Web Report Preferences

Browser

Cover Page: Author, Graphic, and Introduction

Cover Page: Contact Information
Files
Footer
Index and Surnames Pages

Media Pages

Search Features

Sources

Web Style

Web Publishing

Web Projects

To specify preferences for reports destined for the web...

  1. Choose Reunion > Preferences.
  2. Click Web.
  3. Click Reports.

A list of options will appear on the left. As items in the list are clicked, relevant buttons and fields will appear to the right of the list.

Browser

The browser is the application that will open when you create reports for the web and when you click a link in this manual (or choose an item in the Help menu) that points to a web page.

To identify your web browser...

  1. Choose Reunion > Preferences.
  2. Click Web.
  3. Click Reports.
  4. Click Browser.
  5. Select your web browser using the Browser button. Some predefined browsers appear in the pop-up menu. If Reunion finds any of these on your hard disk(s), their names will be enabled in the pop-up menu. To specify a browser that is not in the list, choose Other. This will open a window wherein you can navigate and select your browser.

Note: the web browser specified here is not the same as the "default web browser" for your Mac. The "default web browser" handles links in note fields, as explained here.

Cover Page

Here is an example of a cover page for a web report, as it would appear on an iPad...

The cover page of a web report contains several items...

Author, Graphic, and Introduction

To set preferences for the author, graphic image, and the introduction on a cover page for web reports...

  1. Choose Reunion > Preferences.
  2. Click Web.
  3. Click Reports.
  4. Click Cover Page in the list of options.

Author - Enter the author's name (probably your name) into the Author field.

Graphic - Click the Graphic button to select...

Graphic images larger than 680 pixels in width will be scaled to 680 pixels in width.

Introduction - The introduction to your report. You may type an introduction directly into the Intro field (up to 1,000 characters), or you can import a small text file from disk by clicking the Import button. We recommend using an app like TextEdit to create and save multiple introductions as little text files on your hard disk. The Intro field also supports tags, as explained here.

Contact Information

In a web report, the "contact" is the author or person to whom you'd like to direct feedback, additions, suggestions, etc., regarding the report. This information appears on the cover page.

To enter/edit contact data for the cover page of web reports...

  1. Choose Reunion > Preferences.
  2. Click Web.
  3. Click Reports.
  4. Click Contact in the list of options.

Any non-empty contact field will be included on the cover page.

Files in Web Reports

To set preferences for files in web reports...

  1. Choose Reunion > Preferences.
  2. Click Web.
  3. Click Reports.
  4. Click Files in the list of options.

Flatten Web Output
Normally, a web report or web project created by Reunion will be comprised of a folder that contains other folders (or subdirectories). Most ISPs (Internet Service Providers) have no problem handling subdirectories; however, there are a few that require all files to reside within a single folder (in the same root directory). If your ISP does not allow subdirectories or nested folders, you can enable the Flatten web output button to "flatten" a web report. I.e., Reunion will build a single folder that contains all of the files in a web report or web project.

File Name Case
Some ISPs require that HTML file and folder names are all UPPERCASE. Some require all lowercase names.

Name of Contents/Cover Page
This option is for ISPs who require that a "home" page have a particular name.

You can request a prompt for the name of the contents page when creating a web report, or choose a default of Index.html or Default.html, or let Reunion create the name, based on the project type.

Text Encoding
This option is handy if you are uploading data to a web server that doesn't handle Unicode. For example, if you upload your web report to your server and then view it in your browser and notice some extended characters appear improperly, you may need to change the text encoding for better compatibility with your server.

This choice only alters the character set used to create web output. It has no impact on the data that is in your family file now or the entry of new data.

Rootsweb Note: Some users report that changing the text encoding to ISO 8859-1 provides better compatibility with Rootsweb.

Footers in Web Reports

To set preferences for footers in web reports...

  1. Choose Reunion > Preferences.
  2. Click Web.
  3. Click Reports.
  4. Click Footer in the list of options.

At the bottom of web pages in a report, there are two user-defined blocks of text that appear: creation date and footer.

