VIRTUAL EXHIBIT

Virtual Exhibit (VE) is the instant Web site creator for PastPerfect Museum Soft-

ware. Virtual Exhibit converts collection records and images stored in PastPerfect

to HTML for posting on the World Wide Web. Point and click on the records you

want to share, and VE will create an entire Web site for your museum. No Web

programming knowledge is required. This chapter will walk you through the

steps of creating your own web site.

Virtual Exhibit automates the work, and allows you to personalize the home page,

color scheme, font size, and image size for your Web site. You also select which

records from PastPerfect’s Object, Photo, Archive, and Library catalogs to include.

To begin, just double-click on an element on the Web Site Designer screen.

A Web site created using Virtual Exhibit may be published on the World Wide

Web, or housed on a local computer in your museum. This computer must be

equipped with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher. Virtual Exhibit 4.0

requires that you have PastPerfect version 4.0 or higher with the Multi-Media

upgrade and you purchase the VE software.

INSTALLING VIRTUAL EXHIBIT

To install the Virtual Exhibit software:

1. Close all other programs.

2. Insert the Virtual Exhibit CD into the computer’s CD-ROM drive.

3. The installation program will start automatically.

361

4. VE must be installed in the same folder as PastPerfect version 4.0. This is usu-

ally c:\pp4. If PastPerfect is in a different folder, please change the default setting,

and then follow the instructions on the screen.

If the installation does not start automatically, click on Start | Settings | Control

Panel | and Add/Remove Programs and follow the instructions on that screen.

Once the program is installed, remove the CD and store it in a safe place.

Virtual Exhibit is a non-networked program. Therefore if you have the network

version of PastPerfect, VE must be installed on each workstation that will be creat-

ing websites. A single VE license allows you to install the program on each work-

station. The sites created at each workstation will be independent.

CREATING A WEB SITE

The steps to create an HTML Web site with Virtual Exhibit are:

1. Launch the Virtual Exhibit Designer.

2. Design a home page and coordinating exhibit pages.

* Set a color scheme.

* Attach your museum logo or image.

* Select PastPerfect records.

* Input text.

* Choose images.

3. Save the Web site.

4. Create the HTML pages.

5. View the site, as it will appear on the Web.

6. Post the Web site on the WWW or a local computer.

Let’s design a Virtual Exhibit Web site. The first step is to start the Virtual Exhibit

Designer program.

362 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

Virtual Exhibit 363

STARTING VIRTUAL EXHIBIT

To begin, double-click on the Virtual Exhibit icon on the Windows Desk-

top. Or click Start | Programs | PastPerfect Museum Software | Virtual Exhibit.

This will open the VE main menu or Web Site Designer screen.

In addition to the toolbar commands at the top of the screen, the Main Menu

includes command buttons for Home Page, Content, Search Page, Search Results,

Exhibit Pages 1-6, Records 1-6, and Images 1-6. Click a command button to access

the Design tabs for the associated web page.

HOME PAGE DESIGN

The home page is the first page visitors see when they come to your Web site. If

you already have a Web site, the Virtual Exhibit home page serves as a sub-page

of your main site and provides access to PastPerfect exhibits.

Press the Home Page command button on the main menu to display the Home

Page Layout screen. The Home Page Layout screen is a worksheet for the final

home page. The colors, logo, text, and captions you designate will display on

Figure 23-1

VE Main

364 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

this screen for reference during the design process. Keep in mind that the Home

Page Layout screen is not an active HTML page and does not look exactly like the

resulting HTML page.

Press the Design command button at the top of the Home Page Layout screen to

bring up the Home Page Design screen as seen in Figure 23-3. The Home Page

Design screen has a tab for each of the seven design components: Background and

Logo, Banner, Text Section 1, Text Section 2, Footer, Images, and Hyperlinks. Click

the appropriate tab to specify images, colors, and text for each element.

Background & Logo

To select a background color for your home page, click any one of the 20 colors

or 4 wallpaper designs shown. The current selection is displayed for reference.

To choose from a wider color palette, press Custom.

The check box in the lower left of the Background & Logo screen, labeled Include

Link to Search Page, must be checked if you wish to include the Search Page link

on the home page.

Figure 23-2

Home Page

Layout screen

Virtual Exhibit 365

To add your museum logo or representative image to the home page, press the

Change Image command button at the bottom of the Home Page Design screen.

To obtain an image press the Import Image command and locate an existing image

somewhere on your computer’s hard drive or network. To place the currently dis-

played image on your home page, press Select.

Banner

The home page banner is a word or phrase that displays at the center top of the

Figure 23-3

Home Page

Design screen

Figure 23-4

Home Page

Image screen

366 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

Virtual Exhibit home page. For example: enter your institution’s name or wel-

come message.

