Site Studio Help
SITE STUDIO
Compiled by
Serge Ruban, Revised
by
Victor Katolyk
Have you ever felt amazed at how things changed over the last
years? The Internet has become as common as the telephone. E-mail
makes people totally forget about the existence of regular mail.
Having a web site is now more important than having a business
card.
Actually, many people now think that having one web site is not
enough. Really, would you present yourself the same way to your
potential employers, family members and former schoolmates? Of
course not! On the first site you would probably place your professional
resume - and will refer to it in an employment classified. On
the second, you would place new pictures of you and your fiancé
- you may want to share them with your parents in Minnesota and
your sister in Paris. On the third, you will open a picture gallery
out of the old school pics - maybe, this will help you find your
old good friend whose trace you lost many years ago…
And so, you have decided to make up your own website. High time!
But do you know enough HTML? Or do you want to create your site
using a text editor? In either case, you will end up spending
days and days to have your site look attractive and getting all
things work. Not the best solution. Or, maybe, you want to pay
hundreds of dollars for these web designer guys to do the job?
Well, here is the solution. We will save your time and efforts,
and what's even more important, you can be personally involved
in the Art of Web Design. To create a professional-looking web
site using Site Studio, you don't need any special knowledge or
experience. The wizard-like program structure will guide you through
the whole site-construction process step by step. Now you become
a web designer, a creator, an Artist! You can juggle around with
page layouts, colors, themes, add various effect and much, much
more, everything with a single mouse click! Within a half
hour you can have your site created and published on the Internet!
So, if you feel this is what you need, welcome on board!
Usually a site constitutes of a series of pages, each devoted
to a separate topic, article or resource. Site Studio offers you
a set of templates for all common pages:
- Splash
Screen:
the home page or index page that welcomes visitors and contains
references to all other pages.
- About:
the page to provide information about the purpose of the site,
the owner of the site, and any other relevant data.
- Resume:
if you seek employment via the Internet, this is the central
page containing a short account of your career and qualifications.
- Links:
the page where you list your links to related web sites or pages.
- Custom Table
Page:
a page with any data organized in table format.
- Site
Map.
If your site is becoming complex and hard to navigate, a site
map will become helpful to get around.
- Photo
Album:
a sequence of pages containing images. You may want to use it
for posting photos of yourself, your friends, your family, your
art works, postcards, etc. If you are a production or service
company, use it to advertise your products or services. One
site may contain more than one photo album.
- Your
Own HTML.
This tool contains a simple HTML editor allowing you to create
web pages based on your own HTML script. Recommended for advanced
users.
- Humor:
a tool that helps you organize your jokes, funny pictures, humorous
stories and other fun topics.
- Survey
Form:
a quick tool for drawing up visitor questionnaires.
- Generic
Page:
a powerful tool to create pages with any layout, containing
both text and images.
- Genealogical
Tree:
a quick tool for creating a family tree. The output is a list
of entries each devoted to an ancestor or a family member.
- Calendar:
the page where you can list events with dates and comments.
- ICQ
Contact Center.
If you extensively use ICQ, you will find this form of messaging
the most convenient.
- Driving Directions:
a powerful tool for visitors to get the driving directions to
the place in North America that you specify.
- Amazon.com
Web Store.
If you want to offer your visitor some books for sale, this
is the page for you. To use this feature, you need to sign up
with the Amazon.com associate program.
- Mobile
Pager.
A page from which site visitors can reach you on a cell phone
or a pager with Internet messaging support. To use this feature,
you need to be subscribed with Bell Atlantic Mobil or Sprint
PCS.
Every time your site is visited, the first page to open would
always be the Welcome Page, or Splash Screen in other terms. So,
it would be a good idea to begin your site with the Splash Screen.
If you chose to follow this advice, select Splash Screen in the
box provided. Click Next to continue with the design of
the page.
Splash Screen is the home page that welcomes visitors and contains
links to all other pages.
To configure Splash Screen, fill out the Splash Page form:
- Splash Theme:
the main parameter that determines the look of your home page.
Site Studio offers several Splash Screen templates (themes).
Choose one - you can change it any time in the future. The current
version of Site Studio does not provide immediate preview, so
it is recommended to configure it after you configure all other
parameters (see instructions below in this section).
