%brandDTD; ]> Creating Web Pages with &brandShortName; Composer

Creating Web Pages with &brandShortName; Composer

&brandShortName; Composer lets you create your own web pages and publish them on the web. You don't have to know HTML to use Composer; it is as easy to use as a word processor.

Toolbar buttons let you add lists, tables, images, links to other pages, colors, and font styles. You can see what your document will look like on the Web as you create it, and you can easily share your document with other users, no matter what type of browser or HTML-capable email program they use.

To start using &brandShortName; Composer:

Composer icon
In this section:

Starting a New Page

In this section:

Creating a New Page

&brandShortName; Composer is an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) editor that allows you to create and edit web pages. Composer is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, so you can display how your page will look to the reader as you're creating it. It is not necessary for you to know HTML, since most of the basic HTML functions are available as commands from the toolbars and menus.

Composer also lets you edit the HTML source if you want. To view or edit the HTML source code, open the View menu, and choose HTML Source, or click the <HTML> Source tab in the Edit Mode toolbar at the bottom of the Composer window.

To create a web page, use one of the methods described below. Once you've started a page, you can add and edit text just as you would in a word processor.

To create a new page from the Navigator browser:

To edit a page you're currently browsing in Navigator:

To create a new page in Composer:

To start from an HTML file stored on your local drive:

  1. Open the Window menu and choose Composer. You see the Composer window.
  2. Open the File menu and choose Open File. You see the Open HTML File dialog box.
  3. On your local drive, locate the file that you want to edit.
  4. Click Open to display the specified file in a Composer window.

To edit a web page:

  1. Open the Window menu and choose Navigator.
  2. Go to a web page: type the URL of the page (for example, http://www.mozilla.org) in the Location Bar and press ReturnEnter.
  3. Open the File menu and choose Edit Page.

Tip: In the Composer window you can quickly open the most recent file you've been working on by opening the File menu, choosing Recent Pages, and then selecting the file you want from the list.

[Return to beginning of section]

Saving and Browsing Your New Page

You can save Composer documents in HTML or text-only format. Saving a document in HTML format preserves the document's formatting, such as text styles (for example, bold or italic), tables, links, and images. Saving a document in text-only format removes all the HTML tags but preserves the document's text.

To save a document as an HTML file:

To change the filename or location of an existing HTML file:

When you save a page in Composer, all parts of the page (the HTML, images and other files, such as sound files and style sheets), are saved locally on your hard drive. If you only want to save the HTML part of the page, you must change the Composer preference for saving pages. See Composer Preferences - Composer for more information on changing Composer's setting for saving pages.

If an image location is absolute (starts with http://) and you are connected to the Internet, you will still see that image in the document in Composer and Navigator. However, if the image location is relative to the page location (starts with file:///), then you won't see the image in the local version of the document.

To save a document as a text-only file:

  1. Open the File menu and choose Export to Text.
  2. Enter the filename and specify the location where you want to save the file.

Note: Images do not appear in documents saved in the text-only format.

Tip: You can choose Revert to Last Saved from the File menu to retrieve the most recently saved copy of the document in which you're working. Keep in mind that your current changes will be lost.

To view your page in a browser window in order to test your links:

[Return to beginning of section]

Formatting Your Web Pages

In this section:

Formatting Paragraphs, Headings, and Lists

To apply a format to a paragraph, begin from the Composer window:

  1. Click to place the insertion point where you want the format to begin, or select the text you want to format.
  2. Choose a paragraph format using the drop-down list in the Format toolbar:

To format text as a heading:

  1. Click to place the insertion point anywhere within the text that you want to format.
  2. Using the drop-down list in the Format toolbar, choose the level of heading you want, from 1 (largest) to 6 (smallest). Choose Heading 1 for your main heading, Heading 2 for the next level, and so forth.

To apply a list item format:

  1. Click to place the insertion point within the line of text that you want to format.
  2. Open the Format menu and choose List.
  3. Choose the list style:

Tip: You can quickly apply a list style to a block of text by selecting the text and clicking the Numbered List or Bulleted List buttons on the Format toolbar.

To change the style of bullets or numbers:

  1. Click to place the insertion point within the text of the list item you want to change, or select one or more items in the list if you want to apply a new style to the entire list.
  2. Open the Format menu and choose List Properties.
  3. Select a bullet or number style from the drop-down list. For numbered lists, you can specify a starting number. For bulleted lists, you can change the bullet style.

