NetObjects Fusion™ Reviewer’s Guide Version 3.0 for Macintosh

June 1998

NetObjects, Inc. 602 Galveston Drive Redwood City, CA 94063 U.S.A. Contents

Introduction and Mac-specific features 1

About this Guide 1

Installing NetObjects Fusion 3.0 1

Building Next-Generation Web Sites 2

NetObjects Fusion 3.0—-Summary of New Key Features 3

SiteStructure Editor 3 Three-Way Layout Editor 3 FileMaker Pro Connectivity 3 DHTML Actions 3

Everywhere HTML™ 3 Total Publishing Control 4 HTML Coding and Scripting 4

SiteStyles® Editor 4 Extensive Media Support 4 New and Improved UI 4 The Five Views of NetObjects Fusion and What’s New in Version 3.0 5

Site View—SiteStructure Editor:The first visual site structure editor 5 Page View—Three-Way Layout Editor: Flexible page layout 6 Style View—SiteStyles Editor: Globally create and edit the look and feel of your site 10 Assets View—Assets Manager: Manage links, files, and assets from one central location 11 Publish View—Total Publishing Control: One button publishing to any location with full directory control 12 Other Customer-Requested Features and Enhancements 14 Conclusion 14

ii Introduction

Thank you for choosing to review NetObjects Fusion 3.0 for Macintosh.

With this new product release, NetObjects has taken a very considerable step to meet the specific needs of Macintosh Web site builders.This product is the result of an increase, re-emphasis and re-focus of NetObjects’ already substantial investment in the Macintosh space.

Building on its pioneering site-oriented, visual approach to creating Web sites, NetObjects has implemented the features which its customers have been asking and which the Macintosh market needs as the Web continues to evolve.

NetObjects Fusion delivers a feature set to build professional, interactive, business sites the Macintosh way. The product incorporates an intuitive, Macintosh-like, Allegro-compatible interface (including support for the new Appearance Manager and Navigation Services), connectivity to FileMaker Pro, selective AppleScript support, drag & drop functionality, unparalleled QuickTime support, and more. Users can also take advantage of the product’s open environment and flexibility through, for instance, HTML editing, CSS support, DHTML and JavaScript animations, browser-targeted HTML generation and full publishing control.

We at NetObjects thank you for reviewing this new product and hope you will enjoy it. About this Guide

This guide will help you understand the key benefits of the NetObjects Fusion approach to building professional Web sites, and provides an overview of what’s new in version 3.0 for Macintosh.

As a companion to this document, we recommend that you also explore the Getting Started manual that comes with NetObjects Fusion. It contains a detailed tutorial with more information about using NetObjects Fusion. Installing NetObjects Fusion 3.0

The following is required for installing and using NetObjects Fusion 3.0:

• Power Macintosh or 100 percent compatible system (Power Macintosh 8100 or faster recommended) • Mac OS 7.6.1 or later (Mac OS 8.0 or later recommended) • 15 MB of actual RAM (32 MB of actual RAM to run NetObjects Fusion with a Web browser) • 70 MB of hard disk space (110 MB for full installation) • Display capable of 800 x 600 pixels at 256 colors or more Mouse or compatible pointing device • CD-ROM drive • TCP/IP compliance for Internet connectivity • A Web browser: Netscape Navigator 2.0 or later, Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.0 or later, or another browser compatible with HTML 3.0 or later • FileMaker Pro 3.0 v4 for external data publishing

NetObjects Fusion installs in the same manner as any other application for Macintosh. Check the ReadMe file installed on your distribution media for complete instructions as well as updates to this document.

1 Building Next-Generation Web Sites

Building a Web site is significantly more complex than putting together a few Web pages.

Web sites:

• Need to provide value to the owner of the site. • Need to be attractive, well organized, and easy for the user to navigate. • Grow over time with new pages, more content, and more functionality. • Require frequent updating and publishing.

