Publishing problem

[C Tate]

I've created a website for a friend. My friend registered a domain name
herself. Trouble is I don't think she actually ordered webspace! It looks
like she did but the order actually says 5mb (mailbox). I will have to
clarify what all that menas with lycos. I mean why do you need that amount
of space for a mailbox?! I'm confused.

Anyway, until that is all sorted out I had an idea. What I've done is use
the webpointing feature of her package (it does have that, at least) to
redirect people visiting her site to my free web space with my provider
(where I've placed her site). This seems to work absolutely fine when you
view the site with Firefox. The redirect thing works like a dream. However,
when you try to view the site with Internet Explorer you can only see the
home page (index.html). The navigation bar won't load the other pages. I
can't understand why this is the case in one browser and not another. Can
anybody offer an explanation? By the way, I've chosen the option in
Publisher NOT to group all the pages in a folder other than the first page.
So all the pages are individual.

Also, what is the best place to read all about hosting websites etc? I'm UK
based.

Any help, advice gratefully received!

 

[DavidF]

C Tate,

1. A 5 meg mailbox is actually kind of small by today standards. Gmail from
Google offers over 2.5 gigs! With all the email and spam received these days
it takes no time to fill 5 megs, and from that point any message sent to
that mailbox is bounced back to the sender.

2. Are you sure you don't have it backwards? Assuming that you are using Pub
2003 to produce your website, it is designed to work best with IE, and will
frequently exhibit the issues you describe with other browsers, including
Firefox. If you post the URL then perhaps someone here can take a look at it
and see what the problem is.

3. Google is your friend...as is Lycos. But if you want to skip that and
want a good referral for an inexpensive and dependable hosting service, then
go to David Bartosik's site (the resident MVP): www.davidbartosik.com

DavidF

 

[David Bartosik [MSFT MVP]]

I believe I have this on the FAQ,
http://www.publishermvps.com/Default.aspx?tabid=30
I'm sure you are framing the site. (View source, see Framesets)
Framing breaks the relative hyperlinks that Publisher uses for most of it's
coding, such as in the menu created with the nav bar wizard.
Don't frame the site, problem fixed.
or
Manually use absolute links versus the relative links, problem fixed.
Publisher writes some complex logic in it's code that includes identifying
the browser, if it's IE then the browser gets Publisher's VML and other more
"advanced" logic. Non IE browsers get some "dumber" logic (though not always
dumb enough). Firefox is getting a different menu bar then IE does, with
absolute links even. Hence the different results.

David Bartosik - [MSFT MVP]
www.publishermvps.com
www.davidbartosik.com

 

[C Tate]

OK. I think David B is right. When I view source it does appear there is a
frameset.

I've checked the FAQs and read what they have to say on the issue. What I am
not clear about is how I now go about changing this now that I've built the
site (using the navbar wizard!).

Is it easy to go back and change the links by hand? I don't have a clue how
to do that. I'm a total newbie at this I'm afraid so idiot-style
instructions are best for me!

As for DavidF's comments I'm not sure about lycos being my friend <g>. I
think their material is very unclear. I'm not at all clear on what my friend
has actually ordered from them apart from the domain name (despite having
studied all their emails/literature). She appears to have this mailbox thing
which is 5mb but what's that for? They say it's webspace. Does this mean I
can upload the site there? I've asked the help people to clarify but no
answer as yet.

If I could put the site into the webspace we thought we'd ordered, there
would be no need for the redirecting business and maybe then the links would
work!

I believe I have this on the FAQ,
http://www.publishermvps.com/Default.aspx?tabid=30
I'm sure you are framing the site. (View source, see Framesets)
Framing breaks the relative hyperlinks that Publisher uses for most of
it's coding, such as in the menu created with the nav bar wizard.
Don't frame the site, problem fixed.
or
Manually use absolute links versus the relative links, problem fixed.
Publisher writes some complex logic in it's code that includes identifying
the browser, if it's IE then the browser gets Publisher's VML and other
more "advanced" logic. Non IE browsers get some "dumber" logic (though not
always dumb enough). Firefox is getting a different menu bar then IE does,
with absolute links even. Hence the different results.

David Bartosik - [MSFT MVP]
www.publishermvps.com
www.davidbartosik.com

C Tate,

1. A 5 meg mailbox is actually kind of small by today standards. Gmail
from
Google offers over 2.5 gigs! With all the email and spam received these
days
it takes no time to fill 5 megs, and from that point any message sent to
that mailbox is bounced back to the sender.