Tip: You can also double-click on a bullet or number in a list to display the List Properties dialog box.

To align a paragraph or text in your page, for example, centering or aligning to the left or right:

  1. Click to place the insertion point within the paragraph or line of text you want to align.
  2. Open the Format menu and choose Align; then choose an alignment option.

Note: You can also use the Format toolbar to align text.

[Return to beginning of section]

Working with Lists

To end a list and continue typing body text:

To change one or more list items to body text:

  1. Click to place the insertion point within the list item, or select the list items.
  2. In a numbered list, click the numbered list button (or in a bulleted list, click the bulleted list button) in the Format toolbar.

To position indented text below a list item:

  1. Click to place the insertion point within the list item.
  2. Press Shift+ReturnEnterto create the hanging indent.
  3. Type the text you want to indent.
  4. Press Shift+ReturnEnter to create another indented paragraph, or press ReturnEnter to create the next list item.

Tip: You can increase or decrease the indentation of list items by clicking anywhere in a list item and then clicking the Indent or Outdent button on the Format toolbar. Alternatively, click anywhere in a list item and press Tab to indent one level. Press Shift+Tab to outdent one level.

To merge two adjacent lists:

  1. Select the two lists that you want to merge. Be sure to select all of the elements in both lists. Note that any text in between the two lists will also become part of the merged list.
  2. Click the bulleted or numbered list button in the Format toolbar to merge the lists.

[Return to beginning of section]

Changing Text Color, Style, and Font

To change the style, color, or font of selected text:

  1. Select the text you want to format.
  2. Open the Format menu and choose one of the following:

To change the background color of the page:

  1. Click anywhere in the page.
  2. Click the background color block in the Format toolbar.
  3. Choose a background color from the Block Background Color dialog box.
  4. Click OK.

Tip: To quickly change the color of text to the color last used, select the text, then press Shift and click on the text color block in the Format toolbar. This is useful when you want to use one color for separate lines of text.

You can also use an image as a background. See Setting Page Colors and Backgrounds.

[Return to beginning of section]

Removing or Discontinuing Text Styles

To remove all text styles (bold, italic, and so on) from selected text:

  1. Select the text.
  2. Open the Format menu and choose Remove All Text Styles.
  3. Continue typing.

To continue typing text with all text styles removed:

  1. Place the insertion point where you want to discontinue the text styles.
  2. Open the Format menu and choose Discontinue Text Styles.
  3. Continue typing.

[Return to beginning of section]

Finding and Replacing Text

To find text in the page you're currently working on:

  1. Click to place the insertion point where you want to begin your search.
  2. Open the Edit menu and choose Find and Replace. You see the Find and Replace dialog box.
  3. Type the text you want to locate in the Find what field. To narrow the search, check one or more of the following options:
  4. Click Find Next to begin searching. When Composer locates the first occurrence of the text, click Find Next to search for the next occurrence.
  5. Click Close when you are done.

To find and replace text in the page you're currently working on:

  1. Click to place the insertion point where you want to begin your search.
  2. Open the Edit menu and choose Find and Replace. You see the Find and Replace dialog box.
  3. Type the text you want to find and then type the replacement text.
  4. To narrow the search, check one or more of the following options:
  5. Click Find Next to search for the next occurrence. Composer selects the next occurrence of the text.
  6. Click Replace to replace the selected text with the replacement text. Click Replace and Find to replace the selected text and find the next occurrence. Click Replace All to replace every occurrence in the document with the replacement text.
  7. Click Close when you are done.

[Return to beginning of section]

Inserting Horizontal Lines

Horizontal lines are typically used to separate different sections of a document visually. To insert a horizontal line (also called a rule) in your page, begin from the Composer window:

  1. Click to place the insertion point where you want the line to appear.
  2. Open the Insert menu and choose Horizontal Line.

Setting Horizontal Line Properties

You can customize a line's height, length, width, alignment, and shading.

  1. Double-click the line to display the Horizontal Line Properties dialog box.
  2. Edit any of these properties:
  3. Click Use as Default to use these settings as the default the next time you insert a horizontal line.
  4. To edit the properties of a horizontal line manually, click Advanced Edit. See the section, Advanced Property Editor, for details.

