2ndsite.ini File

The following information is intended for advanced users.

The 2ndsite.ini file allows advanced users to make modifications to parameters that are not available through the Second Site user interface. Most users should ignore these parameters.

Do not edit the 2ndsite.ini file which is stored in the program folder. To change preference settings stored in the 2ndsite.ini file, set the User Data Folder preference via the File > Preferences > User Data Folder... command and then create a 2ndsite.ini file in that folder. The customized 2ndsite.ini file should only contain the sections and values you want to change.

Second Site also uses INI files that are stored in the Defaults folder. See the description of the Defaults Folder for more details.

[BrowserImageTypeChoices]

BrowserImageType1 through BrowserImageTypeNN define the external image exhibit file types that Second Site will allow to be embedded on an HTML page via the <IMG> tag. External exhibits with other file types will always be linked using the <A> tag.

[BrowserTextTypeChoices]

BrowserTextType1 through BrowserTextTypeNN define the external exhibit text file types that Second Site will allow to be embedded on an HTML page. External exhibits with other file types will always be linked using the <A> tag.

BrowserTextTypeChoices replaces LinkedTextTypeChoices, which is no longer used.

[DateFormatChoices]

DateFormat1 through DateFormatNN define the date formats that Second Site will include in the Dates.Person Page Date Format and Dates.Index Page Date Format property menus. See the Dates section.

[External Commands]

The Name1 / Doc1 pair through the NameNN / DocNN pair define commands you can add to the Utilities menu. When a command is selected from the menu, Second Site asks MS Windows to open the indicated document. If the document refers to an executable file, such as a BAT file, the "open" process in MS Windows will run the BAT file or EXE. If the document refers to a URL, MS Windows will pass the URL to the default browser.

If you do not specify the full path to a document, you should put the document in the User Data Folder. If you do specify the full path to the document, you can put the document anywhere.

Here's are some example entries:

[External Commands]
Name1=Run a BAT File
Doc1=abatfile.bat
Name2=Google
Doc2=https://google.com

Given the above, selecting the "Run a BAT File" command in the Utilities menu would run the BAT file named "abatfile.bat". The path is not a complete path, so Second Site would check the User Data Folder to see if the file exists there. If it did, Second Site would construct the path to the file using that folder and then ask MS Windows to open the document. Otherwise, Second Site would let MS Windows try to find the file.

Selecting the "Google" command in the menu would open the given URL in your default browser.

[FileReferences]

HTMLURLPrefix="": Sets the prefix used when Second Site makes a link to one of the site pages. The default value is empty. Use this parameter when creating sites where the Second Site files will be served via a programmatic interface such as CGI, PHP, etc. If you set HTMLURLPrefix to a non-empty string you will also need to customize the template files and will require a web server to view the site locally.
HTMLFileSuffix="htm": Sets the file extension used when Second Site makes an HTML file from a template. The default is "htm". If you change the value of HTMLFileSuffix you will also need to customize the template files and/or scripts.ssi file to fix the links that are defined there.

Note that the values for both the HTMLURLPrefix and HTMLFileSuffix parameters must be quoted. This allows specifying empty strings, as is the case with the default value for HTMLURLPrefix.

FileExtensions="": Sets a list of file extensions that Second Site uses to detect file extensions that are part of filenames. The extensions are separated by the vertical bar character ("|"). See the 2ndsite.ini file for the default value.

[LanguageChoices]

Language1 through LanguageNN define the choices for the Data.Language.Sentence Language pull-down menu.

[MacroTextChoices]

MacroText1 through MacroTextNN define the choices for the Macro menu of the Text Editor window. The values are formatted as follows:

type,name,shortcut-key,text

where

type: Specify either T for text or S for script. Script entries are only included when the property text support Second Site script statements.
name: Specify the name of the command in the Macro menu. Use an ampersand (&) to designate the ALT key character according to Windows conventions.
shortcut-key: Specify the key, if any, that should invoke the command when the control (CTL) key is also pressed.
text: Specify the text to insert. If a vertical bar ("|") is present in the text, the text before the vertical bar is inserted before the selected text or insertion point, and the text after the vertical bar is inserted after the selected text or insertion point.

