Web Sites

[Dawn Ellis]

Back in Jan and Feb this year I asked a question about my web site as I could
not view it after trying to build another (see Web Sites 28/2/07)
I have since totally dismantled that site and built another but still the
same problem occurs. I have looked on the IE7 site and found it could have
something to do with that.
Also, one of the answers I got was from Mike Koewler and he mentioned
Mozilla. My agent string is Mozilla, can I change this? and if so will my
site then work?

 

[Dawn Ellis]

I have also just downloaded Mozilla Firefox to check the site on there. Only
the first page is showing. The links to the other pages don't work, but the
link to the village web site and our email do work.
The URL is www.fulstowbrewery.co.uk

 

[Don Schmidt]

Are you on dialup? I see your site and the pages here ok but they do load a
bit slow and I'm on DSL. Could be your image files are a bit large.

 

[Dawn Ellis]

Yes I am on dialup as opposed to wireless but thanks for trying.
The problem seems to be centred around 2 events, my upgrade to IE7 and
trying to design and view a new site. I just don't know which had the most
effect.

 

[Dawn Ellis]

OK, I've started again, from scratch, on Publisher 2003 following your
recomendations from last time. The pixel width is 760 and I have formatted
the backround.
Again, when I go to Web Page Preview, before I've published to the web, I am
still getting the same results, no images and only part of 1 page.
I've done things different but am still getting bad results, Why?

 

[DavidF]

Dawn,

Go back and read the suggested changes from last time.

Change the width of your page to 760 pixels wide. Change the way that you
are applying the background color...it is converting your menu into an image
in FF...that is why the links don't work. Make those changes and if your
site doesn't work correctly, then post back.

If you keep doing the same thing, then don't expect different results.

DavidF

 

[DavidF]

After resizing your page size, go to Tools > Options > Web tab and uncheck
"Rely of VML..." and "Allow PNG...".

Then compress all your images: Compress graphics file sizes to create
smaller Publisher Web pages:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/publisher/HA011266301033.aspx

Publish to the Web and direct all your html output to a folder on your hard
drive. Open and test the index.htm file with FF. Test the links. If it does
not work, remove all background colors and fills and borders and test again.
If your links still do not work, move the text box and or drag other design
elements into the scratch area and off the page. In other words, strip your
site back to the basics, and then add your design elements one at a time,
testing the html output at each step. Eventually you will find what you are
doing wrong.

DavidF

 

[DavidF]

Try it without the background. Then if that doesn't work, drag every design
element, picture etc off the page into the scratch area...everything except
for the menu. Try that. If it works, then add back one component at a time,
and test after each step.

When I say "Publish to the Web" I mean go to File > Publish to the Web and
then when the dialog comes up, choose to save the html output (the index.htm
file and the index_files folder) to somewhere on your computer where you can
find it. I usually put a test folder on my desktop for convenience. Then
open IE > File > Open and browse to where you saved the html output and
double click on the index.htm file. Does the page open? Do the same with FF.
If you troubleshoot your publication in this way, and test at each step, you
will find what is creating the problem.

If you have a blank webpage, with no background, and only your text box with
the links included, and the page still does not load correctly in IE7, then
the problem is IE7. If that is the case, I don't know what to tell you, but
if it is post back and we will try to figure out something.

DavidF

 

[DavidF]

One more thing. I have been assuming that you built your menu by creating a
text box, and inserting the absolute links to the other pages manually. If
you are using the navbar wizard, that changes things. If after going through
all the troubleshooting advice I have given you, and you still find no joy,
then post back with specifics of how you are building your menu.

Secondly, if you manage to open the blank page with just the menu
successfully in IE7, then mouseover the links, and look to the status bar to
see if they are functional. You need not click on them, as that will just
take you to your site on the web. The same is true for FF.

Thirdly, one more thing you can try is Tools > Options > Web tab and change
the Encoding from Western European (windows) to Unicode (UTF8)...or the
other way around and see if that makes any difference.

And lastly, once you figure out what is causing the problem, if you really
want to have a wider page, then go for it. It is bad design in my opinion,
but I doubt that the width of your page is causing the problem. I suspect it
has to do with your background, your borders, your fill in text boxes,
possibly with the way you are layering your objects, or the settings in IE7,
but from here it is impossible to know. That's why rebuilding your page one
element at a time, and testing at each step is the best way to discover the
problem. Your pages load in IE6 and FF2.0 for me. They load in a weird way,
and the menu is converted to an image in FF...and that is the main issue as
far as others viewing your site. You can test for text being converted to an
image by trying to select it...left click and drag across the text, while
you are looking at your page from the browser. If you can't select it, it
has been converted to an image. Sometimes by filling a text box with a
color, that alone will convert everything to an image, so when you test your
blank page with just the text box menu, make sure it doesn't have any fill
or a border.