- Logo image:
Splash Screen templates are designed to include a welcome image.
You can select a picture that is stored on your hard disk or
has been already uploaded to your gallery. To include a picture
click the "Select Image" button and follow the on-screen
instructions.
- Page Title:
This is the text that will show up on the welcome page in big
letters. This would usually be either the name of your site
or a welcome sentence.
- Lock Splash Settings:
By default, Splash Screen is not affected by the global color
settings for your site. Here, you can allow Site Studio to modify
Splash Screen properties by checking "No" radio button
in the Lock Splash Settings field.
As you finish, click the Next button to save your settings.
The View tab (see Tabs for details) will open
for preview. How do you like your welcome page?
Okay, now let us look back at the themes. Click the Edit tab
and select a different theme, then go to the bottom of the page
and click Next. Try other themes to choose the best one.
Important: your site will be published only after you
press the Publish link on the menu bar, in the upper left-hand
corner of the screen.
The About page is commonly used to provide the following blocks
of information:
- The purpose of the site;
- The owner of the site (a person or a company);
- Any other relevant data.
Enter your text into the boxes provided. Paragraph headings are
optional.
Site Studio allows you to include a picture into the About
page. This could be a picture of yourself (for a personal
site), your working team (for a company), a logo or any other
relevant image. To include a picture, click the "Select Image"
button. Then follow the on-screen instructions.
After you add an image, its thumb view will become available
in the form, as well as a Remove Image button. Click it
to remove selected image from the About page.
After you key in or copy/paste the data you want to show on your
About page, click the Next button to save your settings,
and you will be brought to the View tab (see Tabs for details).
This is the central page for those who seek employment via the
Internet. It provides an easy-to-use wizard that allows you to
effectively manipulate the data you would like to include into
your resume.
As the first step, you will see seven boxes with suggested section
headings, each with an Add button on its right. Click the
Add button to enter data into the relevant section. A new
form will appear. Fill it out and press Next to return
to the main Resume page. The information you entered will show
in the box; also, Edit and Delete buttons will be
added. Click Edit to change contents of the box, and Delete
to clear the contents. Follow this instruction for every section
you want to include into your resume.
Note: In the Experience section form,
you will have an in-built form for job duties. The instructions
are exactly the same as above.
Attention: Make sure you don’t add empty forms! They will
be included into your resume, too.
You can preview your resume at any moment by clicking the View
tab (see more on Tabs).
Your all changes will NOT be lost. At the end, however, don’t
forget to confirm the changes by pressing the Next button!
Now that you see your resume in a complete form, you may see
how to make it more visually appealing. Click Settings tab
to change color, font or style (see more on Tabs).
When you have your web page in front of your eyes you may decide
to change the order of some paragraphs. It's simple and fast.
- Click the Order Elements link to re-order your paragraphs.
A new window will appear.
- In the box, click to highlight the name of the item you want
to move;
- Use the
and 
buttons to move the selected
item up or down the list;
- Click the Next button to save changes and return to
the Resume Edit page.
Part of expressing yourself through a web page is including links
to your favorite web sites. The links you choose to include on
your page can communicate your interests and hobbies. If your
goal is a company site, think of resources related to your field
or industry. A carefully designed collection of related links
can make your site a good launching place and will help you promote
your site - and business.
- Header Text:
The text that shows at the top of the Links page as a
header. It usually details the page title or serves as a header
to the introductory paragraph.
- Paragraph:
The introductory paragraph to the Links page.
- Columns of Links to Display:
Links can be organized into multiple columns.
- Add button is used to create a new Link category.
To keep your links organized, SiteStudio places new entries into
categories. To add a category or links to your Links page:
- Click the Add button. This will call another form.
- Enter the name of the category;
- Click Add (Add Link);
- Fill in the fields (Site title and Site URL), than click Next
to continue;
- To add link - click Add;
- To make some changes - click Edit;
- To delete link - click Remove;
- Click Next when finished.
To edit an existing category:
- Click Edit button;
- Edit the name of the category;
- Click Add to include a new link;
- Click Next to save changes.
To delete an existing category, click Delete button. Warning:
All links contained in this category will be permanently deleted!
