Introduction to HTML Publishing |
 
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Introduction to HTML Publishing |
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The Publish HTML feature allows you to create Web pages from your Word Splash Pro puzzles. When you publish using this utility the software will generate all of the files needed to view or play the puzzle in a web browser. A list of the generated files will be displayed after they are created so you can print or save the list to review. Simply place all the generated files into the same location on your web site and your puzzles are ready to be used.
This section provides an overview of creating web pages with Word Splash Pro.
The Publish HTML window is used to generate the HTML pages.
Generating Puzzle Web Pages That Are Linked Together
Word Splash Pro allows you to automatically create a set of HTML pages for each puzzle. These pages work together to offer a variety of ways that the puzzle can be played, from printing to interactively playing the puzzle right on the web page. Standard hyperlinks are used to move from page to page.
Your first choice is to decide which page types you wish to include:
If you chose a printable HTML formatted web page you will also be able to choose to automatically generate a solution page to go with it. People viewing the puzzle will be able to click on a link that will take them to the solution. A link on the solution page will also take them back to the printable puzzle page.
If you chose a playable Java web page a link can take you from the playable page to the printable page, and a link on the printable page can take you back to the playable page.
Both the printable and playable web pages can also have an optional Adobe Acrobat PDF file linked to them. A PDF file is a document file that allows viewing and printing your puzzles in high quality. Unlike a web page, it maintains all of your formatting exactly as you would print it using Word Splash Pro, and it scales that quality up to the resolution of any printer. To use a PDF file the computer must have a copy of the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. This is a very common free plug-in so it is likely that most people will already have this on their computer.
Both the printable and playable web pages can also be generated with alternate print pages. An alternate print page is a web page that prints instead of the page that is currently being viewed. Alternate print pages are used so that your puzzle pages can be printed from a web browser without having to include the links to other pages, menus, graphics and other distracting detail. They are also useful when printing the playable Java page since Java applet can not typically be printed from a web browser since the entire word list may not be visible.
Why Word Splash Pro Generates So Many Files
Before you publish your web pages it is important to understand a few basic concepts about how web pages work. Web pages are constructed using document files that a web browser can display. These are the HTM or HTML files. They contain formatted text, very similar to a word processing document. The HTML formatting commands are written in simple text and can actually be edited in simple text editing programs like Windows Notepad.
Unlike a word processing document, web pages cannot "contain" other files with them. For example, to add an image to a web page you must use a command that links to the external graphic file from the HTML file. The graphic is one file. The HTML page is another file. They are linked together.
Java Applets work the same way. The applet is one file. The HTML page it resides on is another file. The graphics used by the applet are also individual files.
When you publish HTML pages from Word Splash Pro all the files needed to display your puzzle web pages will be generated for you. All the graphics will be exported. All the links will be placed in the HTML files. All you need to do is take all of the generated files and place them into the same location on your web server and you'll have working puzzle pages.
Using Web Page Editing Software With Your Puzzle Pages
If you use a web page editing program to edit your web pages, like Microsoft's Front Page or Macromedia's Dreamweaver, you should not attempt to create a puzzle page from scratch. Dropping the Java applet on a page will not work. Word Splash Pro needs to define the applet parameters in your HTML file for you. Just let Word Splash Pro do the work. Trust in it to create your puzzle pages. The best way to do that is to create an empty folder for your web site project. From Word Splash Pro, when you press the [Publish] button, simply select that folder as the destination for the files. Once the files have been generated you can add links to the new HTML pages from your own web pages.
If your web site has a particular look and feel that you want to duplicate for your Word Splash Pro puzzles, then the easiest thing to do is create a new Template file to use from those that come with Word Splash Pro. Word Splash Pro uses its template files and inserts all of the puzzle elements into the specified areas of the template to create the final web pages. You can create your own templates using any web page editing software, or even Windows Notepad if you know how to code HTML by hand. See the section on Templates for more information on creating your own templates. Creating templates requires some technical know how, so you'll want to know how HTML works.
You can instead individually edit the HTML pages generated by Word Splash Pro, but you must take care not to change the puzzle defining parameters set for the applet. Also, if you edit the page after it was generated you will not be able to generate the page again without losing your changes. Keep this in mind when deciding if you will create a new template file to control the look of your puzzle before it is generated or if you will edit the final HTML page after it has been generated.
While it is possible to copy the generated applet code from the Word Splash Pro generated web page into another page you've created by hand, it's important that all of the code be transferred, including all of the generated parameters, plus all files must be included on the web site. If working out a solution that best works for your uses, you should always start by testing untouched Word Splash Pro files, then test your newly created pages. While working on your web pages, please keep in mind that Chronasoft provides support for Word Splash Pro, but cannot provide support for what takes place outside of the software.
How Do I Transfer the Files To My Web Site and Create A Web Site?
Word Splash Pro generates web ready files from your puzzles, but Word Splash Pro is not a generic web page editor or FTP program. Use Word Splash Pro to enhance an existing web site, but it will not create a new site totally for you from scratch.
Unless you know HTML well enough to code it manually, you may wish to use other software to help create the rest of your web site. Most generic web page editing programs also include the ability to transfer files to your web site using FTP (File Transfer Protocol). If you create your HTML files manually you will need to use FTP software to transfer your completed web pages to a web host / server. If your editing software does not handle this for you, you will find that many Internet access providers supply such utilities to their customers. There are also many FTP utilities on the market.
If you are new to creating web sites, you will need to first become familiar with the process of creating and uploading web pages.