OBSoft.net

GOLIVEv6.0 NEW USER TIPS (August 2003)
(things i wish i knew when i started)



A. ALWAYS open .site file first first (double-clic on prototype.site)
    this makes the proper links
    never open/edit a file that contains links except from within the .site window

    Root folder
    is inside project folder
    save all files used in the site in this folder
    nothing is properly in the site until it is first imported into golive by opening with the .site window open and then saving it to the root folder from the .site file
    (1) when dragging and dropping, golive generates the path for the hard drive location with all the tree structure, so make links only using files already within the .site window

    File organization the program puts the page files in the right place if use the site folder icon in save dialog, but it is confusing as a new user to get this organization:
    (1) organization of site files (for a site named <prototype>)
    (a) project.site folder [holds everything, contains the following]
    i) prototype.site file [program file -> OPEN ME FIRST]
    ii) protype.data file [leave alone]
    iii) prototype.settings [leave alone}
    iv) prototype site folder [holds the html, jpeg and gif files of the site]
    (2) the site folder icon in version 6.0 is great... saves alot of time

B. ALWAYS OPEN THE .site file first

C. ALWAYS OPEN THE .site file first

D. Frames are nice, but it is so easy to use Layout Grid from the objects palette
    1. place a layout grid from objects palette to create aloow drag and drop placement rather than line by line placement
    2. place text, graphics grid from the objects plate areas want to place text or graphics
    3. can move and resize these just as in a graphics editor... very nice
    4. need to use multiple text grids to justify sections of text individually, otherwise gets applied to all the text on the page

E. Links
    1. linking to a page
    a. in Layout Mode: select the text area you want to link
    b. choose MAKE LINK in special menu after highlight the area to link
    c. choose SHOW inspector in view menu
    d. use the inspector
    (1) click on the "Inspector Pallet", click on the "Link Tab
    (a) click on the "chain link icon" next to , "point and shoot" to page file in .site window (that are already placed there)
    (b) can type in the site over (empty reference), but this often misses some leading characters for the file path
    (2) or in Source Mode: type Your Link File Name Text at the cursor
    (3) or use drag and drop files directly onto page area or inspector from hard drive source file, but will get extra characters unless the file is from within the .site window
    2. linking to new separate page that opens
    a. type _blank in Target line rather than leave blank
    b. leave Title blank (it is for pages with more than one link)
    c. see www.golivebasics.com for good info
    d. see www.golivein24.com

F. Files names have to match exactly
    1. no spaces ot special characters in file names
    2. case has to match (use all small letters)
    3. complete path name has to match
    a. .. is previous parent directory in directory tree
    b. . is current directory

G. Text styles and formatting
    1. had problems importing text style formats into golive from word processors (word, inspiration, appleworks), loses all the careful style formatting
    a. add all the formatting directly in GoLive unless importing an html file that is already formatted (ie, has the html style tags)
    (1) extra lines
    (2) extra spaces
    (3) underline
    (4) italics
    (5) type size
    (6) justification
    2. to change colors (text, background), double-clic the page icon in the page layout view tool bar.

H. Bring graphics into the site (in GoLive with .site file open)
    1. files are stored in the site folder
    2. open pdf, jpeg or gifs thru open dialog, or drag and drop into an html file that is open
    3. open picts thru import as anti-aliased pict

I. Edit links in the page html source view, not in the page layout view
    1. messes up complex nesting, lots of redundant code
    2. unlink and relink rather than editing the link
    3. It works better to edit and correct directly as source HTML. a familiarity with some basic principles Of HTML and graphics formats for the web is essential.
    a. use <BR> tag for newline instead of <p> </p> paragraph
    (1) also, Golive can space the text lines in the layout mode editor, but does not generate a newline in the html code without a newline character
    (2) so if use linefeeds without the newline character, formatting will appear different in page layout view then in a browser (ie, more than one space and GoLive linefeeds are ignored in browser)
    b. use <OL> </OL> tag to paragraph indent lines or graphic
    c. use <LI> tag to make a numbered or un-numbered list
    d. an article ot of Feb200 MacAddict by David Reynolds was extremely helpful for this overview. i also have gone to FMP conferences with sessions on html.

J. Watch resize page layout, text or table grids from the layout view
    1. generates extra code that confuses browsers (font tag)

K. Dont resize compressed graphics in jpeg or gif formats
    1. use original to generate new web graphic via save as web
    a. photoshop or GoLive itself if import as pict or open as .pdf or smart file
    2. can resize there and then sesave for web

L. Saving copies of files
    1. save copies of linked files from ftp browser window online, otherwise get extra path name characters from hard drive location
     
 
II. GOLIVE NOTES ADDITIONAL v6.0 August 2003

A. interface is confusing for a new user, maybe unneccessarily so in some ways
    1. related functions are scattered in different menus and palettes
    a. make a link in the "special" menu
    b. "new link" is not first entry in the special menu
    c. then have to open the inspector "palette" in the view "menu"
    2. GoLive interface is better organzied than some of the other Adobe products (ie, illustrator), clearly a lot of work has gone into this

B. formatting: had problems importing text style into golive from word processors i used (word, inspiration, appleworks), loses all the careful formatting
    1. need to add all the style formatting directly in GoLive (unless importing an html file that is already formatted ie, has the html style tags in place)
    a. extra lines
    b. extra spaces
    c. underline
    d. italics
    e. type size
    f. justification

C. spent a lot of time opening or finding and clicking on the different palettes to do a task, especially the inspector repetitively

D. spent a lot of time editing the extra characters in file name links and extra/redundent lines of HTML code that GoLive generates
    1. especially when try to resize tables or layout grids

E. layout grids and table grids are are extremely powerful but again sort of hidden in the palettes feature

F. program help is better than most but requires an easter egg hunt to find what you want (i couldnt find a section defining the names of the parts of the page layout view for example).

G. had problems importing HTML generated from WORD.
    1. had to cut and paste the html code into a golive file (with site closed) and clean up the HTML code. then imported into the site. importing directly into golive caused the program to crash (type 3 error macintosh).