Next-generation interactive business sites share these additional characteristics:

• They are increasingly critical for a company’s marketing and sales efforts. • They are larger and more visually enticing, adding animation and other effects to aid in attraction, retention, and navigation. • They are more interactive, providing site visitors with feedback as they mouse-over or click buttons, and letting users exchange information on the site via discussion groups. • They are tied back to legacy databases to provide users with critical information.

Professional site builders cannot easily achieve these needs in the sites they create.They are frustrated with the tedium of creating sophisticated Web sites with page-oriented, code-based, textual tools or with visual products that limit control over HTML, both of which hinder creativity and productivity. Instead, they need an open site-building environment that provides robust site management, visual layout capabilities, and cross-browser support, as well as flexibility to integrate content and code from external HTML, script, and content editing tools.

NetObjects Fusion 3.0 becomes the integration platform for these growing needs of professional site builders. From its advanced site-management features to its open and flexible layout environment, powerful asset and style manager, and robust publishing mode, NetObjects Fusion provides a site building “control center”for modern business site builders.

2 NetObjects Fusion 3.0—Summary of New Key Features

SiteStructure Editor The NetObjects Fusion SiteStructure Editor gives you the first visual site structure editor for your entire Web site. Visually create and update the architecture of your site by adding, deleting, or moving pages or entire sections—automated navigation and linking are generated based on the structure of your site. New to version 3.0 is the ability to assign MasterBorders, page extensions, and status by sections.The ability to import existing sites and HTML files is improved in version 3.0.

Three-Way Layout Editor NetObjects Fusion 3.0 lets you work in the environment of your choice. For pages with highly graphical content or pixel-accurate layout, NetObjects Fusion 3.0 adds improvements to the industry’s leading graphical editor, including rulers, guides, alignment, and a revised interface. For pages that are highly textual, or for which ultra- lean HTML code is a top priority, NetObjects Fusion 3.0 provides a new text-based editor. For pages or portions of pages that require hand coding in an HTML editor, NetObjects Fusion 3.0 now integrates seamlessly with any HTML editor. NetObjects Fusion will manage the assets and publish the pages created in external editors with- out modifications to the original code. Furthermore, it allows easy access to the editor for full HTML editing.

External Database Connectivity NetObjects Fusion offers unparalleled drag-and-drop integration of the preferred database on the Macintosh platform—FileMaker Pro. Furthermore, NetObjects Fusion allows users to sort and filter data.To facilitate filtering, NetObjects Fusion includes a series of prewritten filters that users can expand with their own AppleScripts. To include elements of a dynamic data publishing solution, users can integrate their FileMaker Pro pages with the NetObjects Fusion automated publishing feature—also controlled by AppleScript—to automatically and regularly publish a site as information changes on a remote or local FileMaker Pro database. Of course, users can continue to use their preferred middleware products such as Blue World Communications Lasso, EveryWare Tango, and Web Broadcasting WebFM to create dynamically served pages within the open environment of NetObjects Fusion.

HTML Coding and Scripting NetObjects Fusion 3.0 has an enhanced scripting interface that enables you to add custom scripts or tags to any page and to any object. New to version 3.0 is the ability to reference HTML into your site as a freely floating object, the layout, or the entire page. NetObjects Fusion will manage the assets while preserving the native HTML. To edit the HTML, just double-click the External HTML icon and NetObjects Fusion will launch the editor of your choice—BBEdit Lite is included.

DHTML Actions NetObjects Fusion 3.0 offers DHTML Actions that provide users with the first visual, message-based environment to create Dynamic HTML-based animation and interactive effects. Using DHTML Actions, authors can easily create sophisticated interactive interfaces and an array of animated, sequenced behaviors by choosing and combining from a menu of prebuilt messages that page objects can receive, act on, and pass to other objects.The flexibility to add JavaScript or customize scripts is provided for advanced site builders. Using the scripting template in the NetObjects DHTML Actions Development Kit, available free from the NetObjects Web site, users and third parties can develop their own sets of actions and add them to the DHTML Actions menu.

