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Page Tab Overview
Summary: The first tab in the RWD Form is the Page tab. This is where you set the defining attributes and the general look of the web page. While the Lite version of RWD only permits users to build pages using the preset skins that are included with the product, the full version RWD gives you the option of creating custom pages that can look any way you choose.
Note: If you do not know what version of RWD you are currently using, the version number is displayed at the top of the RWD form in Red or Yellow Bar (Administrator Form or Advanced Builder Form respectively)
Command Buttons
Summary: The buttons that appear at the top of the RWD Page Builder form (all versions) are meant to simplify the most common tasks that users carry out when working with the form.
A) Help This button will open a website that contains the help documentation for the form being worked on.
B) Spell check Clicking the spell check feature will perform spell checking on all fields in the form, as well as the document (page) body itself. Some RWD syntax features will cause the spell check to find spelling errors so make sure to skip the suggested corrections and move on to the next items. If you wish to check only the document / page body of the form, use the FirstClass spell check command instead.
C) Save and Close Clicking this button will save any changes you have made to the form since you opened it and then close the form
D) Close This button will close the form. If you have made any changes at all, you will be prompted to either save the changes or discard them before the form closes
Page Information
Summary: This section of the Page Tab is used to set the name, page title, and meta-tags (searchable content) of your page.
1) Page Name
Function: This field is used to set the name of the page, which is the final component of the internet Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the page.
2) Subject
Function: This field is used to define the web page and will appear in the title bar of the browser window when the page is viewed on the web. The subject is also returned by internet search engines as the title of the page.
3) Abstract
Function: This field is used as the summary of the web page that will be returned by an internet search engine. When a web search engine finds your page (by matching the keywords you supply, the abstract is returned to the search engine as a summary of what the page is about. The abstract field only works with browsers that support meta-tags (most current, mainstream browsers).
4) Keywords
Function: Keywords are the words that internet search engines use to match your page to the search criteria entered by the web user.
*Tips and Tricks: Almost any page name can be given to a web page, and as long as the page you are creating is an RWD page, you do NOT need to give the page name any file extension (like .htm or .html), nor should you.
The special page name "Home Page" (including the space but not the quotation marks) must be given to a page if you wish to have the browser open it automatically in any folder or conference you are sharing on the web.
Just as traditional web sites that are built in HTML have one page, INDEX.HTM, INDEX.HTML, DEFAULT.HTM or DEFAULT.HTML that automatically opens when the browser hits the site folder, "Home Page" is interpreted by FirstClass as the root page of the site. In fact, if there is no page named "Home Page" in a folder or conference shared on the web, the browser will not open any pages but will instead display a list of the pages, documents, and files in the folder, just as it would any other folder in FirstClass. The only exception to this is when the site has mixed types of pages - FirstClass/RWD and traditional HTML, in which case either "Home Page" or "Index.html" will do.
If your site contains folders or conferences that contain more pages, each folder or conference can also contain a page called "Home Page". If a folder does not contain a "Home Page" document, then all paths (URLs) to that folder must also contain the specific page name you want the browser to open.
For example:
www.domainname/sitefoldername/newsitems will ONLY open a document if there is one called "Home Page" or "Index.html", otherwise, the browser will display a list of the objects in the newsitems folder.
The subject field will be the text that will be displayed to the internet user as the title of your page in the Browser Window title bar. Keep your page name short - preferably with no spaces, and use the subject field to give the web user more information about your page. For example, you might have a page named 'Library' while the subject field might have a more descriptive entry such as: 'Happy Valley School Library Information'
Since the abstract field acts as be a summary of your page, a short but clear description will be more effective than a vague one as it could be the only reference a user has to your page and the more, succinct and clear your abstract, the more likely a user will visit your page. Make sure to keep the abstract up to date as the page changes over time.
Fill the keyword field with words that describe your page in broad terms, separating each word with a comma and a space like the following: 'RWD, Rapid Web Designer, web page, FirstClass, builder'
General Page Appearance
Summary: This section is used to configure the general settings for the web page - how it is displayed in the browser window, how the background looks for the page, and what skin is used (if any).
5) Use local form settings (if allowed)
Function: If checked, this field will cause the web the page will get its format settings from the local form and not the central template form (the RWDe Administrator Form). If unchecked (default), changes to the colors and fonts in the builder form will not have any effect on the web page. Note, the RWDe Administrator Form must be configured to allow advanced users to take control of the page format or this control has no effect (hence the 'if allowed' provision in the control label). For more information regarding the rules and mechanism behind this control, please consult your RWD Site Administrator.
6) This Page is Approved (legacy feature)
Function: This field activates a feature that is no longer generally in use. The Site Administrator can set up a site to require that each web page in the entire website must be approved before being viewed on the web. While some people still think this is a good idea, it is largely impractical and there are now better ways to accomplish this objective. Checking this checkbox will set the page as approved however, unless the Administrator has activated the approval requirement, leaving it unchecked will not cause any problems. We do not recommend using this feature.
7) Page Width (%)
Function: The page width field is used to define the width of the RWD web page in the browser. This control has two distinct mechanisms inherent in it. If the value in the field is 100 or below, RWD interprets the value as a percentage of a whole maximized window, and constrains the Header section, the Header Links Bar, the Page Body, and Navigation & Information Sidebar (if activated) to fit into the percentage of the window chosen.