Tip: You can select HTML Tags from the View menu to show all the HTML elements in yellow boxes. Click any yellow box to select everything within that HTML tag or element. Double-click any yellow box to display the Advanced Property Editor dialog box for that HTML tag or element.

[Return to beginning of section]

Inserting Special Characters

To insert special characters such as accent marks, copyrights, or currency symbols:

  1. Click to place the insertion point where you want the special character to appear.
  2. Open the Insert menu and choose Characters and Symbols. You see the Insert Character dialog box.
  3. Select a category of characters.
  4. From the Character drop-down list, select the character you want to insert.
  5. Click Insert.

    You can continue typing in your document (or in a mail compose window) while you keep this dialog box open, in case you want to use it again.

  6. Click Close when you are done inserting special characters.

[Return to beginning of section]

Inserting HTML Elements and Attributes

If you understand how to work with HTML source code, you can insert additional tags, style attributes, and JavaScript into your page. If you are not sure how to work with HTML source code, it's best not to change it. To work with HTML code, use one of these methods:

Using the Advanced Property Editor

To add HTML attributes and JavaScript to objects such as tables, images, and horizontal lines, you can use the Advanced Property Editor.

Note: Unless you clearly understand how to add, delete, or modify HTML attributes and their associated values, it's best not to do so.

If you are not currently viewing the Advanced Property Editor dialog box, follow these steps:

  1. From the View menu (or the Edit Mode toolbar), choose HTML Tags.
  2. Double-click the object that you want to modify to open its Properties dialog box.
  3. Click Advanced Edit to open the object's Advanced Property Editor. The Advanced Property Editor has three tabs, each of which lists the current properties for the selected object:
  4. To edit a property or attribute in any of the three lists, select the attribute you want to edit. You can then edit the attribute's name or value using the editable Attribute and Value fields at the bottom of the dialog box. To add a new attribute, type it in the Attribute field at the bottom of the dialog box. The new attribute is automatically added when you click in the Value field. To remove an attribute, select it in the list, and click Remove Attribute.

    Note: Required attributes are highlighted in the Attribute list.

  5. Click OK to apply your changes to the Advanced Property Editor dialog box.
  6. Click OK again to exit the Properties dialog box.

Composer automatically places quotation marks around any attribute text.

[Return to beginning of section]

Validating the HTML

Before you put your document on a web server so that others can see it, you should first check the document's HTML formatting to make sure it conforms to web standards. Documents containing validated HTML are less likely to cause problems when viewed by different browsers. Just visually checking your web pages in Navigator doesn't ensure that your document will appear correctly when viewed in other web browsers.

Composer provides a convenient way for you to check that your document conforms to W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) HTML standards. Composer uses the W3C HTML Validation Service, which checks your document's HTML syntax for compliance with HTML 4.01 standards. This service also provides information on how to correct errors.

Note: You must be connected to the Internet to use this feature.

To validate your document's HTML syntax:

  1. Open the Tools menu, and choose Validate HTML. If you have unsaved changes, Composer asks you to save them before proceeding.
  2. When the W3C HTML Validation Service page appears, click Browse and locate the file on your hard disk that you want to validate.
  3. Click Validate this document.

[Return to beginning of section]

Choosing the Right Editing Mode

Typically, you won't need to change the editing mode from the default (Normal). However, if you want to work with the document's HTML source code, you may want to change editing modes.

Composer allows you to quickly switch between four editing modes or views. Each editing mode allows you to continue working on your document, but displays varying levels of HTML tags (and tag icons).

Before you choose an editing mode:

The Edit Mode toolbar has four tabs:

Note: JavaScript functions, frames, links, Java, embedded objects and animated GIF files are not active in any of the editing modes. To display these items in their active state, click the Browse button on the Composition toolbar to load the page into a browser window.

[Return to beginning of section]

Adding Tables to Your Web Page

In this section:

Inserting a Table

Tables are useful for organizing text, pictures, and data into formatted rows and columns. To insert a table:

  1. Click to place the insertion point where you want the table to appear.
  2. Click the Table button on the Composition toolbar. The Insert Table dialog box appears.
  3. Type the number of rows and columns you want.
  4. Enter a number for the border thickness (in pixels); enter zero for no border.

    Note: Composer uses a red dotted line to indicate tables with a zero border; the dotted line disappears when the page is viewed in a browser.

