Second Site News #001

Welcome to the premier edition of Second Site News!

Second Site News is a new newsletter designed to inform customers of important announcements about Second Site. As is the case with this issue, when a new version of Second Site is available, you can read about it here first.

The Second Site mailing list is still the best way for users to share information and learn how to get the most out of the program, and I will continue to announce new versions there and on TMG-L. For people who are not subscribed to one of those mailing lists, however, this is a good way to stay informed.

Note I will not share your e-mail address with anyone, nor will I send you e-mail via this list about any other topic besides Second Site. I do not want to add to the unwanted e-mail in your inbox. If you do not want to receive any further editions of this newsletter, please send a request to me and I will remove you from the list immediately. See the bottom of the page for details.

Second Site Version 1.0 Build 28 Released

The latest release of Second Site has the following new features:

• Support for making "AutoRun" CDs
• Support for embedded citations in event memos
• New "Main Page Content" property
• and other minor enhancements and bug fixes

All existing customers can download this free upgrade here. If you are a registered Second Site user and the About Second Site window (Help > About command) does not show the same version number and build number as above, I recommend that you download this new version and install it. You will not lose any SDF files or sites you have already made.

If you uninstall and reinstall, which is recommended, you will have to enter your registration information again. Make sure you have that information on hand before you uninstall.

More about the new features

• Second Site now includes a new property, Add AutoRun Files. AutoRun is the ability to open a particular application or document when a CD is inserted into a CD-ROM drive. When Add AutoRun Files is checked, Second Site will add files to the output directory to support AutoRun. If you copy that site to a CD, the main page of the site will open when the CD is inserted into a CD-ROM drive.

  When you use AutoRun, people who use your CD won't have to find the main page of the site and launch it; it's automatic.

• Second Site now supports embedded citations. If you use embedded citations, you know how useful they can be; they allow you to place citations anywhere in the event memo. Read more about embedded citations in the TMG Help Files.
• The Pages.Site.Main Page Content property is a new text property that is only used on the main page of the site. It can be used for a more lengthy description of the site, or for whatever content you want only on the main page. Unlike other text properties, you may include script statements in the definition of the Main Page Content property. Click here for an example.

Other enhancements and fixes

• Added support for the "RPAR:Rolename" variable
• For TMG v5 datasets, added the name of the current dataset after the name of the current project below the "Set Database..." button in the Data.Database section
• Added the class name to the display of the styles on the Stylesheet pages to help users who want to use the classes in other HTML files that they create.
• Fixed a bug where "At" and other variable prefix words were added in front of source statement variables inappropriately.
• Fixed a bug where the entire memo was excluded if the memo contained subfields and the first subfield was excluded.
• Fixed a bug where all non-primary names were excluded after any excluded name while loading the names for a particular person.
• Fixed a bug where the Database Memo was not displayed properly for TMG v5 datasets.

The last word on changes and additions is the Second Site Change Log. Please be aware that you might receive this newsletter before the online version of the Change Log is updated.

Second Site as a QC Tool

I designed Second Site to create a web site from a TMG dataset. I will use Second Site to create a web site that I can distribute on CDs to members of my family, and I will also publish (eventually!) a subset of my dataset on the web. One or both of those ways was how I imagined everyone would use it. It turns out I am shortsighted, and there is another good use for Second Site: quality control.

I reviewed web sites created from my TMG dataset many times during the development of Second Site. I noticed that I was finding scores of little issues with data consistency, custom sentences, punctuation, and even relationship errors and other significant problems.

It turns out that Second Site output is ideal for performing a broad review of a TMG dataset!

Second Site's person page entries are close approximations of TMG's individual narrative report, which many people use to review the narrative output for a single individual. Second Site will create a web site full of individual narratives, and do it quickly. The option to include custom flags and the reference field provide you with a comprehensive view of an individual, and the links between people make it easy to move from person to person.

Second Site's person entry format includes a children section, and the Add Parent Sentence property gets mom and dad involved, so the basic relationships are covered. The Pedigree link provides rapid access to both parents and grandparents.

Each person entry includes a citation section, and that means it's easy to see all the sources associated with a particular person. The short footnote format for the citations keeps the clutter down, and puts the focus on the citation details. If you want to review the source in more detail, it's a click away! Is the source linked to an exhibit? Second Site's flexible exhibit handling means that source exhibits are as convenient as the source sentences. And if the source is a web site, it's a clickable link.

While reviewing the information—it's all there under your fingertips—you can open the dataset in TMG. If you see a problem, correct it, and go back to browsing.

Second Site is a great QC tool for TMG datasets, and you don't have to take my word from it. Darrell Martin, one of the beta testers for Second Site, decided to change his e-mail tag line to "It's my data that's in beta!" shortly after he began testing Second Site. Other beta testers expressed the same sentiments.

In the next edition, whenever that is <g>, I'll write about other uses for Second Site. Stay tuned.

Example Sites Wanted

If you are proud of the web site you have created with Second Site, and you have published it on the web, please send me the URL. I'll include it in the Example Sites page.

If your site is destined to remain on CD only, and if you have an extra copy or two, send one my way. I'm interested in all Second Sites, public and private!

Downloads

Second Site is available via download only. See the Downloads page.

Purchases

For purchasing information, see the Purchases page.