Manipulating ScrapBook Images

How To Manipulate ScrapBook Images

Check-out my scrapbook image that I centered a title on, made it a clickable link, wrapped text around it, and named a link to it so that I can directly access it. Go to this image on my image page and click the image link:

http://community-2.webtv.net/jaxred/ImagesPage5/index.html#mesngr

     OK, so that's no big deal. It only works on my images page. The caption and link doesn't go with the image when I use it somewhere else. I was just trying to center image titles on pages, instead of having the titles center over the images; and making images into links on my published image page, by using the "Add picture" text boxes. I followed this procedure:

     (1) Publish a scrapbook image. Click on the image in your PageBuilder Basic Editor.

    (2) Move the image up or down to get it aligned on the side you want it.

     (3) In the picture "Title" text box, enter: </h3><a name="mesngr"></a><center><b>Hot Messenger by Online Direct</b> <a href="http://www.hotmessenger.com/" nocolor>. Note: This makes the image a "clickable" link (I close the <a> tag in the "caption text box," below the image). If you want your title, image, and caption in the link, put it inside the <a> tag. The <center> code before the title centers the title on the page over the image and caption. The image attribute, "align=left," is added to the image "src" code by the PageBuilder software, which causes the text to wrap around the image on the right. I moved the image up one item so the caption would be on the right. If I want the text to wrap left, I would move it down one item so the caption is on the left. Remember: this is our only choices; right or left aligned images, when we use the "Add a picture" option. There is an exception I noted below. I had to use the closing </h3> tag to cut-off the bolding of the entire image and text. Note: I used bold (<b>) tags around title because I closed the <h3> tag and still wanted the title bolded.

     (3) In the "Type a caption" text box, type: </a><font size="3">Sign-up for.......(my caption here).......<font></center><hr size="15" />. Notice how I got clearance between the text and image, because the highlight box covered the text. Because I could not put the "hspace" attribute in the scrapbook image code (inaccessible image files in our scrapbooks), I had to add non-breaking-spaces ( ) before the words on the right side of the image; ie, before the words: Sign-up, compatable, and, favorites, and surveys. That gave me some space so the highlight box wouldn't cover the text on the right side of the image.

Hey, I used the "Add a header" text box to show how to format an image and large text. Why? .... you say; hey, that's like using the large "Add text" box, why bother? It's just something to try to learn new features for PageBuilder. Hey, that's the only way to learn, folks! Don't be afraid to try anything with the PageBuilder program! You cannot "hurt" the PageBuilder software by anything you do (except from hacking accounts, and I'm not telling how! ..... No, just kidding, I don't have a "clue" about "hacking" PageBuilder). All the harm you can do is ocassionally lose some hard work you do on a webpage, by forgetting to click "Done," or accidentally hitting that destructive "Back" key, which will "back" you out of that long text you just wrote! Yeah, I do it a lot when trying to "scroll" up.

That's all there is for now, folks! ...... OK, I know this isn't any great earth-shattering "breakthrough;" but, I'm stilI learning PagBuilder and really haven't played with images much. I haven't seen any other PageBuilder image manipulation like this posted by others (yeah, it's probably a case of "where have I been, right?").

     Here's some tips I posted in the PageBuilder NG's about using image HTML code in the Basic Editor "Add text" box. This information is in response to comments that "hard coded," absolute or relative URL, images do not appear in the Basic Editor screen – a function that is irritating, because you have to take additional time to "Preview" to see your images. This is just for your information, in case you've wondered about this; but, haven't asked about it.

     The images that use "hard code" URL's (absolute or relative) don't appear in your Basic Editor screen because JavaScript manipulation does not occur until you "Preview" or click on your "Published" page from the "Change your webpage" screen.

     The images that do appear in your "Basic Editor" screen are not "hard coded" (src) images, but are inaccessible image files (several pages of god-awful looking code – letters and numbers for each image) that you click-on from your "scrapbookFiles" and which are manipulated ("pasted," you could say) by JavaScript into your Basic Editor screen. It's JavaScript, folks; because the "scrapbookFiles" name follows the JavaScript "capitalization" syntax (oh, ... you knew that already; so what's new with most of my tutorials – always a little "short" with "old" info – but, I'm learning folks, just stay tuned!). Your scrapbook images always appear in your Basic Editor screen, while "hard coded" images will only show a small, square box ("depression" in the background) where the image will be when "Preview(ed)" or "Publish(ed)."

     ScrapBook file images are always present to be pasted into your Basic Editor screen, while the "hard coded" (<img src=" ">) images are not present – so all you get is the HTML code in your Basic Editor screen, which is invisible (HTML is embeded in the document) in your Basic Editor screen. Only when you "Preview" and/or "Publish" does your "hard coded" images appear.

