" function in the code. If it does not, check the documentation for the Applet or the Sample HTML code which is supplied and add any items which are defined as <PARAM NAME ="XXX" VALUE="YYY"> as Parameters (with XXX in the Name field and "YYY" in the Value field). For more information on how to add parameters, see our User Guide, Chapter 16, Adding Java and ActiveX.

What do I do if the browser isn't running my applet?
If you are Previewing the site, your Java Applets will not function. In order to view the Applets in action, you will need to publish the site to your server or your local machine.

If the applet is not running in your published site, first check to make sure that you have included all of the appropriate files in the File List for the applet, and check your Parameters listing to make sure there are no exclusions or typos which might cause the applet not to function. One place to check for clues is if you are using Netscape Navigator, choose the Java Console from the View menu.

You should also check your browser settings to make sure that your browser is set to allow Java Applets to operate. Both IE 4.0 and Netscape 4.0 have security features which may disable applets even when a site is published.

How can I add Javascript to my page?
You can add Javascript in a variety of ways to your NetObjects Fusion site. You can add any functions or definitions to the HEAD of your HTML file, by including your script in the Inside Head field for your Layout HTML. If you wish to apply Javascript event to particular elements on the page, you can include these using the Object HTML for the element to which you wish to apply the script. Finally, you can add Javascript to any link created with the External Link option in the Link dialog. To learn more about inserting scripting using the HTML dialogs see our User Guide Chapters 14 (for adding scripts to links) and 22 (for all other HTML additions.)

Are there some examples of Javascript I can look at?
NetObjects has a
Usage Note which provides samples of scripting at its Web site.

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LINKS

How do I create a mailto link?
To create a mailto: link, first select the text or element to which you want to add a mailto: link. Then, click the Link button in the Properties palette. Finally, in the External Link tab, choose mailto: from the URL pop-up menu and enter the e-mail address in the adjoining text box.

How do I create a link to an external file?
To create a link to an external file, select the text or element to which you want to add an external link. Then select the File Link tab in the link dialog. Click the Browse button and select the file you are interested in at the Open File dialog.

How do I create relative links to pages outside my publish root directory?
To create a link to pages outside your root directory, you need to use the External Link option in the link dialog. While normally this dialog has you link to pages using absolute paths (i.e.. www.mysite.com/folder/page.html) you can also choose to link using a relative path (i.e.. ../folder/page.html). To do this all you need to do is select the [none] protocol from the drop-down list, and type in your relative link in the URL field. NOTE: When entering relative links always remember where the page you are linking from is to be located in the output directory structure. If that directory structure changes where your linking page is located on the server, you may need to adjust any relative external links you have created.

How do I target links?
You can target your links with the targeting drop-down list available in all link dialogs when using AutoFrames. The drop-down lists are only available when the AutoFrames option has been selected. For more information on targeting links in AutoFrames, see our User Guide, Chapter 24, Working with AutoFrames. If you are scripting your own framesets, you will need to make a custom external link to include the target. This procedure is outlined in our User Guide, Chapter 23, Creating Custom HTML Framesets and Frames.

How do I create anchor links?
You can link to an anchor created in any page in your site using the drop-down list available in the Internal Link dialog. This drop-down list is only available for Internal Links. For anchors to appear in this drop down list, the anchor must first be created using the Anchor button on the object property tab. The anchors which appear in the drop-down list are those for whichever page you have selected from the page list. This allows you to link to anchors which are either on the current page, or on other pages in your site. Creating anchor links is covered in our User Guide, Chapter 14, Creating Links and Anchors.

If you wish to link to an external page which contains an anchor, you will need to customize the External link dialog to link to that anchor (check on this for internal?). To learn more about inserting scripting using the HTML dialogs see our User Guide, Chapter 14, page 14-12.

How do I add Javascript to links?
You can add Javascript to any link by using the HTML option in any link dialog box. To learn more about inserting scripting using the HTML dialogs see our User Guide Chapters 14 (for adding scripts to links) and 22 (for all other HTML additions.)

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MASTERBORDERS AND FRAMES

What is a MasterBorder?
A MasterBorder is the margin areas of a page where you can place objects which you want to repeat across more than one page. It functions just like a header or footer in a word processor. This is typically where you place things like navigational aids, company information or help links. A MasterBorder can be applied to any page in your site and the same MasterBorder can be applied to many pages. You can have more than one MasterBorder available in your site so that certain sections of your Web site can share common information. For more information on how to work with MasterBorders, see our User Guide,Chapter 6, Managing MasterBorders and AutoFrames.

