Tips for HTML Emails
Tip #1: This month, wev'e changed the way we do the Web Studio newseltter. We've had lots of input from customers that our monthly newsletter, and therefore some of your emails and newsletters, can't be read correctly in their email programs.
The cause of this is that those email programs and some on-line email systems, like GMail, can't read HTML files that use DIV's. Web Studio's standard way of creating web pages is to use DIVs. Most other commercial web design programs also offer the use of DIVs. They simplify laying out pages and don't have the limitations TABLEs have.
Its not enough to say "email programs can't read right". We have to have a way to provide them what they actually can read. That's what this tip is all about.
First, you have to use TABLEs when you create your Emails. To do this, go to the Website menu and choose Website Properties, then click the Advanced Tab. Click on the button labeled "Use HTML Tables", then click OK.
Next you need to know of one great big limitation of tables...they don't really like it when objects overlap each other. So, with that in mind, you'll want an easy way to determine if you have overlapping objects.
Just go to the View menu, and choose "Highlight Objects", "That Overlap". Once you turn this on, overlapping objects will have a red rectangle around them. If you see overlapping objects, just select one and use the Arrow keys on the keyboard to "nudge" them up, down, left, or right, so that they don't overlap anymore. Once they don't the red outline will go away.
Once you have completed the page for your Email, and nothing overlaps, you're ready to send it. Just choose Save As HTML Email from the Page menu.
Tip #2: We've had some customers report that their email doesn't display any of their graphics. This is caused by one of three things:
You didn't let Web Studio upload the it to your website;
You didn't enter your home page's address (URL) correctly;
You didn't use the HTML file you saved, you used one from the Preview folder.
To solve problem #1, always let Web Studio upload the page when it prompts you to do so. It will upload the correct HTML file, and will upload all of the graphics and other files to your site.
To solve problem #2, make sure you enter the entire URL to the home page. Those people who experienced trouble only entered part of the URL, for example: www.webstudio.com instead of http://www.webstudio.com . Use the later, not for former.
To solve problem #3, make sure you use the HTML file that is saved during the creation of the HTML Email file. This HTML file has extra "stuff" in it that is necessary for an HTML Email, those in the Preview folder don't.
This month we've a ton of tips.
First, we've got some tips on creating and using HTML Emails using Service Pack 3's new Save This Page as HTML Email feature.
Gordon, our forum moderator, is back with some new tips. And, we have some customer's input as well.
Some important tips are backing up your Project file; updating your 4.0 to the latest version, Service Pack 3; tips for people with large sites; and how Norton Internet Security can be causing you problems.
Others are designed to help you do things even faster with Web Studio!
The Web Studio Photo Collection
Look for the Photo Collection CD on our website soon! Over 2000 professional photographs all set to integrate directly into your Web Studio Photo Gallery.
Congrats to Mr.Zuri , our Site of the Month Winner for June!
Take a look at their sites by clicking the thumbnails above.
Lots of Tips:
We released Service Pack 3 for Web Studio about a month or so ago. If you haven't updated your Web Studio with Service Pack 3, you should do it now. It has some cool new features in it, and some important bug fixes that will vastly improve performance and reduce memory related problems. You can download it by clicking here.
Working with Large Projects
- You'll want to have the absolute minimum number of page windows open. To close all of the open windows, just choose Close All from the PageList menu
- Tell Web Studio to not open all previously opened pages when opening your project. Choose Program Preferences form the Edit menu and turn OFF "Open previously opened pages when opening a project". After you do this, you may think your project hasn't opened. Just look at the PageList and click on a page's name to open it.
- If you're using version 3.0 of Web Studio, you can simulate the above 4.0 feature by holding down the SHIFT key when opening your project.
- Use smaller graphics and photos. Choose a smaller size in Web Studio's Resize Graphics dialog.
- Using the Thumbnail feature does not reduce the size of the page you're editing. It makes it larger, however, on the web, it does make the page your visitor downloads smaller. The reason is the page you're editing must still "remember" the large size image as well as the thumbnail. So if you are adding a lot of thumbnails to a page, make sure you check the size of the page using the Size and Download Time feature. To use this, go to the Page Properties dialog in the Page menu, then click on Size and Download Time Tab. This will show you the size of the page that Web Studio has to deal with. It includes the sizes of all the full size photos as well as everything else.
Backups
We get calls from customers who have had a hard disk crash and lost their project file. We feel bad when we get these calls, mainly because the solution has been in Web Studio for quite some time...the Automatic Backup feature. To use this, just go to the Website Properties dialog in the WebSite menu. A section on the first page of the dialog is "Project File Backup and Location". Click the checkbox, and then press Browse to choose a location for the backup. Note that you can backup your file to any disk or network disk attached to your computer. It is wise to backup to a different disk if you can. Web Studio will backup your Project file every time you save. If you lose the Project file, just go to the backup location and the backup will be there!
Quickly Opening Web Studio
Want a keyboard shortcut to open Web Studio quickly? In Windows XP, just right click on the Web Studio shortcut icon on your desktop. Choose Properties from the menu. In the resulting dialog, click in the Shortcut Key field. Then press the key you want as your shortcut key, for example, press W. Then whenever you press CTRL-ALT-W Web Studio will start right up.
Quickly Previewing in FireFox (or any other browser for that matter)
After you preview a page in Web Studio, the page's HTML file is stored in a folder named "Preview". To find this folder, right click on the Web Studio shortcut icon on the desktop. Choose Properties from the menu and press the "Find Target" button. This opens the folder with Web Studio in it.Next find the folder named Preview and open it. You see another folder in there that has the name of your Project. Right click on the folder and choose Create Shortcut; a shortcut to the folder will be on your desktop. Now, when you Preview and want to open it in Firefox, just double click on the Shortcut, find the HMTL file with the name of your page, right click on the file and choose Open With>Firefox. Note, if Firefox isn't listed in the menu, select Choose Program to add it. Once you've don't this, it is very easy to preview in Firefox.
Previewing in Firefox Really, Really, Quickly
Do the previous tip. Then use tip you learned about keyboard shortcuts to quickly open the Preview folder. Just right click on the Preview folder's shortcut, click in the Shortcut Key field, then press the key you want as your shortcut key, for example "P". Now you're working at the "speed of Web Studio".
Link Colors in Firefox
If you're having problems with link colors in Firefox, get Service Pack 3 for Web Studio. It fixes the problem. See above to download and install it.
Save and Load Page Features
These two really simplify the sharing of pages within your site, in other sites and other people's sites.These commands are found in the Page menu and enable you to save the page you're working on. You can then use it in other projects, email to other Web Studio users, use it as a template.