     These comments reminds me of a "pet peeve" I have with PageBuilder "Preview." If you click (test) a link in "Preview" and then return with the "Back" key; you don't return to the "Preview" page, you return to the Index/Options screen for that webpage, and have to click "Preview" again to get back to the link you tested. It's irritating as hell! I'm sure you all notice that! And also, you can't use the "Recent" panel because it doesn't show the "Preview" page you are on, it only shows the Index page that you will go back to, where you have to click again to get back to "Preview."

     I get so damned impatient and irritated waiting for long PageBuilder "rewrite" and "Preview" screens to appear! PageBuilder editing "screens" does not "snap-in" any where nearly as fast as, say: Geocities Advanced Editing "switches" between "rewrite," "preview," and "save" screens! Yeah, I know what many of you are thinking: add text in short groups of "specific subject" paragraphs so it won't take so long to "rewrite" a text screen! And further more, if you add text in short groups; you can move the groups of text "up or down," easily edit the groups of text, and add other text between each group of text paragraphs. Some of my webpages are so, ... so long; and I have to open up large text boxes to edit my text. Thank God, not many PageBuilder "helpers" use my long, rambling, redundant style of writing. Yeah, you guessed it, folks – my "friends" say I talk to much, too! Do real friends say that sort of thing to each other? Yeah, absolutely! That's why they're my friends – "tell it like it is," folks!

     Last Christmas when I built a "Merry Christmas" slideshow following Beth's instructions, I "stumbled" on to a way to defeat the image "right-or-left-only" alignment noted above. I put a <center> tag around my image title box and image caption box, with the left-aligned image between, on the individual webpages containing my slide photos (gifs from Draac's). When I looked at each individual photo webpage, the titles and captions were centered; but the images were left-aligned (the default for a single image on a webpage). I used a <frameset> page as my slideshow home page, with my first webpage to load into the top <frame> in my <frameset> page, as beth explained. When I started my slideshow, I discovered that the left-aligned images on the individual webpages became "centered" with the titles and captions. I discovered that the <center> tag I put around the title and caption text boxes, with the left-aligned images between, did not affect the image positioning JavaScript in my PageBuilder Basic Editor screen; but, were carried through to the "initial" and "refreshed" <frame>'s on the slideshow home page (<frameset>) to center the images! Amazing! Chew on that, folks! And try it yourselves with your next slideshow! In summary: put <center> tags around your photo "title" in the title text box. Put a beginning <center> tag after the title, and an ending </center> tag first in the "caption" text box – this encloses the image within center tags that is embeded in the webpage, and causes the image to be centered when that webpage is "refreshed" to the "photo" <frame> on your <frameset> page. Hey folks, Beth and several other PageBuilder experts probably already know this, I just haven't got the word yet, that it's a known fact. Darn, I'll never catchup with all the "real" PageBuilder gurus; but anyway, I'm trying to learn new things about PageBuilder my own slow, thick-skulled, simplistic way.

     I published another webpage that I changed the size of the images to 50% width and center aligned them all. The purpose of that "Big Images" webpage is to illustrate image use basics. After you publish scrapbook images on a webpage; you can "manipulate" them any way you like, such as: link to your own and other's images, embed images in your other webpages, and resize or reshape your images using image tag attributes. I changed the width and height several times, squashing and stretching the images. I resized the images using image tag attributes. One image, Beth's mailbox "gif," lost a lots of detail when I enlarged it; so it would have to be taken to an online "imager," or your friends' computers, to enlarge. I also wrapped text around both sides of one image. I suggest procedures to make image pages load faster. I also published a webpage on using relative URL's for images.

     Please post any other information on this subject that you all have learned. I know we can make the PageBuilder scrapbook image options much better – so get on it, folks. We can have a lots of fun with scrapbook image manupulation!

Also, the new Windows® Media Objects are really exciting. All the Microsoft® objects are in the WebTV NT Server software and we just need to learn how to access these objects with our WebTV terminals, and from our webpages. We can use them all on other website providers websites using computers with MSIE browsers and website editing software like MS Frontpage 2000©, or Macromedia Dreamweaver® 3. My friend Jerry, aka JavaScript guru WbWzrd (WbWzrd@webtv.net), and others will try to discover what objects we can access and use with our WebTV boxes and PageBuilder webpages – so stay tuned, folks! If anyone has aditional informaton on Windows Media Objects for PageBuilder webpages, please email Jerry, he's the real Wizard on this subject.

JaxRed