Text Section 1

Section 1 text appears just below the banner. The text may be of any length.

Highlight the default text and replace it with your own information. To change

the font size, style, and color, press the Change font command button at the

bottom of the screen.

Text Section 2

Section 2 text is positioned just below Section 1. The text may be of any length.

Highlight the default text and replace it with your own information. To change

the font size, style, and color, press the Change font command button at the

bottom of the screen.

Figure 23-5

Home Page

Banner screen

To change the banner’s font

size, style, and color, press the

Change font command button

at the bottom of the screen.

Virtual Exhibit 367

Footer

The footer is a good place to provide your institution’s e-mail address so visitors

can send you feedback or request more information. To create a hyperlink to the

Webmaster’s e-mail address, enter the address in the designated box as shown

below.

Images

Virtual Exhibit allows you to create and access up to six separate exhibits from

your home page. Each exhibit has a main page that is hyperlinked to the home

page by a representative image of your choosing. The Images tab is where you

input captions for each representative image, specify exhibit menu color and

placement, and resize image display boxes. In the Exhibit Section you will find

directions on how to use the Exhibit Web Page Editor to select the representa-

tive image for each exhibit.

Figure 23-6

Home Page

Footer screen

To display footer text at the bottom

of the Home page, be sure a check

mark appears in the Include Footer

box.

To change the font size, style,

and color, press the Change

font command.

368 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

Hyperlinks

The Hyperlinks tab controls the colors for viewed and not-yet-viewed-hyperlink

text on the home page. Be sure the text colors you choose are visible against the

background you selected.

Before proceeding, it is a good idea to build the HTML version of your home

page. To see your home page as it will appear on the World Wide Web, click

Create HTML for Website on the main menu. When VE finishes building the

HTML pages click View Website in Browser.

Figure 23-7

Home Page

Images

Click here to choose the exhibit

menu background color.

Modify the default title for

the exhibit menu and the

captions for the Exhibit page

images

Figure 23-8

Hyperlinks

Virtual Exhibit 369

CONTENT

For security reasons, you should not include sensitive data fields on your Web

site. To choose the display fields, click the Content command button on the

main menu.

Each of the four tabs, labeled Objects, Photos, Archives, and Library, contains a

checklist of the field names used in that catalog. With the mouse, put a check mark

in the box next to each catalog data field that you want to include in the published

Web site. Be sure to review all four lists and remove any sensitive fields like Value

or Storage Location.

SEARCH PAGE DESIGN

Virtual Exhibit comes with its own client-side search engine, written in Java

Script, which allows visitors to search the entire site. It also creates a separate

search page for each exhibit. While there is no limit to the number of catalog

pages that can be included in an exhibit, the Search engine does have some limi-

tations. The speed at which the Search page displays depends on the number of

Figure 23-9

Content

370 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

records and also the speed of the visitor’s Internet connection. For visitors with-

out high-speed connections, preforming a search on a large number of records

may be slow to load. This problem can be solved by implementing a server-side

search engine. You may want to consult your web host or contact us at support

@museumsoftware.com for more information.

To customize the Search Page, click Search Page on the Virtual Exhibit main

menu, and then click the Design command button.

The first three tabs control the text and colors displayed on the Search Page. The

fourth tab, Keywords, allows you to select the fields that the search engine will

use.

The search engine will search each field listed under the heading “Keyword Field

List.” To add or remove field names, press the Change Keyword Field List com-

mand button.

Every PastPerfect field name is listed on the screen in the five tabs, one for each of

the four catalogs and one tab for fields common to all four catalogs.

Place a check mark in the box next to each field you want to search, and be sure to

clear each box you do not want to search. The checked field names will automati-

cally appear in the Keyword Field List.

Figure 23-10

Search Page

Design

To implement a server-side

search engine, click here and

enter the HTML code or url link

to activate it.

Virtual Exhibit 371

The standard search engine can search a maximum of 1900 characters per cata-

log record page. The more data fields you include in the Keyword Field List, the

longer it will take the search engine to produce results. If your search results are

taking too long, omit long fields like Description or Notes from the Keyword Field

List, or limit the total number of fields searched.

Another option is to implement a custom search engine. For more information on

custom search engines contact your web host provider or our technical support

staff.

SEARCH RESULTS PAGE DESIGN

Click Search Results on the main menu, and then click Design. The Design

menu has three tabs, one each for the Background & Banner, Results, and

Figure 23-11

Keywords

372 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

Hyperlinks. Click each of the tabs to define the color scheme. There is no text to

modify on this page.