Custom page table is a page with any data organized in a table
format. To create a table, fill out the form:
- Border:
enter a numerical value representing the width of grids in pixels.
To hide grids, leave the field empty or enter 0.
- Width:
Table width can be indicated in pixels or in percent of the
page width. To enter width in percent, put the "%" symbol
after the numerical value.
- Cell Padding:
distance from text to border, both vertical and horizontal.
- Align:
aligns the table on the page.
- Resize:
Enter the number of rows and columns for your table and press
Resize button before clicking Next.
Note: If you input an incompatible set of parameters, Site Studio
will optimize conflicts in these data.
This page shows the structure of your site. It is generated automatically
and does not allow editing. However, you can configure its settings,
just like you it for other pages.
For a personal site a photo gallery may become the central element
with photos of yourself, your friends, your family, your art works,
postcards, etc. For a production or service company, it may be
used to advertise your products or services.
To create a photo album, fill out the fields in the form as the
first step:
- Title:
the text that shows at the top of the menu bar.
- Select numbers of pictures per page:
Mind the size of your pictures. It is recommended that all your
pictures fit one screen. Follow the simple rule: the bigger
the image size, the fewer pictures per page.
- Enter the number of columns:
Change this parameter depending on whether your images have
a horizontal or a vertical layout.
In the next step, add images to the Photo Album:
- Click Add. A new form will appear;
- Fill in the picture title and the date in any format;
- Click the Select Image button. You will be brought
to the Upload Images page. Follow on-screen instructions
to add a new image.
- Add details. This may be a description of the place or names
of people in the picture.
- Click the Next button to proceed.
To change or remove images use the buttons under the Image.
To add more images to your album click Add and repeat
the steps above.
This tool contains a simple HTML editor allowing you to create
web pages based on your own HTML script. However, it is recommended
that you create your files in specialized html editors. To upload
a file from your hard drive, click the Upload File button at the
bottom of the page.
When uploading your own HTML page, try to avoid non-Latin characters,
spaces, underlines, commas, dots, hyphens, etc. It is recommended
that your file name only includes letters of Latin alphabet and
numbers.
Fun page template helps you organize your fun topics. To add
an item, click the Add button for the appropriate category
and fill out the form that appears.
To add pictures to your Fun Page:
- Click Add in the in the Add Funny Pictures box.
A new form will appear.
- Enter the name of the picture.
- Click the Select Image button. You will be brought
to the Upload Images page. Follow on-screen instructions
to add the new image.
- Add text. This may be any comment to the new image.
- Click the Next button to proceed.
- Click the View tab to see the page preview.
- Click the Edit tab to continue editing the page.
To change or remove images or texts, use the Edit and
Delete buttons on the left of the picture or text.
To add more images to your album click Add and repeat
the steps above.
To change the order of the jokes, images or stories, click the
Order Items button in the appropriate form. A new form
will appear. Follow on-screen instructions to change the order
of the items in the topic.
This template will help you develop a custom online questionnaire.
Use it to research public opinion or to get feedback from your
customers.
To generate a questionnaire, fill out the form:
Page Title:
Page title is the text that will show at the top of the menu bar.
For convenience, it duplicates the same field in the Settings
tab. In this field, you can change SiteStudio default name from
"Survey" to, say, "Questionnaire" or "Feedback".
Button Text:
This is the text that will show up on the global site menu among
other page names. It may be the same as the Page Title, or you
can give it a different name.
E-mail To:
Here, enter the address where you want the survey results e-mailed.
It can be the Webmaster’s (i.e. your) address as well as any other
address you specify.
Questions:
To add a question, click the Add button on the right. A
new form appears. Checking "Yes" in the Is The Answer
Required field marks the survey question with a red asterisk.
The survey will not be accepted from a visitor if one or more
asterisked questions remain unanswered. The Question Type
determines the format of the suggested answer. Carefully fill
out this form and click the Next button to proceed.
On Successful Submission of the Form:
Here, enter the text you want the visitor to see after the form
has been accepted.
On Error Submission of the Form:
Here, enter the text you want the visitor to see after the form
has been rejected or an error occurred.
Click the Next button to generate the questionnaire.
