lenght of page and hyperlinks (bookmarks)

[drak10687]

i know that publisher automatically ajusts the length of the page depending
on where the last object is, however, it does not seem to work well when you
use html code.

i have a long list of names and i split them into alphabetical order and
then using html code made links (bookmarks) to letters so you wouldnt have to
scroll down alot. Everything works fine, untill the anchors are outside the
page (because the list is too long). The text shows up, but the links dont
work.

I figured out how to increase the lenght of the page, however, this is
allready my 62ond page and changing the length alters all the pages in
undesirable and dynamic ways.

Is there a workaround to this besides changing page lenght or splitting the
list?
(publisher 2003)

 

[DavidF]

I think I understand what you are asking. I find that it is important to
make my "insert code fragment box" the size of the content, otherwise you
will end up with problems. It sounds like your content is bigger than the
code fragment box, and your page. If you don't want to split up the content
to a new page, then I don't know of another way to solve your issue other
than to make the pages longer...and yes, when you do that it can mess up the
spacing on the existing pages.

When I ran up against this I found the easiest way for me was to open a
second instance of Publisher, set up a new set of blank pages the new
length, and then copy and paste the content from each page of the old file
to the new. Since this was rather tedious, I made sure that my new page
length was way longer than I thought I would ever need. I also found that if
I went to the bottom of the page, did a Ctrl + A, on each page (which
selects each design element on the page), and then grouped that content
before I copied it, it was easier to move all the design elements around as
a group and align it on the new page after I pasted it.

One suggestion you might want to consider before you copy and paste all
those pages to a new Publisher file, is to perhaps break up your site and
use multiple Publisher files. It would be easier to manage in the future,
and now would be the time to make the change. I made this decision fairly
early on and as my site grew I was glad that I did it. While most of my site
is static, I do have several sections that I change at least monthly, and
its easier to modify just that Publisher file, for that section, and upload
just those changes. Here is an article to introduce you to the concept:
"Building a web site with multiple Publisher web publication files":
http://msmvps.com/blogs/dbartosik/archive/2006/01/16/81264.aspx

DavidF

 

[drak10687]

thanks a lot for the suggestion, ill consider that, but first i will decide
if its that important to have those bookmarks.

one thing i realized after after i posted my question, is that the "html
anchors" that were outside the limits of the page, appeared on all the other
pages, and if i deleted one (on any page) they would all get deleted. not
sure what that means.

as far as the multiple .pub files, i might use that just for that page (so i
dont have to copy/paste all of them) but my website is allready split into
two (russian and english) but since this content will not actually be
published to the web, but rather to a cd and sent out, i will not have to
worry about updating.

on that note i also want to add that when i started my website, i always
used the "save as" to save to .html format (as opposed to "publish to the
web", which as i found out later was the reason why all my page files were
saved with the default number instead of the name i gave them. however, that
helped later on in the process when i had to link each english/russian page
to its russina/english counterpart, because the "save as" numbers all the
pages in order starting at one, where as the the "publish to the web" number
the "unnamed" pages with seemingly random, increasing numbers.

But i would like to know if there are any other differences between the two
methods of saving that might occure, as i seem to remember that you highly
recomend using the "publish to the web" method.

 

[DavidF]

My best guess about the "html anchors" disappearing when you delete one, is
that you have inserted them on a master page. When you delete one, then it
will delete where ever you used the master page. In fact, you should not be
using a master page in a web publication, and that might be part of the
reason you are having the troubles you are. Get rid of the master pages...
You can use the "duplicate all elements....or however it is termed" when you
insert a new page in Publisher. You might also read about "synchronization"
under Help to see if that has something to do with your disappearing
anchors.

In general you should be using Publish to the Web to produce filtered html
code, which will load more quickly among other things. If you are/were using
a master page then your problems with writing links correctly might be
related. Your situation is complicated by the fact that you are trying to
link two sites together, and you are not seeing how Publisher writes
relative links when using the navbar wizard and yes, using a relatively
arbitrary way of naming your *.*htm pages in the process. You further
complicate things by using the insert html code fragment tool to insert
other "anchor links", and might be writing those incorrectly. It is also
hard to tell you what the problems might be because if you are using a
supporting folder then the links will be written different than if you
aren't using the supporting folder, which you find that option under Tools >
Options > Web tab. And of course if you are trying to name each page as
under Tools > Web Page Options, you add another complication. Take one, two
or more of these variables and it makes it pretty much impossible for me to
troubleshoot your issues.