To select a background color for your search results page, click any one of the 20

colors or 4 wallpaper designs shown. The current selection is displayed for refer-

ence. To choose from a wider color palette, press Custom. Click the Change ban-

ner font command button to change the color of the banner text.

Next click the Results tab. Press the buttons labeled Change results background

color or Change results text color to customize the color scheme.

The Hyperlinks tab controls the colors for viewed and not-yet-viewed-hyper-

link text on the search results page. Be sure the text colors you choose are visible

against the background you selected.

EXHIBIT PAGE LAYOUT

A Virtual Exhibit Web site can include up to six exhibits, each with an unlimited

number of associated records. To view an exhibit from the Virtual Exhibit home

page, click the image hyperlink.

Each exhibit also has its own Search page and a Table of Contents page. These

pages can be selected from the menu bar at the top of the exhibit page. Unlike the

search page selected from the home page, which will search the entire web site,

the exhibit search pages allow you to search just one exhibit.

Figure 23-12

Results

Design Page

Virtual Exhibit 373

Figure 23-13

VE Website

Home Page

in Browser

Figure 23-14

VE Website

Exhibit Page

in Browser

Click here to view the first

exhibit, opening page dis-

played below.

Click on menu

bar to start

exhibit

Sample

images for

this exhibit.

Click here to access search page

or table of contents.

374 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

The Table of Contents is a list of all records included in an exhibit. Click on the

column headers to change the sort order or click on the underlined ID# to jump to

the corresponding catalog record page. The hyperlinks at the bottom of the screen

return to the home page, return to the exhibit page, or access the search page. The

color scheme is the same as the one you chose for the associated exhibit page.

DESIGNING THE EXHIBIT PAGES

Designing the Exhibit Page is similar to designing the home page. To start the

Exhibit Page design, click on one of the Exhibit #1-6 command buttons from the

Virtual Exhibit main menu. Remember that the Exhibit number corresponds to

a position on the home page. Consider which position shows each exhibit to its

best advantage and optimizes the final appearance of your home page.

Figure 23-15

VE Website

Table of

Contents in

Browser

Virtual Exhibit 375

On the Exhibit Layout screen, click the Design command button to access Design

mode. There are tabs for each of the exhibit’s components: background, images,

menu bar & hyperlinks, banner, text section 1, text section 2, and footer.

Background

To select a background color for your exhibit page, click any one of the 20 colors

or 4 wallpaper designs shown. The current selection is displayed for reference.

To choose from a wider color palette, press Custom.

Figure 23-16

Exhibit Layout

Screen

Figure 23-17

Exhibit Page

Design

376 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

Images

Virtual Exhibit allows you to display up to six sample images from your exhibit

on the exhibit main page. The Images tab is where you input captions for each

sample image, specify background color and image placement, and resize image

display boxes. Use the Exhibit Select Images or Web Page Editor commands to

select the sample images for each exhibit.

Menu bar & Hyperlinks

The Menu bar & Hyperlinks tab controls the colors for viewed and not-yet-

viewed-hyperlink text on the home page. Be sure the text colors you choose are

visible against the background you selected. If you would like to include hyper-

links to the Exhibit Search page or to the Exhibit Table of Contents, be sure to

check the boxes labeled Include Table of Contents and Include Search.

Banner

The exhibit page banner is a word or phrase that displays at the top left of the

exhibit main page. Highlight the default text and replace it with the exhibit

name or welcome message.

Text Section 1

Paragraph 1 text appears just below the banner and to the right of the sample

images. The text may be of any length, but may not include multiple para-

graphs. Highlight the default text and replace it with your own information. To

Figure 23-18

Menu bar &

Hyperlinks

Virtual Exhibit 377

change the font size, style, and color, press the Change font command button at

the bottom of the screen.

Text Section 2

Paragraph 2 is positioned just below Paragraph 1. The text may be of any

length, but may not include multiple paragraphs. Highlight the default text and

replace it with your own information. To change the font size, style, and color,

press the Change font command button at the bottom of the screen.

Footer

The footer text is the same for all pages, and can only be changed from the

Home Page Design screen. To display the footer text on the exhibit page, be

sure a check mark appears in the box marked Include Footer. To change the

font size, style, and color of the footer text to match your exhibit page, press the

Change font command button at the bottom of the screen.

If you like the color scheme you have chosen for Exhibit#1, and you would like to copy

the scheme to all other Exhibits (color only, not text), click Themes on the Main Menu

Toolbar. Then click Save current settings as theme. Name the theme and choose Method#2 to

save. This method applies the color scheme of Exhibit#1 to all other Exhibits. It also applies the color

scheme for Records 1 and Images 1 to all other Records and Images Pages.

