NOTE: If you are using a 16-bit browser to test your site locally, you may not be able to see pages or content that is output using some of the long HTML file names often generated by NetObjects Fusion. However, these sites will appear correctly to your site visitors who use 16 bit browsers to view your site after you have published it to a remote location. Also, if you are using the CSS and Layers publishing option or are using Actions (DHTML) you must view your pages in a browser which supports HTML 4.0.

Do I need any special server extensions to work with NetObjects Fusion?

NetObjects Fusion requires no special server side software to publish your site. NetObjects Fusion only uploads HTML text files and any other assets which are assigned to your site. However, some components do require that compatible software be installed on the server to which you are publishing if these components utilize other programs in order to perform certain functions. Make sure to check the documentation for the component or contact the component vendor for any server requirements.

How can I get a printed copy of the User Guide for version 4.0?

Why don't my actions work in Netscape 4.05?
The 4.05 release of Netscape contains a known bug which prevents many JavaScripts from executing locally on your machine. This means that many Actions, which use a combination of HTML 4.0 and JavaScript, will not work when the site is Previewed or Published locally. If the site is Published to a Web server, most Actions should function normally.

How can I delete assets?
You can delete any asset by choosing the Delete Asset option in the Edit menu. The only exception to this is link assets. Link assets are deleted when the last instance of a link is deleted, either by deleting the page the last link is on, deleting the object that last link is associated with, or choosing the Unlink option from the link dialog. Unlinking is the preferable way to remove links. File assets always remain in the list of available assets regardless of whether or not they are currently being used. You can delete all unused assets by choosing Delete All Unused File Assets from the Assets Menu. You can also delete assets which are shown as in use, though warning dialogs inform you that this can leave your pages in an inconsistent state.

What do I do when one browser displays my page differently than another?
Different browsers handle the interpretation of HTML slightly differently. Most problems revolve around variations in table-rendering, font display, browser generated elements, or special tag support.

For misplaced or misaligned objects the easiest way to start determining where the problem lies is to check the way the browser is interpreting the table structure. You can do this by holding down the shift key while doing a full site or single-page preview. This command tells NetObjects Fusion to generate all the layout tables with a border equal to one. When the pages are viewed in the browser you can see how the tables are distributed. Compare the same page between the browsers. Check to see where the tables are different. Very often the cause is a change in font size, or a browser generated element, such as a form field, which is displayed differently.

Added HTML scripts can also cause the table structure to behave in a different fashion. Usually these are very easy to fix by simply adjusting the amount of space allotted for those elements in the layout area in NetObjects Fusion. However, depending on the design of the page, and what is causing the problem, a more complex solution may be required.

Special tag support tends to manifest itself where one browser displays something and another does not display it at all. The important thing to do in this case is consult a reference manual and make sure that the property you have assigned or scripted in is in fact supported by the browser in which you are viewing the site. Sometimes to get a similar effect in multiple browsers several different simultaneous methods may have to be employed. For the most part NetObjects Fusion tries to account for these discrepancies, but as the browsers evolve and new tags are introduced, special tags or variations in interpretation of standard tags can cause display differences.

See also in this FAQ:

Why do my fonts look different in different browsers?
Each browser and each computer platform display fonts slightly differently. Netscape Navigator uses a more common point-based font display. Microsoft Internet Explorer uses a relative sizing method where fonts are Medium, Small, or Large. Internet Explorer fonts tend to have a slightly larger leading (the distance between lines of text) and kerning (the distance between characters) than the fonts in Navigator.

Fonts are also different on different platforms. Fonts on the Macintosh platform display an apparent three point sizes smaller than the equivalent font on the Windows platform. In other words, 12 pt. Times Roman displayed on a Macintosh takes up approximately the same amount of screen real estate as 9 pt. Times Roman displayed on a Windows machine. To account for the differences in font size, you should view your pages on different machines to see how the changing font sizes affect your layout. To simulate different machines, alter the size of the display font in your browser settings. This will also give you an idea of how a custom font setting on a viewer's machine may affect the overall design.