If the value in the field is above 100, RWD interprets the number in pixels and sets the page width accordingly. An absolute setting is useful if you are building a page that uses graphics that line up with each other in specific ways or if you want to use an image for a Header Section Background or Header Links Bar that you don't wish to have repeated as a tiled image.
If a background image or color is selected, this will be unaffected by the constraint and will take up the entire browser window.
If a background image or color is selected, this will be unaffected by the constraint and will take up the entire browser window.
Issues with Scaling: Images used on a web page do not respect the scaling feature and appear full size. If you use an image in any area of your RWD page (Logo, title, banner, or an image in the body of the document section) that is wider than the reduced page size (in pixels), the image will appear full size and extend beyond the edges of the page. A large image in the Page Body can also ' push out' the sides of the Navigation Sidebar and Information Sidebar so that the edges of these objects don't line up with the Header Links bar properly (see the image below for a sample of a page scaled at 70% with the above two issues demonstrated).
It is generally advisable to leave this setting at the default unless you have a specific desire to create a blank border on the sides of your pages.
8) Place Shadow around Objects
Function: This field is used to select the type of shadow that will be used around such objects as Navigation Sidebar headlines and their links, the body content, and the Information Sidebar. There are three options: No Shadow, Shadow 1, and Shadow 2.
9) Choose Preset Skin (legacy feature - no longer supported)
Function: This field is used to select a pre-made color scheme for your entire page. It will input it's own colors/fonts/images for the look of all sections of the web page. If you wish to create your own color scheme and look, select Custom Skin from the list. This allows modification of all aspects of the look and feel of your web page.
The pre-made color schemes include:
FirstClass Classic
Powder Room
Light Stone
Baby Blue
Lavender Leaves
Plastic Puddles
Rusty Rose
School
Blue Bubbles
Old Glory
Tile Backsplash
O Canada
Tiny Tiles
FirstClassDepot
Note: Skins are an older feature of RWD and are not recommended as a substitute for a custom site design.
10) Page Background Color
Function: If "Custom" in the Choose Preset Skin field is selected, this field will assign a color to the background of your body content, including the margins (if the Page Width field is used). If any preset skin is selected then this field will be ignored even if the background Image Path/Filename is assigned a valid file name (see below),.
11) Image Path/Filename
Function: If "Custom" in the Choose Preset Skin field is selected, this field will assign an image file stored on your account, to be used as a background for your body content. The image file must be stored in the same folder as the web page or a sub-container of that folder to be accessible. See the RWD Images and Paths Help document for more information about this subject.
12) Tiling
Function: If you chose "Custom" in the Choose Preset Skin field, and you are using a background image for the page, the Tiling field will determine if the background image will be tiled (repeated all throughout the page - like tiles on a wall), or not. If Tile Image is not selected , then a single instance of your background image will be located on the page based on what option you select in the drop down list of values in the field.
Note: When building RWD pages, DO NOT use the background image functionality of FirstClass in the Page Body as it will override the RWD setting and cause unexpected results. If you have inadvertently done this, you can fix the problem by removing the page background.
Instead, enter the background image path and file name in the RWD form after uploading the image to your images folder.
Page Body
Function: The page body is the core of your web page. Located in the lower pane of the RWD Builder form, it is the most editable element of your web page and, in fact, RWD has almost no control over this area. The Page Body is exactly the same as any other FirstClass web page document and you edit it in the same way by using the FirstClass document editor. Using the tool bar just below the the Separator bar in the RWD form, you can add and format your page body content, insert images from your local computer (without having to use paths), create links and markers, create and edit HTML, insert sounds, and create tables.
You can insert a background image that will show when the page is viewed on the web, however, doing this may cause your web page to become difficult to read if the image is busy and conflicts with the font over top.
WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT INSERT A BACKGROUND IMAGE IN THE PAGE BODY SECTION OF YOUR RWD FORM unless it is a non - tiled image. Instead, use the background settings for the Page, Header Section, Navigation Sidebar, and Information Sidebar.
If you do insert a background image and it does not appear on the web but is visible in your page builder form, it is likely that Site Administrator has disabled background images in web pages for your site.
For more help on editing the content of the Page Body, see the FirstClass Client Help - "Working with Content".
*Tips and Tricks: The page width must be experimented with using computers with different screen resolutions in order to achieve best results. Essentially, setting the value to less than 97% will give your page body a border around it that is the same as the page background image. This can result in some interesting effects when used carefully but experimentation and testing is key.
Experimentation with shadow effects will help you determine whether this feature is the best choice for a specific page. The shadow effect is becoming less used in web design.
Make sure that your background color does not clash with your graphics or your font color and make sure your font color shows up well against your chosen background color. If your graphics are JPEG or PNG, or any other file type that does not support transparency, make sure that you choose a background color that fits with the image file background.
It is a good idea is to make a folder for all of the graphics you intend to use in your site. We suggest that you create your graphics folder in the root container of your website. We also suggest that you name the folder "SiteImages". If you do this, your images will have the path/filename in the following format in RWD: SiteImages/yourfilename.gif
Do not use the name "Images" for your folder as it is a reserved name.
When tiling an image, the background looks much smoother and professional if the right side of the image and the left side of the image are compatible (IE. with no visible edge when tiled). If you are using a larger image, such as a beach scene or other type of picture, you may wish to display only one instance of the image instead of tiling it.
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