Tinderbox v8: Making and Using a local HTML copy of aTbRef

In order to make a local HTML copy of aTbRef you will need to download two ZIP files from the aTbRef website:

• The TBX source of aTbRef: https://www.acrobatfaq.com/atbref8/aTbRef8.zip. The archive unpacks a single TBX file which can be moved anywhere and opening in Tinderbox.
• A Zip archive of the images to be used by the local website: https://www.acrobatfaq.com/atbref8/images.zip. The archive unpacks a single folder called 'images' containing all the images needed.

Decide where you wish to create the website—even if you may subsequently move it. As the TBX file will remember the location after first use it makes sense to use the final location, if you know it. Create a new empty folder there. The exact name of the export folder doesn't matter—though you need to remember where it is for the export step in Tinderbox.

Uncompress the 'images.zip' file and place the resulting 'images' folder inside your intended export folder, so it is ready for use once the HTML content has been exported.

Find your downloaded aTbRef.tbx file and double click it to open it.

Decide whether you want :

• the full export - the default such as is used publicly online. You may want this in order so see how some of the non-content features like RSS or the version checker actually work. As the TBX is already configured for this, jump to the step: 'Export to HTML - 1' further below.
• an alternate export designed for use without web access, with various export features disabled. All the normal HTML content is still exported.

Scroll the main outline and find the note close to the bottom, which is called 'EXPORT SET UP FOR WEB'. Open its text window.

For local use, alter the two tick-boxes indicated. The note's text describes what the toggle actually controls.

N.B. the note's title is actually 'EXPORT SET UP'; the remainder of the screen name—as seen in the title bar and view pane —is supplied via a display expression.

Note the changes in the outline, to remind you you are now in 'local' export mode. You are ready to export the local HTML version.

Ready to export in either mode? Open the File menu and select Export → as HTML

Use the chooser dialog to navigate your desired export folder, created above in step #2, and select it.

Click Export to start the export process.

A progress bar is shown during export.

This shows the local output. A number of items created for the full website are not created, such as a RSS feed file. If not needed for local server use, the 'robots.txt' and 'sitemap.xml' may also safely be deleted.

Note the 'images' folder, indicated, is not created by the export—this is the folder you need to add from the downloaded Zip file.

The local option leaves out from the exported HTML:

• the Google Translate widget (below the quicklinks) as this loads direct from the web.
• the search function panel (towards the bottom) as this returns results from the Google and DuckDuckGo websites.

The other omissions for local use are unseen code in the page source.

The TBX offers a few more easy controls for customising what is exported, albeit not controlled by the switch in the 'EXPORT SET UP' note.

Can the website be moved once exported? Yes, absolutely. Either in web or local form, the site is self-contained and all in-site links are relative. To move the site around on your Mac, or to a different location on your LAN or web server, simply move the folder (to which you exported) with all of its contents to the new location.

The CC licence was added with regard to the content of the HTML site. Feel free to learn from and use the design and export mechanisms of the TBX without restriction.

The TBX contains, and exports, a Creative Commons Licence to help anyone who wants to re-use the resource in a private organisational setting, e.g. a university LAN or such. You are free to:

• Share: to copy, distribute and transmit the work
• Remix: to adapt the work

…under the following conditions:

• Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Please use this Attribution.
• Non-commercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. The following Waivers are already granted.
• Share Alike. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.

Please note that any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.

Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author's moral rights.

Feel free to experiment. If you really mess up the TBX, simply download a fresh copy. The file's exports are basically a series of exercises exploring what Tinderbox can do with (HTML) export. Note that you don't have to export HTML. Indeed, the 'zipper' pages don't export a page at all - they just call the command line to make the desired zip files. The no-exporting notes have some information about them in their $Text as well as some coverage in the 'About aTbRef' section in the main content.

Should you delete the root note 'A Tinderbox Reference File' and its descendants, you've effectively got a blank vessel for experiment, albeit with some templates looking at user attributes created for the existing content. Generally such template content will result in no export code if the target attributes are not used so they can be left in situ for simple experimenting.

The zipper feature is set to work on the author's system but these customisations are exposed as key attributes in the relevant notes. So, these features too, can be altered for your own use.