Previewing exported but not published site in browser

Ernest-Bullock wrote on 5/19/2022, 4:48 AM

When previewing my site in browser after exporting but prior to publishing, my navigation doesn't work. 6 pages say Url has no content, 5 pages, nothing happens, the index page is ok. How can I get my navigation to work properly. I am using Web Designer Premium 18 and Windows 10 Ernie Bullock

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 5/20/2022, 2:58 PM

@Ernest-Bullock

Hi

Are there any disallowed characters in the pages names?

Disallowed character examples are: ! " £ $ % ^ & * ( ) + = ; : < > , ? / etc

If you stick to using characters a - z, 0 - 9, - (hypen), _ (underscore) and the space, and avoid Capital (upper case) letters then you should have no issues.

John EB
Forum Moderator

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Ernest-Bullock wrote on 5/21/2022, 10:10 AM

Hi John

All my page titles have the first letter in upper case i.e. Introduction but that is all. It wouldn't look right if I used lower case e.g. introduction.

I have followed a Web Designer Tutorial and must have gone through it close on twenty timesb ut when I press the final button nothing happens.

johnebaker wrote on 5/21/2022, 2:00 PM

@Ernest-Bullock

Hi

Does this topic on the TalkGraphics forum, which is dedicated to Xara products, help.

If not I would suggest you join and post your question there as there are morre users then in this forum.

John EB

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Ernest-Bullock wrote on 5/22/2022, 12:40 AM

Hi,John

I'm becoming a bit lost now; is there more than one forum? I posted a message on a forum recently and had one reply which unfortunately did not help, although I did appreciate his trying to help. I have been following a Web designer video on the subject.... I followed it to the letter and it appeared to be working. At the end of it I got the message that my website was being exported, but then another message came up saying that no objects were selected. I repeated this four times in case I had missed something, but the result was the same every time. I have since opened a ticket with support. If this doesn't work I'm giving up. I,ve wasted enough time on it.

Kind regards

Ernest Bullock

 

johnebaker wrote on 5/22/2022, 4:10 PM

@Ernest-Bullock

Hi Ernest

. . . . is there more than one forum? . . . .

Yes, the TalkGraphics forum is the original forum which is still active for all Xara products.

. . . . message came up saying that no objects were selected . . . .

That is an odd message as when you use File, Export website there is nothing to be selected in the webpages or project. Only the destination folder on your computer in the dialog that opens.

. . . . I have followed a Web Designer Tutorial . . . .

Which one? A link to it would help.

John EB

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Ernest-Bullock wrote on 5/23/2022, 3:23 AM

Hi John,

This is getting stranger and stranger. The link to the video is:-
Professional Web Designer Tutorial Lesson No. 34
https//www.bing.com/videos/search?q=How+to+export+files+in-Xara+Web-Designer+Premium&qvpt=How+to+export+files

I've not got any further with it. At the moment I am progressing further with my site using Serif Web+ 8. Everything is working; I just have to put the content in. Web Designer looks a far better program but if I can't make it work (and I've spent months on it) then it is really not worth me wasting any more time on it. I'll work on both at the moment and which ever one is finished first and is in working order, I'll go with that.

Cheers, John

Ernest-Bullock wrote on 5/23/2022, 6:26 AM

Hello again, John

I've discovered what the message "No objects selected is". I opened up my website a few moments ago and I just left clicked on a photograph on the index page and the message "No objects selected" changed and instead it showed details of the photograph. So it would appear that nothing at all is happening. After pressing the button to export my site should I get a message that the files have or have not exported? I think I'll just click the button publish my website, and see what happens.

Cheers, Ernie PS I've just noticed I put your name on my last posting instead of my own. Sorry about that!

johnebaker wrote on 5/23/2022, 11:34 AM

@Ernest-Bullock

Hi Ernie

If you website is publicly available can you post a link to it please.

The only place I see a No objects selected message is in Web Designer when editing the site as shown below

I found the tutorial, you referred to, on Youtube and although it is 10 years old the Export process is still the same.

