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Mike M.
Mike M.
User

Four Questions About Website X5 Evolution 11  en

Author: Mike M.
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Hi,

Hope somebody can please help.

I have recently purchased WebsiteX5 Evolution 11 and, although I think it is an excellent program for a novice like me, I have still come across a few problems that I would like some help with please.

I have asked Incomedia for help but they said that I should make my post public so that it might help others if they shoud have the same problems.

Firstly, can I just say that I am a complete newbie at web design so could any answers offered please be in easy to understand instructions.   Thanks.

1...Showbox Gallery

The Showbox features, that work perfectly in both WebsiteX5 Evolution 11 and Firefox, do not work correctly in Internet Explorer. The small thumbnails are there on the web page - but if I click on one of them then instead of the image displaying the gallery or a larger image it actually opens a new web page, with a white background, with the larger image displayed in the top left corner of the web page.

There are no other links to urls involved - just a link to a Showbox Gallery or larger image.

I searched for a problem in the help section and it said that Javascript must be enabled in Internet Explorer. I have checked this and javascript is enabled. Any ideas what could be wrong please?

2...Contact Page

Does the Contact Page only work if it has actually been uploaded to the server? I ask this because, if I open my website in Firefox on my desktop whist connected to the internet, all of the links and everything else works except the Contact Page. If I try to send a message to test it out then when I press the Submit Button it soesn't submit the message. All that happens is a white page appears with a load of gobbledegook text on it.

3...Audio

Is there a way to allow the audio to continue to play if I move the curser away from the Arrow Box. At the moment, if I click on an Audio link a box with an arrow appears. When I hover over the arrow the music plays. If I move the curser away from the arrow the music stops.

I would like to be able to move the curser away from the Arrow Box and still be able to hear the music play whilst I scroll up and down the page to read the text. And then either let the music come to end by itself, or stop the music myself when I want to.

I am using MP3 files.

4...Downloads

There does not seem to be a facility to include downloads. I would like to add a page with some desktop Wallpaper and Screensavers for vistors to download. Is there a way I can do this please?

The items would not be for sale so I don't want to use the Shopping Cart. I just want to be able to offer the items whereby a visitor would click on a link and a download box would appear, as it does on other websites if I want to download something.

Thanks to anyone who may be able to help.

Best regards to all,

Mike.

Posted on the
16 ANSWERS
Esahc ..
Esahc ..
Moderator

Mike

I guess it's not possible to provide a link to your site at this time?

1/

With pictures I have not experienced this issue with ie

eg http://gutterpumper.com.au/gallery.html

These are simply pictures linked to a showbox gallery each of one picture

2/

No the contact page won't send an email until it is live

3/

With audio, I added an mp3 to a page, clicked play and it continued to play until I left the page irrespective of where my mouse was.

4/

The simplest way I have found to deal with downloads is to package each "product" in a zip file and link it to a description or picture, when the user clicks the link they will be offered to save file.

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Posted on the from Esahc ..
Mike M.
Mike M.
User
Author

Hi Gordon,

Thank you very much for responding to my message so quickly.

I am a complete newbie at web design - with the website I am working on being the first one I have ever created - so I am finding a few things a little more difficult to achieve at the moment than I might do once I have gained a bit more experience.

As a beginner, however, I know that I couldn't have got anywhere near as far as I have without using WebsiteX5 Evolution 11.

As mentioned in my previous post, I am finding a few things difficult to achieve.

Well, not so much difficult Gordon - as I find the process of implementing the features within Website X5, and getting them to work perfectly within the program, easy enough. It's more a case of what I have implemented not actually working correctly online, or, in the case of the text, not appearing on the webpage in the same way as it does in the program.

For instance, I have created a website with some of the pages having both text and an image horizontally side by side.  I have justified the text so that it is perfectly aligned with both the top, and bottom, of the image alongside it.

However, when viewed online the text extends below the image in all of the browsers I have viewed it in.

Although it is still mis-aligned, the browser displaying the text closest to how it looks in WebsiteX5 is Firefox. As for Internet Explorer and Chrome the text is way out of alignment.

I contacted Claudio, at Incomedia, for advice and was informed that justified text displays differently in each broswer - which can leave bigger gaps between the letters, or lines of text, and this is what is causing the text to become out of alignment.

What I don't understand is if the text, and everything else I have created in Website X5 looks perfect, then shouldn't it be likewise when viewed in any browser online.

