Microsoft Publisher - Publishing web site file name

Author

Publishing web site file name

Cadkiller

2006-09-01, 10:23 pm

Group;

It says in the help that when publishing your web site to use "index" as the
default name for the home page. When doing this I get "index_files" added to
the path of all your web pages.

Is there anyway to get rid of this in the path of the page names?
If I can't can I change the name from index to html or web? That way I would
at least get "html_files" or "web_files" added to every page of my site.
Better than index IMO.

Here is an example of one of my page names.

http://precisiondraftingllc.com/ind...s/ContactUs.htm

DavidF

2006-09-02, 3:23 am

Your home page needs to be named index.htm or one of the other default file
names that browsers look for when you click on www.precisiondraftingllc.com
.. If you use try to use web.htm then the browser won't recongnize it as the
home page, and thus won't open your site.

You have the option of not using the supporting folder. Tools > Options >
Web tab and untick "Organize supporting files...". Unfortuanately, then all
your page names and images will be renamed, and your link will look like
this: http://precisiondraftingllc.com/index_ContactUs.htm . I suspect that
having your page names changed to index_ContactUs.htm would be even worse
than your other option.

One other option available is to build your site with multiple Publisher
files. For example, if you produced your ContactUs.htm page as a single page
website, you could Publish to the Web, and save as ContactUs.htm instead of
index.htm. Your HTML output would consist of a ContactUs.htm file, and an
index_files folder containing only your graphics. You create a subfolder on
your site (say "Contact"), and upload the HTML, and then write an absolute
link from your main site:
http://precisiondraftingllc.com/Contact/ContactUs.htm You would not be able
to use the wizard navbar, as it uses relative links. If this approach is of
any interest to you, read:
http://msmvps.com/blogs/dbartosik/a...1/16/81264.aspx

This is one of those limitations of using Publisher to build websites. Don't
get me wrong...I like using Pub for web building, but I must say, that given
the sophisticated and specialized software you use for your business, I am a
bit surprised you haven't invested in specialized software for web building.

DavidF

"Cadkiller" <Cadkiller@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:DD596B9C-DD6E-4BBD-BD4B-4E381172B9F6@microsoft.com...
> Group;
>
> It says in the help that when publishing your web site to use "index" as
> the
> default name for the home page. When doing this I get "index_files" added
> to
> the path of all your web pages.
>
> Is there anyway to get rid of this in the path of the page names?
> If I can't can I change the name from index to html or web? That way I
> would
> at least get "html_files" or "web_files" added to every page of my site.
> Better than index IMO.
>
> Here is an example of one of my page names.
>
> http://precisiondraftingllc.com/ind...s/ContactUs.htm
>
>

Cadkiller

2006-09-02, 3:23 am

David;

I know Publisher isn't the best tool for creating web sites; but it was the
easiest for me at the time. I tried Frontpage and found it very complex. I
wasn't able to properly convert my website from Publisher to Frontpage; so I
stuck with Publisher and I'm pretty happy with the results.

I actually was creating my company brochure with Publisher and found the
create a web publication tool and "Shazaam" there it was pretty much all
setup.

My only problems are the address of the pages and the browser issue. I can
live with both of them; but would like the browser issue resolved soon.

PS: It's hard enough for me to have to learn all these complex programs for
CAD and I also have to learn and master web creation.

Thanks for your help.

DavidF

2006-09-02, 6:31 pm

Thanks...I was just curious. That is pretty much the how and why I use
Publisher to build my websites. I also think what you have accomplished is a
good example of just how good of site one can produce with Publisher.
Hopefully, removing the master pages will fix your cross browser issue.

DavidF

"Cadkiller" <Cadkiller@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:122DFB51-505E-4F67-816B-97C8C8A4D5F1@microsoft.com...
> David;
>
> I know Publisher isn't the best tool for creating web sites; but it was
> the
> easiest for me at the time. I tried Frontpage and found it very complex. I
> wasn't able to properly convert my website from Publisher to Frontpage; so
> I
> stuck with Publisher and I'm pretty happy with the results.
>
> I actually was creating my company brochure with Publisher and found the
> create a web publication tool and "Shazaam" there it was pretty much all
> setup.
>
> My only problems are the address of the pages and the browser issue. I can
> live with both of them; but would like the browser issue resolved soon.
>
> PS: It's hard enough for me to have to learn all these complex programs
> for
> CAD and I also have to learn and master web creation.
>
> Thanks for your help.

