Introduction to the ThunderSite workspace 

The ThunderSite interface (from top to bottom) 

ThunderSite's visual editing environment (WYSIWYG) allows you to create a website as easily as you would create a word processed document; there is no need to edit any lines of HTML code (unless you want to, in which case you now can!).  The ThunderSite workspace is optimized for a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels (or more). 

The top of ThunderSite's interface consists of menus followed by toolbars (listing the most frequently used groups of command buttons); at the left hand side, there is the website structure (Web pages, Files & Documents and Media) and the rest is the web page that you can edit. 

Access to commands 

You can execute a command by using: 

• menus,
• toolbars,
• keyboard shortcuts. 

For example, if you want to save the current page, you can either click on Page>Save in the main menu, the Save button on the toolbar or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+S. 

Website structure 

To keep your website in order we have three special folders for items other than the webpages themselves: 

• Import: is used for storing sub-websites (or any complex file structures)  created with tools other than ThunderSite. These file structures will be published at the same time as your website, allowing you to link your ThunderSite web pages to them easily without causing broken links.
• Files & Documents: is used for storing all types of files and documents.  These files may be linked to your  web pages for display or downloading.
• Media: contains your website media grouped into four main categories: images, sounds, videos and Flash movies. These media can be incorporated directly into your own pages or linked-to (e.g. to open in an different program).
  New in ThunderSite Deluxe: When you click on the media folder or a folder within it, you will notice a new pane at the bottom of the screen showing previews of your images and other media - the Media Gallery pane. Try it now: Click on the Media folder in the Website Structure pane. To insert any of the images or flash animations displayed into your website, just click on the "grabber" hand icon above your desired media and drag it into the place where you'd like it to go. To hide the media panel, just click elsewhere in the Website Structure pane.

Sometimes it is useful to hide the Website Structure  window to have a full screen view of the current page. To do so, you can either click on the Website Structure button on the standard toolbar or go to the main menu and press View > Website Structure. 

The ThunderSite Project 

A ThunderSite project is not just one file (*.ths) but a folder. Thus, if you modify the content of the folder, it may corrupt your website and make it unusable.