I do not want to have to recode the whole website as it is quite large so, for the moment, I have adopted a workaround which is as follows:

When in Website X5, I reword, and remove a line or two from the text next to an image which means that the text now doesn't align with the bottom of the image in Website X5. It now stops about two lines up from the bottom of the image.

However, when viewed online in Firefox, the text now lines up with the bottom of the image perfectly. It still doesn't line up correctly in other broswers such as IE and Chrome but at least it looks the way it should in Firefox.

As I am eager to upload the web site and get it online, I am prepared to overlook this problem for the moment.  Although it is not ideal at least the website will be online looking as it should - if only in Firefox - and I can continue working on the problem of the misaligned text, in other browsers, in the meantime.

I will be uploading the website very soon Gordon so, if you wouldn't mind, maybe you could have a look at it to see the the problems I am experiencing, and may very kindly be able to offer an opinion, or a solution, to my problem.

Also, you will then be able to witness the problem I am having with the Showbox Galleries not displaying correctly in Internet Explorer and also the Audio not continuing to play if the curser is moved away from the arrow.

Thank you once again for your speedy reply to the four questions I asked in my previous postpost. Your suggestions are much appreciated and I will try out what you have instructed me to do and will let you know how I get on.

In the meantime,

Best regards,

Mike

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Posted on the from Mike M.
Mike M.
Mike M.
User
Author

P.S

Hi Gordon,

I have just looked at your Gutter Pumper website in Internet Explorer and your Showbox Gallery works perfectly.

This has solved one part of the problem.

I now know that the way I have Internet Explorer set up is not the cause of the problem. If it was then your Showbox Gallery would have displayed then same problem.

So it has to be something to do with the way I have used the Showbox Gallery feature in my website. Although, as mentioned, the Showbox Galleries, of which I have quite a lot, all work perfectly in Firefox.

I wonder if it's because I am linking the smaller Showbox Galleries to larger PNGs and not JPGs.  I will look into that.

Thanks again.

Mike.

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Posted on the from Mike M.
Esahc ..
Esahc ..
Moderator

Mike

With the showbox, assuming you are displaying the same image only larger, how about adding the larger image to the description tab, set tooltip width to whatever you require and image width to 100%. Then the user needn't even click, just hover.

With the audio, are you are using the video and audio object in it's own cell or have you embedded it some other way.

I will continue to think about your issues when time permits and may come back with more thoughts, but I look forward to seeing your site to see these issues for myself.

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Posted on the from Esahc ..
Mike M.
Mike M.
User
Author

Hi Gordon,

Thanks for your reply.

I have just set about trying to solve the problems I have been having.

Once again, your advice is much appreciated.


Regarding the Showbox Gallery.

Most of the Showbox Galleries I have implemented link to a series of larger images in a slideshow fashion - rather than a single image linking to a larger one - so I would like to keep the option of clicking on any of the smaller images to activate the larger image slideshow.

Not sure if I am explaining things correctly Gordon, due to a lack of website design knowledge - but you will get a better Idea of what's going wrong once I upload the website in a few days time.


Regarding the Audio issue.

All I have done is dragged the Audio icon into a cell in the work area and clicked on the various options within it to add the audio tracks - which are just one minute samples in mp3 format.


I will let you know when the website has been uploaded.

Please don't expect anything spectacular though, Gordon, as it is my very first attempt.

Because there are so many features available in WebsiteX5 maybe I have tried to add too much content and ended up trying to run before I can walk. But I just wanted it to look nice.

Best regards,

Mike.

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Posted on the from Mike M.
Jamie B.
Jamie B.
User

Hi mike

if you could post a link to your website once it's live, I may be able to help you once I see what the issues are, in the mean time we have some excellent tutorials on x5tuts.com which may help you as well.

regards

jamie

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Posted on the from Jamie B.
Esahc ..
Esahc ..
Moderator

Mike - nothing I have done is spectacular (although I always thought it was the day it went live :-)

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Posted on the from Esahc ..
Mike M.
Mike M.
User
Author

Hi Jamie,

Thanks for posting.

From my posts you will see that this is my first attempt at creating a website.

Through trial and error, I seem to have figured out how to create a website in the WebsiteX5 Evolution 11 program - where everything looks exactly how I want it to look - with all of the text in alignment with the images and all of the other features such as the Showbox Galleries working correctly.

The problems I experience are when I upload the website.

From my posts above, of which I have included a reference below, you will see the problems I had with the text aligning with images.

Everything looked perfect in the Website X5 program but didn't look right in any other browser that I opened the website in.

Firefox was the best browser at displaying the content - with Internet Explorer and Google Chrome being way out of alignment.