No problem with the name - if you read it without pausing for the comma it still makes sense.

John EB

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Ernest-Bullock wrote on 5/25/2022, 3:56 AM

Hi, John

I have only just read your email and something in it stood out at me (I might be a bit thick) and it seems plausible. When you asked me for the link to my website I realised that I haven't changed the name I used for the site when building it to the actual website name, which is www.erniebullockrafwebsite.co.uk so I will change the name and try again to export it, then let you know if it works.

Sorry! I changed the name to that of my website and again, it looked as though it was exporting but it didn't. When I preview it in my browser M/S Edge, the index page opens up but the navigation buttons still don't work

Cheers

Ernie

emmrecs wrote on 5/25/2022, 4:20 AM

@Ernest-Bullock

Attempting to open your site in Chrome, I see the following:

Something is very wrong here! I think that is the login page for your site's Control Panel.

I will tag @johnebaker to ensure he sees this thread!

Jeff
Forum Moderator

Win 10 Pro 64 bit, Intel i7 Quad Core 6700K @ 4GHz, 32 GB RAM, NVidia GTX 1660TI and Intel HD530 Graphics, MOTU 8-Pre f/w audio interface, VPX, MEP, Music Maker, PhotoStory Deluxe, Photo Manager Deluxe, Xara 3D Maker 7, Samplitude Pro X7 Suite, Reaper, Adobe Audition 3, CS6 and CC, 2 x Canon HG10 cameras, 1 x Canon EOS 600D, Akaso EK7000 Pro Action Cam

Ernest-Bullock wrote on 5/25/2022, 6:01 AM

Hi, Jeff

Many thanks for that

Ernie

Ernest-Bullock wrote on 5/25/2022, 6:16 AM

Hi Again, Jeff

I've just tried what you did and got the same result. Won't this be because I haven't yet published my site? The manual says before you publish your sight ensure that everything s working ok especially the Navigation buttons.

I think it's the navigation that's causing the problem because when I view the site in M/soft Edge the Home page comes up but the Navigation doesn't work. It's no use me publishing the site if the Navigation is not going to work.

I'm completely lost now.

Cheers

Ernie

johnebaker wrote on 5/25/2022, 6:44 AM

@Ernest-Bullock, @emmrecs

Hi Ernie, Jeff

Using the web address from your post above i get the same as Jeff.

Is the hosting for your website now with Fasthosts, IONOS (formerly1&1) or Prositehosting?

If you are using Xara/Magix web hosting then the domain name is not pointing to the correct location.

John EB

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Ernest-Bullock wrote on 5/25/2022, 7:36 AM

Hi John

My Hosting is currently with Fasthosts although I haven't used it for some time. I kept it in case I resurrected my website, which I have now done, although I intend to host it with Web Designer.

I replied to Jeff's post and said that my site wouldn't work yet because the manual says don't publish your site until you have tested it in a browser to see if everything is working, especially the navigation. As my navigation is not working when tested in the browser I have not published my site. I am certain it is something to do with my navigation because I copied the site into Serif WebPlus8 and when I test that in my browser (Edge) the navigation I have in that site works. I would prefer to stick with Web Designer, it looks more professional, but if the poblem cannot be solved I will have to settle for WebPlus 8.

Apart from being frustrated I feel that I am taking up a lot of your time when you could be helping someone else. I just don't know what to do.

Cheers

Ernie

johnebaker wrote on 5/25/2022, 12:57 PM

@Ernest-Bullock

Hi

. . . . the manual says don't publish your site until you have tested it in a browser to see if everything is working, especially the navigation. As my navigation is not working when tested in the browser I have not published my site. . . . .

Are you testing the site by using the Preview in web browser option?

If so, try using File, Export website and create a folder for the site to be exported to.

Then using Windows File Explorer, open the folder you created and double click the index.htm to load the site into your default browser and test the navigation links.

