[Pro] Rollover button disappears when uploaded

Freeway
1

I’m having a problem with one of the rollover buttons in my main navigation bar.

Though it shows up when I preview the site in both Firefox and Safari, when I upload the site it disappears and a little blue question mark sits in its place. This still works as a button even though the button doesn’t show.

I should probably also mention that this only happens on the home page. As soon as you navigate away from the home page the button appears and is fully functional.

I have tried everything, including recreating the button from scratch, but nothing has worked and it still isn’t showing on the home page.

My URL is http://www.jennylucascopywriting.co.uk/
The button is the ‘About’ button, which is second from the left under the main homepage picture.

I’d really appreciate any help.

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2

What method are you using to upload your site? Are you using Freeway’s
built-in (S)FTP system, or a third-party FTP application? Usually this
sort of problem arises from a missing image. At the moment, the page
is looking for item2.gif and item2a.gif, neither of which are in the
Resources folder where the page is seeking them. When you use Freeway
for the upload, this is virtually impossible to get wrong, because it
“knows” what the current state of the site needs, and provides it.

Walter

On Aug 29, 2011, at 7:58 AM, Jenny wrote:

I’m having a problem with one of the rollover buttons in my main
navigation bar.

Though it shows up when I preview the site in both Firefox and
Safari, when I upload the site it disappears and a little blue
question mark sits in its place. This still works as a button even
though the button doesn’t show.

I should probably also mention that this only happens on the home
page. As soon as you navigate away from the home page the button
appears and is fully functional.

I have tried everything, including recreating the button from
scratch, but nothing has worked and it still isn’t showing on the
home page.

My URL is http://www.jennylucascopywriting.co.uk/
The button is the ‘About’ button, which is second from the left
under the main homepage picture.

I’d really appreciate any help.

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3

Thanks for getting back to me, Walter.

Yes, I’m using Freeway’s built-in FTP uploading system.

I have just checked the Resources folder in my site folder and both item2.gif and item2a.gif, which represent the about button in its two forms, are listed with all the other buttons.

I just shut down and reopened Freeway then tried again to upload the site, but the problem is still there.

Jenny

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4

Time for more stern measures. Using the Finder, locate the Site Folder
on your Mac where you’re publishing this site. Select all, and drag
the contents to the Trash. Empty the trash. Back in Freeway, use the
Publish command, then Upload. See if that sorts it out.

Walter

On Aug 29, 2011, at 8:43 AM, Jenny wrote:

Thanks for getting back to me, Walter.

Yes, I’m using Freeway’s built-in FTP uploading system.

I have just checked the Resources folder in my site folder and both
item2.gif and item2a.gif, which represent the about button in its
two forms, are listed with all the other buttons.

I just shut down and reopened Freeway then tried again to upload the
site, but the problem is still there.

Jenny

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5

Okay, I have just tried that. The problem is still occurring, but there has been a development.

Now when I go into the Resources folder in the Site Folder only item2 (the hover version) is showing – item2a (the normal button) has disappeared.

I have also noticed two other files in that folder: freela2 and freela2a, which, when viewed in preview, are the two stages of the ‘about’ button that is missing.

This all seems strange to me, as when I created the buttons originally I changed the name of each button, from item1 etc. to the same text I put on the button. For example the home button was home /home1.

Jenny

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6

What rollover method are you following? Are your elements layered, or
inline images? Did you group them and apply the Rollover to the group,
or did you apply the Action to the top image in the stack and call it
done?

There’s three (or more) ways to do this, and they each have their own
wrinkles.

  1. Draw a layered graphic box, make your first button. Duplicate it in
    place (as a separate layer) and modify it to make your over state.
    Drag a selection rectangle around one corner of the two stacked
    images, group them. Apply the Rollover Action to the group, and make
    your selections in the Images tab of the Actions palette.

  2. Draw a non-layered graphic box (blue edges), make your first
    button. Duplicate it in place, modify it to make your over state. Make
    sure the duplicate does NOT have Combine Images checked. Apply the
    Rollover Action to the top image, make your selections in the Images
    tab of the Actions palette.

  3. Make and export two images, normal and over as stand-alone images
    in your Media folder or elsewhere you can find them later. Draw an
    HTML box and import your first image. Resize the box so that it is the
    precise size of the image it contains. Apply the Rollover Action, and
    switch to the Parameters tab. Use the image selector in the Actions
    palette to locate your Over state version of the image.

As you can see, each of these is slightly different, and each one has
a gotcha or two waiting for you. In layers, it’s the absolute need to
group the layers before you make your rollover, and to ensure that
none of the layers are nested inside another layer. In the table-based
layout, it’s the requirement that you do not group the images, and
that you do not allow the images to merge. In the manual method
(critically useful for inline images or table cell images), it’s the
need to export both “states” of the image first, and treat them as
“pass-through” images.

Walter

On Aug 29, 2011, at 9:22 AM, Jenny wrote:

Okay, I have just tried that. The problem is still occurring, but
there has been a development.

Now when I go into the Resources folder in the Site Folder only
item2 (the hover version) is showing – item2a (the normal button)
has disappeared.

I have also noticed two other files in that folder: freela2 and
freela2a, which, when viewed in preview, are the two stages of the
‘about’ button that is missing.

This all seems strange to me, as when I created the buttons
originally I changed the name of each button, from item1 etc. to the
same text I put on the button. For example the home button was home /
home1.

Jenny

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7

I used the process described in the manual. I created two separate graphics - one for each state of the rollover button. I then aligned them, grouped them and selected Item/Action/Rollover. Finally I opened the Window/Action pane and turned the layers on/off for each state.

The buttons are all separate entities and are not in a table, or linked to or merged with other layers on the page.

I hope this helps. Do you think a different method of creating the buttons might be more suitable for the menu bar I have?

Jenny

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8

Thanks for your help, Walter.

Unfortunately I don’t have any more time to spend on this today.

As an interim measure I have solved the problem by using a simple graphics bar with the links written on it. Not so impressive, I know, but at least it works now.

Thanks again.

Jenny

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9

I am having the same problem you described Jenny. What can possibly cause this? I did everything you did in creating the rollovers in the first place. I have recreated them 4x over for one menu item and still the roll-over shows a missing gif. This should be a very simple task! Thanks for any help…

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10

I am having the same problem you described Jenny.

Can you post a link to an online example Dianna - I am assuming that you are using FW to upload?

Once we can see what you are trying to achieve we might be able to sort it or offer another method.

David

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11

I deleted the button from the resource folder (there were several with a, b, c, etc after it), recreated it, GROUPED it, put it in the menu bar, uploaded, and now it’s fine. Yes, I use FW to upload. Thanks for offering help…

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12

I deleted the button from the resource folder (there were several with a, b, c, etc after it)

If you have created several of these buttons then FW will create files with a, b, c etc. to differentiate them.

Another way of doing the same thing is to use Ctrl+File>Publish Everything - this will rebuild all your html pages and recreate all your graphics.

The chances are that if you look in the Resources folder you will still find item1, item1a, item1b etc. - this is normal.

D

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