2. Are you sure you don't have it backwards? Assuming that you are using
Pub
2003 to produce your website, it is designed to work best with IE, and
will
frequently exhibit the issues you describe with other browsers, including
Firefox. If you post the URL then perhaps someone here can take a look at
it
and see what the problem is.

3. Google is your friend...as is Lycos. But if you want to skip that and
want a good referral for an inexpensive and dependable hosting service,
then
go to David Bartosik's site (the resident MVP): www.davidbartosik.com

DavidF

 

[C Tate]

I forgot to say, the url is www.rosslynalternatives.co.uk. I have set things
to a 'cloaked' redirect so you shouldn't know it's happening (sneaky eh?!).
Don't blame me for the clipart. The client chose it all and the client knows
best!

I believe I have this on the FAQ,
http://www.publishermvps.com/Default.aspx?tabid=30
I'm sure you are framing the site. (View source, see Framesets)
Framing breaks the relative hyperlinks that Publisher uses for most of
it's coding, such as in the menu created with the nav bar wizard.
Don't frame the site, problem fixed.
or
Manually use absolute links versus the relative links, problem fixed.
Publisher writes some complex logic in it's code that includes identifying
the browser, if it's IE then the browser gets Publisher's VML and other
more "advanced" logic. Non IE browsers get some "dumber" logic (though not
always dumb enough). Firefox is getting a different menu bar then IE does,
with absolute links even. Hence the different results.

David Bartosik - [MSFT MVP]
www.publishermvps.com
www.davidbartosik.com

C Tate,

1. A 5 meg mailbox is actually kind of small by today standards. Gmail
from
Google offers over 2.5 gigs! With all the email and spam received these
days
it takes no time to fill 5 megs, and from that point any message sent to
that mailbox is bounced back to the sender.

2. Are you sure you don't have it backwards? Assuming that you are using
Pub
2003 to produce your website, it is designed to work best with IE, and
will
frequently exhibit the issues you describe with other browsers, including
Firefox. If you post the URL then perhaps someone here can take a look at
it
and see what the problem is.

3. Google is your friend...as is Lycos. But if you want to skip that and
want a good referral for an inexpensive and dependable hosting service,
then
go to David Bartosik's site (the resident MVP): www.davidbartosik.com

DavidF

 

[David Bartosik [MSFT MVP]]

Not at all, it takes less then a second to view source and see the real
address is
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/rosslynalts/index.html

Visit the real site and the links work fine. What you call cloaking is just
the technique of masking a URL by framing it. You can frame any web site.
(you can get in trouble for that)

The framing breaks the relative links.

The proper cure is to use an actual host. If a business is serious enough
about it's business to buy a domain name then it should be serious enough to
buy a host. Hosting can be had for $80 at
http://www.webhost4life.com/default.asp?refid=pubmvps

David Bartosik - [MSFT MVP]
www.publishermvps.com
www.davidbartosik.com

 

[David Bartosik [MSFT MVP]]

duh, of course I'm right, that's why I make the big bucks.

your best options:

1) publish to a real host

2) drop the masked URL, use a straight redirect

David Bartosik - [MSFT MVP]
www.publishermvps.com
www.davidbartosik.com

 

[C Tate]

Thanks for your help with this. I've removed the hidden redirect and it
works ok. This will do until I can get an actual host sorted out. I'm not
sure the one you mentioned would be suitable for us as we're based in the
UK. Don't know if that matters or not. My friend registered with Lycos and
they will host it for a similar fee. I didn't reckon it would cost that
amount. It's a very small website - just to give her a presence - and she'll
probably want to keep costs to an absolute minimum.

Not at all, it takes less then a second to view source and see the real
address is
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/rosslynalts/index.html

Visit the real site and the links work fine. What you call cloaking is
just the technique of masking a URL by framing it. You can frame any web
site. (you can get in trouble for that)

The framing breaks the relative links.

The proper cure is to use an actual host. If a business is serious enough
about it's business to buy a domain name then it should be serious enough
to buy a host. Hosting can be had for $80 at
http://www.webhost4life.com/default.asp?refid=pubmvps

David Bartosik - [MSFT MVP]
www.publishermvps.com
www.davidbartosik.com

I forgot to say, the url is www.rosslynalternatives.co.uk. I have set
things to a 'cloaked' redirect so you shouldn't know it's happening
(sneaky eh?!).