Sandvox tips

Sometimes you want to use content on your site that's not written in Sandvox, for example a PDF file or externally-generated HTM file.  In this case you want to have Sandvox take care of uploading it to the site for you even though it's not doing the editing.  This is done using "File Download" page types.

You have to decide whether you want the page to appear in the site menu (for example the resume link above), or just be linked on a page.  Each of these is described below.

In Site Menu

In this case, simply add the File Dowload page to your site, set the title, check "Include in site menu" in the page inspector, select your file in the inspector, and you're off.

As A Link

Here you add the File Download page to your site, set the title, uncheck "Include in site menu", optionally include in the site map, and choose the file to upload.  Then you go to the page that perhaps describes the file to be downloaded and provides a link to it.  Highlight the text that you want to act as the link, click on Create Link from the top menu bar, then drag the target to the File Download page you created.

Hints For Both

You probably want to use PDF for most text documents, since most peoples' browsers will handle these.

If you change the document Sandvox will not upload it again automatically.  You have to go to the File Download page for the file in question, re-select the file, and re-publish.  Note that Sandvox may display a modified name for the file you selected.  This is OK, it will do the right thing when it gets to the server.

Be careful using MS Word to generate HTML files: it likes to generate a .HTM file and a folder full of support files.  Sandvox will not handle this, as far ar I know; it only handles single files.  I don't know how to force Word 2004 to generate simple HTML files; maybe Word 2008 can do it.

Copyright 1997-2022, Ben Littauer