Boilerplate IE 8 navbar question?

[Thomboy]

Since SP2 often breaks Publisher, should one download the "hotfix" and
install it before re-publishing a Pub File to a website location, like
GoDaddy, to see if the 'missing navbar' problem is solved?

Thomboy

 

[Thomboy]

I am using Publisher 2007 and Windows 7

Thomboy

 

[DavidF]

As I said in your other posts about this, you do not ever install a hotfix
unless you are experiencing the specific problems it is designed to fix.
Installing it as a precaution or for the wrong reason can result in breaking
something else. Hotfixes are not tested to the same degree as Service
Patches or other patches released to the public, and are intended as a
temporary fix...or at least that is my take on hotfixes.

DavidF

 

[Thomboy]

Sorry for leaving the same message in different places.

Like all readers, when something peaks my interest and I am just not sure
whether or not to do something, I leave a reply.

It would have been much better to leave just ONE message in an obvious
place, like here, elilminating the need for you read the same message
numerous times.

It won't happen again.

I have been away from the site for two months, and unfortunately, because I
am rusty in terms of remembering what to do, I read many posts at this site
for about four hours yesterday to regain some of that lost skill.

I read your post about IE8 many times, and you referred to "my boilerplate
answer about IE8 navbar problems, which is I used "Boilerplate IE8" as my
subject for the post.

Thanks for the reply, because this is exactly what the MS paper about the
Hotfix said, but I read several of your other replies about not being exatly
happy with Microsoft for NOT fixing their obvious mistakes, and that you work
around them.

This caused me to ask first, rather than as you say, break something else,
by not following directions.

Thanks, Thomboy

 

[DavidF]

Hi Thomboy,

No problem. I did want to respond to each though in case someone else read
the thread, and then they would have an answer. But yes, asking the question
in one place and then giving us some time to respond is a best practice...

I congratulate you on reading the past posts. That is how I got started. I
lurked and read everything that was posted at the time and learned a great
deal, and headed off many potential problems. Not everyone has the time so I
have developed some boilerplate, as has Spike and Don, for some of the FAQs.
The most common of which recently has been the problem with IE8.

DavidF

 

[Thomboy]

Hi David:

I 'did not' do a manual ungrouping of the nav bars, but did upload the
needed files through FileZilla Client to GoDaddy.

Unfortunately, I made a small error, and one of the boxes of data on one of
the pages I changed does not show all the lines of copy.

When I went back to the original pub file, and tried to open it to make the
changes, I got the following message:

The file is locked because it is currently being used by another program.
This may be due to one of the following:

...The file is open in another program
...You do not have permission to access the file

To fix this problem, try the following:

...Close other programs that are open, and then import the file (none are
open, and how do I "import the file?"
...Make sure that you have Read permission for the file (I remember something
about "read only," but I think this was for another fix).

Could any of this be caused by SP2 breaking the Publisher file? If so, is
it time to download the "hotfix," and run it?

Thanks, Thomboy

 

[DavidF]

This does not sound like the error for the hotfix. Try shutting down and
rebooting, and opening the Pub file again. You do have the Pub file on your
hard drive, correct? As a rule don't try to open a file on removable media
or a network drive. Let us know.

Does the back up file open? What about other Pub files?

DavidF

 

[Thomboy]

David, you were dead on -- correct! After restarting my PC, and clicking on
the .pub file, viola, it opened without a problem. I then made the needed
changes and uploaded them to GoDaddy and the WWW.

I was happy that I read something either you or Spike wrote about saving the
ungrouped nav bar with a new name so the original was not compromised, which
I did. Keep in mind that I did NOT manually ungroup the nav bars, but ONLY
saved a copy of the .pub file and renamed it. When it would not open, and I
got the strange error message, I at least knew that if there was a problem, I
had another copy ready to go.

In the end it was an easy fix, and away I go with your help.

Thomboy

P.S. I plan to build another website for a vet friend who takes care of my
cats, and who is also an avid bike enthusiast. He wants to get bicycle
riders ready to ride the Cochise ride next October (292 miles). Can video
clips be placed into Publisher Websites? I don't need to know how to do it
now, but only if it can be done. I did read, during my 4 hour reading
marathon of the Public.Publisher postings, that someone asked that question,
and you did give an answer, but I can't remember if it was positive.

 

[DavidF]

Thomboy,

Good news. Glad it worked. One of my first cure-alls is always to reboot!

It is always a good idea to have back ups. Stuff happens. I think one of the
best articles I have read about back-ups was written by David Bartosik:
Common Sense Computing 101 aka "Why in the world would you lose your
publisher file?:
http://msmvps.com/blogs/dbartosik/archive/2006/01/19/81461.aspx
Of course external hard drives and almost endless on-line storage space have
become more available since he wrote this.

In theory you don't need to manually ungroup the navbars in Pub 2007 after
apply the SP. The SP should fix the problem of the navbars rendering in IE8.
The manual fix is the only choice for Pub 2003.

As per the video, yes you can. I used to suggest to people that they simply
make the video file available as an external file to download as an option.
That way the viewer can use whatever video player they might have on their
computer and also make the whole time intensive process optional. In recent
years with all the on-line video sites available, they have started
providing code that you can insert that allows you to import the video into
a page of your site while hosting the video on their site. And Spike has
worked out a workflow to convert videos into a format that can be inserted
into a page. I would suggest he would be the best one to discuss your
options with you. Or scan back and read his post on the subject. 11/30

DavidF

 

[Thomboy]

Yes, David, I am getting rusty, because I too have told people with PC
problems to reboot first, before any futher diagnosis, and yet, I forgot!

The code idea for video clips may be a more workable solution, aka as you
say, because there are so many sites all with different software and code
working.

I will check back to 11/30 and see if I can find Spike's reply for inserting
video clips into Publisher pages.

Thanks again for reminding me to remember to take my own advice. In the
heat of battle, it is downright amazing at how much we forget

I am happy that the SP2 patch solved the problem; a much easier fix.

Best regards, Thomboy