I would suggest that as you change these variables, and when you Publish to
the Web, that you publish your HTML files and any supporting folders to your
hard drive where you can study the files. As you have discovered Publisher
produces and writes links different depending on how you set it up. By
publishing to your hard drive, and studying the files and any supporting
folders, you should be able to write your links more accurately. Be sure to
have your computer setup so you can see the extensions, and thereby see the
difference between *.*htm files and image files and folders. If you know
exactly how each file is named, then writing links to them will be easier.
Ultimately you may need to quit using the navbar wizard and build your own
navigation system using absolute links in order to keep everything straight.
I can give you a reference for how to build your own textual navbar if you
decide to go that route, and you could always build your own around your own
images or icons.

Sorry I can't be of more help is sorting all this out, but feel free to post
additional information and questions, and I'll fumble along and try to help
;-)

DavidF

 

[drak10687]

thanks alot for your answers, however I have solved most of those issues with
some work arounds. BTW, i didnt use a masterpage (in part because im not
exactly sure what it does, and reading these threads one of the sollutions to
everything is always not to use the master page), but like i said, i think
the anchors being reproduced had something to do with them bieng outside the
page. However, that is not an issue anymore, so you not need to worry about
that. Also, i created my own browsing/navigation menue from the start. Also
I am not using the "organise supporting files in a folder" option because i
am linking between two website and since I AM NOT publishing to the web, it
would be impossible to go from one, if it was in a folder of the other (at
least as far as i knkow).

Anyways, the above is not of much concern to me, just trying to explain my
situation, however, what does concern me is, if i understoon you correctly,
only using the "publish to the web" method creates "filtered" content. NOT
the "save as" method? Because as I said before (if you missed it) I will
publish onto a cd, and having filtered content would make it faster use.
Because a "beta" version of my "website" on a cd allready takes quite a while
to load pages even on fast computers with fast optical drives.

 

[DavidF]

Ok...sounds like you have things under control.

As to filtered vs. unfiltered, it might not make that much difference when
you are publishing to a CD. The Save As method will produce a file with a
lot more code, but I am guessing the code bloat wouldn't make much
difference if you were viewing the site from a CD. The recommendation to use
Publish to the Web to produce filtered output is appropriate if you are
going to upload the site because each of those files need to be downloaded
to your computer to be loaded in your browser. If you are viewing the site
from a CD, then the files are already on your computer and the file size
might not matter.

To illustrate the difference in file size, I just took one of the 3 pages
website templates. When I Publish to the Web the total HTML output was 180
kb. When I did a Save As the HTML output size bloated to 583 kb. Obviously
it would take longer to download and view the later. Whether it takes longer
to view the site from a CD, you will just have to experiment.

But excuse me for being a bit dense...why are you publishing to a CD? Are
you saying that you are not going to post the site on your webhost?

I also think I understand why you chose to use the Save As method so that
your *.*htm files would be named in a predictable number order. While it may
not be necessary if you don't intend on posting the site on the web, if you
do want to use the Publish to the Web method to reduce the file size, then
you could name each page and get around the variable numbers in the file
names. As an example if you are on your second page of your site/Publisher
document, go to Tools > Web Page Options. Then on that dialog and under the
Publish to the Web section, and in the File name field, name your second
page "aboutus", or even "page2", then when you actually Publish to the Web,
you will find that page will be called "index_aboutus.htm" or
"index_page2.htm" (assuming that you are not using the supporting folder
option). Do that with each page, and you have worked around the random
numbers in the file names.

I hope that helps.

DavidF

 

[drak10687]

Yeah, I just named all the pages what they were when i used the "save as"
method. It didnt take long (because the were all numbers) and i didnt have
to change the hyperlinks from its russian counterpart since the names stayed
the same.

as far as why I am publishing to a cd... well because that was the original
idea of my client (at the time i didnt know i was going to be paid as well)
and i decided to see what i could do. I decided to use publisher (instead of
something like adobe to make a .pdf) because it gave me alot more freedom of
desing, like virtually unlimited legnth of page, using html code to have more
control and create more interesting content, and since each page is a
separate file, loading times are significantly decreased (as opposed to
having a gigantic .pdf file). The cd will be sent out to the participants of
a conference that already took place. It will contain the content of that
conferance. And because its like a website, that content is highly organised
and easy to navigate throught.

Thats preatty much it.

 

[DavidF]

Ok...thanks for posting back. I am always impressed with the creativity of
how people use Publisher in their business, and you have demonstrated that
yet again. I have often argued that it is not so much which tool one uses,
but the creativity and ability of the person who wields the tool...you are a
case in point. Congrats.

DavidF