  5. To apply additional table attributes or JavaScript, click Advanced Edit to display the Advanced Property Editor.
  6. Click OK to confirm your settings and view your new table.

To change additional properties for your new table, see Changing a Table's Properties.

Tip: To insert a table within a table, open the Insert menu and choose Table.

[Return to beginning of section]

Changing a Table's Properties

This section describes how to modify properties that apply to an entire table as well as the rows, columns, or individual cells within a table. If you are not currently viewing the Table Properties dialog box, follow these steps:

  1. Select the table, or click anywhere inside it.
  2. Click the Table button on the toolbar, or open the Table menu and choose Table Properties. The Table Properties dialog box contains two tabs: Table and Cells.
  3. Click the Table tab to edit these properties:
  4. To apply additional attributes or JavaScript events, click Advanced Edit to display the Advanced Property Editor.
  5. Click Apply to preview your changes without closing the dialog box, or click OK to confirm them.

To view, change, or add properties for one or more cells:

  1. Select the row, column, or cell, then open the Table menu and choose Table Properties. The Table Properties dialog box appears.
  2. Click the Cells tab to edit the following properties:
  3. Click Apply to preview your changes without closing the dialog box, or click OK to confirm them.

Tip: To change the text color or background color of one or more selected cells or the entire table, select the cells or click anywhere in the table and then click the text color or background color icon in the Format toolbar.

Tip: To change the color of cells to the color last used, select the cell, then press Shift and click on the background color picker. This is useful when you want to use one color for individual cells.

[Return to beginning of section]

Adding and Deleting Rows, Columns, and Cells

Composer allows you to quickly add or delete one or more cells, columns, or rows in a table. In addition, you can set options that allow you to maintain the original rectangular structure or layout of the table while you perform editing tasks.

To add a cell, row, or column to your table:

  1. Click inside the table where you want to add a cell (or cells).
  2. Open the Table menu and then choose Insert.
  3. Choose one of the cell groupings. (You can also insert a new table within a table cell.)

To delete a cell, row, or column:

  1. Click a row, column, or cell to place the insertion point. Or, select neighboring cells to delete more than one row at a time. To select neighboring cells, drag over the cells you want to select. To select individual cells in a table, hold down the CmdCtrl key and click on the cells you want to select.
  2. Open the Table menu and choose Delete.
  3. Choose the item you want to delete.

To join (or merge) a cell with the cell on its right:

To join (or merge) adjacent cells:

To split a joined cell back into two or more cells:

Refer to Selecting Table Elements for information on how to select non-adjacent cells, rows, and columns.

Changing the Default Table Editing Behavior

By default, when you delete one or more cells, Composer preserves the table's structure by adding cells at the end of a row, wherever needed. This allows you to delete one or more cells but still maintain the table's original rectangular layout, or structure. Otherwise, deleting cells can result in a table with empty spaces, or whose outline appears irregular due to an uneven number of cells.

To change the default table editing behavior, begin from the Composer window:

  1. Open the Edit menu, choose Preferences, and then choose Composer.
  2. Under Table Editing, set the following preference:
  3. Click OK.

See also Setting General Composer Preferences.

[Return to beginning of section]

Selecting Table Elements

You can use one of two ways to quickly select a table, cell, or group of cells:

[Return to beginning of section]

Moving, Copying, and Deleting Tables

To move a table:

  1. Click inside the table.
  2. Open the Table menu, choose Select, and then choose Table.

[Return to beginning of section]

Converting Text into a Table

To convert text into a table:

  1. Select the text that you want to convert into a table. Keep in mind that Composer creates a new table row for each paragraph in the selection.
  2. Open the Table menu and choose Create Table from Selection. You see the Convert to Table dialog box.
  3. Choose the character Composer uses to separate the selection into columns, or specify a different character to use. If you choose Space as the separator for columns, choose whether or not you want Composer to ignore multiple space and treat them as one space.
  4. Leave Delete separator character checked to have Composer remove the separator character when it converts the text into a table. If you don't want Composer to delete the separator character, uncheck this option.
  5. Click OK.

Note: Text formatting is removed when the selected text is converted to a table.

[Return to beginning of section]

Adding Pictures (Images) to Your Web Page

In this section:

Inserting an Image into Your Page

You can insert GIF, JPEG, BMP, and PNG (Portable Network Graphics) images into your web page. You can also use them to create links. When you insert an image, Composer saves a reference to the image in your page.