What are frames?
Frames are a way that you can display more than one page of HTML at once. A frameset page defines the number and position of areas in the browsers display window and references the individual content pages which will display in those areas. Each area of the frameset is called a frame and is identified by a unique name so that the browser knows which page to display where. You can apply frames easily in NetObjects Fusion using the AutoFrames option available in MasterBorders. For more information on how to apply AutoFrames to your site, see our User Guide, Chapter 6, Managing MasterBorders and AutoFrames.

How can I include META tags on a framed page?
To include META tags for framed pages, add the meta tags you are interested in to the Master HTML for your page. When AutoFrames are applied to your masteborders the Master HTML applies information entered there to the frameset document, instead of the layout document of each page using that MasterBorder. For more information on using the Master HTML see our User Guide, Chapter 22, Working with HTML Directly.

How can I make images line up across two frames so that the images appear to touch?
NetObjects Fusion currently puts extra space in the dimensions for a frame created with the AutoFrames feature. The reason this is done is because all browsers, to a certain degree, crop frames when they are displayed. Unfortunately, most of the time, there is too much padding in the dimensions that NetObjects Fusion uses and images which are meant to be aligned at the borders of frames show a gap between them. As yet, NetObjects Fusion does not have a tool control to adjust the padding which is added to frameset dimensions.

To enable frames to allow images to touch there are two options: One is to use our scripting options to create your own framesets. This is covered in our User Guide, Chapter 23, Creating Cutom HTML Framesets and Frames. The other is to utilize a component, FrameAid, which has been developed by one of our third-party developers, Coolmaps.

How do I target links in frames?
You can target your links with the targeting drop-down list available in all link dialogs when using AutoFrames. The drop-down lists are only available when the AutoFrames option has been selected. For more information on targeting links in AutoFrames, see our User Guide, Chapter 24, Working with AutoFrames. If you are scripting your own framesets, you will need to make a custom external link to include the target. This procedure is outlined in our User Guide, Chapter 23, Creating Custom HTML Framesets and Frames.

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MULTI-USER

Can I use NetObjects Fusion 3.0 on a server?
NetObjects Fusion 3.0 is designed to be used on a single workstation. All files which are being used should be accessed from the same machine as the program. NetObjects Fusion 3.0 is not designed to be run from a server, nor are its site files designed to be accessed from a server.

You may store any NetObjects Fusion site files on a server for archive or backup purposes. Assets which are being used by the site may also be accessed from a server.

How can I share my site with another user or another machine?
To transfer files between any two machines, files must be saved as a template, then opened as new sites or inserted into existing sites on the destination machine. Version 3.0 files cannot be read by NetObjects Fusion 2.0x. To implement round-trip transfer of templates between any two machines, templates must be created in the same version of NetObjects Fusion. For more information on templates see the NetObjects Fusion User Guide Chapter 3, Importing and Exporting.

Is there a multi-user version of NetObjects Fusion?
Yes, NetObjects has a multi-user version of NetObjects Fusion called TeamFusion.
TeamFusion 1.0 is currently available and is compatible with the single-user version 2.0x.

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MULTIMEDIA

Does NetObjects Fusion support Shockwave, Flash and other Macromedia formats?
NetObjects Fusion supports all the various macromedia formats. For more information on how to implement these using our Rich Media tool, see our User Guide, Chapter 15, Placing Media.

Does NetObjects Fusion support RealAudio, RealVideo and other streaming technologies?
NetObjects Fusion supports all the various RealMedia formats. For general information on how to implement these using our Rich Media tool, see our User Guide, Chapter 15, Placing Media. For specific instructions, search on the keywords RealAudio in our online
knowledgebase.

Does NetObjects Fusion support ActiveX controls?
NetObjects Fusion supports placing ActiveX controls within your page. For information on how to set up an ActiveX control, see our User Guide, Chapter 16, Adding Java and ActiveX.

What do I do if I have a file whose format is not listed in one of the tools?
In general most media files require the use of the embed tag. Using the Rich Media tool you can select files of any type, and this tool places them in an embed tag. Using the Object HTML for the element you have placed, you can add any parameters which that file type might require. For more information regarding the Rich Media tool, see our User Guide, Chapter 15, Placing Media. For more information regarding adding HTML to page elements, see our User Guide Chapter 22, Working with HTML Directly.

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