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Tips on using
Second Site
to produce a Web Based family history
from The Master Genealogist
Second Site is an
innovative piece of software written by John Cardinal that takes your TMG data to another level of public
access via Web pages. With careful preparation you will be able to generate 'identical' pages
as new data is added to your data set.
In effect it is a powerful 'web
site wizard'.
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Note :- TMG is focused on printed output, and Second Site on creating HTML pages. Each handles images accordingly. Second Site allows you to use Web-sized images while leaving the TMG images untouched. |
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The content of these pages has been suggested by experienced users of Second Site to make your first Second Site production a success. I thank them for their generosity in allowing their thoughts to be published. |
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Cannot write HTML code. -intend to create a "standard" or "canned" type of site, not one that is very personalized. -will probably only want one primary person image (embedded or immediately visible) on a person page. All other images will be linked to the image files and users will need to click the link to view the images. -will not venture onto multi-image pages until they have worked out the 'wrinkles' see here
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Rule 1
Image 'size' is very important - revisit every image you have stored as an exhibit and consider the 'usage' it will be put to - if it's Second Site - create a separate folder and store the 'adjusted' images there.
John Cardinal also publishes the TMG Utility program which can create a separate image folder for Second Site 'adjusted' images. It automatically finds the images in TMG, resizes them to your specification and creates and puts them in a new folder (you nominate where).
Rule 2
(Recommended) You can add captions to the images via the exhibit properties in TMG.
Rule 3
(Recommended) It is probably appropriate to embed the primary image for a person but do not embed other images, link to them instead - this will allow more control over how and where they appear and will produce 'cleaner' pages. When you have a *lot* of images on a page, only a great deal of ingenuity and coding experience will allow you to escape "ugliness".
Rule 4
Revisit your memos in TMG and check that you have no extra carriage returns etc in them at the end. One of the interesting effects of using Second Site is the effect it has on "cleaning up data". This was not an original goal of the program, but users have discovered this, independently, over and over again.
Rule 5
(Recommended) Make
the images in the Second Site image folder as a mirror of the TMG exhibits folder -
each image will be adjusted in size for Second Site. Good values are - individual
person images 200 pixels wide with the same proportions as the TMG images. For
satisfactory visual effect it is suggested that you maintain uniformity in
your web page images. If you have additional images, for example group photos, the images will need to be
adjusted individually to determined how they will best display on the web page.
Note:- You may choose to store all of your TMG Images as 'external' images suitable
for Web Page reproduction rather than creating a second set. See
here for more on images
Rule 6
Whilst elements without <>'s are required to meet proper citation rules you may be able to 'get out' of a problem in layout by making sure your source templates have < > around each source element. This will get rid of the unknown items you may forget about dealing with individually.
Rule 7
Avoid frustrating dialup modem users by keeping the number of persons per page low - about 20 or so, especially if you have many images.
Rule 8
Set the number of "Names per index page" with a number slightly greater than the maximum number of persons with any given surname to have all these persons appear on the same index page. Also, set the "Name index reserve" to the same value. Since these pages are almost totally text, the download times will not be excessive.
Further points - perhaps not for a beginner.
There are other techniques
- to allow for specific images to be embedded on the person page, rather than linked.
- to produce a distribution CDROM to share your data
See here
Useful software - Freeware (for non-commercial use) or Donorware
Is a batch utility that resizes images for use on the web and in email. It was designed with owners of digital cameras in mind, but it can also be very useful for designers and other people who work with images on a daily basis. It's the perfect tool for quickly generating screen-friendly versions of your images at dramatically reduced file sizes, and it's easy to use.
Is a very fast, small, compact and innovative image editor and viewer with many features for Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP. It can process image files in batches to rename or resize a number of files in one hit.
Links
Second Site - see examples from here
Wholly Genes - The Master Genealogist
TMG layouts with additional tips on Citations and Sources and Filters
Here is my first attempt before learning the rules (slow loading).
Here is my second attempt after applying some of the rules .
Here is my third attempt using grid layout .
Here is my fourth attempt using side-by-side layout.
Additional guidance
here
Compiled and parts written by Bryan Wetton
My other web pages
Here