Note: If you plan to publish your pages to the web, it's best not to use BMP images in your pages.

Tip: It's best to first save or publish your page before you insert images into it. This allows Composer to automatically use relative references to images once you insert them.

To insert an image:

  1. Click to place the insertion point where you want the image to appear.
  2. Click the Image button on the toolbar, or open the Insert menu and choose Image. You see the Image Properties dialog box.
  3. Type the location and filename of the image file, or click Choose File to search for an image file on your hard drive or network.
  4. Type a simple description of your image as the alternate text that will appear in text-only browsers (as well as other browsers) when an image is loading or when image loading is disabled.

    Alternatively, you can choose not to include alternate text.

  5. If needed, click other tabs so you can adjust the settings (for example, alignment) in the Image Properties dialog box.

Tip: To quickly insert an image: Drag and drop it onto your page.

Tip: To insert a line break after all images in a paragraph, choose Break Below Images from the Insert menu.

[Return to beginning of section]

Editing Image Properties

Once you've inserted an image into your page, you can edit its properties and customize the layout in your page, such as the height, width, spacing, and text alignment. If you are not currently viewing the Image Properties dialog box, follow these steps:

  1. Double-click the image, or select it and click the Image button on the toolbar to display the Image Properties dialog box.
  2. Click the Location tab to edit these properties:
  3. Click the Dimensions tab to edit these properties:
  4. Click the Appearance Tab to edit these properties:
  5. Click the Link tab to edit these properties:
  6. To apply additional attributes or JavaScript events, click Advanced Edit to display the Advanced Property Editor.
  7. Click OK to confirm your changes.

[Return to beginning of section]

Setting Page Properties

In this section:

Setting Page Properties and Meta Tags

Use the Page Properties dialog box to enter properties such as the title, author, and description of the document you're currently working on. This information is useful if you plan to use the page on a website, since search engines use this type of information to index your page. You can view this information from the browser window by opening the View menu and choosing Page Info.

  1. Open the Format menu and choose Page Title and Properties.
  2. Edit any of the following properties:

[Return to beginning of section]

Setting Page Colors and Backgrounds

You can change the background color or specify a background image for the page you're currently working on. These choices affect the way text and links in your page appear to people viewing the page through a browser.

To set the colors and background for the current page, begin from the Composer window:

  1. Open the Format menu and choose Page Colors and Background.
  2. Edit any of the following properties:

Note: To apply additional attributes or JavaScript events, click Advanced Edit to display the Advanced Property Editor.

You can also set the default page background and colors for every new page you create in Composer.

[Return to beginning of section]

Creating Links in Composer

In this section:

To create a link within the same page, for example a link that the reader can use to jump from one section to another, you must create an anchor (target location), and then create a link that points to the anchor. Anchors are also called named anchors. To create an anchor, follow these steps:

  1. Click to place the insertion point at the beginning of a line where you want to create an anchor, or select some text.
  2. Open the Insert menu and choose Named Anchor. You see the Named Anchor Properties dialog box.
  3. Type a unique name for the anchor in the Anchor Name field (up to 30 characters). If you include spaces, they will be converted to underscores ( _ ). If you selected some text in step 1, this box already contains a name.
  4. Click OK. An anchor icon appears in your document to mark the anchor's location:

To create the link on which readers can click to jump to the object:

  1. Select the text or image that you want to link to the anchor.
  2. Click the Link button or open the Insert menu and choose Link. You see the Link Properties dialog box.
  3. Click OK.

Note: To test the link you just created, open the File menu and choose Browse Page, then click the link.

Tip: If you did not first create named anchors, you can use the Link dialog box to create links to headings that already occur in the page.

[Return to beginning of section]

You can create links from your page to local pages on your own computer or on your workplace's network, or to remote pages on the Internet.

Tip: It's best to first save or publish your page before you create links to other pages. This allows Composer to automatically use relative references for links once you create them.

To create a link to another page:

  1. Click to place the insertion point where you want to create a link, or select the text or image that you want to link to the anchor.
  2. Click the Link button. You see the Link Properties dialog box.
  3. Define your link:
  4. To apply additional attributes or JavaScript events, click Advanced Edit to display the Advanced Property Editor.
  5. Click OK.
  6. To test the link you just created, click the Browse button and then click the link to make sure it works as expected.

