Nvu User Guide
Nvu User Guide
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Appendices
This Glossary defines terms as used in this document. As far as possible, when terms used also occur in the HTML or CSS specifications, they have the same meanings as in those specifications. In such cases more precise definitions may be obtained there.
| Button | A small picture, or icon, which when clicked results in an action. Nvu buttons are of various shapes. |
| CSS |
Cascading Style Sheets. |
| Declaration | The second part of a style rule. Contains format details of the style. |
| Deprecated | A feature marked as deprecated is one which is considered obsolete, and whose use is discouraged. Generally CSS provides better features. Transitional Document types allow the use of deprecated features. (The ‘Strict’ type does not.) |
| Directory | Equivalent to what Windows calls a ‘folder’ |
| Doctype | Document type Declaration - see appendix 3 |
| DTD | Document type Definition - see appendix 3 |
| Element | A small part of a web page such as a paragraph or an image which can be manipulated by a browser in ways determined by the code associated with the element |
| Extension | The final section of a filename (after the dot) indicating the type of file. |
| FTP | File Transfer Protocol. Used to transfer files to a server. |
| Handle | Symbols, usually small squares, on the edges of sizing boxes which, when clicked, allow the size or position to be dragged. |
| HTML | HyperText Markup Language. The publishing language of the World Wide Web |
| ISP | Internet Service Provider |
| Mozilla | I use the term to refer to a number of similar browsers including Netscape 6 and later, Mozilla and Firefox |
| MSIE | Microsoft Internet Explorer. The browser from Microsoft Corporation. |
| Non-breaking
space |
A space character which, though invisible, acts as a normal character in that a ‘word’ which includes a non-breaking space will not be split to wrap a line. |
| Nvu
|
The open source software package (pronounced N-view / ’envju: /, for a ‘new view’) available at http://www.nvu.com, on which this guide is based. |
| Selector | The first part of a style rule. (May be thought of as the name of the rule.) |
| Sizing box | A box, denoted by small squares, (Handles) which in Nvu appears around some items when clicked. See also ‘Handle’. |
| Strict | see ‘Deprecated’. |
| Tab (window) | Part of many window structures which emulate the tab on a paper filing system designed to give quick access to part of the file. If a tab is clicked a new display will appear within the same window. |
| Tab (key) | The keyboard key intended to emulate the action of the tab key on a typewriter. |
| Tag | A piece of code in a web page associated with an element. Typically each element has a start tag and an end tag. Tags include the element name and are surrounded by angle brackets. E.g. <p> and </p> |
| Upload (ing) | The process of transferring web files from a local computer to the computer which will host them on the web |
| URL | Uniform Resource Locator. The web address of an item |
| W3C | World Wide Web Consortium http://www.w3.org A consortium of the 500 biggest IT corporations who got together to define specifications and recommendations so that languages like HTML or CSS can inter-operate without problems on different platforms, devices, operating systems and media. |
| HTML 4.01 Specification | http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/cover.html |
| CSS2 Specification | http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/ |
| W3C | http://www.w3.org |
| HTML Validator | http://validator.w3.org/ |
| CSS Validator | http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ |
Prior to version 1 Nvu
supported only one Doctype (HTML Transitional).
Now users have a choice, so it is necessary to touch on some aspects of
this slightly esoteric subject.
Doctype abbreviates
‘Document type Declaration’
which tells
a browser which ‘Document type
definition’ (DTD) to
use to interpret a page. The Doctype also includes the URL of a file
containing the DTD details.
The Doctype must appear on the
first line of code for a page.
Note Actually on an XHTML page an XML declaration may precede this but this can result in problems with some browsers. Nvu does not insert this declaration. Files without an XML declaration use UTF-8 character coding.
The Doctypes supported by Nvu
are
HTML Transitional
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
HTML Strict
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
XHTML Transitional
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
XHTML Strict
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
Note For HTML Doctypes when Nvu inserts a document type declaration, it omits the URL This has the undesirable effect of triggering some versions of MSIE into the so called 'quirks mode'.
HTML is the original language
of web pages dating from 1990. The latest
formulation HTML 4.01 appeared 9 years later. XHTML is essentially the
same language so all modern (and not so modern) browsers render pages
in either language. HTML is quite tolerant, and browser responses very
tolerant, of variations from the norm. XHTML is much stricter and
demands close attention to detail and has introduced a number of
(simple) changes to back this up. Although HTML will doubtless be
long-lived XHTML is much more ‘future proof’.
A
brief but useful comparison
of the two languages will be found at
http://www.nypl.org/styleguide/xhtml/guidelines.html
An other comparison intended for any wondering which language to use is at http://www.webstandards.org/learn/askw3c/oct2003.html
Both HTML and XHTML have
Transitional versions which include features
which will eventually be phased out. The Strict versions exclude these.
In fact browser support for CSS is now generally so good that there is
no need to create new files using the Transitional doctype.
Transitional versions
are useful however for supporting existing files.
For HTML the Deprecated
elements and attributes are listed in the Index
of Elements and Index of attributes which appear towards the end of the
specification. (For URL see appendix
2).
For XHTML a useful comparison will be found at http://www.zvon.org/xxl/xhtmlReference/Output/comparison.html
Nvu can create pages using any
of these doctypes. Pages created from
Templates are always generated using Transitional HTML Doctype.
Note
It may be possible to edit a template external to Nvu and change
the doctype so that pages created from it use the corresponding
Doctype. I have not tested this.
HTML pages created will offer,
on saving, the
‘html’ extension, XHTML pages will offer
‘xhtml’ extension.
The choice is however unimportant to both Nvu and browsers and may be
either ‘htm’, ‘html’ or
‘xhtml’, It
is the Doctype which determines the response.