[Misc]

The [Misc] section includes the following values:

MarkOfTheWeb

Specify the text text that Second Site should include when building the Mark of the Web comment for Microsoft browsers.

[Misc]
MarkOfTheWeb=saved from url=(0016)http://localhost

[Web Resources]

The parameters in the [Web Resources] section define the choices in the "Other Resources" section of the Help menu. The parameters are in sets: each NameN parameter is paired with an HRefN parameter. The NameN parameter defines the text that appears in the menu. The HRefN parameter defines the URL that is fetched when the name is selected from the menu.

When the value of the HRefN parameter begins with "http:" or "mailto:", Second Site opens the document as specified. Otherwise, it assumes that the reference is local to the Second Site program folder.

[WebMapChoices]

The parameters in the [WebMapChoices] section define the choices in the "Mapping Service" sections of the Places section and Edit Place Index window. Each entry in this section determines the name of a linked section. So, for example:

[WebMapChoices]
WebMap1=Bing Maps (USA)

The value "Bing Maps (USA)" indicates that there is a "[Map Bing Maps (USA)]" section:

[Map Bing Maps (USA)]
LinkText=B
TitleText=Bing
Condition=([DC]="USA")
HRefPlace=https://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&style=r&lvl=15&where1=[L2+L3L4+L5]
HRefLatLong=https://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&style=r&lvl=15&cp=[LATDEC]~[LONGDEC]&sp=point.[LATDEC]_[LONGDEC]_[L2+L3L4+L5]

The LinkText value (required) determines the text that is used for Map Links to the indicated mapping service.

The TitleText value (optional) determines the text displayed as a tooltip when a visitor hovers a mouse over the LinkText.

The Condition value (optional) determines which addresses will qualify for links to the indicated mapping service. In this example, only addresses where the [DC] (derived country) field is set to "USA" will qualify for Map Links to this service. Second Site sets the derived country value to its best guess of the country associated with the address. It determines the value based on the value of the country field and other parts of the place record.

The HRefPlace value (required) determines the URL that will be used for Map Links when a LatLong value is not present in the place record. The URL will call a geocoding version of the mapping service passing specific components of the address.

The HRefLatLong value (required) determines the URL that will be used for Map Links when a LatLong value is present in the place record. The URL will call the mapping service passing the LatLong value.

The HRefPlace value and HRefLatLong refer to several variables. The [Lm+Ln+...] variable concatenates place parts together. The L3L4 value is special; Second Site chooses the city (L3) if it is present, or the county (L4) if it is not, for addresses in the USA. For other countries, it includes both values. Some mapping services do more accurate geocoding for US addresses when given a city value alone, rather than a city and county.

CSS Parameters

The remaining sections define choices used with pull-down menus in the Stylesheets Section. Each pull-down menu has its own section, and each entry in the section defines a value in the pull-down menu. The default parameters work well with modern browsers; if you add any values, make sure they are valid choices for the associated CSS parameter.

[BorderStyleChoices]: BorderStyle1 through BorderStyleNN define the choices for any border-style pull-down menus in the Stylesheets section.
[FloatChoices]: Float1 through FloatNN define the choices for any float pull-down menus in the Stylesheets section.
[FontFamilyChoices]: FontFamily1 through FontFamilyNN define the choices for any font-family pull-down menus in the Stylesheets section.
[FontStyleChoices]: FontStyle1 through FontStyleNN define the choices for any font-style pull-down menus in the Stylesheets section.
[FontWeightChoices]: FontWeight1 through FontWeightNN define the choices for any font-weight pull-down menus in the Stylesheets section.
[TextAlignChoices]: TextAlign1 through TextAlignNN define the choices for any text-align pull-down menus in the Stylesheets section.
[TextDecorationChoices]: TextDecoration1 through TextDecorationNN define the choices for any text-decoration pull-down menus in the Stylesheets section.
[VerticalAlignChoices]: VerticalAlign1 through VerticalAlignNN define the choices for any vertical-align pull-down menus in the Stylesheets section.
[WhiteSpaceChoices]: WhiteSpace1 through WhiteSpaceNN define the choices for any white-space pull-down menus in the Stylesheets section.
[WordWrapChoices]: WordWrap1 through WordWrapNN define the choices for any word-wrap pull-down menus in the Stylesheets section.