What I can't seem to understand, Jamie, is if my website looks exactly how I want it to in Website X5, then shouldn't it look the same when viewed online?

This is really annoying when I spend hours on the website getting it to look how I want it to in Website X5 - only for it not to look how I wan't it to when it goes live - and then having to spend even more hours trying to get it to look right when viewed online.

Hopefully, all will become a lot clearer once I have gained a bit more experience

***********************************************

For the moment, Jamie, this is what I have done.

I did not want to have to recode the whole website as it is quite large so, for the moment, I have adopted a workaround which is as follows:

When in Website X5, I reworded, and removed a line or two from the text next to an image which means that the text now doesn't align with the bottom of the image in Website X5. It now stops about two lines up from the bottom of the image.

However, when viewed online in Firefox, the text now lines up with the bottom of the image perfectly. It still doesn't line up correctly in other broswers such as IE and Chrome but at least it looks the way it should in Firefox.

As I am eager to upload the web site and get it online, I am prepared to overlook this problem for the moment. Although it is not ideal at least the website will be online looking as it should - if only in Firefox - and I can continue working on the problem of the misaligned text, in other browsers, in the meantime.

**********************************************


I will be uploading the website later on today. It is UK time at the moment, so approximately in a few hours from now.

The biggest problem I have at the moment is trying to figure out how to get the Contact Page to work.

As I am creating this website for a friend, what I would like is to set up the Contact Page so that any messages go straight to their email, and not mine.

In the meantime,

Thanks again Jamie for offering to help - it is much appreciated.


Best regards,

Mike.

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Posted on the from Mike M.
Mike M.
Mike M.
User
Author

Hi Jamie,

P.S

Forgot to say...

Thanks for the heads up on the x5tuts.com website.

I will definitely have a look at the site later on today.

Thaks again,

Mike.

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Posted on the from Mike M.
Mike M.
Mike M.
User
Author

Hi Gordon,

Thanks for posting.

I will be uploading the website later on today and will post the link as soon as it is live.

As mentioned above...

The biggest problem I have at the moment is trying to figure out how to get the Contact Page to work.

As I am creating this website for a friend, what I would like is to set up the Contact Page so that any messages go straight to their email, and not mine.

When you are able to view the website online you will be able to see the problems I am experiencing and, very kindly, may be able to offer a suggestion, or solution.

As mentioned previously, this is my first attempt at creating a website and, although I knew that it wouldn't be easy, I didn't think, by using a web design program, that I would encounter so many problems.

It has been night after night of pulling my hair out.....

I don't have much hair as it is Gordon, and the prospect of the remainder's continuing good health is on a very short lease LOL.

Best regards,

Mike

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Posted on the from Mike M.
Esahc ..
Esahc ..
Moderator

Mike - I don't have much hair either.

With email, create your form under the list tab, then go to the send tab and  fill in the user e-mail address:, (the person you want the form sent to) this is the only specific requirement to make it work.  (see attached)

When you say the text placement in X5 is not as in a web browser, do you mean that the preview varies from what firefox shows or that what you see in X5 varies from the preview and firefox, etc. ?

I have found that on many occasions what I see in X5 bears little resemblance to the preview.  However, the preview is extremely close the versions in ie, chrome & firefox.

If you think X5 is frustrating, you should try some of the others  :-)

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Posted on the from Esahc ..
Mike M.
Mike M.
User
Author

Hi Gordon and Jamie.

I posted quite a long message here yesterday explaining all of the problems I have been having but it has mysteriously disappeared.

It is too long to write again so I will try to summerise.

.

Downloads

I sorted out the Downloads issue by doing what you said Gordon. I linked an image to a zip file containing images and, when clicked on, it activated a save file option just like you said it would. Thank You.

.

Showbox Gallery

The Showbox Gallery not working in Internet Explorer was my fault. I have been creating this website for a friend and deliberately did not upload it just in case she came across it by accident before I had sorted the problems out.

Instead, I have been opening the html files on my desktop whilst connected to the internet thinking that because all the features worked in Firefox that they would work in any browser. This was not the case. I now know that certain things only work once the website has been uploaded.

.

Contact Page

This again was my fault. It wouldn't work by just opening html files on my desktop whilst connected to the internet. As with the Showbox Galleries, I had to upload the website in order for the Contact Page to work.

.

Audio Page

The website is now online and, apart from the text next to an image alignment problem that I am experiencing when viewed in browsers other than Firefox, everything works as it should except for the Audio Page.

