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Create Site > Editing > Freeform FAQs

Freeform FAQs

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Q: How do I create HTML files?

A: You can create HTML pages by using your favorite publishing tool such as: Microsoft® FrontPage®, Macromedia® Dreamweaver, HoTMetaL Pro, Publisher, Netscape Composer, VisualPage, HomeSite, UltraEdit, HotDog, BBEdit, etc.

You can also create HTML pages directly from your Lutherans Online Web site by using the instructions below:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. Click "Edit Page."
3. Scroll down to section B, then click "Click here to Create and Edit a new HTML file."
4. Enter a filename and HTML text, then click "Save."

Q: How do I upload my files?

A: HTML files or graphic files may be easily uploaded by using the "Browse" option on the "Edit Page" screen, or through direct FTP. To upload your files using our Freeform Administration interface, follow the instructions below:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. Click "Edit Page."
3. Scroll down to section A, then click "Browse" to locate a file on your computer that you would like to upload to your site.
4. If you would like to upload the files into a folder, choose the folder using the pull-down menu next to "Upload file(s) to the folder." For instructions on how to add a new folder, click here.
5. Once you have one to five files ready to be uploaded, click "Upload Files."

Notes: If you are using Microsoft® Word 2000 or higher and choosing "Save as HTML", you will also need to select a certain HTML file format. Under "Save File as Type", choose the "Web page filtered" HTML file format. Saving it as regular HTML will save it as XML, which is not compatible with Lutherans Online at this time.

Q: Can I use FTP to upload my files?

A: Yes, you can upload files in bulk by using any FTP utility. It will ask for the following:

Host Name and Directory:	listed at the bottom of your Freeform Administration page
Port:	21
Passive Mode:	On

Windows Instructions:

1. Within Internet Explorer, type ftp://www1.lutheransonline.com/ into the address bar and hit Enter.
2. Enter your User Name and Password.
3. If authenticated, you will be authorized to FTP files to folder(s) of site(s) where you are an administrator.
4. To view the FTP site in Windows Explorer, click Page and then click "Open FTP Site" in Windows Explorer.
5. You can now cut, copy, paste, and delete files/directories from your local system to the FTP server.

UNIX Instructions:

1. From the command line, type "ftp" and hit Enter.
2. Type "passive" and hit Enter. (this can be used to toggle between active and passive FTP modes)
3. Type "open www1.lutheransonline.com 21" and hit Enter.
4. Enter your User Name and Password.
5. If you are authenticated, you will be authorized to FTP files to folder(s) of site(s) where you are an administrator.
6. You can now use mget/mput commands to get and put files to the server.

Notes on FTP:

• There are maximum file size limits. If your file size exceeds the limit, the process will not complete successfully.
• Your firewall must be configured to allow FTP access to port 21.
• You must create a site alias before using FTP.
• Do not use http:// or ftp:// in front of the host name.
• FTP is also allowed on port 2121.
• The User ID and password are not case sensitive.
• Use the latest version of your FTP utility.
• You may also upload files by using the "Browse" option from your Freeform Publishing page.
• For Microsoft® Word 2000 or higher users: When saving a file as HTML, you must also choose “Web Page filtered” HTML file format under “Save File as Type.” Do not save the file as a regular HTML or XML file.

Q: How much file space do I get?

A: All sites within Lutherans Online have a maximum of 50M of file space, 500 total files, and a limit of 10M per file. These limits include files uploaded in both Publishing and Freeform HTML areas. You can see how much space you are using by clicking "Edit Page" within any Freeform HTML page on your site. If you need additional space, please call the Lutherans Online help desk at 1-866-201-1522.

Q: How do I add folders?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. Click "Edit Page."
3. Click "Add a Folder."
4. Enter the name of your new folder, then click "Done."

Q: How do I move files into different folders?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. Click "Edit Page."
3. Click the check boxes next to the files you would like moved.
4. Use the pull-down menu to the right of the "Move" button to select the folder you would like the files moved into.
5. Click "Move."

Q: How do I delete files or folders?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. Click "Edit Page."
3. Click the check boxes next to the files or folders you would like deleted.
4. Click "Delete." Note: Folders must be empty to be deleted.

Q: How do I display a list of page links on the top of my Freeform page?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Click "Manage Web Site Pages."
4. To the right of your Freeform page, click "Edit."
5. For your "Page Links" setting, click "on." Note: If you choose "off," remember to provide hard coded navigation somewhere in your HTML to allow visitors to link back to the rest of your Web site.
6. Click "Done." Note: You will need to do this on every Freeform page within your site, if you would like these page links to display on every page on your site.

Q: What is my default page?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. Navigate to the Freeform page that you would like to assign a default file for display.
3. Click "Edit Page."
4. To the right of the HTML file you would like to have displayed when people visit the page, click "make default."
5. Click "Done."

Q: How do I add a new Freeform page to my page links?

A:

1. Create a new page, making sure to choose the Freeform page format.
2. Once the page is created and you are on the new page, assign a default HTML file to the page.

Q: How do I preview a page?

A: You can preview what a Freeform HTML page will look like by clicking the "Preview" link to the right of any HTML file within Freeform Administration.

If you would like to test new code before putting it live, you can do this by just uploading a copy of the file with a different filename, like test.html. Then, click the "Preview" link underneath the Action column to see what it will look like. When you are happy with how it looks, upload the file again with the original name, rename the test file, and/or make it a default file within a page.

Q: How do I rename a file?