The Text Style and Text Color buttons apply to selected text in either field.

Tags in Web Fields

To make the contents of the footer, creation date, and introduction more interesting and dynamic, you may place "tags" in the fields. The table below lists all the supported tags, their syntax, and a description of each tag.

For example, you may insert the [date] tag in the text string like this: Created [date] by Leroy Brown.

tag/syntax
description
[date]
Today's date, in the format specified in Reunion's Date Preferences.
[dateFormat=...]
Click here for more information.
[hr]
Horizontal rule.
[indent]Indented text here.[/indent]
Indent text using block quotes.
[img=http://www.mysite.com/myimage.png]
Image.
[img=http://www.mysite.com/myimage.png]alt text[/img]
Image with custom text inserted into the alt field.
[url=http://www.mysite.com]
Link to web address.
[url=http://www.mysite.com]My Home Page[/url]
Link to web address with custom link text.
[email=help@mysite.com]
Mailto button.
[email=help@mysite.com]Send me an eMail[/email]
Mailto with custom text.
[google]
Google www search box.
[googleSite=http://www.mysite.com]
Google search for specific site.
[googleSite=http://www.mysite.com]My Web Space[/googleSite]
Google search for specific site, with custom site description.
[googleAnalytics=UA-1234-1]
where UA-1234-1 is your Google Analytics ID
Google analytics.

Index and Surnames in Web Reports

To set preferences for index and surname lists in web reports...

  1. Choose Reunion > Preferences.
  2. Click Web.
  3. Click Reports.
  4. Click Index/Surnames in the list of options.

Show (birth-death) years

This option will append birth and death years to each entry in a web report index. If enabled, a typical index entry would look like this:

If the Use full dates button is checked, then the complete birth and death date appears adjacent to names (following your preferred date format). For example:

Indexes at the end of reports (such as a Register report or family history report) are always sorted alphabetically by last name.

People Per Index Page

For web reports, you can select the maximum number of people on each page of your index using the People per index page button. A setting of Unlimited will create a single page for the index. The lower the number, the faster each index page will load in a browser. A folder ending in _IDX, containing all of the index files, will reside in the web folder.

Surnames on a Separate Page

To move surnames off the cover page and onto a separate web page, check the Separate web page for surnames button. The advantage of placing the surnames on a separate page is that it will allow the cover page (contents) to load faster, particularly when creating large web projects containing lots of surnames. If this option is selected, a SUR.htm file will be created and will reside in a folder ending in _IDX.

Media Pages in Web Reports

When creating a report destined for the web, you have the option to include a separate "media page" for each person and family. This can include all the multimedia items linked to a person or family, or only the media files of specified media types.

Here is an example of a media page as it would appear on the iPad (the page contains five images in total)...

web project media page

When browsing the report, media pages are opened by clicking little camera icons in the body of the report.

For example, in person sheets with media pages, a little camera icon will appear adjacent to people's names (for an individual's media page) and marriage information (for a family's media page). When clicked, these camera buttons open the relevant media pages.

You may include pictures in the body of your report and separate media pages. In this case, preferred pictures will appear in the body of your report (for example, on family cards, person sheets, family group sheets, etc.) and, in addition, media pages will be created for each person and family. The preferred pictures appearing in the body of the report might be thought of as the "thumbnails," whereas the media page is the place for the larger display of multimedia items.

How to Include Media Pages in Reports

To include media pages in reports, check the Media pages check-box button in the relevant panel. For example, after selecting Reports > Person Sheet, you'd see the following...

If the Media pages button does not appear, it's because...

Preferences for Media Pages

To set preferences for media pages in web reports...

Include
You have the option to include/exclude each multimedia file type individually by using the various check-box buttons in the Include section, shown above.

Sensitive multimedia items can be excluded from media pages, as explained here.

Web styles apply to media pages and are explained here.

