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This month we're digging into questions we get in techsupport a lot. One is how to create various things that Web Studio doesn't have a specific tool for. The feature article will show you how to use multiple tools to create what you want instead of asking for a new tool :)
We've also had some people with links and uploading that didn't work. It took some time to figure out the cause. It was those wonderful people who write viruses and worms and the software we need to protect ourselves.
Congrats to Rickzski and Bandit, our Site of the Month Winners for March!
Take a look at their sites by clicking the thumbnails above.
...No matter what I do, I can't change the color of my text?
This is because you are trying to change the color of text that has a link on it. Links in text have their own color settings. No matter what color you choose for text with links it won't "stick" unless you do it the right way. Go to the Page Properties dialog in the Page menu. You'll see three colored boxes at the bottom of the dialog. These are the link colors. There are three of them. The first is the color of a text link if your visitor (including you) has not visited the link before. The second is the color of the link when the mouse is over top the link. And the third is the color of the text link after you have visited the link. Change these colors to whatever you like, you can even change them all to be the same if you want. Note that you'll not see the text change color in the Web Studio editor, you'll see the changes during Preview and on the Internet.
...I want my thumbnails to show a lot more than just a picture
?
Our feature article this month speaks a little to this questions, but here's another way to display a thumbnail with lots of info. You actually create a new page specifically for the "thumbnail." Add your text and graphics as needed and then rename the page as appropriate. Next go to the page where you have the graphic or button where you want people to click to get to the "thumbnail" you just created. Now right click on the graphic or button. Choose Add/Edit Link from the menu. Type a title for the link, just something short will do, no one will be reading it. Then click on the Select Anchor or Page radio button. Then click on the pop-up menu to the right of that and choose the name of the page you just created. Next click on the Open this link's page or file in a new window" check box. Now click OK. When someone clicks on your "thumbnail" graphic, your new page will be displayed showing all of the information you originally wanted in your thumbnail.
...Problem #1 with Norton Internet Security you'll want to know about? (submitted by a customer)
"I was working on a new page and of course did the preview of the page, but noticed that the links to my home page did not work. After a few minutes I remembered that I had forgotten to turn off Norton's Internet Security. As soon as I did the links worked fine. Norton's is a great program, however, it sure has its bugaboos sometimes." from Bill Osborne.
...Problem #2 with Norton you'll want to know about?
Norton System Works includes a worm blocker. The worm blocker may block Web Studio's ability to upload your site. To fix the problem, run System Works and click Options. Go to Internet Worm Blocking. Click the Program Control button. Add Web Studio to the list and make sure to allow all. Then restart Web Studio and it should work. If not, restart your computer.
Using Web Studio Tools Together
We get many questions about how to do this and how to that. Many of the answers involve using two or more of Web Studio's tools to create something Web Studio doesn't create automatically with only one of its tools.
Since Web Studio does so much for you, it is easy to forget that you can create things it can't. For example, Photoshop is considered the most powerful graphics program in the world. However, each of its tools is dedicated to one small task. It is when many the tasks its tools can accomplish are combined that the real Photoshop is revealed; same with Web Studio and just about all other programs. Here's some examples for you.
"I want the Thumbnail object to let me put a caption beneath the picture." That's easy, create a text object and add the text you want and style it as you want. Make the text object the same width as the graphic you're going to use for the Thumbnail, then move the text object just below the graphic. Visualize the two objects as one and put the text where it looks best. Then select both objects by clicking on them while holding down the Shift key and then choose Merge Selected Objects from the Objects menu. Now you have one graphic with a caption beneath it. Just drag the Thumbnail from the Special FX gallery on it and you've got what you wanted. Not automatic, but easier that you thought.
"I want to put a thin black border around my graphic, why can't I?" You can! The Rectangle sign object in the Signs gallery enables you to add frames, horizontal and vertical lines, and much more. To add a one pixel frame around a graphic, just drag the Rectangle from the Signs gallery and pick your color. Then get the size of the graphic from its Properties dialog. Then make the Rectangle two pixels higher and two pixels wider than the graphic. Move the Rectangle over the graphic, Click the Send to Back button in the toolbar and then nudge the Rectangle up and down as needed using the Arrow keys on your keyboard.
"I want to have a picture change when the mouse moves over it." You can! Just use the Rollover button maker to do it. Add your pictures and make them the same size. duplicate the one you want to show up when the mouse is over it. Now select the one to be on top, then the other two, while holding down the Shift key. Then drag the Rollover maker from the Buttons gallery onto any one of them. The Rollover Studio dialog comes up, just press OK. That's it!
Think about the different tools you've used in Web Studio and how you can combine their abilities to create the things you want for your site.