Overview

The File menu includes commands related to creating, opening, and saving Site Definition (SDF) files; making sites; and exiting the program.

New... (Ctl+N)

Closes the current SDF file, if any, and opens a standard file dialog to create a new SDF file.

Open... (Ctl+O)

Closes the current SDF file, if any, and opens a standard file dialog to open an existing SDF file.

Close

Closes the current SDF file.

Save (Ctl+S)

Saves the current SDF file.

Save As...

Saves a copy of the current SDF file under a new name, copies the contents of the Input (-i) folder, and creates a new Output (-o) folder.

Use the Save As... command with caution. If you save over an existing SDF file, Second Site will delete the contents of the existing Input (-i) and Output (-o) folders.

Make Site (Ctl+M)

Makes the site according to the current setting of the properties and stores the resulting files in the Output (-o) folder.

You can stop Second Site in the middle of making a site by pressing the Escape key ([Esc]). This is useful if you have a large site and you want to stop the process to make a change to one of the options.

Shortcut

You can direct Second Site to make Custom Pages, Charts, and Custom Indexes only by pressing the shift key while selecting the Make Site command from the File menu or while clicking the Make Site button on the toolbar. This feature is intended as a shortcut for users who are testing those pages and do not want to wait for all the person pages, etc., to be created. When you use this feature, any links to person pages, name index pages, source pages, etc., will still be created but they will not work properly. You should not publish a site that is made using this feature.

Make Styles (F2)

Updates the stylesheets associated with the site and stores the resulting CSS files in the Output (-o) folder. Handy for when you only change Stylesheet properties or Layouts; no need to rebuild the entire site.

Browse Site (Ctl+B)

Opens the main page of the site in the default web browser.

Remove Unused Properties

During the normal use of Second Site, property values are added to the SDF file. In some cases, properties become obsolete because of changes you make. For example, when you change Styles.Theme, property values associated with the old Theme are retained in the SDF file. If you do not intend to switch back to that Theme, the property values take up space in the SDF file for no reason. The Remove Unused Properties command removes those properties.

After executing the command, the status bar indicates how many properties were removed and how many bytes of storage they were using. When you save the SDF file, the file will be smaller by that amount.

Preferences

Font...

Sets the font used by the main window of Second Site. The font preference is intended to help people with vision challenges increase the size of the text. Please note that a large value for the font size and a narrow window will make some of the property names wrap to two lines, and the name may be illegible. The only solution is to make the font smaller or the window wider, or both.

The Font setting does not affect the HTML pages written by Second Site. Use the font properties in the Stylesheets section to change those fonts.

Set User Data Folder...

Sets the User Data Folder (UDF) preference. This command is only available when there is no SDF file open. See the User Data Folder page for an explanation of the User Data Folder.

Some users have reported a program crash when using the [...] button in the Set User Data Folder window. I have been unable to resolve this issue. You can key or paste the folder path into the textbox if the crash prevents the use of the [...] button.

Source Category...

Note This preference is for TMG Version 4 users only.

Sets the Source Category preference for TMG v4 datasets. Second Site cannot determine whether the Source Categories in TMG version 4 datasets are based upon Mills, Lackey, or Custom categories; the user must set a preference to indicate which system is in use. Second Site can determine the Source Category in use for TMG version 5+ datasets.

Choose the source category that matches the TMG version 4 preference set on the General tab of TMG's Preferences window.

Set Default Editor...

Sets the default editor for text properties where blocks of HTML content are allowed. The initial value is "HTML Editor", but you may choose "Text Editor" if you prefer to edit HTML tags manually.

  • If you choose "HTML Editor", then the [F7] key will open the HTML Editor and the Shift-F7 key will open the Text Editor.
  • If you choose "Text Editor", then the [F7] key will open the Text Editor and the Shift-F7 key will open the HTML Editor.

The [F7] key will always open the Text Editor for text properties that do not allow blocks of HTML content.

User Item List...

Sets the initial state of the User Item list when you open the User Items section. If set to "Expand", which is the default, all the User Items will be visible when you select the User Item section from the section list. If set to "Collapse", only the top-level User Items will be visible. You can always open and close User Items by clicking the plus and minus buttons in the User Item list.

Most users should leave this option set to "Expand". Users with many User Items may prefer to set it to "Collapse".

Unregister...

This command removes your registration information. Do not use it unless directed to do so by the technical support team for Second Site.

Exit

Closes the current SDF file, if any, and exits the program.

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