WixTips.com help thread.

[TomFTW]

THREAD MAP

Need help fast?: www.wixtips.com

Tutorials
1:Make a drop-down menu!
2:Create a pop-up welcome page!
3:Create a Password Protected Site/Page
4:Connect you're GoDaddy.com Domain

F.A.Q

1:AS2 to AS3
2:I still have ad's on my premium site?
3:Site is really small?
4:Long loading time for site?
5:Connect a Domain to your Wix?
6:Re-name my site?
7:Transfer site to different account?

Hey,

I have created a Wix site called WixTips that will basically be a huge reference of problems and their solutions as well as cool tutorials that you can use to make you're site more inviting or professional.

There is also a FAQ section under construction; I found that the Wix FAQ isn't all that informative - and it isn't up to date, so I will create a database of FAQ's on a user-to-user basis to hopefully make it easier for you guys to understand.

An errors section with solutions to the known errors on wix is under construction too!

To check out WixTips go to www.wixtips.com

This is all about making Wix more about the users and targeting what you really need to know (without hording through pages of FAQ).

New!

Enter you're site in the WixTips "Wix of the week" competition and you could get a photo and link to you're site on the homepage of wixtips.com! That's 100% free exposure from a .com domain! just go to our site to enter.

Tom

[TomFTW]

Make you're own pop-up style Welcome Page!

In this tutorial we will design a professional looking welcome page that is clean and crisp.

Overview:

The effect of this tutorial is to create a welcome page that seems to pop-up form you're homepage and dim or 'blur' out you're homepage.

Lets get started, make a replica:

Go to the 'Manage' button - find you're home page and click the 'duplicate' tab that will appear when you hover over the picture.

Ok, we now have our replica of our home page.

That was easy.

Creating the dim/blur:

This is the even easier part - go to:

clip art > shapes > square

a blue square will appear, I recommend usinga different color like black grey or white (whatever goes with you're site)

Now stretch it to cover the entirity of you're home page - yes, even the buttons - cover everything!

Now click the square so it is selected, look to the menu to the bottom of the editor and select:

effects > transparent > change the value to 0.2

You will now notice that you can see you're homepage, but it is dimmed.

A Stylish Message:

To inform your users in the most impressive way possible, do this:

page parts > areas > [a box will open in the bottom left] select the 'iArea' option > an area box will open, go to the color tab at the bottom of the editor > select a color that goes with the theme of you're site.

Don't click and drag you're new area around the page to position it as it will fall behind your dimming square. Instead, use the transform tabs on the corner of the area to manipulate it.

No, i dont know why this happens. It's a bug.

When you have moved the area to the middle (or wherever you want it), It's time to add some content.

Adding Content:

If you want a nice simple message to inform you're users:

text > paragraphs > simple paragraph > insert your message.

Enter Button:

page parts > buttons > choose one that goes with you're theme.

Now position it and adjust the color to suit.

next, select the button:

behaviors > go to page > select you're original home page.

And we're done!

If you would like an example of this tutorial, simply refresh the page (I have used this exact tutorial on the welcome screen for wixtips).

Tutorial Written and created by Tom Rumble
Questions - tom.rumble@yahoo.com

[TomFTW]

Make you're own Drop-down menu with a proper 'environment'

In this tutorial we will create a working drop-down menu from scratch.

Overview:

The effect of this tutorial is to create a fully functional drop down menu using minipages and a bit of outward thinking.

Lets get started:

Get a button or an object:

For a button:
page parts > buttons > pick one.

For a text object:
Text > title > choose font > right click - edit - enter the name of you're button.

Then bring up a minipage:

page parts > mini pages > select the first one.

Repeat this so we have two minipages. Now use the transform tabs to scale down the minipages to their smallest form.

In one of our minipages, we will insert our 'drop-down' buttons or objects, so right-click you're first button or object and select the 'Duplicate Item'. Repeat this until you have the desired amount (in my case, 3).

Now before we insert the new objects into our minipages - we must move the minipages 'page' setting to 2. so click the top of you're minipage (where it says 'Mini page' and click on the right-arrow once.

