Update

Updating your web pages is accomplished by dragging files and dropping them into processing folders. Synthesis takes care of all the details including: copying the graphics, updating the links, and more.

Update operations are done using the Generator Tab. Click on the Generator Tab, if required, to start updating your site.

Update Page

Updating a web page is done by dragging a file from the Library and dropping it into one of the Site's Processing () Folders. What happens next depends on the processing folder, and should be reasonably obvious from the folder's label.

Updating the Adventures section of the home page.

Consider the example site's home page:

There are four processing folders, each of which is annotated with (replace). Dropping a file into the Intro Folder causes the current contents of the Introduction to be replaced with the body of the dropped page. The (replace) annotation is optional, and was added to the folder's label by the creator of the home.htmg web page. The other folders (Adventure, Flames, About Us) behave just the same.

While replacing sections of your web page is the most common operation, Processing Folders can do much more.

There are Processing Folders that append the dropped file to the current section. So, for example, a newsletter might contain a list of upcoming events:

Events (append)

Each time a file is dropped in the Events folder the contents of that file is appended to the event list. Events are removed by Resetting the Events Folder, and redropping the current set of events. The same approach can be used for blogs as well.

Another common Processing Folder inserts the dropped file at the top of the section. A news site would likely have a headlines section organized this way, with the most recent news at the top:

Headlines (insert)

Each time a file is dropped in the Headlines folder the contents of that file is inserted at the top of the headlines list. As before, headlines are removed by Resetting the Headlines Folder, and redropping the current set.

Reset

You can reset (or initialize) a page, or part of a page, at any time. This is especially useful for Generators that only add content to a section (such as insert and append). To reset an entire page you right-click on the home.htmg folder () and selecting Reset. Or, you can reset part of the page by right-clicking on one of the sub-folders () and, again, selecting Reset.

You can bring a page back to its original state with just the (right) click of a button.

Generator Button

Double-clicking a generator button () causes the generator to execute an action defined by the button. Typically, this results in some type of cleanup action, or a final processing step intended for the complete page. The label with the button should give some idea of what it does...

Generator Buttons provide functionality that doesn't involve a dropped file. Just double-click to execute.

Construction Links

When content is added to the Site, Synthesis will try to resolve links in this content to pages already on the site. If the links are resolved successfully, they will be completed. If they can't be resolved, the link will be replaced with a link to your Construction Page until it is.

As part of the drop processing, the Construction Page will be removed for sites that were missing the dropped content.

Rollovers

Synthesis analyzes the dropped page, and identifies places where there may be a graphics "rollover." (A rollover is an image that changes when the mouse is over it.) Rollovers are tricky, because the image that appears under the mouse is not identified in the page's markup - it is only know to the program that executes the rollover. For this reason, possible rollovers will produce a dialog that gives you a chance to identify the rollover image. This information is added to the markup, so you won't need to do it again and again.

Move File

Content can be added to the Site without being dropped into a processing folder. You can drop a page directly into the site and it will remain as it is. These pages will still be processed to maintain the links, etc., and will involve the same complications as the Update.

You can also move sets of files in a single drag-and-drop operation. Select a range of files by pressing the Shift key when you select them, or add/remove individual files to the selection by using the Ctrl key when they are selected.

Construction Links

When content is added to the Site, Synthesis will try to resolve links in this content to pages already on the site. If the links are resolved successfully, they will be completed. If they can't be resolved, the link will be replaced with a link to your Construction Page until it is.

As part of the drop processing, the Construction Page will be removed for sites that were missing the dropped content.

Rollovers

Synthesis analyzes the dropped page, and identifies places where there may be a graphics "rollover." (A rollover is an image that changes when the mouse is over it.) Rollovers are tricky, because the image that appears under the mouse is not identified in the page's markup - it is only know to the program that executes the rollover. For this reason, possible rollovers will produce a dialog that gives you a chance to identify the rollover image. This information is added to the markup, so you won't need to do it again and again.

Create Page

Synthesis can create pages as easily as it can update them. One of the Generator's standard parameters indicates the name of the result file if a new page is to be created. There is little difference, from an operational point of view, that the normal Page Update discussed above.

There is a complication with new pages, however, that should be discussed. In order for the new page to be reached, it must be linked from somewhere else on the site. Typically, this is done with a teaser. When the teaser is written, it is linked to the article it references. Now, we can drop the teaser on an existing page (the home page, for example) and the article can then be dropped into a Generator that creates a new page. Site visitors can now reach the new page from the teaser.

Example

Synthesis comes configured with an example site that you can experiment with. Click the Generator tab and you're ready to go. (If the example site is not shown when you select the Generator tab, make sure that File >View > Example is checked.)

In this example we're going to add a teaser to the Adventure section of the home page, as illustrated below.

In this example we drop the cerro-torre-teaser.html file into the Adventure section of the home page. The resulting file is shown in the lower right-hand corner.

Update the home page

Before starting, be sure that the Site and Library windows are visible. If the Site window is hidden, show it by pressing the Site Button . Similarly, if the Library window is hidden, show it by pressing the Library Button . These buttons toggle the windows, so pressing again will rehide the window.

Updating your home page takes one simple step:

1. Select the 'adventure/cerro_torre/cerro-torre-teaser.html' document from the Library window, drag it to the Site window, and drop it in the 'Adventures folder. (Folders expand automatically during drag-and-drop.)

Double-click on home.html and mouse over the 'Adventures' link to view the change. (Note that you may need to tell Synthesis what browser to use. If the browser doesn't start, go to Tools > Options > Misc and select your browser.)

This screen-capture shows the cerro-torre-teaser.html file being dropped into the Adventure folder on the home page. This results in the body of the HTML teaser file being embedded into the Adventure section of the home page.

Reset

If you don't like what you see (or you just want to try something else) you can return the entire page to it's original state by right-clicking on the red home.htmg folder and selecting Reset. Or, you can reset part of the page by right-clicking on one of the blue sub-folders and, again, selecting Reset.

You can bring a page back to its original state with just the click of a button. This also works for subsections, making updates a breeze!

Notice that the dragged page remains in the library. Content always remains in the Library unless you explicitly delete it.

Creating Reusable Content

When creating content pages for the Library, you should be careful to make that content as reusable as possible. While this differs somewhat from what you'd do when you create it for a particular purpose, it isn't any more difficult. The following rules will get you going.

• Create the article in page-sized sections. This allows you to place the parts on several pages if desired, or you can lump them back together if desired. The choice is left until publishing time, and can be done differently on different parts of the site. The Template facilities allows you to create the complete article any way you want.
• Create a teaser that introduces the article. The teaser provides a link to the start of the article, and can be used in places where the first page would be too big. For example, home page of a news site might include the first page of a big story, and several teasers for less important stories. Tomorrow, they may have a new big story, but continue running today's big story with a teaser.
• Consider separating some of the graphics into separate illustration pages. This gives the flexibility for creating pages that have the article with the accompanying graphics, or the article without the graphics, or for pages with two unrelated articles... (You get the idea.)

What you do is up to you, and what the vision for your site is. Synthesis provides great flexibility for how your information is published, and only a little care is required to take advantage of that flexibility.

For more information on how you can layout your pages, see the section on Templates.