Generic Page template has been designed to enable fast and simple
creation of custom pages that do not fall into any other categories.
You can choose how to lay out your images and text depending on
your tastes, needs and circumstances.
- Marquee:
This is a scrolling area of text. To add a marquee, click Add
link. A marquee form will appear. Enter the text you want to
scroll, width and height in pixels, scrolling speed, horizontal
page alignment and vertical screen position, and the font style.
Press the Submit button to proceed.
- Number of Columns:
Multiple columns for the whole page can be combined with individual
paragraph design.
- Choose Title For this Page:
Page title is the text that will show at the top of the menu
bar. For convenience, it repeats the same field in the Settings
tab.
- Choose Link Text: This text will show on other pages
as a hyperlink to this page.
- Edit Paragraphs: You can add, delete and edit only
individual paragraphs, including headers, body texts,
images and image titles. All elements are optional!
To add or edit paragraphs:
- Click Add or Edit. A new form will appear.
- Select paragraph layout by sliding you mouse over the buttons
at the bottom of the page and clicking one of them.
- Enter Paragraph Header;
- Click the Select Image button to add a picture;
- Enter Paragraph Text;
- Click Next to preview.
Your family page includes two major blocks of information, one
about the whole family, and the other about its individual representatives.
To provide general family information enter the following fields:
- Title:
It could be as generic as "My Family" or as specific as "The
Simpsons Family Tree".
- Header Text:
give some introductory information about your family.
- Family Portrait:
Click the Select Image button to add a picture from your
computer.
To provide information about individual family representatives:
- click the Add button. A Family Member form will
appear.
- Fill out the form. (Note: The date format does not matter).
It is recommended to start your Family Tree with the ancestors.
Warning: Clicking the Delete tab will remove the
whole Family Tree Page, not a family member page! To remove individual
persons from the family tree, click Next in the Family
Member form to return to the Family Tree form and click
the Delete button on the left of the person’s name.
On the Family Tree central page you can see the general
family genealogy information.
To view individual family member’s page, click this person’s
name. To return to the general family page, click Back to Family
Tree at the bottom.
The calendar is nothing but a page listing events like birthdays,
anniversaries, etc.
- Date:
this field is insensitive to the format of the date.
- Headline:
what is the event about. E.g.: "Our fiftieth wedding anniversary".
- Text:
the optional comment you may want to add. E.g.: "Not celebrating".
- Type:
the color in which the record will appear:
- Usual - green;
- Important - blue;
- Alert - red.
If you extensively use ICQ, you will find this form of messaging
the most convenient.
To add the ICQ Contact Center page, fill out the fields:
- ICQ Number:
your active ICQ number to which the messages will be directed.
You can copy it from your ICQ View/Change My Details window.
- Subject:
Every message directed to you by a visitor of your site will
have this subject included. A good name for the Subject would
be something like "Sent From My Site".
- Online Indicator Type:
Your ICQ-message page contains an online indicator that shows
your current status (e.g. online or offline).
Here, you can choose how you want it to look. To preview, click
the View tab. To continue editing, click Edit
tab.
- Status Indicator Description:
The text that appears next to the online indicator. You can
change the default text to, for instance, "The Webmaster
is". Some indicator types include text like "My current
status is:" For these types, keep this field blank.
Press the Next button to proceed.
This is a powerful tool for visitors to get the driving directions
to any address in North America that you specify. For a personal
site, this can be your home or hangout. For a business site, show
the location of your restaurant, store (supermarket) or a service
center.
To create the page, enter the details of the destination address
and press the Next button to preview.
To change data, click the Edit tab.
To create your online bookstore, do the following steps:
1. Sign up.
You need to sign up to become an Amazon.com associate. Click
here to sign
up or here
to find more about the associate program.
2.Fill out the form
- Associates ID:
After you subscribe with the associate program, you will be
assigned an associate ID. Enter it into this field.
- Create Your Sales List:
enter the names, prices, and descriptions of the books you want
to sell. Then press Next to preview.
Configuring mobile messaging with SiteStudio is as simple as
entering the phone or pager number, selecting service type and
provider and clicking the Next button.