Tip: You can copy a link quickly by clicking and dragging the link from another window and then dropping it onto your page. For example, you can click and drag a link from a web page, bookmark, or Mail window and drop it onto your page. You can also right-click or, if you have a one-button mouse, Ctrl-click a link on a web page and choose Copy Link Location from the menu. Then you can paste the link location into the Link Location field in the Link Properties dialog box.

[Return to beginning of section]

You can make images, such as JPEG, GIF, or PNG files, behave like links in your pages. When the reader clicks a linked image, the browser window displays the page that the image is linked to.

To make an image behaving like a link:

  1. Select an image on your page.
  2. Click the Link button on the toolbar, or open the Insert menu and choose Link.
  3. Use the Link Properties dialog box to link the image to a named anchor or heading within the page, or to a separate local or remote page.

Tip: Drag and drop a linked image from the Navigator window into a Composer window to copy both the image and the link.

Note: To remove the blue border on images used as links, open the Link Properties dialog box, click the Link tab, and uncheck Show border around linked image.

[Return to beginning of section]

To remove a link:

  1. Select the linked text (normally blue and underlined) or image.
  2. Open the Format menu and choose Remove Links.

To discontinue a link, so that text you type after the link is not included as part of the link:

  1. Click to place the insertion point where you want the link to end.
  2. Open the Format menu and choose Discontinue Link.

[Return to beginning of section]

Publishing Your Pages on the Web

If your pages exist only on your local hard disk, you can browse your pages, but no one else can. Composer lets you publish your pages to a remote computer called a web server.

When you publish your pages to a web server, Composer copies (uploads) your pages to a computer that lets others browse your pages. Most ISPs provide space on their web servers for web page publishing. To find a web server where you can publish your pages, ask your ISP, help desk, or system administrator.

In this section:

Publishing a Document

Tip: It's best to first save or publish your page before you insert links or images into it. This allows Composer to automatically use relative references for links and images once you insert them.

To publish a document:

  1. Open the HTML document that you want to publish, or create a new Composer document.
  2. When you're ready to publish the document remotely, click the Publish button.

    If you have published this document before, Composer remembers the document's publishing settings and starts publishing the document. While publishing is in progress, Composer displays a publishing status dialog box.

  3. To browse your published page, click the Browse button. Test the page's links and make sure there are no missing images.
  4. Continue editing the page as necessary. When you're ready to update the remote page with your changes, click the Publish button.

When you publish a document for the first time, Composer changes the document's file:/// URL to an http:// URL to indicate that you are now editing the published document. If you want to save the document locally (on your computer's hard disk), click the Save button. You'll be prompted to choose a filename and location on your hard disk for the document.

[Return to beginning of section]

For more troubleshooting tips, see Solving Common Publishing Problems.

[Return to beginning of section]

Updating a Published Document

To update a published document:

  1. In a Composer window, open the File menu, and choose Recent Pages, then select the document from the list.

    Alternatively, browse to the location of the document you want to update by entering the document's HTTP address (the document's web address) in the Navigator browser's Location field.

  2. Edit the document as necessary.
  3. When you're ready to update the remote page with your changes, click Publish in Composer's toolbar.

Tip: To delete a page or image you've published on a web server, you must use an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program. You also must use an FTP program if you want to create subdirectories or to rename files on the web server. Ask your service provider if they recommend a particular FTP program. You can usually find information on FTP programs in the Help or Support sections of your service provider's website. FTP programs are also available from shareware sites such as ZDNet Downloads.

[Return to beginning of section]

Changing the Filename or Publishing Location

To change a document's filename or publishing location:

  1. In a Composer window, open the File menu, and choose Recent Pages, then select the document from the list.

    Alternatively, browse to the location of the document you want to update by entering the document's HTTP address (the document's web address) in the Navigator browser's Location field.

  2. Edit the document as necessary.
  3. Open Composer's File menu and choose Publish As. Composer displays the Publish tab in the Publish Page dialog box.
  4. Enter a different page title, if necessary.
  5. Enter a different filename for the page, if necessary.
  6. From the Site Name list, choose the publishing location you want to use. To set up a new publishing location, click New Site. See Publish Page - Settings for more information.
  7. Click Publish to save the document to the new location.

