Create Web Pages with Legacy Genealogu Software

Getting Started

To start using the Legacy Web Creation pages go to Internet>Create Web Pages. The above screen-shot shows what the first page you will see looks like. We notice that on the right it is set for Pedigree Pages and we shall leave it at that for most of this blog. On the left are names which will be given to the folders which Legacy will create. Below that some headings and your name and contact address.

On the bottom right are Load and Save buttons which are for loading/saving the settings. As we are using the defaults there is no need to touch these. Instead simply click the big "Create Web Pages" button at the top right et voila! Your web pages. You will be asked if you want to view them - so why not?

My web pages (and I hope that you have had a look!) are in the Pedigree style, but without changing anything else use the radio buttons on the right to select each of the different formats and see which you prefer. Choose to overwrite the previous pages so as not to clutter your machine up!

The HTML Files

Providing you used the defaults when installing Legacy, the html files are stored in the C:\Legacy\Web\ folder. If you right click on one and open with notepad you will see the html which has been created. You can also view anybody else's as well. When you view a web site in your browser click View>Source and you will see their coding (the actual placing and name of this button varies between browsers: in IE7 it's also under the Page icon). If it looks incomprehensible at present don't worry we'll go through that in later blogs.

Notice also that in the Pedigree style the files are named by their RIN ie. 1.htm, 2.htm... etc. When one has a large number of files this is a very good reason for going to Options>Customise>Data Defaults on the main screens and unchecking "Reuse abandoned RINs".

In this blog, I will now look at two other screens in the web creation section:

1. Title Page

This is an easy page to set up! Simply choose the picture which you wish to see on your opening page using the "Select" button and enter your caption underneath. This picture should not be much larger than thumbnail size (see my "Contents" page for an idea of the size).

2. Miscellaneous

At the top right is a box which says "Index". This should only be changed when familiar with the workings of web sites (if ever!). Below are two radio buttons for "htm" and "html". There is effectively no difference between them, so select the one you prefer and then stick with it!

Assuming this will be your first web site, the two lower boxes should be checked and brief details entered as above - if you cannot read them the top says "Ancestors of Ron Ferguson" whilst the lower "Genealogy, Ancestors, Family, Legacy Family Tree". These make no difference to your site but tell web search engines what it is about.

Good Practice

• Do not use spaces in file names as some servers will replace them and your files will not display; use a dash or underline instead.
• Adopt a consistent method of naming files If you look at the source code for this page you will see that the above picture is named WebMisc.png, this is my system but others vary.
• Picture extensions: File sizes need to be small so, avoid using .bmp as they are too big; .gif are small, retain transparency but are "lossy" ie. likely to lose definition if constantly altered; .png small, not really "lossy" and retain transparency; .jpeg are larger, do not retain transparency and are "lossy" (but better than .gif). Decide now whether you are going to use uppercase or lowercase for extensions and, again, stick with it or your files may not be recognised.
• Picture sizes: Pictures should be kept as small as possible - the ones above have a width of 340 pixels and I tend not to go above 400px for the longest side. It should be remembered that in your program you can reduce the size by setting it's size in the coding, but it should never be increased, else definition will be lost.
• Index Page: When first going to a site the browser looks for the "Index" or "Home" file. Obviously, therefore, You may only have one in any given folder.
• It's a good idea to check how your site looks in various browsers. Even if your coding is W3C compliant it may present differently. On finishing this page I noticed that the css for the scrolling header did not present properly in Netscape, Firefox and Opera but was fine with IE7.

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