I realize that my advice has been a bit unorganized, and that is probably
very frustrating for you, but if you plug and chug one step at a time, you
will find your problem, and then hopefully a solution. I won't be able to
respond anymore until tonight...good luck.

DavidF

 

[Mike Koewler]

Something interesting - I imported your pages into WebPlus, previewed
your site, and the links work. Also, when I viewed your site and showed
the layers, your links on the left are close to the lowest Z-level. If
Pub offers the option to Bring to Front, I would try that. Of course,
the first thing I would do would be to delete the background.

Mike

 

[Dawn Ellis]

I have been using the Web Wizard, as it is the easiest (or so I thought). The
page width on that wizard is 950 pixels so I tried a new blank page with just
1 navbar in it, at the 760 pixel and the page came up blank.

I have just been trying with a blank web page and inserting a text box as my
navbar and that didn't work either.

I have tried everything that you have suggested on both of your last replies
but again nothing changed what I could see. You said to save to desktop and
then open IE>File>Open and then browse, when I opened this file everything
except a few borders was there, but it appeared to be too big for the page,
it hung off the side. I now know this is because of the page width on the
wizard as mentioned above.

I haver also downloaded the string to 'convert' my IE7 to think it is IE6
and still no joy.

 

[DavidF]

Dawn,

Open IE go to Tools > Internet Options > General Tab and under Temp internet
files, click the Delete Files button (empties your IE cache). Then go to
the Advanced tab and confirm that under Multimedia that Show Pictures is
checked. Then close IE and reboot your machine.

Open Publisher. Choose a New from a design > Web sites and Email > Web Sites

3 page website. Choose any of the templates, double click and let

Publisher create the 3 page publication. Do a Web page preview. Does it
preview ok in IE? Do the links work? If it doesn't work, do you get an error
message?

When you Publish to the Web and directed the output to your desktop, and
then opened IE > File > Open > browse to your index.htm file and opened it,
are you saying that the page displays correctly in IE? Is it displaying
correctly other than a border or two? What happens if you remove the problem
border? Does it then work in webpage preview? Does it work if you Publish to
the web, produce a new index.htm file, and open that file with IE?

What happens when you open FF, and browse to the index.htm file and open it?

What antivirus program are you using? Have you tried disabling your AV and
previewing your site?

What firewall are you using? Have you tried disabling the firewall, and
previewing your site?

How large is the file size of your Publisher web document?

Please answer every question I have posed above.

DavidF

 

[Dawn Ellis]

My answers:
New Web Site - No images shown, only text. No nav bar shown and no error
massage either.
IE>File>Open>browse :- I got this wrong last time so I did it right and got
the same results as when I preview web page.
In FF the nav bar links are there and working but there are no images and
inks to other web sites or email addresses shown.

I have Norton antivirus and firewall. There was no change when either or
both are disabled.

The size of the Publisher web document is 5,685 KB

I hope this helps!
Dawn

 

[Dawn Ellis]

I have just updated my site and it's size is now 3,928 KB

 

[DavidF]

Dawn,

I suspect the problem is with either IE7 or a patch from MSFT. Do you have
your computer set to automatically download and install patches? Have you
installed any other new programs in the recent past?

Norton does not play well with a lot of MSFT products...and others for that
matter. Try turning off the Office plugin.

Another possibility is that you need to update your video driver. Right
click your desktop > properties > Settings > Advanced > Adapter > and
probably Properties, and note the driver version number. Then go to the
manufacturer site and see if there is a new driver available.

If you want, you can send me your Publisher file (not the html files), and I
will see if I can find a problem. Please use http://www.yousendit.com/ to
send the file to me. You can send it to dahveedf at nospamgmaildotcom ,
remove the obvious and PLEASE do not post the unmunged address on this
newsgroup. I already get way too much spam.

DavidF

 

[Mike Koewler]

Dawn,

You don't even want to think about viewing it in Mozilla. I'm not sure
what you did, but it was not good (for Mozilla, at least). :-(

Sorry about being the bearer of bad news.

Mike

 

[DavidF]

Dawn,

I have another question...how are you inserting the images? And please be
specific...are you inserting them, or linking to them on your C drive?

DavidF

 

[DavidF]

Whoops! She took a big step back with this version. I hadn't looked at it in
FF.

DavidF

 

[Mike Koewler]

David,

I've seen some differences in how browsers interpret code, but nothing
this drastic.

Mike

 

[DavidF]

And one more question. Did you try my suggestion to open IE7 > Tools >
Internet Options > Advanced and under Multimedia make sure that "show
pictures" was checked, and that "Show image download placeholders" was not
checked?

DavidF