3 Everywhere HTML With Everywhere HTML,™ NetObjects Fusion 3.0 allows a site to be published once with equal layout fidelity for all end users. NetObjects Fusion generates HTML that works across any 2.x, 3.x, and 4.x browsers.

Total Publishing Control NetObjects Fusion 3.0 offers full directory structure control. Choose from three common directory structures (Flat, By Asset Type, and By Section) or use our new custom directory, file naming, and management features to con- form to any Web server convention.We’ve also added multi-server locations for testing and publishing—all essential features to facilitate publishing to any ISP without requiring the complications of adding server-side extensions.

SiteStyles Editor The NetObjects Fusion SiteStyles Editor provides you with the first centralized way to control the look and feel of your site. Users can create their own styles from scratch, or use or customize one of the 50 professionally designed styles included. In addition, users can also use active buttons to create dynamic styles.

Extensive Media Support NetObjects Fusion 3.0 allows users to place any media object—such as Shockwave Director, Shockwave Flash, QuickTime, Java, RealAudio, RealVideo, or Headspace Beatnik—on pages and set their parameters. In particular, NetObjects Fusion integrates excellent support for QuickTime 3.0, distinguishing between QuickTime movies and QuickTime VR movies, and allowing users to set the parameters of each.

New and Improved UI NetObjects Fusion 3.0 offers a new, intuitive overall user interface, designed specifically by and for Macintosh users.

4 The Five Views of NetObjects Fusion and What’s New in Version 3.0

When you first launch NetObjects Fusion, you are presented with options for how you would like to begin build- ing a site—create a new site from scratch, create a new site based on a professionally designed AutoSite or tem- plate, or open an existing site.When you have made your decision, you are ready to begin creating your site.

To match the way professional site builders work, NetObjects Fusion provides five views to create and manage all the information for your site.These views provide an intuitive, logical site-building process.

The five primary views of NetObjects Fusion

Site View NetObjects Fusion pioneered the first visual site structure editor for Web sites, which gives users central control over their sites at all stages of development.This view shows a graphical vision of the hierarchical organization of your site.You also have the choice of viewing your site in an outline format (toggle back and forth using the tabs).

SiteStructure Editor

NetObjects Fusion is the first product to give you the ability to directly create the structure of your site and automatically generate navigation and linking based on this structure. NetObjects Fusion 3.0 has continued to innovate its SiteStructure Editor, making it still the most powerful architectural tool among other Web authoring products. Often, these other products still force you to manually create, add, and update links page by page.

With the SiteStructure Editor, you can quickly create your site structure by simply adding pages (click the New button in the toolbar), inserting pre-made templates, or leveraging an existing investment by importing the entire site or a portion of it into NetObjects Fusion.You then have the option to visually restructure your site by dragging and dropping portions of your site from one place to another—the SiteStructure Editor is perfect for prototyping.

5 NetObjects Fusion gives you the option to import and convert previously built HTML sites, or to just reference HTML pages. Referencing HTML pages maintains native HTML absolutely intact. In both cases, NetObjects Fusion manages all the links and assets of the imported HTML page.

New Site View features include: Section Control: By pressing the Shift key and clicking on a parent page, you can now select a section of the Web site, enabling you to assign MasterBorders, page extensions, and status by sections.You can also preview by page, section, or site.

Page View The NetObjects Fusion Page View is the platform for integrating any type of content to easily create functional, aesthetic, and captivating Web pages that are appropriate for any audience.

MasterBorders with navigational elements and Page Layout with grids for asset alignment

The page in NetObjects Fusion is divided into two primary areas—the layout, or main body, and the MasterBorders, or margins.

MasterBorders are margin areas on the top, bottom, left, and right of each page that facilitate content repeated on many pages, such as navigation bars, buttons, banners, company logos, and more.You can create multiple MasterBorders and associate them with page layouts depending on the effects you want to create with your site.