Once a theme has been saved, highlight it in the Available Themes list and press the command but-

ton labeled Apply Selected Theme. Click OK.

EXHIBIT LAYOUT SCREEN

After you are satisfied with the color scheme and text on the Exhibit Main Page,

it’s time to select the Exhibit’s content. In addition to the Design command

button used to access the Exhibit Page Design screen, there are seven addi-

tional command buttons on the Exhibit Layout screen: Import Records, Move

or Delete Exhibit, Web Page Editor, Select Images, Spell Check, Update, and

Close.

Tip

378 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

Import Records

Use the Import Records command to add PastPerfect catalog records and images

to your exhibit. Press Import Records to view the “Add Catalog Records from

PastPerfect” screen.

Adding Records by Catalog

First, let’s add records to the exhibit by browsing the individual catalogs. The

procedure is the same for any of the four catalogs. For this example, click Pho-

tos to open the screen shown in Figure 23-21.

When you click the Photos button, the catalog opens and displays your

PastPerfect catalog records. The only difference between the Virtual Exhibit screen

and the PastPerfect screen is the toolbar that appears at the top. You will notice

that there are no buttons labeled Add, Print, or Accession. To add new records,

print the current record, or view the details on the record’s source, you must be in

PastPerfect.

Figure 23-19

Top of Exhibit

Layout screen

Figure 23-20

Add catalog

records

You may choose to

view any of the four

PastPerfect catalogs by

pressing one of these

buttons.

Virtual Exhibit 379

There are several ways to locate records within a catalog and add them to Virtual

Exhibit. Press the Prior and Next buttons to navigate the records sequentially, one

by one.

Or, press Browse to view the records as a data table. Use the scroll bars at the

right side of the screen to move up and down the list. When you find the record

you want to view, position the mouse over it and click the Right Mouse button or

press Enter. Virtual Exhibit will automatically display the record.

Figure 23-21

PastPerfect

Photo

catalog

Figure 23-22

Browse

PastPerfect

Photo

catalog

380 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

The third way to locate a particular record is to click the Find button. The Find

screen is the same one used in PastPerfect. It displays the searchable field names

for the current catalog.

Once you have located the record you wish to add to the exhibit, press the Add

to Exhibit button. Repeat the process until you have added all desired records to

your exhibit.

Adding a Group of Records with a Query

The Query command at the top of the PastPerfect catalog page is a powerful

way to find and add groups of items to the exhibit. Pressing the Query com-

mand opens the screen shown in Figure 23-24. This screen is almost identical

to the standard Query screen that in discussed in Chapter 14, Research. The only

difference is that the screen has four additional buttons, Add Found records to

Exhibit, Add all records from this catalog to the exhibit, Add all records from

this catalog with images to the exhibit, and Delete All Exhibit Records.

Select the fields you want to query and the condition statements from the pull

down menu. Up to seven fields can be queried to produce results. Press the Search

Now button to begin the search.

Figure 23-23

Find screen

Virtual Exhibit 381

If your search is successful, you may add the records found to your exhibit all at

once by pressing the button marked Add Found Records to Exhibit.

Repeat the search process for each catalog until you have added all desired

records to your exhibit.

Add all records from this catalog to the exhibit -This command button at the bot-

tom of the Query screen will add ALL the records from the catalog to your exhibit.

Add all records from this catalog with images to the exhibit - This command but-

ton at the bottom of the Query screen will add all the records from the catalog that

have attached images to your exhibit.

Delete All Exhibit Records - Use this command button at the bottom of the Query

screen if you would like to delete all catalog records from an exhibit and start

over. The records will be removed from the exhibit, but not from PastPerfect. To

delete all catalog records, banner text, and paragraph text from an exhibit, use the

Move or Delete Exhibit option on the Exhibit Layout screen. If you choose Delete

Exhibit it will completely erase the exhibit from Virtual Exhibit, but not affect the

PastPerfect records.

Figure 23-24

Query screen

382 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

Move or Delete Exhibit

The Move or Delete Exhibit command on the Exhibit Layout screen gives you

flexibility in designing your page. Using this command, you can change an

exhibit’s location on the home page, append records from one exhibit to another,

or delete an exhibit altogether.

The first step in moving an exhibit is choosing the destination. Select the destina-

tion Exhibit #1-6 from the list at right by clicking on it. A black dot will appear in

the circle to the left of the selected exhibit.

Next choose whether the data in the destination exhibit is appended to or over-

written by clicking on the command Append or Overwrite. A black dot will

appear in the circle to the left of the selected operation.

The Append option does not alter the destination exhibit’s text, banner, sample

images, records, or color scheme; it merely adds the records from the current

exhibit to the destination exhibit.