Tabs
Look at the tabs right under the toolbar menu. They supplement
every page-designing tool:
Edit tab opens by default, suggesting that you should
enter or change your data before viewing it. Forms in the Edit
tab vary greatly from page to page.
View tab allows you to view your changes. This option
is always available when you work on Edit or Settings tab. This
means that after you introduce any changes to your page data or
settings, you can immediately view them by clicking the View
tab.
Settings tab. Here you can customize all parameters for
your page. For details go to Standard Settings
Tab.
Delete tab permanently removes the page from your site.
Note: You can switch between tabs to change any data or
settings any time during the page construction process or later.
Standard
Settings Tab
Page Title
Page title is the text that will show at the top of the menu
bar. In this field, you can change SiteStudio default name from
"Fun Page" to, say, "Laugh with us".
Button Text
This is the text that will show up on your site’s menu among
other page names. It may be the same as the Page Title, or you
can give it a different name. For example, if your Page Title
is "Fun Page", you may want to add some versatility by typing
something like "Smile!"
File Name
Technically, your site is nothing but an organized inter-linked
group of html pages (files). SiteStudio enables you to assign
a specific name for every page that you add to your site. It is
recommended that your file name only includes letters of Latin
alphabet and numbers. Try to avoid non-Latin characters, spaces,
underlines, commas, dots, hyphens, etc.
Title, Text, Heading
You can select:
- Font - use pull-down menu;
- Color - click on Change color button, when the
color scheme appears, click on Selected color;
- Lettering Style - simply click on letter symbol.
After you change the settings click Next to see the result.
Rollover effect
When you move your mouse over some elements on a page, they may
change their color, shape and other properties. This is called
Rollover Effect.
Background Image
You can place the contents of your page on an image. However,
try to be discreet with choosing the background. Avoid using photographs
or bright decorations, as they may hinder text readability.
Colors
SiteStudio allows you to change the color palette for every site's
page. Their default HTML codes are in the boxes next to the parameter
names. You don’t need to know these codes. Instead, click the
icon to call a Color Picker
- a palette with colors available - and select the color you like.
The "Color" section allows you to change background, text
and links color. Just select the element you wish to modify and
click on the color you like.
Note: If you decide to change background color, ensure
that the text on your page is clearly readable. There must be
sufficient contrast between the text and the background image.
A background with too much contrast competes with the text for
reader's attention and makes it difficult to read.
Secure
You can make your page open to general public or closed (secure).
Secure sites or pages are often used by multinational companies
to communicate closed information to its representatives worldwide,
where e-mailing is not appropriate.
Choose Yes if you want to restrict access to the page.
The frame will expand to include a drop-down list box where you
can choose who is allowed to view the page. To create an authorized
user or user group, go to Site Settings -> Edit Security
Information (for comments see Edit Security
Information help section).
Go to the directory or folder on your computer where your picture
is saved, select the picture you want to add to your page, and
click the Open button. The location of the selected file appears
in the "Upload Image" window. Click the Upload button in the "Upload
Image" window.
You can select images from:
- Your own computer;
- Gallery of images that you have uploaded before (your gallery);
- SiteStudio image library (not included in some versions).
To re-order your pages do the following:
- Click to highlight the name of the page that you want to move;
- Use the and buttons to move the selected
item up or down the list;
- Click the Next button to save changes.
Click the category you need help with:
Note: When available, use the navigation buttons inside
the browser window. For some pages, your browser's Back and
Forward buttons will not work correctly. If a page fails
to load, or does not reflect last changes, click your browser's
Reload or Refresh button to update the page.
website
category
To select the website category,
scroll the list of suggested topics in the box in the right half
of the page. Select the topic for your site and click it. Then,
click the Next button. You will be brought to the Select
Website Color and Style page.
Attention: Once you begin to create your site you may
not change the website category!!! To change the category, you
will have to start anew, which will delete ALL PREVIOUSLY
SAVED SITES.
website
color &
Choosing a correct layout is crucial for the success of your
web site, as it will determine the look of every page. Site Studio
is equipped with a number of pre-designed Overall Site Layouts.
Go through the list in the upper left box by mouse-clicking each
item or using cursor keys on your keyboard. Sample pages will
be shown in the preview window on the right. Stop on the one that
will best suit the contents of your site.