Cadkiller

2006-09-02, 6:31 pm

David;

Thanks for the Blog link about building a web site with multiple Publisher
web publications. It explains very well how the "index_files" works when
publishing a web site.

I have tried to delete my master page and couldn't figure out how to do it.
All I was able to do was ignore the master for every page in my publication;
but I wasn't able to delete it after I ignored it for all my pages. Is there
some trick to it?

Thanks again

DavidF

2006-09-02, 6:31 pm

You are welcome for the Blog link. I try to reference David Bartosik's
material as much as possible as he does a much better job explaining
things...

To be candid, I have never used the master page, and am not sure how to
delete it. Did you go to View > Master Page and try to delete from edit
master page toolbar? Have your tried producing and testing new HTML with all
the elements off the master pages, and marking it "ignore master". Just
Publish to the Web to a folder on your computer where you can find it, open
FireFox, and browse to the folder and the index.htm file, and see if it
works.

If that doesn't work, and before I suggest another alternative, I decided to
look at your site again. http://precisiondraftingllc.com/index.htm When I
load your home page in FireFox, I get one very long page with your navbar
text in the middle of the page, and at the very end of the page what appears
to be all your "borders". One of the things I liked about your page was the
way you used "borders" around your banner, and separating your navbar from
your other content. Now I find myself wondering if your problems with
FireFox has to do with those "borders". I am wondering if that is what
FireFox is choking on.

Those "borders" appear to be some sort of shape or object with a shadow, and
I am not sure how you built them. Are they on the master pages? You might
find that even after moving everything off the master page, that FireFox may
still not know what to do with them, which would mean that you would have to
change your design...hope not. Also, the vertical one may be a bit close to
the navbar. Try nudging it to the right, away from the navbar and test that.

Anyway, to go back to deleting your master pages, I guess since I am not
sure of how to use or delete master pages, if you are unable to figure it
out, I would simply open a second instance of Publisher, put your background
GIF in, and make duplicate pages to equal the number of pages you have in
your site. Then I would go to each page of your old Pub doc, click on the
page, and Edit > Select All, and group all the design elements. Then Copy,
and Paste into the new Pub doc, move the grouped elements around until they
are properly aligned, and ungroup. It might be a bit tedious, and a pain,
but it would get you there.

Let me know how it comes out.

DavidF

"Cadkiller" <Cadkiller@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9E9068F6-04E0-458F-AB4E-E13F35774407@microsoft.com...
> David;
>
> Thanks for the Blog link about building a web site with multiple Publisher
> web publications. It explains very well how the "index_files" works when
> publishing a web site.
>
> I have tried to delete my master page and couldn't figure out how to do
> it.
> All I was able to do was ignore the master for every page in my
> publication;
> but I wasn't able to delete it after I ignored it for all my pages. Is
> there
> some trick to it?
>
> Thanks again

Cadkiller

2006-09-03, 6:28 pm

David;

The borders are just 2 lines next to eachother, one grey and one white. They
use to be on the master page. I deleted all the objects from the master page
and pasted them to every sheet on my site. I figured by using a master it
would save on loading times. Not sure if that really helped any; but I don't
think the master made any difference. It still doesn't display properly and
my nav bar doesn't work with these other browsers. It's a good thing that
most people visiting my web site use IE.

I just found a problem with the new IE viewing my site. When you use the
zoom feature, my borders get all messed up using IE. The zoom works just fine
with AOL's new browser.

I see that Netscape knows about these problems and in their new browser they
have a covert to IE feature.

DavidF

2006-09-03, 6:28 pm

Cadkiller,

Well that's disappointing on many levels. Pub 2003 was designed to "exploit
the technologies of the Internet Explorer browser", and as such produces
"smarter" html code for IE, and "dumber" code for other browsers. This
results in a lack of good cross browser support across all other browsers.
With that said, many Pub 2003 sites work just fine in FireFox, and I have
been able to help many change their design and/or settings to make them work
pretty well in FireFox, but for the moment, I am stumped on what to do with
your site to make it more compatible, and it sounds like we might even have
problems with the new IE7 properly rendering a Publisher website...aarrgghh!
Microsoft sure isn't making things easy, are they?