The Overwrite option replaces the text, images, records, and color scheme in the

destination exhibit with the text, images, records, and color scheme from the cur-

rent exhibit. The Overwrite command allows you to move an intact exhibit from

one position to another with a few mouse clicks.

Once you have chosen Append or Overwrite, press the Copy to Exhibit (#1-#6)

Now button to complete the transfer.

Figure 23-25

Move\Copy or

Delete Exhibit

Virtual Exhibit 383

The Delete Exhibit button erases images, text, and records from the selected

exhibit in one step. Be sure this is what you want before you click OK. It is a good

idea to confirm that the Overwrite or Append command achieved the desired

results, so please check this before you delete the current exhibit.

The final feature on this screen, Delete All Records, deletes catalog records from

the selected exhibit only. Text and color scheme will remain unchanged.

Web Page Editor

The Web Page Editor allows you to view and modify catalog records before

they are published to the Web site. The screen is very similar to the PastPerfect

catalog screens. If you wish to modify the catalog data for publishing, click

Edit, make changes, and then click Save. Changes you make to catalog records

using Virtual Exhibit will affect only the published Web site, not the record in

PastPerfect.

Even though all catalog data fields are displayed in the Web Page Editor, only the

fields selected on the Content screen will appear on the HTML catalog pages. You

can review the fields that will display on the Web site by selecting Content from

the Virtual Exhibit main menu.

Figure 23-26

Web Page

Editor

The Place Image

command allows you

to place images on

the home page or on

the exhibit page.

Edit this Display

order number to

determine the order

the records appear

on the website

384 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

Selecting Images - Every catalog record chosen for an exhibit will display its asso-

ciated images on the HTML catalog page. To select which images display, place a

check in the box labeld “Include this image on Web site” on the Image Manage-

ment screen. A maximum of 25 images can display for each catalog record

You may also choose up to six representative, or sample, images to display on the

main exhibit page. You also should choose one sample image from each exhibit to

display on the home page and serve as the hyperlink to access the exhibit.

To select and place the sample images, press the Place Image command button

from the Web Page Editor or press Select Images from the Exhibit Layout page.

Update command - Once catalog records are added to an exhibit, the informa-

tion about each record can be edited with the Web Page Editor described above.

Changes made to the catalog records from the PastPerfect program will not be

automatically applied to the catalog records in VE. However, there is an Update

command on the Web Page Editor screen that you can press to replace all the

information in the VE catalog record with the latest information from PastPerfect.

Their is also and Update command on the Exhibit Layout page the will update all

records in the exhibit with PastPerfect data.

Figure 23-27

Select

Images

Use Browse,

Next, and Previ-

ous commands to

navigate the avail-

able images for the

exhibit.

When you locate an

image you would

like to display on

the home page or

the exhibit main

page, click on the

arrows pointing

to the appropriate

position.

Control the image sizes by selecting the width,

measured in pixels. The resized images will retain

their original proportions.

Virtual Exhibit 385

DESIGNING CATALOG RECORD PAGES

A separate Web page is created for each catalog record included in the Virtual

Exhibit Web site. You can design an individual color scheme for catalog record

pages in each of the six exhibits, or you can apply a color scheme (called a

Theme) to the entire Web site, giving it an overall feeling of unity.

Background

The first tab is for selecting the background color or wallpaper for the catalog

record page. To select a background color for your catalog record page, click

any one of the 20 colors or 4 wallpaper designs shown. To choose from a wider

color palette, press Custom.

Figure 23-28

Catalog

Record Layout

To Enter design

mode, click on

Records 1-6 from

the Virtual Exhibit

main menu, then click

Design.

This will display the

Catalog Record Page

Design screen where

you can define each

of six elements.

Figure 23-29

Catalog

Record Page

Design

The current

selection is

displayed for

reference.

386 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

Menu Bar

Two title lines appear on the Catalog Record Page. The three options for each

title are the Exhibit’s banner text, the Home Page Caption, or the Item’s Title/

Object name. Select which information you would like to display as a title by

clicking one of the three options. A black dot will appear in the circle to the left

of the selected text.

You can change the Title text color by pressing the command button labeled

Change color. Next, choose Background colors for the titles, images, and menu by

pressing each of the background color command buttons. Note that a copyright

statement is displayed on the sample catalog page. The color of the copyright text

is the same as that of viewed hyperlinks. Go to the hyperlinks tab to change the

color if desired.

Body

Select this tab to choose the colors for the main text on the catalog pages. To

change the font size, style, and color, press the Change titles font and Change

text font buttons.