How can I get my content to be flush against the top and left edges of the browser window?
All browsers, when displaying information in tables, leave a gap at the top and left edges of the browser window. Although the background image still begins at the upper left corner, the page content does not display until a little bit further down and to the right. Different browsers leave a different amount of space.

NetObjects Fusion includes HTML tags to account for these gaps. To set the values for the margins at the top and left of the browser window, choose the Preferences option from the Edit menu and select the Page tab. At the bottom of the preferences is the Background Image setting. The pixel settings adjust the position of the background image in NetObjects Fusion to reflect the final position of the content in relation to the image when the page is generated

NOTE: The HTML tags which NetObjects Fusion 4.0x includes are recognized by all 4.0 browsers and IE 3.0, but not Netscape 3.0x or earlier. Netscape 3.0x automatically offsets the content of a page 10 pixels in from the left and 16 pixels in from the top on the Windows platform, 8 left and 8 top on the Macintosh platform.

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 noticeable 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 objects) 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.

If you are using frames see this FAQ How can I make images line up across two frames so that the images appear to touch?

How can I do a shopping cart?
An easy way to implement a shopping cart in NetObjects Fusion 4.0 is by using the iCat components available for download with the trial version, or available on the CD. A tutorial of this service is available in the Building Business Web Sites manual in Chapter 12, Linking an iCat Commerce Cart to an Online Catalog.

Other methods of implementing shopping carts are available through other packages which can be used with a NetObjects Fusion front end.

Why doesn't the component I placed show up in Preview?
All components are designed to work only when staged or published. The reason for this is because of Java security issues in the latest browsers. These security issues prevent browsers from executing Java applets as local files within the operating system. You must publish your site to view your components.

What should I check if the Forms Handler component isn´t working?
If the Forms Handler component isn´t working, first check to make sure that all the parameters have been specified in the component properties, and that these parameters are correct for the server to which you are publishing. The Forms Handler component offers several options to allow you to configure the settings to match the requirements for a variety of servers. If you aren´t sure of your server's requirements, contact your ISP or server administrator to find out.

The Forms Handler component requires that the permissions for the CGI directory are set to execute, and that the directory into which the data is to be written is set for read and write. For the location on the server where the Webdata directory is to be written, you must also have permission to create a directory.

What should I check if the BBS component isn´t working?
If the BBS component isn´t working, first check to make sure that all the parameters have been specified in the component properties, and that these parameters are correct for the server to which you are publishing. The BBS component offers several options to allow you to configure the settings to match the requirements for a variety of servers. If you aren't sure of your server's requirements, contact your ISP or server administrator to find out.

The BBS component requires that the permissions for the BBS-CGI directory are set to execute. In addition, the entire BBS directory which contains the various elements used by the component must be set for read and write permissions.

Can the Forms Handler send email?
The Forms Handler component may be configured to send email. For more information see our User Guide Chapter 23, Designing and Implementing Forms.

Why do pages look different on the Macintosh platform?
The primary reason that pages or layouts created on the Windows platform no longer look the same when viewed or moved to the Macintosh platform is because of the difference in display font sizes. The Macintosh platform displays equivalent Windows fonts about 3 point sizes smaller. In other words, the amount of screen real-estate that 12 pt. Times Roman uses on a Macintosh screen is about equivalent to the amount of screen real-estate that 9 pt. Times Roman uses on a Windows machine. When pages or files created on a Windows machine are viewed on a Macintosh the text appears to “shrink” leaving gaps between objects on the page.

Data publishing is implemented through data objects. A data object is equivalent to a data table, where all field information as well as the record information is stored. Data is displayed in pages in a list format. When a data list is created, a stacked page which displays individual record information is also created. Each row of the list corresponds and is linked to one record in the stacked page.

Dynamic Data Publishing, where information is sent to and received from a database existing on a server through a live Web connection, can be implemented through the use of components and backend applications such as Allaire's Cold Fusion and Microsoft ASP. Components for these packages is available with NetObjects Fusion 4.0 Partner Components which are available for download with the trial or from the CD.