This makes sure that when the page loads - you don't see the sub menu before you click the main menu.

Now that we have our minipage set to page 2, line up you're 'drop-down' buttons or objects in you're minipage; if they don't fit, scale the minipage so they do.

When you have the 'drop-down' buttons in a minipage - move the minipage directly under you're original button. This will geive us the basic layout for our menu.

Signal Shape:

Leave that for now - we will now put a 'signal' in the other minipage so that the user knows when the drop-down menu has been activated.

clip art > shapes > [whatever shape you like]

Before you place the shape in the minipage - make sure the page is set to 2 up the top of the minipage, just like the other minipage we used.

Then place it in the second minipage and place the minipage next to or under you're original button.

Lets connect the behaviors:

Click on you're original button, right-click, select behaviors - and apply these behaviors:

go to state > select component > select the minipage that contains you're menu buttons > click page 2.

add another;

go to state > select component > select the minipage that contains you're signal object > click page 2.

Now select each menu button you created for the drop down list > give each a link to one of you're pages:

to link an object to a page:

behaviors > go to page > select the page you want to travel to.

On the same object, also give it this behavior:

behaviors > go to state > select component > select the minipage with your sub menus > select page 1 (it won't have anything in it)

We apply this behavior so that when a sub menu is clicked; it folds back up cleanly.

Repeat these two behaviors for each sub menu object you created.

Button Environment:

The 'Button Environment' is used to establish when a user moves their cursor away from you're drop-down menu after they click it - so when the button environment picks up a cursor over it; it subsequently tells our menu to 'fold' back up to its original position. Simple.

This is what will set you're drop-down menu apart from others:

Get you're square:

clip art > shapes > square > scale it to fit closely .

Now set this behaviour:

behaviors > go to state on roll > select component > select the mini page that contains you're sub menus > click page 1

(Remember to play around with the transitions of the minipages! they are important!)

Then set the transparency;

select the square > effects > transparent > set the value to 0.0

Now you will have a beautifully effective and impressive drop down menu to use!

Tutorial Written by Tom Rumble and created by Tom Rumble and SmallPhoto
Questions - tom.rumble@yahoo.com

[TomFTW]

FAQ

Why is my site so small when i publish it and open it in
my browser?

This can be for a range of reasons:

Firstly - Check that when you are publishing you're site, you select
the 'Best Fit' option. This will fix the problem 99 times out of 100.

Secondly - If the first option didn't work, go to the settings tab in
you're editor and make sure that the resolution is big enough.
Play around with the resolution until you find a balance that works
for you.

[TomFTW]

FAQ

Why has Wix not removed all the adverts from my
premium site?

You must make sure that you definitely purchased a 'no ads'
package when you ordered your premium site.

Check the image below if you're not certain:



If you're problem still persists after checking the above image, send
an email to premium@wix.com and the helpful support team will help
you out.

[TomFTW]

FAQ

Why can't use flash games in my Wix site?

The Wix editor only supports the latest Actionscript 3 flash files (.swf)
and unfortunately - most of the flash games and objects you love
are written in Actionscript 2 code.

1. AS2 to AS3 actionscript code conversion - You cannot convert AS2 actionscript code to AS3 actionscript code by any automatic process of importing to flash CS4 (or CS3) and exporting again. AS2 actionscript code has to be re-written to the equivalent new methods and functions of AS3 actionscript code. This can only be done by access to the FLA file of the swf in question, opening it in CS3 or CS4 and manually changing the code to AS3 actionscript code and logic.... which is almost like writting it from the beginning.

If you do not have the FLA of the original AS2 swf then you can try to decompile it with Trillix's Flash Decompiler but be aware of the copyright ownership that will come into play. Decompiling is a hit and miss exercise and this conversion exercise requires very good knowledge of flash and actionscript coding, AS2 and AS3.