I am assuming that you did run the Design Checker to see if that found any
problems, and went to Tools > Options > Web tab and unticked "Rely on
VML..." and "Allow PNG...". And you tried switching the default Encoding
from what ever it is to Unicode (UTF8), Western European (ISO), and Western
European (Windows)??

I liked that line effect...thanks for explaining it. When you study the HMTL
output, are those lines converted to an image? In all your spare time,
perhaps you can try a couple of experiments. First of all, try removing
those lines entirely from your home page, Publish to the Web, to a test
folder on your computer, and try opening the new page in FireFox or
Netscape. I would suggest that you download Firefox if you haven't already,
for testing purposes anyway. If your page loads ok, then we know the problem
is with the lines.

Assuming that the lines are the problem, then add the lines back to your
design, one group at a time. Start with your banner, and place just the
upper two lines, and test again. Make sure they are not overlapping an image
or text box. If the one set of lines create a problem, then use your nudge
tool to move the text box and image boxes down, away from the lines. Try
about 10 clicks, and if that works, move the boxes back up a few ticks at a
time until they are too close again. Sometimes having elements too close to
each other can create problems, and this is what I am having you test. If
successful, then you will know about how much space you need to make for the
lines. Just add back the lines one group at a time, adjusting the spacing.

I guess what I am suggesting is the you "reverse engineer" your site,
removing all the design elements and adding them back one at a time until
you find which one is messing up the works. For example I notice that you
are using a bulleted list on your home page. I have always had problems with
trying to use bullets, so perhaps pull that text box into the scratch area
and test the output, to see if that makes any difference. If you find, or
perhaps I should say WHEN you find the design element that is creating the
problem, then you can either change your design, or post back for a possible
workaround.

And in the meantime, you can build a textual menu that will work in IE and
FireFox, and put it on the bottom of each of your pages, just in case the
Pub navbar doesn't work. Reference: "Code your own textual navigation menu
in Publisher":
http://msmvps.com/blogs/dbartosik/a...1/16/81255.aspx

And there is an article on David's Blog that might be worth reading about
cross browser compatibility for some perspective:
http://msmvps.com/blogs/dbartosik/articles/80825.aspx

Sorry, I haven't been more help...good luck.

DavidF

"Cadkiller" <Cadkiller@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1668BDA0-7721-4838-9861-26486CA58CE9@microsoft.com...
> David;
>
> The borders are just 2 lines next to eachother, one grey and one white.
> They
> use to be on the master page. I deleted all the objects from the master
> page
> and pasted them to every sheet on my site. I figured by using a master it
> would save on loading times. Not sure if that really helped any; but I
> don't
> think the master made any difference. It still doesn't display properly
> and
> my nav bar doesn't work with these other browsers. It's a good thing that
> most people visiting my web site use IE.
>
> I just found a problem with the new IE viewing my site. When you use the
> zoom feature, my borders get all messed up using IE. The zoom works just
> fine
> with AOL's new browser.
>
> I see that Netscape knows about these problems and in their new browser
> they
> have a covert to IE feature.

Cadkiller

2006-09-03, 10:30 pm

David;

You've been very helpfull and I thank you again for taking the time and
sharing your knowledge about Publisher.

As far as reverse engineering my web site, maybe when I have nothing better
to do. I tried all the different possibilties you mentioned before and all
with the same result. I have run the design checker and it is clean.

I'm trying to get in touch with David Bartosik so he can include my web site
in his list of Publisher sites. Do you know his email?

Take care;
Ed Borg

DavidF

2006-09-04, 6:29 pm

Ed,

Sorry I haven't been able to come up with a solution.

I will forward this email to David Bartosik in case he doesn't spot it. I am
hesistant to post my own email address for fear of spambots picking it up,
so I won't do that to David.

DavidF

"Cadkiller" <Cadkiller@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:27108B92-CDC1-45C4-AA0B-C3BFC756E8BD@microsoft.com...
> David;
>
> You've been very helpfull and I thank you again for taking the time and
> sharing your knowledge about Publisher.
>
> As far as reverse engineering my web site, maybe when I have nothing
> better
> to do. I tried all the different possibilties you mentioned before and all
> with the same result. I have run the design checker and it is clean.
>
> I'm trying to get in touch with David Bartosik so he can include my web
> site
> in his list of Publisher sites. Do you know his email?
>
> Take care;
> Ed Borg