When the HTML Thumbnail Links Page, HTML Thumbnail Pages in Folders, or the HTML Thumbnail Hierarchy export option is selected, NetVisualize makes use of HTML template files to generate the HTML output file. These files are, by default, Header_Template.html, Footer_Template.html, Link_Template.html, and Folder_Template.html. Other template files can be created and used by modifying the existing templates or by creating new templates from scratch. It is recommended that any user-customized templates be renamed to have filenames different from the defaults. This will prevent the customized template files from being overwritten (and thus prevent losing the customizations) when new versions of NetVisualize are installed. Which templates will be used when exporting is determined by the "HTML Thumbnail Links Page Export Templates" preference settings in the File tab of Preferences.
When NetVisualize creates an HTML Thumbnail Links Page export file, it begins by adding the text from the header template file. It then appends one copy of the link template file for each link being exported after first making appropriate field substitutions for each of the link substitution tags (listed below). Finally it appends the footer template file. If the template files are properly constructed, the resulting exported file will be a valid HTML file which can be viewed in any browser. Additionally, a folder will be generated that contains a JPEG image file for each exported thumbnail image. The exported HTML file and thumbnail images folder can easily be FTPd to a website for use as the type of links page that is commonly included on many websites. However, this type of links page will have the unique feature of providing thumbnail images for the linked URLs. By customizing the export templates it is possible to match the theme of the HTML export file to the website where it will be used.
If desired, the HTML Thumbnail Links Page export option can be used to export to text-based file formats other than HTML, such as plain text files (.txt files). To export to other text-based file formats, the default export templates that are installed with the software must be modified, or new templates must be created.
One possible additional use of the HTML Thumbnail Links Page export file is as the default home page for the user's browser. After exporting the desired links to a convenient location, change the browser home page setting to point to the exported HTML file. Each time the browser opens, or each time the Home button is clicked in the browser, the Thumbnail Links Page will be displayed.
<#LINK_TITLE> The link title
<#LINK_DESCRIPTION> The link notes
<#LINK_URL> The link URL
<#LINK_RATING> The link rating
<#LINK_FOLDER> The link folder path
<#LINK_THUMBNAIL> The thumbnail JPEG file path and name
<#LINK_THUMBNAIL_WIDTH> The thumbnail JPEG file width
<#LINK_THUMBNAIL_HEIGHT> The thumbnail JPEG file height
<#LINK_WHEN_ADDED> The date and time the link was added
<#LINK_LAST_MODIFIED> The date and time the link was last modified
<#LINK_LAST_VISITED> The date and time the link was last visited
Note that if the <#LINK_THUMBNAIL> tag is not included anywhere in the link template file, thumbnail JPEG image files will not be created.
The HTML Thumbnail Pages in Folders export option differs from the HTML Thumbnail Links Page export option in that, instead of creating a single HTML page to display all the thumbnail images and link information, a separate HTML page is created for each folder and subfolder, and each of these HTML pages corresponding to a folder interlinks to the pages that correspond to the subfolders of the folder. This export option makes use of the Folder_Template.html, which is not used by the HTML Thumbnail Links Page export option.
The HTML Thumbnail Hierarchy export option differs from the HTML Thumbnail Links Page export option in that, instead of creating a single HTML page to display all the thumbnail images and link information, a separate HTML page is created for each folder and subfolder. These pages do not interlink with each other, but rather a central directory.html page is created that contains a hierarchical directory of all exported folders. This hierarchical directory links directly to each of the HTML pages that are exported for each folder and subfolder.
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