At a click of a button, any MasterBorder can also be converted into an HTML frame. In version 3.0, you can target frames with a few mouse clicks; no scripting is needed.

The page layout area on the other hand, holds objects specific to each page.This is the environment in which Web-site builders can create their pages, placing images, text, form elements, rich content, and so on.

Highlights of the new Page View include: FileMaker Pro connectivity,Three-Way Layout Editor, and DHTML Actions.

6 First, you can drag and drop your FileMaker Pro database onto any page in NetObjects Fusion 3.0.You will then be able to sort and filter your data and chose which fields you want to appear on your page. NetObjects Fusion 3.0 puts at your disposal a library of filtering mechanisms that you can also expand by using your own AppleScripts.

The connectivity to FileMaker Pro databases goes beyond static data publishing.You can write an AppleScript or use those shipped with NetObjects Fusion 3.0, to automate the publishing of your site. As information changes in your FileMaker Pro database, your site will always contain the most recent data.

Data List; Sort; Filter

Second, Page View also incorporates the popular Three-Way Layout Editor.

Choose from one of the following modes or combine them on a page for maximum layout control:

I. Graphic mode: For pixel-perfect layouts of design-intensive pages II. Text mode: For ultra-lean code—use it just like a word processor III. External HTML mode: For total control of your HTML code

I. Using the Three-Way Layout Editor in graphic mode, you can place elements anywhere on the page with pixel-level control, exactly where you want them to appear when published.You can use the NetObjects Fusion grid lines, rulers, guides, and various layout controls to ensure that objects are placed and aligned properly. II. Using the Three-Way Layout Editor in text mode, you can work on a page as if you were in a word processor, using carriage returns and other textual page-creation tools.This mode is particularly useful for creating pages that are primarily text, or that have bulleted text lists.You can also insert graphics, Java applets, components, and other elements within the text, and have control over the text wrapping around these elements.This mode is also particularly useful when ultra-lean HTML is a top priority.To work in a text-based mode, draw a text box for a portion of your page, or make it occupy the layout.

7 In both of these modes, if the user wishes, NetObjects Fusion will generate standard HTML code that is optimized for viewing by all leading browsers, independent of brand, version, and platform (Netscape, Microsoft, 2.x, 3.x, 4.x,Windows, and Macintosh). Of course, users can also choose to output HTML to target a specific browser type or version.

III. The External HTML mode lets site builders who need even more control over HTML use NetObjects Fusion in conjunction with their favorite HTML editors. Integrate HTML files from an external editor and place these files anywhere on any page within NetObjects Fusion.Then just double-click the referenced file to invoke your designated editor to make edits of your choice.Within NetObjects, your code will be left untouched, but you will benefit from your assets being managed by NetObjects Fusion 3.0 — (BBEdit Lite 4.1 is bundled for your convenience).

External HTML BBEdit

Third, with DHTML Actions, you can easily add animation and interactive effects to your pages. Use the first visual, message-based environment to assign actions, or combine actions in sequence to create sophisticated behaviors. If you’re familiar with JavaScript, you can modify or create actions to add to the existing library.

Simply click add to add actions Set actions, behaviors, or add custom scripts

8 New and Enhanced Page View Features Include: Three-Way Layout Editor: Lets you work in the environment of your choice: graphics mode for pixel-perfect layout precision; text mode that works like a word processor, used when ultra-lean HTML code is a top priority; or external HTML mode for total control over HTML (BBEdit Lite 4.1 included).

External Database Connectivity: Drag and drop your FileMaker Pro database into NetObjects Fusion, sort and filter your data, and control where your data fields will appear on your pages. Also, use AppleScript to customize data gathering and filtering, as well as to automate your site’s publishing so that as your data changes, your site is always up-to-date.