You can include a brief copyright statement as well as complete copyright infor-

mation on each catalog page. To include a copyright statement or information

Figure 23-30

Menu Bar

Virtual Exhibit 387

on your catalog record page, be sure a check mark appears in the boxes marked

Include Copyright Statement and Include Copyright Information. Clear the check

boxes to remove the copyright text from your catalog record page.

The copyright text may be customized for different exhibits. To enter the copyright

statement, highlight the default text and replace it with your own information. The

Hyperlinks tab to change the color.) Change the Copyright Information font size,

style, and color by pressing the Change font command button.

Figure 23-31

Body Tab

Figure 23-32

388 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

Footer

The footer text is the same for all pages, and can only be changed from the

Home Page Design screen. To change the font size, style, and color of the footer

text to match your catalog record page, press the Change font command button

at the bottom of the screen.

Hyperlinks

The Hyperlinks tab controls the colors for viewed and not-yet-viewed-hyperlink

text on the catalog record page. Be sure the text colors you choose are visible

against the background you selected.

Figure 23-33

Footer Tab

Figure 23-34

Hyperlinks Tab

To display the footer

text on the catalog

record page, be sure a

check mark appears in

this box

Put a check mark in

this box if you want

your images to have

a colored frame that

matches the hyperlink.

Virtual Exhibit 389

DESIGNING FULL SIZE IMAGE PAGES

Each catalog record with an associated image also has a Full Size Image page.

You can design an individual color scheme for the Full Size Image pages in each

of the six exhibits.

From the Full Size Image Design page you can define each of five elements by

selecting the following tabs: Background, Menu Bar, Copyright Information,

Footer, and Hyperlinks.

Background

To select a background color for your full-size-image page, click any one of the

20 colors or 4 wallpaper designs shown. To choose from a wider color palette,

press Custom. Also on this tab you can set the maximum image size. This set-

ting applies to the full size image pages in all six exhibits.

Menu Bar

The menu bar includes two titles, navigation hyperlinks, and a copyright state-

Figure 23-35

Full Size

Image Layout

screen

To enter design

mode, click on

Images 1-6 from

the Virtual Exhibit

main menu, then

click on Design.

390 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

ment. The three options for each title are the Exhibit’s banner text, the Home

Page Caption, or the Item’s Title/Object name. Select which information you

would like to display as a title by clicking on one of the options. A black dot

will appear in the circle to the left of the selected text.

You can change the Title text color by pressing the command button labeled

Change color. Next choose a Description text color and a Menu background color

by pressing the respective command buttons. Note that the copyright statement

text displayed on the menu bar is the same color as that of viewed hyperlinks. Go

to the Hyperlinks tab to change the color if desired.

The copyright statement text will be the same color as the viewed hyperlinks.

(Go to the Hyperlinks tab to change the color.)

The copyright text for the Full Size Image page is shared with the copyright text

on the Catalog Record page and can only be edited there. Also the check boxes

Include Copyright Statement and Include Copyright Information that appear on

the Catalog Record page apply to the Full Size Image pages as well.

Footer

The footer text is the same for all pages, and can only be changed from the

Home Page Design screen. To display the footer text on the image page, be sure

Figure 23-36

Menu Bar tab

If you do not wish

to include the titles,

menu bar, and

description on the

image page, clear

this check box.

Virtual Exhibit 391

a check mark appears in the box marked Include Footer. To change the font size,

style, and color of the footer text to match your image page, press the Change

font command button at the bottom of the screen.

Hyperlinks

The Hyperlinks tab controls the colors for unviewed and already viewed hyper-

link text on the image page. Be sure the text colors you choose are visible

against the background you selected.

SAVE YOUR WEB SITE

Once you have created a web site you should be sure to save it. You can name

and save up to 100 different Virtual Exhibit Web sites. To save your current site,

press the Save button on the Virtual Exhibit main menu toolbar.

This will open the Save/Retrieve Sites screen shown in Figure 23-38 listing the

web sites that have been previously saved. Press the Save command and you will

be asked to enter a Site Name, Creator Name, and Notes. Complete the fields, and

press the button labeled Save site. The new site name will be added to your list.

To view the Notes field for any site, double-click on the site name in the list.

To return to the Main Menu, press Close. The name of the currently loaded site

appears in the lower left corner of the Main Menu for your reference. If you want

to rename your site, return to the Save screen and press Save as. To delete a site,

Figure 23-37

Hyperlinks tab

The color of the

ment text, described

above, will be the

same as the viewed

hyperlinks text.

Change the color

here.

392 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

highlight the site name in the list and press Delete. To load a new site into the

workspace for editing, press Load. Loading a new site onto the desktop will over-

write the current site, so be sure you have saved your changes before loading.