[Return to beginning of section]

Creating a New Publishing Site

If you plan to publish documents to more than one remote location, you can set up Composer to save the publishing information for each remote site you use, so that you don't have to enter it each time you want to publish.

To create a new publishing site, begin from a Composer window:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Publishing Site Settings. Composer displays the Publish Settings dialog box.
  2. Click New Site.
  3. For Site Name, enter the nickname by which you want to refer to this publishing site.

    For example, if you will use the new site to publish documents related to the Meteor project, you might want to use the site name Meteor. Site names remind you about the types of documents you publish at each site.

  4. For Publishing address, enter the complete URL provided to you by your ISP, system administrator, or web hosting service. This URL must begin with either ftp:// or http://.

    The publishing address specifies the location where documents are published (uploaded) at this site. If you are not sure what to enter, ask your ISP or system administrator.

  5. For HTTP address of your home page, enter the complete URL that you would enter in the Navigator browser to view pages at this site. Do not include a filename or subdirectory as part of the URL.

    This URL must always begin with http://. In some cases, this URL is the same as the publishing address. If you are not sure what to enter, ask your ISP or system administrator, or else leave it blank.

  6. For user name, enter the user name you use to log in to your ISP or web hosting service.
  7. For password, enter the password for your user name.
  8. Select Save Password to save your password securely using Password Manager so that you don't have to enter it each time you publish pages at this site.
  9. Click OK.

[Return to beginning of section]

Choosing the Default Publishing Site

If you have set up more than one publishing site, but you typically use only one site for most of your publishing needs, you can designate the site you use most often as the default publishing site. Composer will use the default publishing site for all documents that you publish, unless you specifically choose an alternate site.

Regardless of how many sites you've set up, you can always publish a document to a different site by choosing Publish As from Composer's File menu. See Changing the Filename or Publishing Location for more information.

To choose the default publishing site, begin from a Composer window:

  1. Open the Edit menu, and choose Publishing Site Settings. Composer displays the Publish Settings dialog box.
  2. Select a publishing site from the list.

    If you only have one publishing site set up, Composer uses that one as the default site.

  3. Click Set as Default.
  4. Click OK to confirm your changes.

[Return to beginning of section]

Deleting a Publishing Site

Deleting a publishing site removes the site's settings from Composer. If you later wish to publish to the site, you must re-enter the site's settings.

To delete a publishing site's settings, begin from a Composer window:

  1. Open the Edit menu, and choose Publishing Site Settings. Composer displays the Publish Settings dialog box.
  2. Select a publishing site from the list.
  3. Click Remove Site.

    Composer only removes the site's settings; the remote site itself is not affected.

  4. Click OK to confirm your changes.

[Return to beginning of section]

Solving Common Publishing Problems

If one or more of your files fail to publish, the Publishing Status dialog box displays an error message that can help you determine what went wrong and how to fix it. Click the Troubleshooting button in the Publishing Status dialog box to get help on solving your publishing problem.

If you are still unable to publish a file, save the file to your hard disk by opening Composer's File menu, and choosing Save. You can then open the file at a later time to try to publish it. To quickly locate the file later, open Composer's File menu, and choose Recent Pages.

In this section:

Verifying Your Publishing Settings

To verify your publishing settings:

  1. Close the Publishing Status dialog box, if it is open.
  2. Open the Edit menu and choose Publishing Site Settings.
  3. In the Publish Settings dialog box, confirm that the site settings are correct for the site you are trying to publish to. If you're not sure, check with your ISP or web hosting service.

Checking Your Filenames

Examine the names of any files that failed to publish. Make sure that the filenames:

Fixing Publishing Errors

If one or more of your files fails to publish, look at the messages Composer displays in the Publishing Status area of the Publishing dialog box. You can use these error messages to help determine what went wrong and what to do to fix the problem.

Error Messages:

Filename not found.

X of Y files failed to publish.

The subdirectory directory name doesn't exist on this site or the filename filename is already in use by another subdirectory.

The filename filename is already in use by another subdirectory.

The server is not available. Check your connection and try again later.

You do not have permission to publish to this location.

You are currently offline. Click the icon near the lower-right corner of any window to go online.

There is not enough disk space available to save the file filename.

The filename or subdirectory name is too long.

Error Message:

Filename not found.

or

X of Y files failed to publish.