HTH

John EB

 

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Ernest-Bullock wrote on 5/26/2022, 2:32 AM

Hi, John... it's me again.... I really am sorry to keep bothering you, but things are going from bad to worse. I followed your advice from your last post and when exporting the website all the file names were changed (as it said they would be) to index.htm, index a.htm through to index f.htm. There was no g,h,i or J; index k.htm, no L, index m.htm, no n, index o.htm, index p.htm, index q.htm and index r.htm.

These were ok but on index.r thee video on it was blacked out if played in a preview. Thinking that might be the cause of the problem I deleted it but it made no difference. It is only a short 9 minute video, quite important to the site, particularly for anyone who had served in Tobruk. To install it followed printed instructions given to me by
Name removed by Moderator as per Forum Terms and conditions, Support Manager, Magix Software GmbH.

After following your instructions the Home (index) page opened up, as did Introduction, Recruit Training, Trade Training, Where are they?, Contact, and Memorials. Postings has a drop down menu 4 items. This came up File not found, it may have been moved, edited or deleted. (i have not moved edited or deleted these) With Photographs nothing happened at all. At one point some of these pages didn't open up but a message came up
"File not found".

I looked in Document Information (I don't know why) and the result was:

No. of pages 12 Memory used 258 MBytes
No. of bitmaps 97 Bitmap size 217 Mbytes
No. of fractals 0 Fractal size 0n bytes
No. of objects 513 Selected Objects 1
Undo steps 1 Undo Size 1,112 Mbytes
Est. Optimised Size 118 MBytes Bitmap Sources 27 MBytes

I don't know whether any of this is relevant but I have included it just in case.

I would like to re-insert the video, if there is any advice you can give me on that.

I must go now, my dog has stopped pestering me but my cat is driving me mad.

Thanks again for all your help so far John.

Cheers

Ernie

 

 

 

Last changed by emmrecs on 5/26/2022, 3:29 AM, changed a total of 1 times.

Reason: To remove name of Magix personnel, publication of which is forbidden under Community rules

johnebaker wrote on 5/26/2022, 4:06 PM

@Ernest-Bullock

Hi Ernie

. . . . to index.htm, index a.htm through to index f.htm. There was no g,h,i or J; index k.htm, no L, index m.htm, no n, index o.htm, index p.htm, index q.htm and index r.htm. . . .

Can you post a screenshot of the Page and Layer gallery? You may have to take several screenshots if the list of pages requires you to scroll down.

If you do not know how to take a screen shot see this article.

John EB

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Ernest-Bullock wrote on 5/27/2022, 3:29 AM

Hi,John,

I'm struggling to get the screen captures on; hen I put one on it disappears when I try to put the second one on. There are three in total to go on. I will try again.They have gone on now!

Cheers

Ernie

johnebaker wrote on 5/27/2022, 6:13 AM

@Ernest-Bullock

Hi Ernie

Thanks for the images, they help a lot.

From the images:

  1. index-h and index-g appear to be empty.
     
  2. index pages i, j , l, n and p appear to have been created then deleted at some point, Web Designer will not rename the other pages to be sequential - see next item.
     
  3. all the pages except index ought to be given meaningful names, this will also make the navigation bar more meaningful without having to manually edit the navigation bar in the navigation bar editor.

    Manually editing the navigation bar can be prone to introducing errors making it not work correctly, is extra work and unnecessary when the pages are given meaningful names when you create a new page.

    Right click each page to get to the Rename option, keep the names simple eg index-g could be called RAF-Bridgnorth, index-m RAF-Tobruk, etc and avoid spaces as shown in the 2 examples

There are 15 pages in total - are you getting all pages, including the 2 empty ones when you export?

HTH

John EB

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Ernest-Bullock wrote on 5/27/2022, 11:11 AM

Hi John

Many thanks for your prompt reply. I'm becoming more and more confused. I had a message from Name removed (Support Manager) explaining with a screen shot what I should do, but when I go to press the final button a message appears saying the following files will be replaced, and they are all index files. I tried to proceed without agreeing, but it wouldn't let me until I agreed. This time all but one of the buttons in the navigation bar were correct, bar one which was still an index name. When I then preview it in my browser the navigation doesn't work.