A: Click the "Rename" link within the Action column in the row that corresponds to the file you wish to rename. Edit the filename, then click "Done."

Q: How do I make a file private?

A: Files marked as "private" can only be viewed by site participants and administrators. Also, files uploaded but not linked within your site still may show up within search results on Lutherans Online. To prevent non-site participants and administrators from viewing certain files on your site, and to prevent files from showing up within Lutherans Online search results, you will need to mark the file(s) as private. To make a file private, simply click the "Make private" link under the Action column in the row that corresponds to the file you wish to make private. To make a file public again, click "Make public."

Q: How do I add a calendar, online form, message board or chat room to my site?

A: Your site already has a calendar, message boards and chat built into it, and all you have to do is create a link to it. ( How to add an online form to your site.)

If you would like to link to your calendar from anywhere else on a Freeform HTML page, follow the instructions below. To link to your message board or chat topic, you will first need to create a message board or chat topic. After you have your topic created, follow the instructions above, replacing "calendar" with your new message board or chat topic.

1. Go to your Freeform HTML page settings and turn the "Page Links" setting to "on."
2. Go back to your Freeform HTML page and right-click the "Calendar" link near the top of the your page.
3. Choose "Copy Shortcut."
4. Edit your Freeform HTML page and paste this link into your code as a new Web link. The code should look like this:
   <A HREF="http://www.lutheransonline.com/servlet/lo_ProcServ/dbpage=calendar_frameset&view=maag
   &GID=00008000001054425896428356&PG=00008000001054772845782330">Click here to view my calendar.</A>
5. You can now optionally turn your "Page Links" setting to "off" if you would no longer like to have your list of pages displayed at the top of your Freeform HTML page.

Q: How do I mix both Publishing and Freeform HTML pages within my site?

A:

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. Click "Web Site Manager."
3. Select "Manage Web site Pages."
4. Click on "Click here to add a new page."
5. Click the radio button of either "Freeform" or "Publishing" to add a new page to your site. You also have the option of creating an online form or top frame page.

Q: How do I place a Participate button on a Freeform HTML page?

A: To place a participate button on a Freeform page, you will need to slightly modify and paste the following code into your site.

1. Click on "My Site" in the left-navigation to go to your Web site.
2. In the browser's URL address bar, copy the string of numbers following GID. Example: http://www.lutheransonline.com/servlet/lo_ProcServ/
   dbpage=page&mode=display&gid=01016013600968266956417118
3. Click "Edit Page."
4. Copy and paste the code below into your site where you would like the participate button located. Replace the number that is in bold below with the number corresponding to your site, which you copied in step 4.
5. <A href=/lo/ignore?MIval=cge&GID=01093013200482286395182254&SFWT=JG><IMG src=/graphics/participate_default.gif border=0></A>

Q: Does Lutherans Online support Microsoft® FrontPage® extensions or frames?

A: Microsoft® FrontPage® as a Web site development tool can be used within this system and the pages can be uploaded to Lutherans Online.

Lutherans Online does not, however, support extensions or frames. Extensions contain macros that our software cannot process. Frames are not supported because sites will be displayed as a part of an already existing template in Lutherans Online. Note that you may use frames if you are building a Top Frame page for your site hosted outside of Lutherans Online. Also, please note that Adobe ImageReady rollover image generated code is not supported at this time.

Q: How do I help users navigate within long pages on my site?

A: You can help users navigate by adding a "back to top" text link to your page. Just add the following code to the bottom of your HTML page:

<p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>

Note: This can also be added within a Publishing page posting as long as the HTML box is checked.

Q: Why don't some of my header tags work?

A: Our system strips out all Freeform HTML code outside of the <BODY> tags when displaying the page on your site. To make sure all your code works properly within Lutherans Online, place all necessary code within the <BODY> of your page.

Q: Why don't some of my scripts work?

A: While Lutherans Online does support some basic scripts such as client-side JavaScript, other technologies such as php, perl, Java, and XML are not supported. Also, any JavaScript that requires functions to be placed outside of the <BODY> tag will not work.

Q: How do I play an audio file on my page?

A: To play an audio file when someone visits your site, you will first need to obtain an audio file, such as a MIDI or MP3. If you do not already have a file, there are many places on the Internet where you can download them, many for free. However, before publishing them on your site, make sure that the site you got the audio file(s) from allow you to reuse and publish the file on your site.

Next, you will need to upload the music file onto your Web site. Click here for instructions on how to add a file to your Freeform site.

Once you have your file uploaded, now all you need to do is add HTML code to your site to play the audio file. Within your Freeform HTML file text, insert the following code, replacing "mymusicfile.mid" with the name of your audio file. You can also change loop="true" to be "false" if you do not wish to have the song repeat, or a number such as "5" if you would like it to repeat five times, etc.

<EMBED src="mymusicfile.mid" autostart="true" loop="true"><EMBED>

If you would just like to have a link to your music file, you can do that by using a simple A HREF code tag like the example below.

<A HREF="mymusicfile.mid" target="_blank">Click here to listen to my music file.</A>

Note: If you would like to add this code to a new posting within a Publishing page, you will need to use the full system URL instead of just the name of the file to get this to work properly. You can obtain the system URL by clicking "Web Site Manager," "List Freeform Files" and copying the corresponding URL to the file you would like to use.

Q: Where can I get some tips for developing HTML code?

A:

• HTML Central (Netscape)
• NCSA (at UIUC) Beginner's Guide to HTML
• W3 Schools
• Web Design Group
• Web Design Resource
• Webmonkey
• World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)