DHTML Actions: Add interactivity and multimedia effects to any object without scripting. For advanced users, use the menu system, apply behaviors to objects, add custom scripts, or edit the menu system itself. Using the scripting template in the NetObjects DHTML Actions Development Kit, available free from the NetObjects Web site, users and third parties can develop their own sets of actions and add them to the DHTML Actions menu.

External HTML: Add special HTML to your pages as freely floating objects, as the layout, or as the entire page. NetObjects Fusion will manage the assets while preserving the native HTML code.

Import HTML: Improved HTML import for bringing sites, pages, and documents you’ve converted into HTML directly into Page View. The HTML will be converted using new object-in-object technology.

Lean HTML: Control the leanness of the generated HTML using the new options in Page View. Also control HTML by assigning publish settings specific to the page, section, or site.

HTML Control: Add custom scripts and tags—such as MasterBorders, layouts, and individual objects directly to your pages at all levels.The new visual interface lets you see your code highlighted, as it fits into the page code.

Layout Regions: Create mini-layouts inside text boxes or group objects in areas for DHTML Actions.

Object-in-Object: Embed any object into a text box or a table cell. Once it is embedded, you will have full alignment control.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) Positioning and Layering: Visually arrange your text, pictures, applets, plug-ins, and so on, on your pages with pixel-perfect accuracy. Arrange the z-order visually, and add actions to any object on any layer.

Improved Plug-in Support: Place any plug-in media on your page inline, including Shockwave Flash, Shockwave Director, and QuickTime, and have full access to their parameters. Unparalleled QuickTime support in addition to the above-mentioned DHTML Actions let you build the most advanced, visually appealing sites.

Intuitive User Interface: A new and improved UI, permitting users to intuitively adopt NetObjects Fusion familiar Macintosh-like functionality.

Object Alignment: Rulers, guides, and auto-alignment of elements for productivity, accuracy, and leaner HTML code.

9 Style View Use the SiteStyles Editor to centrally manage and apply a consistent look and feel to your entire Web site.

SiteStyles Editor

SiteStyles elements include:

• Banners • Primary navigation buttons • Secondary navigation buttons • Backgrounds • Lines • DataList icons • Text color • Link text color • Visited text color

Using SiteStyles, you can easily apply a consistent, high-quality, and rich graphical appearance to your Web site.

Create your own customized styles, either from scratch or by reusing components from the packaged styles. In version 3.0, you can easily add dynamic navigation with the DynaButton component.

Of course, you may use one or more of the 50 new SiteStyles—there’s a total of 150 professionally designed styles in the Extras folder, located on the version 3.0 CD-ROM.

New Style View Features Include: Active Style Buttons: Create dynamic navigation using the NetObjects Fusion DynaButton Component.

All New SiteStyles: NetObjects Fusion 3.0 ships with more than 50 new, professionally designed SiteStyles.

10 Assets View The Assets Manager lets you centrally manage the resources in your Web site. When you click the Assets View button, NetObjects Fusion gives you a list of the different resources (external files, links, data objects, and variables) you are using in your site.

You can change an asset in the Assets View and have that change propagate throughout all the Web pages in your site. For example, if you update a GIF image or reassign a link that you use on 100 pages, NetObjects Fusion instantaneously changes the image on all 100 pages.

As sites grow to hundreds of pages, maintenance issues can grow exponentially. NetObjects Fusion site management capabilities enable you to manage assets globally and increase productivity by saving time when managing and updating Web sites.

Assets View

The Assets View divides your resources into four categories: Files, Links, Data Objects, and Variables.

When you select the Files tab, you get a list of all the external files used in your site—external image files, Java applets, and QuickTime files are examples of resources in the Files View.The Links category provides a list of all the internal and external hyperlinks used in your Web pages.You may verify links throughout your site within the Assets View.The Data Objects category provides a list of database references used in your Web site. Finally, the Variables category provides a list of all the global variables you have defined or placed within text in your site—a great feature when you need to develop your site, because it substitutes a code name until a final name is chosen.

