Make backups of your content |
You can always ALT-drag a document to a container on the FirstClass Desktop to make a backup, but that is tedious - and meaningless work, since there is an automatic alternative that is easy to set up and works wonderfully: Versioning. Versioning will back up your documents every time you save, and keep each saved version so you can roll back to any previous save. It happens entirely in the background, and kicks in automatically every time you do an edit to any page. Versioning is easy to set up, but it must be set up for each Container you want it to work in, and it will only work in Conferences. That means all your website containers should be conferences, not folders. Setting up Versioning 1. Create a folder on your FirstClass Desktop, and give it Icon ID 13100. Give it a simple, unique name. 2. Drop an alias of this folder into every conference you want the versioning system to take care of. 3. Hide the aliases. Do not change their names. 4. Create the Versioning Rule 5. Copy the Rule to the Rules folder of each conference [2]. [ALT-drag it to copy]. How to make the Versioning Rule • Open the Rules folder of the first conference. • Create the following Application Rule: Conditions: When: Item Modified If: Always Actions: Then: Copy to folder [Name of the Folder Alias from [1] above] • Copy this Rule to each conference [5]. ... This will backup all your Documents, and the Backup folder will store each edit as a new document. NOTE: the order 1-5 above is essential. The rule will not work if it is created before the alias exist. |
Working with documents |
Editing articles |
 Left: editing in FirstClass [click for full size].In FirstMagic, web pages are real documents that works just like an Office Document. There´s no database forms or complex publishing mechanisms like in other web publishing systems here - simply open the document, write, save and close. FirstClass is a true word processor, and it works the same way the office software you are used to does, with one important difference: it is live, online - and you can mix regular text with HTML code - in the same sentence. Write directly in the document, or drag-and-drop content from your office program or image editor. Mix text, code, images, tables, video and audio freely. If you drag-and-drop content from another web page on the net, the underlying html code is even transferred intact and will continue to work inside your own document. NOTE: all FirstClass Documents have an envelope. This is where all metadata goes, together with the filename and page title. You can access the envelope in two ways - from inside the document [see below], or by right-clicking on the filename in list view and opening it´s Properties Window.  To access the Document Envelope from inside, pull down the horizontal line at the top of the document window. Remember to fill in the Subject Field here - it becomes both the page title and the visible link to this document. Without it, it will not be published.In the envelope there is also a Keywords and a Category field. Anything you write here will override any metadata you have in FirstMagic Preferences - for this particular document. Use it to customize how Google will index this page. |
Handling inline URLs |
URLs in FirstClass Documents can be inserted in two ways: • Write them out in full, and IS will automatically make it a clickable link. • Embed them in text, by formatting them in the Make Link dialog. The first method can look messy, the second allows for nice, descriptive links with targeted windows. Best practice • Always write the link in full if possible. • If you need to embed it in text, use absolute URLs. • If you embed it, do not make lists without putting regular text between each • If you do make lists, write all the text first, with an extra space and line break between each. Then embed the links afterwards, all at once. Why? • Embedding links in text can sometimes corrupt the document. • Embedding relative links will only work if you never copy and paste the result; if you copy an embedded relative link, the FirstClass Client will convert it to an FCP link when you paste it back in. To avoid this, always use absolute URLs. • Making lists of links without "regular" text between will frequently corrupt the links: the FC Client tends to get confused, and will mix them together. • If you write all the text first, and add an extra line break and whitespace between each, you can make sure to not make the whitespace part of the embed. Then delete the extra line break [but not the extra space] after all the links are in place. This makes it more difficult for the FC Client to jumble the links together, since there is "normal" content between each [the whitespace]. |
Inserting literal HTML in FirstClass content |
• Before inserting literal HTML, make sure to add "normal" whitespace before and after where the literal HTML will go. Else, your HTML may be jumbled together with the FirstClass content. In particular, tables will tend to break. |
Tip on how to avoid losing content |
Connection is lost while a document is being edited: This will strip the document of all formatting and lose you any unsaved work (anything that apparently was saved after the connection was lost). Usually, you don´t notice this until you close the document and try to re-open it. Best practice that will save the day: • Save and close often. • Before closing, copy everything to memory. • Re-open the document right away to check. If something has happened you will discover it while everything is still on the clipboard, and can simply delete-and-paste everything to fix it. This procedure seems like a hassle at first, but can become a quick and simple routine: Control-A + Control-C + Control-W + Enter + Enter That´s it. If you learn this keyboard combination and type it often while working, you will always be able to recover from a lost connection. Note: if your connection is lost and you cannot log back in right away, open a text editor and save the stuff in your clipboard as an RTF document. It will not retain the table styles, but it will save table structure, text styles, and content. |
Working with FirstClass tables |
Complex FirstClass tables sometimes have a tendency to become corrupted, leaving you with a wrecked document of garbled content. The procedure above will often save you - but not always; sometimes, what´s on your clipboard is corrupted too. Best practice for working with tables: • Avoid using tables if at all possible • When you need tables, keep them as simple as possible • When they need to be complex, make many small ones instead of one big one. • Don´t nest tables unless absolutely necessary • Don´t use more formatting than
absolutely necessary • Don´t start or end cell content with an URL • Don´t use literal HTML inside tables if you can avoid it |
When a table blows up: Usually, the table is destroyed by junk code the FirstClass Client - or the editor - inadvertently mixed into a cell. Chances are the following sequence will copy the working table but not the junk that is entwined with it. If this is the case, the following procedure will fix the table: • Place the cursor in the first cell, and go to Edit > Tables > Select table • Copy to clipboard • Select All [Control-A] • Delete • Paste what´s on the clipboard back in If this does not help, you will have to try to locate the break. It will usually be in the last rows [or the last rows you edited]. Try the following: • Select the very first row • Copy • Paste into a new document ... If it comes over intact: • Select the two first rows, and repeat. • Continue with the first three, then four, etc. - Until the new table blows up. • Now you know where the break is, and can work around it. If none of the above works, restoring from backup is the last resort. Have a backup routine! |
Working with the FirstClass filesystem |
Don´t publish until it is ready Create and edit pages on your FirstClass Desktop, where only you can see them. Once you drop them into FirstMagic, they are published to the web. Duplicating files Duplicate a document or file by pressing ALT while you drag it to a different location in FirstClass / FirstMagic. A copy will be created where you drop it. Create Menu Links on the fly Create links in the Top Menu or Sidebar simply by dragging the URL from your web browser into the Menu or Sidebar containers (you can also drag them into FirstClass Documents). Remember to give them Subjects [in Properties], or they will not be published. Create inline links without looking them up Link to a Document inside another simply by dragging the first document into the second. The link is created where you drop the first document. This will be a FCP link, which won´t immediately work on the web. To fix that, click and hold on the link, then select format link from the contextual menu that pops up. In the formatting dialog, delete everything from the first character through to the last number. The remainder will work as a relative HTTP link. Attach one document to another Drop a document into another´s Envelope to make it an attachment. On the web, it will appear as a clickable link at the bottom of the second document. Make shortcuts to your work Grab any object in FirstClass and drag-drop it down to your OSX or Windows Desktop. The icon that appears will log you directly in to that object when clicked - bypassing the login prompt and your FirstClass Desktop. |