Note
User systems may set up different browsers as the default for
different file types.
Nvu can open and edit pages
with any of these doctypes. The doctype is
not editable but Nvu will not change any doctype encountered.
When creating and editing
documents Nvu will generate code which is
appropriate to the doctype declared using only appropriate elements and
attributes. This means that some features may be disabled or be
inaccessible depending on the type of document encountered. Typically
this may necessitate the use of a CSS style to obtain some effect which
is not accessible using an HTML attribute.
Nvu will not convert from one doctype to another so, if the doctype is not consistent with the code on the page the result will be unreliable.
Beginners may be rubbing sore
heads at this point. For them my
recommendation would be to use Strict HTML. This may sound odd but it
actually increases capability because it triggers browsers to make
better use of CSS styles.
Throughout the guide, unless otherwise stated, I describe the action of Nvu when this doctype is in use.
While browsers will render
pages irrespective of the doctype, detailed
differences in response occur. A useful comparison for a number of
different browsers for all the doctypes listed may be found at
http://hsivonen.iki.fi/doctype/
For Internet Explorer 6 rather
full details are provided at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnie60/html/cssenhancements.asp
Installing Nvu is so straightforward that no explanation has been given. From time to time new versions of the program are made available at no cost from http://www.nvu.com/ and users will wish to keep up to date with changes. Updating is easy but not quite as straightforward as initial installation.
Nvu stores a number of settings in files located in the ‘Profiles’ folder. These include some default settings and details of the sites which you have set up in ‘Site Manager’ and your ‘Publishing Site Settings’. The Nvu team recommend that this folder be deleted prior to installing a new version of Nvu. This means that these settings will be lost and have to be re-entered following the new installation. It is advisable to follow this recommendation.
The Profiles folder is located
at %AppData%\Nvu
(i.e. Something like
c:\Documents and Settings\<login settings>\Application
Data\Nvu).
The procedure for updating Nvu is therefore
Enjoy using the latest version of Nvu.
30-Mar-2006
A3.2 - Note amended
13-Mar-2006
A number of minor corrections throughout
07-Jan-2006
Minor changes 3.6, 3.6.2.1, 3.6.2.4, 6, 3.3.2, 3.4.1.2, 3.6.2.4, 4.1.3.2, 4.1.3.4, 4.2.1.1, 4.2.3,
4.4, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, A3.4
Rewrite
3.6.5 (subject change), 9
Corrections 3.10.7, 4.2.5.3, 4.2.5.4
Revisions
3.10.5, 4.1.3.3, 4.2.1.1, 4.2.1, 4.2.1.2, 4.3.2.4, 4.2.3.1, 4.5
30-Nov-2005
Section 3.7.2 - Rewritten (was completely wrong), Minor addition 3.4.2
30-Jul-2005
Minor corrections - Clarification in 3.7.2, Formatting error section 4.5.2, Wrong figure and associated text Section 7
15-Jul-2005
Based on Nvu 1.0
Section 3.2.1 - Document types -- rewritten.
Section 3.4.2 - Notes reorganised, 2 & 3 added.
Section 3.4.4 - Lists – rewritten
Section 3.4.7 - Special characters – enhanced.
Section 3.4.8 - Spelling – rewritten
Section 3.5.2 - Positioning images -- revised
Minor changes. 3.6.1, 3.6.2.1, 3.16, 9.1.
Warnings no longer applicable deleted – Sections 3.4.4, 3.5.2
06-Jun-2005
Based on Nvu 1.0PR
Using different doctypes
incorporated - mainly section 3.2
Guide uses Strict doctype.
Top menu and linked pages added.
Section 3.10 - Forms - rewritten.
Section 3.13 - Table of Contents - added.
Section 4.2.5 - Style selectors - added.
Section 7 - Templates - largely rewritten.
Appendix 3 - Doctypes - added.
Appendix 4 - Updating Nvu - added.
As a result of above some renumbering has occurred.
Throughout, smaller editorial and styling improvements have been
incorporated.
01-Apr-2005
First version available
directly via nvudev.org.
Translations into French and Japanese commenced.
Section 9.2 on Toolbar Buttons added.
Section 4.6 on Styles Special Cases (Links, Class selectors) added.
17-Mar-2005
Based on Nvu 0.9
Nvu 0.9 new or changed
features: Border Button (section 3.11), email
link (3.7.1.2), <div> element 4.5, set Icon size (9.1),
Table
properties (3.6.2.4), HTML Source view renamed.
Previously omitted items added: Printing (3.3.3), Position grid
(3.10.4), CaScadeS Beginners mode (4.2.3.5), Image sizing using
Property window (3.5.2).
Clarifications or corrections to: Drag and drop (3.3),
Comments
(6), Sizing boxes refer to ‘Handles’, other minor
items.
07-Feb-2005
Based on Nvu 0.81
HTML version unframed.
Optimised for Mozilla-type browsers.
Section 3.6 on tables rewritten.
Section 3.10 Layers (previously Absolute positioning) expanded.
Section 7 Templates corrected and expanded.
Throughout - extensive re-work, minor corrections, clarifications and
expansions.
Warnings differentiated from notes.
The writing style of the guide is being altered progressively but still
incomplete.
25-Jan-2005
Based on Nvu 0.7
First version available in both
HTML and pdf formats
HTML version
based on frames
Footnotes incorporated into main text
Major rewrites Sections 8 (Site Manager), 10 (Publishing)
Additional material Sections 3.4.6-7 (Text), 3.6.2 (Tables), 3.10
(Absolute positioning), 3.14 (HTML Editing).
Minor editorial changes throughout.
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Nvu User Guide - Based on Nvu version 1.0 - Updated 30-March-2006