Quick Preview It!
Contents
Quick Preview It!
Quick Preview It! (QPI!) lets you see a live preview of any page you create with an HTML editor. What's so special about that?
It lets you see the contents of all the SBI! Include files that you've added to the page, along with images, video and audio players, and CSS styling.
So you can see exactly what the page will look like when you publish.
Important
Quick Preview It! runs on Java (not Javascript). If your browser does not support Java, you will need to use a different browser. If you have Java disabled in your browser, you will need to enable it. Check its status in your browser's preferences.
Click on the Allow button to allow QPI! to run in this browser session only. Add a check to Allow all applets from "sbiapps.sitesell.com" access if you want to permanently (all future browser sessions) allow access. Then click on Allow.
Choosing an HTML File To Preview
As soon as you allow QPI! to access your computer, you'll see a large button that says Click To Choose an HTML File To Preview. Click on that button.
A dialog box appears, floating on top of your browser window. It opens to your default file location. Navigate to the file you want to preview. Select the file you want to open. The path to the file will display below the large button. To open the preview, click on the Quick Preview It! button just below the path.
A new browser window will open, briefly displaying the QPI! page. It then displays the preview of your local HTML file. Any correctly referenced files you have stored on your hard drive (images, includes, etc.) also display in the page preview.
If you have your browser set to open new tabs, the preview will appear in the existing tab. A new tab will also open (see below for more details about this tab).
Very Important
QPI! will not open the file if you do not have your site's local folder structure set up properly. You must have the following folders set up in your root folder...
- image-files
- support-files
- media-files
You must also have all SBI! Include files (files ending with .shtml ) at the root level (the same level as the page files, which end with .html ). To sort your includes easily, start all includes file names with "z" (ex., z-navinclude.shtml).
For more information about setting up your local file and folder structure, read the Integration Guidelines for Upload Your Own HTML.
For QPI! to work most effectively, you need to relative-reference all images and media files, the CSS file and any other support files, but especially all links to other pages of your site. See the Integration Guidelines for more about this as well.
If your folders and files are not set up correctly, QPI! will return an error message (all red text) informing you that you need to change your set up.
Quick Preview It! does not preview SBI! functionality tags, such as ***NAVBAR***, ***TOC***, ***RSSIT*** and ***SOCIALIZEIT***, and it does not preview Content 2.0 invitations.
It does preview FBI! forms, as the entire code for a form is in the page's HTML code.
Previewing Additional HTML Files
The original QPI! window remains open below the HTML file you're previewing (if the preview displays in a tab, a new tab opens). Leaving that original window, or the new tab, open lets you preview additional pages without having to open QPI! again and again. You'll notice that the original window, or the new tab, no longer has the large file selector button.
To preview another page, simply click on the relative-referenced link on your custom NavBar, if it's a TIER 3 page (you will not see your NavBar if you use the ***NAVBAR*** tag), or on the in-context link if it's a TIER 2 page. As long as the links are relative-referenced, the next page will replace the current preview in that same window or tab.
You can also view another page by changing the file name in the browser's address bar.
If you have more than one SBI! site, you can preview pages from that site by clicking on the Back button until you return to the QPI! page with the large file selector button. Click on the button again to choose a file from the second site's local folder.
If you close the preview window in error, instead of clicking on the Back button, you will need to start a new QPI! session. Return to Site Central and click on the Quick Preview It! button in the WebFTP section. If you selected Allow previously, you will not have to allow the applet to run again, as the same browser session is still running.
Editing and Previewing HTML Files
If you don't like what you see in the preview, edit the file in your HTML editor and save it. Then refresh the QPI! preview to see the latest changes (you do not need to start over again, reselecting the file).
Once you're satisfied that the page is exactly how you want it, go to Upload Your Own HTML or Quick Upload It! and upload the file.
If you uploaded the file previously, and have added new images or other files, you will need to use Upload Your Own HTML. Otherwise, use Quick Upload It!.