When should I use an internal dataobject?
Internal dataobjects are most useful for small collections of records and ones which will not need updating often or by other users. Typically an internal data object is used for 10-50 records.

When should I use an external data object?
External dataobjects are most useful medium to large collection of records and ones which can be updated often or by other users. External data sources are best used for 50-400 records, where the records do not need to be updated very often, or updated by Web visitors. Once the number of records is much larger than around 400, the format of datalist/stacked pages even filtered, becomes unwieldy for the site visitor as well as for the site developer, who must maintain room on the server for as many pages as there are records. At this point it is often more practical to move to live querying through CGI scripts (Dynamic Data Publishing.)

There are also several common actions which can result in a crash if there is a problem with the site file. These are listed below:

• Crash during compaction
• Crash when opening file
• Crash when accessing a page
• Crash during preview or publish
• Crash while importing a site during the recovery procedure

If you get a crash on compaction of the site, you should immediately revert to your last saved backup. The compaction routine is designed to check your site file for errors. If one is found, this is an indication that some occurrence during the last session was not written correctly to the database, either because of resource conflicts or internal errors.

If you get crashes opening a file, or when attempting to go to a page or preview or publish a certain page, it is usually because that page which is trying to be accessed contains incorrect or damaged information which the program is unable to resolve. In this case either immediately revert to a previously saved backup from before the crash, and/or perform the recovery procedure on the problem file following the instructions outlined in the document recover.txt located in the NetObjects Fusion 4.0 directory on your hard drive.

If you get a crash during the recovery procedure, there are two possible scenarios. One is that the crash occurred immediately. If this is the case, the file is most likely damaged such that the import routine does not recognize it as a valid file. Try recovering from previously saved backups if this type of crash occurs. If the crash occurs during the latter part of the import, at around 85% when the file is saving, this file may usually be recovered by opening the newly created file and running through the recovery procedure a second time.

Anytime the file crashes it is wise to revert to a backup from before the crash occurred to prevent any problems which might have resulted from the crash.

What do I do if I receive the Out of Memory Error?
The Out of Memory Error indicates that NetObjects Fusion does not have enough resources to complete the task you have asked of it. You should be prompted to quit the program and retry your action. If you do get this error you might want to try shutting down other concurrently running applications, or check to see that you have enough available memory or free disk space on your machine. Relaunch NetObjects Fusion and try your action again. If you are once again prompted with the out of memory error, or the program crashes, refer to What Do I Do if NetObjects Fusion Crashes?

If you get this error when you are migrating a site file forward from a previous version, or importing a site file during recovery, this can also indicate that there is a problem in the site file itself. In the former case, try running through the recovery procedure using the previous version before bringing the site forward into version 4.0. If the problem persists, try shutting down all concurrently running applications and reboot the machine.

What do I do if I receive the error This File Contains an Instability?
The full text of this error is as follows:

• This file contains an instability. If this file was created in an older version of NetObjects Fusion, it is likely that the instability was introduced by that version. Please use recover.txt, located in your /NetObjects Fusion folder, to learn an alternate method of opening this file.

While the text of the error message indicates a possible cause in a previous version of NetObjects Fusion, this error can occur under some conditions (usually after a crash) in the current version as well. Usually the error comes up as a result of a crash and will show up when you open the site. If you see this error message, revert to the backup from before your last save, or perform the recovery procedure as indicated in the error text.

Sometimes this error will again be shown when the import phase of the recovery procedure is completed. This indicates that there is still a problem with the file. In this case you should perform the recovery procedure again, on the file you just imported. In other words, if the original file was file A, and you imported it into new file B, import file B into new file C. This should eliminate the error.

What do I do if I receive the error Damaged Objects Have Been Found and Deleted?
There are two dialogs which contain this message. These are:

• Damaged objects have been found in the layout and have been deleted.
• Damaged objects have been found on the page and have been deleted.

