Wow! I just typed the volume number of the newsletter and realised this is its fourth calendar year! It seems like we just started yesterday and now its in its fourth year!
This month's newsletter is devoted to tips from tech support. The tips are based on questions we've received and on posts on the Web Studio Forum.
This issue also includes the first article contributed by Gordon, the long-time moderator of the Web Studio forum. Gordon goes all the way back to Web Studio 1.0 and the Sierra days. We're looking forward to more articles by Gord in the future.
...Where does Web Studio store my Project file when I Save it?
The Project file is normally saved in your MyDocuments folder. If you've chosen to save it somewhere else using the Save Project As command, it will be wherever you've saved it. Web Studio doesn't move the Project file.
...I want to work on my Project on another computer. What file do I move to do that
?
You move the Project file. It is normally stored in the MyDocuments folder unless you've moved it, see above. The Project file has the ".ows" file extension. If you can't remember where you put it, go to the Start Menu, choose Search, choose Files & Folders, tell it to search for "*.ows" but without the quotation marks. This will find all of the Web Studio project files on your computer. Just copy them to a CD, them to your new computer's MyDocuments folder.
...How do I sign up for the iHostStudio site hosting service?
Just open Web Studio, open your Project file. Then go to the WebHosting menu in Web Studio. Choose iHostStudio Account Manager from the menu. This brings up the iHostStudio Wizard. Just follow the directions and enter the required information and when you're done your hosting will be ready and Web Studio will publish to it automatically when you choose Save Web Site to Internet. Note that you can purchase a new domain name in the wizard and you can transfer a domain you own in the wizard as well. A Tip: don't sign up for the hosting on the iHostStudio website itself. This actually makes it more difficult!
...What are these dotted lines going across and down my pages in Web Studio?
These are page guides. They show you the limits to the page size you've selected. If you haven't selected a page size, you can in the WebSite menu's Website Properties dialog. You choose a size according to the size monitor you want to design your site for. Most people design them for 800 pixel wide monitors, many are designing for 1024 wide now as well. You can turn off the page guides by choosing Page Guides from the Page menu.
...You shouldn't change the name of your Project file once you've uploaded your site?
Web Studio used the name of your Project file as the name of the folder your site is stored in when you upload. If you change the name of the Project, Web Studio will create a new folder with the new name next time you upload. However, the existing folder, with the old Project's name, will still be there using up space. Also, if you modify and upload individual pages with a new Project name, the pages you haven't uploaded with contain links to the old pages, not the new ones. This makes it appear as if Web Studio isn't uploading the pages and changes you've edited..
...You should always check a few things before you upload your site?
You should look at the Page List and make sure that page you want to be your Home page has the House/Home icon next to its name in the list. If not, right click on the page's name and choose Home Page from the menu. Your Home page shouldn't be named index.html. When you put the House icon on the page, Web Studio automatcially names the page's file, "index.html". If you have named it index.html, you should right click on the name in the Page List and choose Rename page. Name the page something that decribes your site, like ours is WebStudio. This name is put in a visitors Favorites menu when they add your site to their favorites. Obviously you wouldn't want them to have simply, "Home" in their Favorites. One last item is to make sure the "Upload this site as the root website" check box has a check in it. This check box is in the Web Studio Publisher. You'll see this when you choose Save Website to Internet from the Website menu.
...You should use the lowest resolution on your digital camera for photos you want to add to your website?
Images viewed on web pages are always low resolution, 72 dpi. Using higher resolution just results in larger photos that will need to be resized smaller to fit on a page. Unless you want high resolution photos for printing, just use the lowest resolution your digital camera has. This will reduce the memory required to create your site and the size of the downloaded pages. As an example, the size of a page with six 1024 X 768 photos (high resolution) on a page is almost 19mb in Web Studio and about 1.7mb. A page this size takes minutes to download to a visitor's browser. If they are reduced in size to 500 X 375 they take up 190k, which is about 10 times less and 10 times faster to download.
