Object Info:

webExtras v 1.5

Introduction

Frontier 4.2 introduced a method for adding "Next" and "Previous" links to web pages built in Frontier. For a discussion of this check out Frontier: Website Building Improvements in 4.2 at the Userland's Frontier site. This functionality was achieved by building an outline (called a nextPrevs outline) that lists the contents of the site. When a web page in Frontier is rendered, the outline would be use by two macros (linkNext and linkPrev) to build links to the next and previous pages.

The webExtras suite builds on the navigation framework developed in Frontier 4.2, by providing a environment for generating complex vertical and horizontal navigation links. The webExtras suite provides scripts for building structured and unstructured nextPrevs outlines and macros that build navigation tools beyond simple "next" and "previous" links. The webExtras suite includes macros for building unordered lists of page links, tables of page links, navigation bars that show vertical and horizontal links, and tables showing the complete site contents in outline form.

The webExtras suite also fixes several perceived short comings the implementation of nextPrevs outlines and linkNext and linkPrev marcos.

1. With the webExtras suite, you can build structured nextPrevs outlines that mimic the subtable structure of your site. Userland's "Build NextPrev List..." command will only generate a flat outline of your site, with no information on the sites vertical structure.

2. The nextPrevs outlines generated by the webExtras suite exactly mimic your site. Subtables that contain default or index files list them in the format:
   
   • subtable.default
     • subtable.item1
     • subtable.item2
   Subtables that do not contain these files are of the format:
   • subtable
     • subtable.item1
     • subtable.item2

3. The webExtras suite works to ensure that there are no differences in spelling or capitalization between your website subtables and the nextPrevs outline.

4. The linkNext and linkPrev macros that ship with Frontier were not designed to work with ODB addresses that contain square brackets (ie user.websites.Test.["1997"].["08"].["09"].Notes). The webExtras suite provides versions of linkNext and linkPrev macros that will properly render links to these ODB address. In addition, the webExtras versions of linkNext and linkPrev will only link to existing pages. They do not generate links to phantom pages (subtable.default) that are generated by Userlands "Build NextPrev List..." command when no default page exists.

Version 1.5 of the webExtras suite provides compatibility with Frontier 5.0, the new cross-platform version of Frontier. The scripts and macros in webExtras 1.5 have been tested on Frontier 4.2.3, Frontier 5.0a22(mac), and Frontier 5.0a22(win).

Version 1.0 of the webExtras suite provided optional patches to Frontiers html suite. Version 1.5 does not contain these patches. The reasoning behind this is that 1) Frontier 5.0 makes some of patches obsolete (perhaps all??) and 2) I don't like patching Userland owned scripts because they will get stomped in the next upgrade. So I am getting out of the patching business.

Installation

The webExtras suite can be downloaded via this fat page or from:

ftp://es-designs.com/webextras.sit.hqx

or

ftp://es-designs.com/webextra.zip

After downloading and installing the webExtras suite, you need run the script webExtras.init. In Frontier 4.2 this script installs the webExtras menubar into the suites submenu. In Frontier 5 it does nothing, to install the webExtras menubar into the suites submenu, quit and restart Frontier.

webExtras Menu Items

Use the webExtras menubar to run scripts or install macros.

Read Me accesses this file.

The next three menu items are used to build nextPrevs outlines. A structured NP outline is one where the heading and subheadings of the outline mimic the subtable structure of your web site. A flat NP is a nextPrevs outline like the one built by "Build NextPrev List..." in the Web menu, where all of the pages in your site are listed at the outline's top level. The "Add Page to NP..." menu item allows you to add a single page to an existing nextPrevs outline.

The "Install Macros" menu item allows you to install macros for building navigation links based on a structured nextPrevs outline into the user.html.macros subtable. If you desire, you can install macros individually. For more information on each macro's function, read the comments in each script (the scripts are located in webExtras.macros) or check out their associated web pages at http://www.es-designs.com/download/webtools/.

Disclaimer

This is a beta version of the webExtras suite. While I have worked to make sure that these scripts work as planned on my machine, the scripts may not have been tested by a wide audience. Use them at your own risk.

Please address any questions, comments, or bug reports to support@es-designs.com.

Version History

• v 1.5b1 Frontier 5 compatibility, bug fixes, and general clean up. See individual scripts for details.

• v 1.0.1 a bunch of little bug fixes in the macros.
  • fixed handling of tables in vertical links with navBar
  • fixed script for "Install all Macros" menu item
  • added support for #exclude directives in siteContents. See siteContents comments for more info.
  • added support for #exclude directives in pageList. See pageList comments for more info.

• v 1.0 Initial Release