New Assets View Features Include: Asset Editing: Within the Files tab, click the asset you would like to edit (for example, choose an image), choose Open Asset, and NetObjects Fusion will launch your designated image editor, allowing you to edit the image. Just click Save and the image will be updated on every page that contains that image.

11 Publish View—It’s All New! Publish View gives you complete control of the browser(s) for which you would like the HTML code to be optimized, the directory structure of the files you will be publishing, and the location to which you will publish.

Publish View

Every site builder faces at least one big common problem: browser disparity. NetObjects recognizes that this issue is a central problem of Web site developers. Having to build and maintain several versions of a site for different browsers is a waste of time and creative energy. Until now, no site-building product has provided a way to create a site once and have the site run correctly on 2.x, 3.x, and 4.x browsers of any brand, without hand coding.

To solve this problem, NetObjects Fusion introduces Everywhere HTML. Unlike page-centric, textual products that tie each page to an HTML file and require you to hand code differences for each browser, NetObjects Fusion is a site-oriented product that generates the HTML pages for your site based on the page layout and publish settings you determine. In version 3.0, we’ve enhanced this HTML generation capability to enable you to build once and publish anywhere, for any browser.

With Everywhere HTML, you can choose the sort of HTML you want to be generated for your site (you can actually override this choice on any individual page).Choose between regular tables, nested tables and CSS and layers. With nested tables, you can publish once and be sure that your site will appear just as you designed it in any browser type and version.With CSS and layers, you will be able to optimize your code for 4.x browsers, while always being sure that your pages will look the same in Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

12 Specify HTML output by page, section, or site

Full Directory Structure Control: NetObjects Fusion 3.0 offers several configurations for directories, as well as a completely customizable way of setting up and rearranging the directories.With a click of a button, you can choose to have your site published by site structure, by asset type, or by flat file, or you can create any combina- tion of directories and put whatever files you prefer in each directory. You can also create alias directories, often needed for sites located on UNIX servers.

Full directory structure control

Multiple Server Location Support: NetObjects Fusion 3.0 also gives you the ability to keep as many profiles of commonly used Web servers as you need for easy publishing.

Publish to Any Web Server: As always, with NetObjects Fusion you can publish to the server of your choice— no proprietary server-side extensions are necessary.

13 Publish Changed Assets Only: Need to make just a few changes to your site? Just check Publish Changed Assets Only, and NetObjects Fusion 3.0 will publish only assets that have been changed, updating your published site in a fraction of the time needed by other products.

Other Customer-Requested Features and Enhancements: • Total control over the published directories • More control over HTML code • Cross-browser DHTML support • Cross-browser HTML—Everywhere HTML • Ultra-lean HTML—Page View using text mode • External database connectivity to FileMaker Pro via drag-and-drop support • Better control over MasterBorders (add, edit, delete, rename) • Site section control from Site View (preview, apply a MasterBorder, status, page extensions) • Additional image format support (png, p-jpeg) • Multiple forms on a page • Better media support (Shockwave Director, Shockwave Flash, QuickTime) • More control over groups of objects on a page • New and improved components, including e-mail option in Form Handler • Objects within text boxes with control over wrap and alignment • Publish Changed Assets only • Improved site navigation within Page View (site tree available in Page View) • Easy launch of an external image editor

Conclusion

NetObjects Fusion 3.0 is the must-have product for professional site builders who need to create interactive business Web sites. NetObjects Fusion 3.0 offers site builders an open site-building environment, providing them with unparalleled flexibility and choice to lay out pages, control and edit HTML code, add interactivity and animation, publish for different browsers, and integrate their sites with existing databases.

© 1998 NetObjects, Inc.All rights reserved.NetObjects and SiteStyles are registered trademarks, and Everywhere HTML and NetObjects Fusion are trademarks of NetObjects, Inc. All other brand and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

14