CREATE THE HTML WEB SITE

When your exhibit content and design are complete, creating the HTML Web

site is the final step before posting your Virtual Exhibit on the World Wide

Web. At any point in the design process, you may create the HTML Web site

and view it on your Desktop. By viewing the HTML site periodically during the

design process, you can verify that your color scheme is consistent and legible,

and that your images and text look pleasing on the page.

Creating the HTML Web site requires only the push of a button. Press the Create

Site command button at the top of the main menu.

Twelve functions will be performed to create the Home Page, Exhibit Pages, Cata-

log Pages, Table of Contents, Search Index Files, Search Page, and Image Pages. It

is recommended that you always perform all twelve functions at the same time,

unless very minor changes have been made to one component.

Figure 23-38

Save/Retrieve

Sites

Virtual Exhibit 393

Click on Build HTML to begin the process which converts all image files to JPG

format and optimizes them for display on the Web. A thumbnail and a full-size

image are created for each catalog record. The process will take about 5 minutes

per 100 catalog pages.

Once complete, you can return to the main menu and press View Website in

Browser to see the completed site. View Exhibit in Browser will only work if you

have a Web browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator installed

on your computer. If one of these programs is installed, the site is fully navigable

from your desktop.

View Exhibit in Browser is an excellent tool for proofreading your new web site.

The pages appear exactly as they will on the Internet, so now is the time to make

sure hyperlink text is visible, typos are corrected, and selected data fields are dis-

played. If you notice any errors, just close the exhibit and return to the Virtual

Exhibit Designer to make changes. You can edit and recreate the page as many

times as you like before you post it to the World Wide Web.

POSTING THE HTML WEB SITE

To post your exhibit on the WWW, you will need a completed Web site created

Figure 23-39

Create HTML

Web Pages

Click Build HTML to begin.

You will be asked to select the

output directory where you want

to store the HTML web pages.

394 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

with Virtual Exhibit, access to the Internet, and, unless you have your own Web

server, a Web site host.

Most web site hosts charge a monthly fee, some as little as $10. You can search

the Internet where you will find hundreds of providers. It is not necessary to find

a host located near you, in fact your host can be anywhere in the world. Pastime

Software also offers hosting options. Contact our support office for details.

Uploading the HTML Files to the Web Server

VE has a built-in FTP function that will transfer your files to the Web server.

Before you perform the transfer you must know your web host account name,

user-id and password as well as the folder on the host site that will receive the

files. This information should be provided by your Web host.

To upload the files, press Create HTML for Website on the main menu. Then

select the FTP Upload command to open the following screen.

Enter your web server host name, userid, and password. If the html files are to be

placed in a sub-folder at the site, enter the folder name as well. Then press Upload

Figure 23-40

Upload web

site to host

server

Virtual Exhibit 395

Website Now. You must be already connected to the internet for the FTP function

to work. The process may take several minutes.

Placing your website on a CD

Instead of, or in addition to, posting your site on the World Wide Web, you

may want to distribute it on a CD or DVD. To do this select Create HTML for

Website from the main menu. Then press Burn CD/DVD. The following screen

will open.

Insert a blank CD-R or DVD-R and press Start to begin the process.

Posting to a Local Computer

You may also want to post the website on a computer in your museum for visi-

tors to use. You can use either an IBM PC-compatible or a Macintosh computer

loaded with Web browser software. Virtual Exhibit works best with Microsoft

Internet Explorer, version 4.0 or higher. Follow these steps:

1. Create a new folder on the exhibit computer to store the Virtual Exhibit HTML

files. We recommend that you create the folder on the C: drive and name it

VeWebsite, but you are not required to do so.

2. Copy all files from the C:\VeWebsite directory of the design computer (or the

alternate folder you designated to store your Web site), including sub-directories

Exhibit 1-6 and the files within the exhibit folders. You do not need to upload the

Search sub-folder or the search*.txt files located within.

3. If the computer you used to design and create your Web site is connected to the

exhibit computer via a network, the files can be copied from the design computer

Figure 23-41

Burn Website

onto CD or

DVD

Check this box if you want the CD/

DVD to automatically start the Vir-

tual Exhibit when it is inserted into

a computers drive.

396 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

to the exhibit computer using Windows Explorer. For details on using Windows

Explorer to copy files, please consult Windows Help.

4. If the design computer is NOT connected to the exhibit computer via a network,

you will need to use a removable medium such as a floppy disk, Zip disk, or CD-

ROM to transfer the files.

To enable visitors to start the exhibit from the Windows desktop, you will need to

create a shortcut. See Windows Help for instructions. Point the shortcut to the file

“index.htm” located in the c:\vewebsite\ folder.