When I click on an Audio link a box appears with an arrow in it. When I click on the arrow, the sample of audio plays. However, if I move the curser away from the box with the arrow in it the audio stops playing.

What I would like is to be able to start the audio playing and then be able to move the curser away from the box with the arrow in it so that the audio continues to play while I am exploring the rest of the page - and will continue playing till it reaches the end - or until I actually stop it.

If you visit the Audio Page, which is under the Media Tab, you will see what I mean.

.

Text Alignment

This issue concerns blocks of justified text when positioned adjacent to an image

I will try and keep this as brief as possible.

Throughout the website I have blocks of justified text positioned adjacent to an image.

I align the text so that it is perfectly in line with the top and bottom of the image alongside it.

Although the text is perfectly aligned with the top and bottom of an image when viewed in WebsiteX5 Evolution 11 - this is not the case when viewed online.

This is what happens....

In all browsers the text adjacent to an image extends below the image.

If I then shorten the text by a line, or two, in Website X5 so that it now ( does not ) align with the bottom of the image - it now lines up with the top and bottom of the image perfectly in Firefox.

However, it is still out of alignment in other browsers.

So that is the workaround I have had to use.

It is not an  ideal solution, and I have had to put a ( Best Viewed In Firefox ) notice on the Home page - which smacks of defeatism - but at least in Firefox the website displays as intended.

It is the only thing I can do until I can get the text to display correctly across all browsers.

Funnily enough, if I then view the website in an Android tablet then the text looks like it does in Website X5, with the text deliberately shortened.

The best thing, if you would be so kind,  would be for either of you guys to please view the website in Firefox to see how the text adjacent to an image should look - and then view it in Internet Explorer or Chrome to see how the text extends below the images.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

I am not sure why my previous post disappeared. Hopefully, you will both be able to view this one.

Thanks for any suggestions, or solutions, that you maybe able to offer.

Thank you Gordon.

Thank you Jamie.

Best regards,

Mike.

Sorry, nearly forgot....

The url of the website is as follows:

www.justkeedie.com

Thanks again.....

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Posted on the from Mike M.
Esahc ..
Esahc ..
Moderator

Mike

What font are you using, a windows font or a web safe font?

http://www.ampsoft.net/webdesign-l/WindowsMacFonts.html

The problem you are experiencing will be even worse if the page is viewed on a MAC or linux box.  Sadly browsers frequently emulate what you want, so for instance if there is no bold version of the font you are using, each browser will render it differently.  If it is getting to you then you could embed google fonts on every page (the advantage would be you can choose any of the available fonts and they will be reproduced faithfully).

WIth your audio, you have linked an audio file to the picture, the user must know to click the image then click the play button, if the user moves off the image the music will stop. Unfortunately this is the correct behaviour.

If you want to be able to click and have the music keep playing, you would need to use the video & audio object in it's own cell which doesn't look anywhere near as swish as you have created. I have created a page layout which would display and play 10 tracks, note that if you use this technique you will need to fix the height of each media player to about 30 but remember to untick proportional before making the change. Please see attached image.  Alternatively you could simply add the video/audio object somewhere on the page with the whole album in it and the user could listen or skip through it.

Can I suggest you simply add a descriptive note to each of the images telling the user to click on the image to hear the track?

BTW

Great effort - Keedie should be very pleased.

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Posted on the from Esahc ..
Mike M.
Mike M.
User
Author

Hi Gordon,

Firstly,

Thanks for your helpful post and also thanks for your kind comment regarding the website.

As mentioned, it is my very first attempt so hopefully, with a little more time and experience, I will be able to overcome some of the problems I have been having with a bit less stress....LOL

In regards to your Google Web Safe Fonts suggestion.

I don't know if I went about it correctly, but I did download, and install, some Google web safe fonts, exactly how instructed to do so by Icomedia themselves, but this is what happened.

I downloaded a few Google web safe fonts - similar to Arial and Tahoma - and used them in the text positioned next to an image.

I perfectly aligned the text, once again, with the top and bottom of the image.

When viewed online, though, the font looked completely different. It displayed a bigger font size than I had used and looked like a completely different font altogether.

Although the Google web safe fonts that I used looked like the Arial font when used in Website X5, they actually looked more like the Georgia font when viewed online and, consequently, were way out of alignment.

I guess I will just have to keep at it Gordon - trial and error fashion - until I get it right so to speak.

Or until they carry me off to the asylum LOL.

I think it might be better for my sanity if my next website design doesn't have any justified text positioned next to an image....

.