If either one of these messages is displayed when accessing a page, this indicates that NetObjects Fusion has detected that one or more objects in that page or layout were incorrectly committed to the database during the last save. When it detects this, it eliminates the incorrect data from the page. You may notice that an item on the page is now missing or not displaying correct information.

If you receive this error repeatedly, it may indicate a more serious problem with the way that the database is being committed to disk. At this point it is a good idea to run through the recovery procedure outlined in the recover.txt document located in the NetObjects Fusion 4.0 directory on your hard drive.

What should I do if I get the Not Enough Disk Space error?
This error is a generic one which means that a write failed to disk. Typically this indicates that there is not enough disk space on the hard drive specified. However, it can also indicate that a drive is write-protected, that there is an error on disk, or that some other program or system routine is preventing NetObjects Fusion from writing to disk. This is known to be a conflict with some virus programs. If you are running a virus protection program, try turning this off to see if you still get the error.

What do I do if I receive a Remote Transfer Error?
The Remote Transfer Results dialog box is shown any time an error is encountered during the transfer of files during publish. Examine the results returned in the edit area to determine where the error may be occurring.

NetObjects Fusion 4.0 has a number of issue related to this dialog box. The most common error is when the Remote Transfer Results returns TCP/IP errors similar to the following: “the file C:\index.html could not be sent because of a TCP/IP Error (PORT failed) server response: 426 Data Connection: Connection reset by peer.” Check the following things to attempt to eliminate the errors:

1) Turn on PASV mode FTP. Some servers require a PASV mode connection and refuse active connections. To turn on PASV mode, select your Location Properties in the Publish view and on your remote settings click the Advanced tab. Check on the Connect passive (PASV) FTP mode checkbox and try republishing.

2) Close NetObjects Fusion and other currently running programs, relaunch your site, and try republishing. Sometimes these errors can be resource related. Closing NetObjects Fusion as well as the other programs can free up resources which may be needed for publishing. Additionally, rebooting the system and trying a publish with no other programs running but NetObjects Fusion and any software required to establish a connection to the server, may help if the situation might be low resources at the time of publish.

3) Since this error can result from timeouts from the server, if the server has high traffic or is performing slowly at the time of publish such that the server reports timeouts to the NetObjects Fusion connection. If this might be the case a republish at a different time when the server is not as busy may give better results.

4) It is also possible that this error results from the inability to find files locally which the publish view thinks are supposed to be transferred to the server, but which are either not available or not actually in use by the site file. This can be the result of damage to the site file, and seems to be more common with site files which have been migrated from previous versions of NetObjects Fusion. You should always check the destination server or directory to verify that all files were sent. If they have been sent and the site works correctly, then the reported errors were false. If not, the following procedure may help in reducing errors:

• Delete all Unused File Assets from the Assets view. This command is available in the Assets menu when in Assets view
• Clear all Customizations in Publish view. This option is available in the Setup -> Directory Structure dialog in Publish view
• Run the site through the recovery procedure. This procedure is outlined in the file recover.txt located in your NetObjects Fusion 4.0 directory.

If none of these work to eliminate the errors you may also publish your site locally by configuring your server locations to a local directory on your hard drive or LAN. You may then use any third party FTP client to upload the contents of that directory when the local publish is complete.

Form elements by themselves will not do anything until you have implemented a script which will perform an operation on the data entered. NetObjects Fusion provides one script in the form of a component, the Forms Handler. The Forms-Handler publishes a Perl5 CGI script to Windows, UNIX or Macintosh servers. This script is designed to write the information submitted through the form to a text file located in the specified directory on your server. The component may also be configured to email the data in the form elements. This latter option does not require the CGI script, but also does not work correctly for most versions of IE and AOL.

Is there a form template I can use?
NetObjects Fusion 4.0 includes four types of form templates that you can use as a starting point for your site: Feedback Form, Order Form, Product Support Form, or Purchase Requisition Form. These templates are pre-designed form pages containing generic or place holder content for typical forms. To insert one of these forms in your site, from Site view, select the File menu and choose Import Template. This gives you the option of selecting from our Page Templates. Select one of these templates and the form is imported as a child page of the currently selected page in Site view.