2. AS2 to AS3 swf conversion that contains no actionscript code- If the AS2 swf you wish to convert is NOT dependent on any actionscript code inside then the easiest way to convert it to AS3 is to convert the swf to FLV via a converter (there are many available, i use VisualHub on Mac, search for SWF to FLV converter). When you have the FLV, then:-
a) open a new AS3 project in flash CS3 or CS4,
b) select import video and chose the FLV you have created
c) select Deployment option "Embed video as swf and play in timeline"
d) select "Finish"
e) now modify the main project properties... select "Modify > Document" and change the dimensions of the main project to the video (or vice versa). Change the 'Frame rate (FPS) to 25.
f) save file as "your project name".fla
g) select "File" > "Export" > "Export Movie"
a box appears titled "Export Flash Player." These are the default settings, make sure they agree and leave as indicated unless you need to change things like sound quality or stereo and press "OK".
Version: Flash Player 9
Load Order: Bottom Up
ActionScript Version: 3.0
Options Checked: "Compress movie" and "Export hidden layers"
Password: blank
Script Time Limit: 15
JPEG quality: 80
Audio Stream: MP3, 16 kbps, Mono
Audio Event: MP3, 16 kbps, Mono
Playback Security: Access Local Files Only.

h) you should now have an AS3 compatible swf that you can upload and place on the Wix stage.

Note1: If you require user interaction to start, stop or pause your new swf, you will need to inject some AS3 actionscript of your own to accomplish this as the default swf will just automatically play and the video loop once you have placed it on the Wix stage.


Note2: You cannot currently use any XML files or dependencies on Skin controls in your swf's for Wix, they cannot be read (Crossdomain issues prevail). Doing so will result in a blank swf on the Wix stage when you view it.

Tutorial written and created by Doymarn.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Download Flash CS4 Trial Here:here

[TomFTW]

FAQ

Why can't I change my sites 'loading bar'?

The current loading bar for Wix premium users is an irritating
blue bar that doesn't actually give any information as to the pages
loading status; it is simply an animation that is set to go until the
page loads.

I am not a fan of this limitation, as we are stuck with the blue color
(doesn't suit 90% of sites) and we are stuck with a pre-loader that
doesn't give our users any feedback as to the status of the load.

Wix has said in it's forums that more 'neutral' colors such as grey
and white will be implied in future updates for us to select.

So don't worry too much, your problem should be fixed in the next
few months.

Note: if you wondering why you have the 'Welcome' signage and
the Wix logo on you're loading bar - that is because you have not
upgraded to premium.

[TomFTW]

FAQ

Why is my site taking so long to load? What can i do to
fix it or make people wait?

A simple fix to this problem is to create what is called a 'welcome
screen'.

A welcome screen can have a message, a disclaimer, or just a big
ol' welcome to you're site. You can then inform them that the site
takes some time to load and you can create an 'enter' button.

The trick behind this is that the Wix loader will load your welcome
screen before it loads any of you're actual site, therefore cutting
the time a user have to sit and wait uninformed.

Another way to make you're site flow smoother and load quicker
is to resize your images to the resolution you will be using them at
with an image editor such as gimp or photoshop.

Also, try not to use extremely large images types for you're sites
main imagery. If you can, convert all you're sites imagery to GIF
or JPEG and set their DPI to a low number like 72.

[TomFTW]

FAQ

How do i change my wix URL (www.wix.com/xxxx/xxxx)
to a proper web address?

To change you're URL (www.wix.com/xxxx/xxxx) to a proper URL
such as www.example.com or .org you must:

Purchase a premium package from Wix by clicking the little 'upgrade'
tab on the site you would like to update in the 'My Account' section
of Wix.com

Or, you could purchase a domain name from another online host
such as GoDaddy.com or NetRegistry.com and follow these steps to
connect it to you're site!

[TomFTW]

FAQ

Can I use other flash templates that i can find online in
the Wix editor?

No, you can upload them as uneditable .swf files but you will not
be able to edit them in the Wix editor.

The Wix editor is really self contained, so what you make of what it
provides is crucial.

Though, really, would it be that hard to simply imitate the templates
ideas and themes into Wix using the tools provided? If you take some
time and effort you can do anything in Wix - you just have to think
outside of the box sometimes!