The font I am using, by the way, is as follows:


Font..........Arial

Size..........10

Type.........Bold

.

In regards to the Audio page.

Thanks for your input re the Audio Page issue Gordon.

Because of your help, I now know that this is how the audio is supposed to behave.

Therefore, I will put a little notice on the page to inform visitors about it.

I did think, at one point, that the problem was because I was using MP3 files so I substituted them for Wav files instead.

But the outcome was just the same.

The playbox that appeared looked different when the audio image link was clicked on - being longer, and including a slide bar - but the music still stopped if I moved the curser away from it.

Maybe I might be able to use a third party audio player inserted into the html instead - in the same manner as you can insert Video Lightbox into the code to display videos - instead of the inbuilt video player within Website X5. Again, this will all be trial and errror.

Anyway Gordon,

Thanks for all of your help and suggestions regarding the problems I have been experiencing.

They are very much appreciated.

Please don't hesite to let me know if you can think of anything elase that may help.

Also, you must let me know if you create any more websites yourself so that I can come and have a look at them and hopefully get some ideas.

In the meantime,

Thanks again for all of your input,

Best regards,

Mike.

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Posted on the from Mike M.
Esahc ..
Esahc ..
Moderator

Mike

On the audio, I think you misunderstood.

Drop the video/audio object into a cell, (the same as you'd drop a Text object into a cell), attach an mp3 to it & I am sure it will play and continue playing for as long as you stay on the page.

If you choose to continue using the images each with a linked file, add a note to the description tab, that way the user could see a pop-up text bubble telling them to click the play button and not to move the cursor if they wish to continue listening.

With regards fonts

Arial is not a google font, it is a windows font (although also available elsewhere).  Arial will be treated generically by browsers, just like helvetica and sans-serif and whilst the result will be similar, it will not be identical. I have found this problem is exagerated using bold.

If you wish to use google fonts, you should download the fonts to your PC and install them, then you have to embed code into the header of EVERY web page by navigating to the page with map creation, properties and click the expert tab. In my last site I had the following line embedded:

<link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Roboto:400,100,100italic,300,300italic,400italic,500,500italic,700,700italic,900,900italic' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'>

Frequently my pages would load and the text justification and alignment was atrocious, but as the fonts loaded it would snap into alignment.

If your last google font attempt resulted in a font that looked like Georgia, I am guessing it means your browser could not find the font so defaulted to Times.

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Posted on the from Esahc ..
Mike M.
Mike M.
User
Author

Hi Gordon,

Firstly, apologies for the delay in replying to your post but I have been away from home for a little while and only returned today.


Audio.........

I will take your advice regarding placing the video/audio object into a cell and see what happens. I will hopefully have a go at it later on today.

Thank you.

We must be on the same wavelength Gordon, LOL, because I had already asked a friend of mine to add a pop up message over each Audio sample to inform visitors about what to do in order to play the sample of music whilst I was away.

The remainder of the album samples have also been uploaded - bringing the count to twenty.

Thanks again for suggesting it though Gordon.


Fonts....

In regard to the fonts issue.

Having first located the desired fonts on Google Webfonts - that I thought looked similar to Arial - I followed the instructions supplied by Incomedia to the letter, if you'll pardon the pun - on how to install the fonts within websiteX5.

However, what I was unaware of, and thank you for taking the time to alert me to it, was the fact that I have to embed the code into the header of every web page by navigating to the page with map creation.

Thank you for this suggestion, I will also have a go at that, too.

If I can't get the text to look identical across all browsers I will just have to admit defeat on this one - safe in the knowledge that at least the website displays exactly as intended in Firefox.

I have put a notice on the Home page explaining this to future visitors.

I know that it's not ideal and some visitors will no doubt criticize me for it but, as it is my very first attempt, I am prepared to live with it, treat it as a learning curve and take on the chin any ridicule I may receive from visitors because of doing so.

What I have learned from the whole affair is that any future web sites I design will definitely not have justified text situated next to, and aligned with an image.

If I do place text next to an image it will be left, or right, aligned. This way, if the text does not display as intended across all web browsers then at least it will not be as obvious.

Thanks again for all your help Gordon, and if you can think of any other ways in which I can improve the web site then please, when you have the time, I would be delighted to hear your suggestions.

I will let you know when I have created my next website - which will feature another popular, but as yet relatively unknown female vocalist - from the Devon area of the UK.

Also, please let me know if you create any further websites so that I may have a look at them for some inspiration.

In the meantime,

Best regards,

Mike.

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Posted on the from Mike M.