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Overview
In the discussion about layout and borders, we basically concluded that everything not in layout was a border. The borders are to the top, left, right, and bottom of the layout. The borders contain the navigation bars, the banner, and anything else you add.
NetObjects clumps all the borders together to create what the application calls a MasterBorder. MasterBorders are convenient in that you can reuse them; you do not have to rebuild the borders everytime you create a new page. Also, you can have consistency in borders across pages by using the same MasterBorder. Be careful though: changing the MasterBorder on one page also changes the MasterBorder on all pages that share that MasterBorder!
A single webpage has exactly one MasterBorder. However, you can create as many MasterBorders as you want, and use as many of them in a website as you want. Keep in mind, though, that the more MasterBorders you have in a website, the more updating you might have to do later.
Working with Borders and MasterBorders
Adding, removing, or editing anything in a page’s MasterBorder will make the same changes in all pages that share that MasterBorder.
In the discussion about layout and borders, I mentioned that the first two grey markers in the rulers at the top and left of the editing window mark the boundaries of the layout. Conversely, the grey markers also delimit the dimensions of the borders. Moving the markers on the rulers changes the size of the borders.
To change the current page’s MasterBorder to another, click anywhere in the border areas (without selecting an object) when in Page View, Page Design tab selected, then open the properties palette. With the General tab selected, you can use the dropdown to change the page’s MasterBorder to any other available MasterBorder. You can also fine tune the borders.
If you click the “Add/Edit...” button, you can create new MasterBorders. In the new dialogue box, click the “Add...” button. You will now be prompted to input a name for the new MasterBorder, along with an existing MasterBorder on which to base the new one. NetObjects then clones the given MasterBorder and gives it the name you have provided. Edit the new MasterBorder as desired.
Advanced trick: to change the MasterBorder of multiple pages at once, go to Site View, Structure tab selected. Shift-click to select all the pages on which you want to change MasterBorders simultaneously. Then open the properties palette, select “MasterBorder” as the top Property, choose the new MasterBorder’s name as the bottom Property, and click “Set on all.”
Next topic: NavBars and Buttons
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