As I have tried this on a number of occasions do you think that I have duplicated the button names? I don't actually name my buttons index they all have their own name Index for the home page, the, Introduction, Recruit Training, Trade Training, High Wycombe, El Adem, Tobruk, MUAS,, etc Perhaps if I can delete all the files raised by my different attempts to export the site and then start again, that may work.... I don't know, though. What do you think?

Kind regards

Ernie

 

johnebaker wrote on 5/27/2022, 2:19 PM

@Ernest-Bullock

Hi Ernie

I have removed the Support managers name from your post - naming Magix staff is against Community rule 9.

. . . . .  don't actually name my buttons index they all have their own name Index for the home page, the, Introduction, Recruit Training, Trade Training, High Wycombe, El Adem, Tobruk, MUAS . . . .

That would suggest you have manually edited the navigation, either one button at a time or using the navigation bar editor and this is where I suspect the problem is.

As I said above manually editing the navigation bar can be prone to introducing errors making it not work correctly, is extra work and unnecessary when the pages are given meaningful names when you create a new page.

Can you post a screen shot of the Navigation bar editor - to open the navigation bar editor - right click the navigation bar and select Edit Navigation bar you should see something like this mockup I made from your Layout and page gallery image and post a screenshot of it

John EB

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Ernest-Bullock wrote on 5/28/2022, 1:36 AM

Hi, John

Here is the screenshot of my nav bar set up as requested. The second item, index-b was not always there, it appeared after I last tried to export my website yesterday. Bridgnorth and Hereford is where I did my recruit training, Postings has a drop down menu with High Wycombe, El Adem, Tobruk and MUAS popping up when Postings is selected.Contact and Where are they are in reverse order and Memorials comes last.

Slight amendment. Whilst I was trying to sort out this screen capture all the button titles changed to indexes, I don't know why. I thought I'd better leave them as they are in case I cock something else up. Do you think I should delete the nav bar and build it again from scratch?

i apologise for putting the name in my post to the Support Manager. It won't happen again.

johnebaker wrote on 5/28/2022, 5:42 AM

@Ernest-Bullock

Hi Ernie

From what I can see the navigation bar looks OK with a proviso.

Is the index-a button a dropdown for multiple pages as shown below for the mock up I did,for MUAS which has 2 pages?

and looks like this when the mouse hovers over MUAS in the site

If it is not a dropdown then the page will not be published as it is not linked to.

At this stage I would not recommend deleting the navigation bar and rebuild it.

HTH

John EB

Last changed by johnebaker on 5/28/2022, 5:44 AM, changed a total of 1 times.

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 23H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

Ernest-Bullock wrote on 5/29/2022, 11:23 PM

Hi, john

A very good morning to you; I hope you've had a good weekend (As long as you're not a Liverpool supporter)

I followed all the advice you gave me and I think I've got my website in order (almost!). I was working on it all day Saturday and Sunday. Everything was going well at first, then I noticed that although my navigation appeared to be sorted, the lengths of all my pages had been shortened so that all the content was not shown when tested in my browser, so I went through and corrected that problem. Then I decided to replace some of the photographs, which took a while.

cI shall be going through my site today for a final check and if everything seems ok, if you agree, I shall export the website (is that better than exporting the individual pages?) Just before doing that I will try and sort out my animated gif. If I can't get it to work I will delete it because it is not essential to my site, it was just to add a little humour.

As I lost quite a lot of confidence whilst building the site I think I will check it thoroughly over the next couple of days and with some luck I'm hoping I will be able to export it and publish it. I would keep my fingers crossed but I wouldn't be able to press my computer keys, so perhaps you will keep your fingers crossed instead.

I will let you know how I get on.

Kind regards

Ernie