Re: Intranet software

[Mary McWilliams Johnson <mary -at- SUPERCONNECT -dot- COM>]

Rather than relying on a WYSIWYG editor, it's best to learn HTML thoroughly
so that you can make good formatting decisions for yourself.  You know, of
course, that Dreamweaver comes bundled with Homesite (on the PC side) and
BBEdit (on the Mac side). You're only supposed to rough out the page in
Dreamweaver, then do more precise editing in the other program.

I'm puzzled as to why you want to use non-relational links. I suppose you
mean that you "hard-code" all links--put in the full file path. Maybe if
you can explain that, I can offer a suggestion.
Whenever I'm doing a site for intranet or Internet, I use only relational
links--unless I'm referencing someone else's Web site. The pages on my hard
drive are a mirror image of the pages on the Web site, and there's no
problem at all (unless, of course, I decide to move something); but, then,
that would create a problem for non-relational links as well. The only
reason I can think of for your getting a broken link icon is that you're
trying to reference sites on the Internet when you're not actually
connected to the Internet.

I think you will be happier when you accept the fact that you're not in
Desktop-Publishing Land any more. Standard HTML codes are simply not
capable of defining specific fonts and font sizes, leading, kerning, etc.
You are correct, though, that you should be able to specify fonts that
you're certain all your viewers have on their computers. 

Of course, you could start experimenting with CSS (Cascading Stylesheets).
On my Web site (Mary's Tips on Designing Web Sites), you'll find some
commentaries and tutorial references:

        http://www.superconnect.com/writershelp/

But it seems to me that since you're determined to retain the exact
appearance of the documents, you need to get Acrobat and convert them to
.pdf files. PDF retains ALL the fonts, leading, kerning, etc., plus any
graphics in the document. Acrobat also compresses the original files to a
fraction of their original file size, which makes them quite easy to
download off a Web site. The only drawback is that it isn't practical to
"embed" a PDF doc on a Web page. You can only put a link to it so that the
viewer can click on the link and quickly download the page right in the
browser.

Another handy feature of PDF documents, is that you can automatically
generate what they call "bookmarks," which serve as hyperlinks to the
subject headings within the document. See Adobe's site for more info:
        http://www.adobe.com

I'm not sure what you're wanting in the way of a "visual site management
tool." However, I've heard that HomePage and PageMill's companion product
SiteMill offer site management tools. 

Cordially,

              ------------------------------º><º------------------------------
                                 Mary McWilliams Johnson
                               McJohnson Communications
                                  Documentation Specialist
                Web Site Design, Development and Graphics
                                  www.superconnect.com
              ------------------------------º><º------------------------------
"One must learn by doing the thing; for though you think you know it,
                       you have no certainty until you try."
                             --Sophocles,  c 496-406 B.C
              ------------------------------º><º------------------------------





At 03:09 PM 9/4/98 -0500, Susan Vineyard wrote:
>Bill:
>
>I am currently using Dreaweaver, and have several problems with it.
>
>For one thing, I'd like to have some kind of graphical overview of my
>site or
>someway of finding a file or defining a structure.  I'm not sure exactly
>what I
>need here, but I do need something to keep track of all those files.
>
>I can't define text as a specific font size, but have to use the HTML
>font
>numbering system. I can see how that's practical "out" on the Web, but
>in our
>organization, everyone has the Corel 8 Office system, so we're safe
>using the
>fonts installed with those programs, and have more control of the look
>of our
>documents that way.  When I've brought in a file "published" in
>WordPerfect or
>Word, the font naming and sizing conventions change, and I think I'd
>have to
>manually change them back.
>
>I need non relational links to files and graphics, and I don't want to
>have to
>type them all in.  I'm hoping some product out there offers that
>option.  (I
>thought I knew all about creating links until I started working on a
>network!)
>
>I also would like to see graphics as I pull them in.  I have a large
>graphics file and sometimes, I really need to see what I'm getting (and
>need to link to them non-relationally also--when I create a
>non-relational link to my graphics file, it works fine in NetsScape, but
>shows a broken link in Dreamweaver!)
>
>Dreamweaver doesn't have the text editing capabilities I'd like to
>have.  For
>instance, If I have an ordered list, and insert a graphic that I don't
>want
>numbered ( a common occurrence in illustrated instructions), I can't
>find any way
>to continue the numbering where it left off except to do it in code.  Do
>you know
>of a way?
>
>I need a product that will help me with these problems.  Any ideas?
>
>Thanks--Susan Vineyard
>
>Bill Bledsoe wrote:
>
>> Susan,
>>
>> I suggest Macromedia Dreamweaver.  The only thing it lacks from your
>list is a
>> link checker... but you can find a free-ware one at Winfiles.com that
>will do
>> the trick for you.
>>
>> I'm assuming you're running win95/nt or 98 on your machine...
>Dreamweaver is
>> also available in Mac as well.
>>
>> cheers,
>>
>> -bb
>>
>> Susan Vineyard wrote:
>>
>> > Help!  I need a good all-round tool to manage/create an
>organizational
>> > intranet!
>> >
>> > I am now in charge of a department-wide, and eventually an
>> > organization-wide, intranet, and I need a good, all-round tool to
>use to
>> > get control of a chaotic pre-existing site that currently has a
>little
>> > organization and probably over a thousand documents, many not linked
>
>> > in.  This thing is supposed to grow, so I need a tool that will
>optimize
>> > my time and allow effective maintenance.
>> >
>> > Shopping list of features:
>> >
>> > Word processing/text and formatting control of Word (I want to use
>fonts
>> > and sizes, not font groups)
>> >
>> > Some kind of visual site management tool (When someone wants to know
>
>> > where something is, I'd better be able to tell them.)
>> >
>> > HTML editor
>> >
>> > Compatibility with doucments published to html in WordPerfect (our
>> > company standard--programmers, etc. will publish to their areas in
>this
>> > format.)
>> >
>> > Compatibility with non-Microsoft network (which, I understands,
>> > eliminates Front Page)
>> >
>> > Some kind of link-checking device (do any have this?)
>> >
>> > Please help.  I need to get this thing under control fast.  Thanks
>for
>> > any advice.
>> >
>> > --Susan Vineyard
>>
>> --
>> ****************************************************
>>  Bill Bledsoe
>>  Web Developer - CMS
>>  bill -dot- bledsoe -at- cms-stl -dot- com
>>
>>  "I'm out on a limb where the fun begins"
>>               Adrian Belew/The Bears
>> ****************************************************
>


 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000