My Frontpage to Netobjects MX transition

[kuikahakili]

:confused:
Please help me...aarrrggghhhhh! - So, I took the big leap and got Netobjects MX (first mistake - downloaded on line so don't have the cool box and essential reading materials). I have one small and 1 really big website which are FQ websites done with Frontpage 2000. I've redone one but can't figure out how to publish it and/or what may need to be adjusted to get pages published correctly. My other hope would be to eventually delete the Frontpage from my computer but keep the software with pictures and graphics loaded so I could use it with the Netobjects. So these are my questions: am i nuts? :QThuh: Is there any great book I could find at Borders or BN to help me? Is it the better software to use for WYSIWYG web design? Should I spend the extra money for NOF 7? Any assistance / ideas / help would be very much appreciated - THANKS!! (If it helps, I'll send food or great recipes)
Susan

[koala]

Hi Susan

First off - have you been to the GotFusion (http://www.gotfusion.com) website or visited the Fusion news groups? There's lots of help there, and GotFusion are doing some really great new things.

Now, to address your questions:

Whilst you can import web sites into Fusion MX, the results are usually disappointing, especially with FrontPage, as it writes some pretty odd code.

With Fusion, you have to forget all about the complex nested tables that you used in FP to make your site look right and to position objects accurately on the page.
One of Fusion's great strengths is its "pixel-perfect" positioning, which means that you simply place an object where you want it and it stays there. You can drag it around or move it pixel-by-pixel with the arrow keys.

The other magic feature of Fusion is its site management - you can add pages with one click an move them around in a graphical tree structure, and all the navigation is taken care of behind the scenes for you.

So, here's what I'd suggest:

1. Create a new blank site in Fusion, go to Site View and add pages to set up the site structure the same as your FP site.

2. Place anything which is common page-to-page inside a Fusion "Master Border", remembering that you can have as many of these as needed.

3. Copy the text from your FP site page and paste into Notepad, then make a Fusion "Text Box" and copy/paste the text into it. The reason for using Notepad as an intermediate step is that if you simply copy from the browser you run the risk of re-introducing some of the FP oddities.

4. Place the image objects on your page using Fusion's "Picture" tool.

5. Arrange the page elements to suit your site design.

6. Publish the site locally to see the results of your efforts :)

You asked about upgrading to Fusion 7 - yes, it's well worth the price :)

Hope this helps a bit.

Simon
(GotFusion llc)