NOTE: The form templates, while they contain submit buttons, are not configured with any CGI scripts. You must supply your own CGI script for the form, or replace the generic submit button with the Forms Handler component and follow the instructions for configuring the form settings as outlined in our User Guide, Chapter 23, Designing and Implementing Forms.

How can I make all my form elements line up?
There are two ways to ensure that your form elements line up:

First, if your elements are placed independently on the page, you should make sure that all elements which are to be in the same row are aligned at the top. Simply select all the objects in that row by dragging the mouse marquee around them or by shift-clicking on each element. The Align properties appear in the properties sheet. Select the Top icon,. or choose the Align Elements option under the Object menu. This allows you to align selected form elements by the top, ensuring that they can be in the same table row in the HTML. Once the elements are aligned at the top, choose the Rows option for your HTML tables. This ensures that all elements which are aligned to be in the same table row, are actually generated in the same table row.

You can also create your form in a table or within a text box. With your form elements in a table, you can ensure that all elements are in positions which will not change with other changing elements. With a text box, all your form elements are placed in-line just as in a text editor. After placing your form elements in a table cell or text box, select multiple elements. The Align tab in the Forms Properties palette offers several options for alignment in relation to the text.

For more information about aligning objects and configuring table output see our User Guide, Chapter 6, Page View Basics, and Chapter 7, Controlling Published Output.

How can I make my form elements tab in order in the browser?
Form elements tab in the order in which they appear in the HTML. This means that for elements to tab across horizontally in order, the elements must be properly aligned. See How can I make all my form elements line up? in this section.

Why aren't my form elements appearing in the browser when I preview or publish?
If your form elements are not appearing in the browser, or are not appearing correctly, you are probably publishing with the CSS and Layers option selected for this page, or the CSS and Layers option is selected in your Publish settings and your page is currently set to use whatever is set in Publish. Currently, most 4.0x browsers do not display forms correctly when a page is published using CSS and Layers code. If you have a forms page, make sure that the HTML output method for your forms page is set to Regular or Nested Tables. For more information about selecting HTML output methods, see our User Guide, Chapter 7, page 7-5.

What should I check if my form isn't working?
If you are using your own CGI or JavaScript, first check to make sure that you have configured the script in accordance with that script´s documentation or the author´s instructions. Additionally refer to our User Guide, Chapter 23 to ensure that all the configuration has been done in the correct location in NetObjects Fusion. If the CGI script is to run on a server and it still does not seem to be functioning, contact your server administrator or service provider.

If you are using the Forms-Handler component and have configured all the parameters for the component correctly as outlined in Chapter 23, here are the most common errors which might happen:

Nearly all problems in getting the Forms Handler to work fall into the following categories: CGI functionality on Web server and Web server directory permissions.

CGI functionality on Web server

Regardless of whether you publish the Perl5 script files (Publish to UNIX) or the binary executables (Publish to Windows), two server requirements must be met regarding CGI in order for the Forms Handler component to function correctly.

1. The server must be able to execute CGI programs (binary executables or text scripts) from any user-defined CGI-bin directory. In particular, the server must be able to directly execute the CGI scripts (programs) placed in the assets/CGI-bin directory.

2. The server must be able to execute CGI programs (scripts) that have an extension of .cgi. The default PERL extension is .pl. Some servers expect an extension of .pl5 for Perl5 scripts and an extension of .pl or .pl4 for Perl4 scripts.

If you aren´t sure how your server is configured for CGI functionality, contact your server administrator or service provider.

Web server directory permissions and virtual directory settings

Web server settings required by the Forms-Handler component are no different from other standard scripts with the following exceptions:

1. CGI scripts must execute in user-defined CGI-bin directories without any kind of CGI-wrap or proprietary CGI schemes.

2. Server recognizes .cgi as an extension of CGI programs (scripts).

If you aren´t sure how the permissions have been configured for your directories, contact your server administrator or service provider.