OTHER TOOLBAR COMMANDS

In addition to Save, Create, and View Website, the Toolbar on the Virtual

Exhibit main menu has three other options, Themes, Spell check, and Utilities.

Themes

A theme is a saved group of design settings that you can apply to any exhibit.

The saved settings include all components of design, from background color

and hyperlink colors, to font sizes and styles. Virtual Exhibit comes with several

saved themes, or you can design your own. To view the different themes, click

Themes on the Main Menu toolbar.

Saving Themes - To save the current settings as a Theme, click on the Save Cur-

rent Setting as Theme command. You will be asked to name the theme. Choose

Method #1 to save. Method #1 saves the current settings exactly as they are for

application in future exhibits.

If you like the color scheme you have chosen for Exhibit #1, and you would like

to copy it to your other Exhibits (colors only, not text), select Method #2 to save.

Method #2 applies the color scheme for Exhibit #1 to all other Exhibits. It also

applies the color scheme for Records 1 and Images 1 to all other Records and

Images Pages. This feature may save you a lot of work.

Figure 23-42

Main Menu

Toolbar

Virtual Exhibit 397

Applying Themes - Once a theme is saved, it becomes available for use. To apply

a saved theme to the current web design, click Themes on the main menu Toolbar.

View the saved themes by clicking each name on the list. Once you have high-

lighted your selection, click Apply Selected Theme. Clicking OK to overwrite all

current settings with the selected theme.

Spell Check

You can access Spell Check from any of the Design screens to check a particular

screen for errors. The main menu Spell Check command checks the entire Web

site for errors.

Utilities

Virtual Exhibit offers a Utilities screen with setup and maintenance functions.

To access this screen press Utilities from the main menu Toolbar. This screen

provides nine functions: Backup current site, Reindex data files, Customize text,

Setup Passwords, Import background, Change catalog record display order,

Change catalog record display names, File Test, and Data File Repair.

Backup Current Site - Use this function to save the current website to floppy disks

or a zip disk.

Figure 23-43

Themes

Click here to save

the current settings

as a theme.

398 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

Reindex data files - Use this function to remove exhibit records marked for dele-

tion and keep VE running smoothly. We recommend that you perform this func-

tion before creating your HTML web pages.

Customize text - This screen allows you to change some of the default words that

appear on the Search, Exhibit, Table of Contents, Record and Image Pages.

Figure 23-44

Utilities menu

Figure 23-45

Customize text

Virtual Exhibit 399

Setup Passwords - This screen allows you to implement password protection

for the Virtual Exhibit designer. Two passwords can be defined, one that allows

access to all functions and the other that allows access to all functions except edit-

ing PastPerfect images.

Import background - You can add a custom wallpaper design for use as back-

ground on any page. Virtual Exhibit can only store four background files, so you

must choose which of the default backgrounds you wish to overwrite with your

custom wallpaper image.

To import a new background, click on the background you wish to over-

write. Then click Locate & import background image file. Locate the image

file on your hard drive or network and click Open. You must exit and restart

the Virtual Exhibit Designer to refresh the list of available backgrounds. You

may restore the default backgrounds at any time by selecting Utilities|Import

Background|Restore Default Backgrounds.

Change catalog field display order - This utilities option allows you to change the

order that data fields are displayed on the Catalog Record page.

Change catalog field display names - This utilities option allows you to change

the names of the catalog fields as they appear on the website catalog pages. The

name of each possible field is listed in the left column. The corresponding names

in the right four columns can be edited.

Figure 23-46

Password

Setup

400 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide

Figure 23-47

Field Display

Order

The right column displays the

names of all possible catalog fields.

Set the display order by typing a

new display order number in the left

column.

Figure 23-48

Change

Field Display

Names

Virtual Exhibit 401

File Test & Data File Repair - These two functions are provided to assist in case

of problems with your VE data files. Unless requested by one of our technical sup-

port personnel, you should not use these functions.

CUSTOM WEB SITE DESIGN

Virtual Exhibit provides you with a great deal of flexibility in designing a Web

site that reflects your institution’s personality. However, we recognize that some

museums may wish to create a truly unique look and feel for their Web site. In

fact, some of you may already have professionally-designed sites. Virtual Exhibit

is still a valuable tool.

For a fee, we can program Virtual Exhibit to use your custom Web site as a tem-

plate. Once your HTML design becomes a Virtual Exhibit template, you are free

to change exhibits and add catalog records as you please. There is still no HTML

Web programming knowledge required!

Please contact our support office if you would like more information.

402 PastPerfect Museum Software User’s Guide