Dimensions of Images in Web Reports

Because Reunion creates web reports using responsive design, the size of pictures in web reports will vary, depending on the device on which they are being viewed and, in the case of a computer, the browser's window size.

The web style utilized when creating a report will also impact the size of images.

The maximum height or width of movies in media pages is 2047 pixels.

Search Features in Web Reports

Reunion offers two different search features in web reports:

  1. A basic search for people by name (which behaves like the People Sidebar).
  2. The integration of third-party search engines.

Both features are controlled by choosing Reunion > Preferences > Web > Reports > Search.

Or, if you're already looking at a report panel, just click the Web Preferences button.

The Web Preferences > Reports > Search panel is shown below...

Search For People By Name

The first feature adds a Search menu item (or button, depending on the size of the page) accessible from any page in the web report. It would look something like this...

If a person viewing your web report selects Search from the menu, a text field appears. The viewer would then enter a name (or partial name), first name, middle name, or last name — they're all treated the same when searching a web report.

Selecting a name in the list would show the relevant record in your web report.

This feature is enabled, by default. To turn it off, uncheck the button Add "Search" to main menu, in the Web Preferences > Reports > Search panel as shown above. The only reason to disable this feature is if you're creating huge web reports — in which case the sheer number of names cached by the search feature could possibly hobble the web browser.

If no search results appear...

If a name is entered in the search field and no search results appear, there are two possible explanations to consider...

  1. In some cases, a search attempt will not work if the web project is stored locally; i.e., on your Mac. However, the web search will work when the web project is accessed on the web. If you intend to upload the web project to a web site, try doing that and then test the search function.
  2. The Search feature in web reports requires that JavaScript is enabled in the browser. In Safari, this is turned "on" by opening Safari and choosing Safari > Preferences from the menu. Then checking the button Enable JavaScript (next to Web Content). Typically, JavaScript is enabled by default; however, if you or somebody viewing your web report can't see any search results, check to make sure JavaScript is enabled in the browser.

Third-Party Search Integration

The second search feature offered in web reports is the integration of third-party search engine technology. This feature taps into the power of Google, Bing, Yahoo, and/or DuckDuckGo — meaning viewers of your web reports can search for just about anything (name, place, note, etc.) in your report/site, and the results are generated in a similar fashion to the results generated on the respective third-party search sites.

To enable this feature, use the button Add third-party search engines, in the Web Preferences > Reports > Search panel as shown above.

You'll also need to specify...

A person viewing your web report will see this feature at the bottom of three pages in your web report: Cover Page, Index Page(s), and Surnames Page(s).

Depending on the web style you're using, the third-party search engine features would appear something like this (at the bottom of the aforementioned report pages)...

Sources in Web Reports

Here is an example Source page in a web project, as it would appear on an iPhone...

To set preferences for source documentation in web reports...

  1. Choose Reunion > Preferences.
  2. Click Web.
  3. Click Reports.
  4. Click Sources in the list of options.

Number of Sources Per Page

For web reports, you can select the maximum number of sources on each page using the Sources per page button. A setting of Unlimited will create a single page for all sources. The lower the number, the faster each page of sources will load in a browser. A folder ending in _SRC, containing all of the source pages, will reside in the web project folder.

Including Multimedia Items from Source Records

If a source record contains multimedia items, you may include the names of the multimedia files in the endnote, as well as the actual multimedia files and links to them.

Note: Multimedia files are included only when the Include multimedia files button is checked in Reunion > Preferences > Web > Reports > Sources AND the specific file type is checked in Reunion > Preferences > Web > Media Page > Files.

For example, if you have the Include multimedia files button checked (in Reunion > Preferences > Web > Reports > Sources) and your source images are PDF files; but you haven't checked the button PDF files (in Reunion > Preferences > Web > Media Page > Files), then the PDF files linked to source records will not be included in the web project.

Note: Multimedia items linked to source records will be excluded if they are designated as "sensitive" and the Exclude sensitive data button is enabled in the Sensitivity preferences. Learn more.