Then, select a color scheme in the lower box. It will only affect
the menu bar; colors for every individual page are set at a later
stage (see Standard Settings
Tab).
You can change your layout and color scheme any time in the future
without losing any information whatsoever, even when the construction
of the site is complete.
The checkbox allows you to apply selected
layout and color scheme to all pages on your site. It comes checked
by default. If you uncheck it, the layout and color settings will
only affect the pages you create after applying these changes; the
pages you created before will remain unchanged. Changing this option
doesn’t affect your settings in any way, if you are only beginning
to create your site.
After you select the layout and color settings, click Next
to move on.
Global Settings
Web readers often want or need to contact the person who created
and maintains the web site. Global Settings form requires you
to enter basic information that will help identifying the site
and its author after it is published.
In the Search Engine Keywords box enter the words or word combinations
that distinguish your site from all other sites on the Internet.
They will be helpful when somebody tries to find your site with
a search engine. Think of the words that would be most characteristic
of your site.
In the Search Engine Description box enter a short description
of your site, like an answer to the question: What is it about?
If an Internet user finds your site with a search engine, this
description will show right under the site name.
You can enable visitors to perform text search on your site.
This functionality takes a form of a textbox added to the menu
bar. A visitor will type a word or a combination of words and
they will be searched throughout all texts on your site. If you
want to include a search engine into your site, click "yes"
at the bottom of the form. Otherwise, choose "no".
At this point, you are done with general site settings. Click
the Next button to configure individual pages.
Add themes and special effects! Make snowflakes fall down in
the browser, add logos that stay put as the user scrolls, and
tons of other cool features, all with easy point and click selection.
There are several check boxes to indicate and select the theme
(javascript effects) that you can see on your web page. Use pull-down
menu for selection. Then, click Next to preview.
Falling Things:
- Snow - the snowflakes will fall on your screen;
- Snow 1 - just the same action but another type of snowflakes;
- Leaves - the leaves will fall and fly on your screen;
- Angels - the same actions but Angels (instead of leaves)
will fall on your screen.
Items. Please use pull-down menu to select the number
of snowflakes (leaves).
Theme 1. Here you can include the "Top down curtain" effect.
Try not to include too many effects.
Cursor pointer. Here you can select:
- Cursor text. The name of the web page will trail the cursor.
- Colorful tail. The colorful tail will follow the cursor.
Site logo. Specify where you want to place the Logo
image.
Logo duration. Specify how long you want the Logo to
show on the page after it is loaded.
Alt text. Enter the tooltip text - a brief message that
will pop up next to the cursor when it stops over the Logo image.
Load
/ Save website
You can save up to five different versions of your site.
Make sure the names you enter reflect changes between versions.
Attention: Before retrieving a previously saved website,
save your work! If you don’t save your current project, you
will lose it. SiteStudio can work with only one site at a
time.
Warning: Starting over will delete ALL PREVIOUSLY
SAVED SITES. To start a completely new site, you need
to register as a new user.
Note: Saving your web site will not publish it. To
publish your site, click the publish link at the upper left-hand
corner on the menu panel.
Start Over
Scrap all your pages with one click, and begin designing
anew. Use this option only if you are completely sure. There
will be no way to get back your current pages if you start
over.
This option allows you to delete all your web pages with
ONE click and start to design from the beginning. Warning:
You will lose your current site as well as ALL PREVIOUSLY
SAVED SITES. Don’t use this function if you are not
strongly sure!
Edit
Security Info
You can make your site open to general public or closed (secure).
Secure sites are often used by multinational companies to
communicate current information to its representatives worldwide,
where e-mailing is not appropriate.
In this section you need to specify the users or user groups
authorized to access your secure site. After you include them
into the authorized user list, communicate to them their passwords.
To secure individual pages, go to Page Settings tab (see
Page Settings
help section for details).
Here you can see and inspect all the web pages your web site
consists of.
- to preview page content click View. You will be
brought to the page’s View tab.
- to change, add or delete info - click Edit. You
will be brought to the page’s Edit tab.
- to delete the page click Remove. The page will
be permanently deleted.
- to change the look and feel of the page, click Settings.
You will be brought to the Page Settings tab.