Error Description: One or more image files or CSS files failed to publish because Composer could not find them. Some typical reasons might be:

Possible Solutions:

Error Message:

The subdirectory directory name doesn't exist on this site or the filename filename is already in use by another subdirectory

or

The filename filename is already in use by another subdirectory

Error Description: You specified the name of a remote subdirectory that does not exist at the publishing site. Composer can only publish to a remote subdirectory that already exists at the publishing location. Or, you specified a filename that is identical to the name of an existing subdirectory at the publishing site.

For example, in the Publish Page dialog box, under the Publish tab:

Possible Solutions:

Error Message:

The server is not available. Check your connection and try again later.

Error Description: This error can have many causes. For example:

Possible Solutions:

Error Message:

You do not have permission to publish to this location.

Error Description: You are attempting to publish to a location that you are not authorized to use. You can only publish to sites where you have been granted access by your ISP or web hosting service.

Possible Solutions:

Error Message:

You are currently offline. Click the icon near the lower-right corner of any window to go online.

Error Description: You are attempting to publish, but your &brandShortName; Internet connection is currently in the offline state. Your Internet connection must be in the online state (connected to the Internet) in order to publish your pages.

Verify that your Internet connection is currently offline by looking at the online/offline icon in the lower right corner of any &brandShortName; window. If you are currently offline, the icon appears as .

Possible Solutions:

Error Message:

There is not enough disk space available to save the file filename.

Error Description: The remote web server's hard disk is full, or you may have exceeded the amount of disk space allocated to you by your ISP or web hosting service.

Possible Solutions:

Error Message:

The filename or subdirectory name is too long.

Error Description: The number of characters in the filename or the subdirectory name is not supported by the web server computer that you are trying to publish to.

Possible Solutions:

[Return to beginning of section]

Publishing Settings

This section describes Composer's publishing settings. For information on Composer's general and new page settings, see Composer Preferences.

In this section:

Publish Page - Publish

The Publish Page - Publish tab lets you specify where you want to publish a document. These settings apply to the current document.

If you are not already viewing the Publish Page - Publish tab, follow these steps:

  1. Open the File menu and choose Publish As. The Publish Page dialog box appears.
  2. Click the Publish tab.

Tip: To create remote subdirectories or delete published pages or images, you must use an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program. Ask your service provider if they recommend a particular FTP program. You can usually find information on FTP programs in the Help or Support sections of your service provider's website. FTP programs are also available from shareware sites such as ZDNet Downloads.

[Return to beginning of section]

Publish Page - Settings

The Publish Page - Settings tab lets you specify your login information for the remote publishing site, as well as the publishing settings for the remote site. These settings apply to the current document and any other files you publish to this location.

If you are not already viewing the Publish Page - Settings tab, follow these steps:

  1. Open the File menu and choose Publish As. The Publish Page dialog box appears.
  2. Click the Settings tab.

[Return to beginning of section]

Publish Settings

The Publish Settings dialog box lets you create, edit, and delete publishing site settings, and also lets you set the default publishing site.

If you are not already viewing the Publish Settings dialog box, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Publishing Site Settings. Composer displays the Publish Settings dialog box.

[Return to beginning of section]

Composer Preferences

This section describes the settings in the Composer preferences panel. If you are not currently viewing the panel, follow these steps:

  1. Open the &brandShortName; Edit menu and choose Preferences.
  2. Double-click the Composer category to expand the list.

For information on Composer's publishing settings, see Publishing Settings.

In this section:

Composer Preferences - Composer

Composer preferences allow you to specify settings for saving files and for table editing. These settings apply to every document you create.

If you are not already viewing the Composer preferences, follow these steps:

  1. Open the &brandShortName; Edit menu and choose Preferences.
  2. Click the Composer category.

[Return to beginning of section]

Composer Preferences - New Page Settings

New page preferences allow you to specify settings for colors and background images that apply to every document you create.

If you are not already viewing the New Page Settings, follow these steps:

  1. Open the &brandShortName; Edit menu and choose Preferences.
  2. Double-click the Composer category and click New Page Settings.

To change the author name for an individual page: Open the Format menu and choose Page Title and Properties.

To change the page colors and background image for an individual page: Open the Format menu and choose Page Colors and Background.

[Return to beginning of section]

Copyright © 2003-2010 The Mozilla Foundation.