Minimum Display Size There are times when you'll need to set a "minimum display size" for your Scrippy stationery in order to keep positioned objects or containers from moving or overlapping each other if the viewer's preview pane or stationery is smaller than yours. This has always been a problem, even in regular scripts. Scrippy gives you an easy solution that allows your stationery to be viewed as it was created, regardless of the viewer's settings!! See Minimum Display Size
Saving Scrippy Creations Any time I create a Scrippy file that I may want to use again later, I always save it as an SSC file, along with the graphic and sound files that go with it. Scrippy does not embed the files used to create the stationery, it only saves the "path" information as to where the files are located on your hard drive. If you should ever move any of the graphics used to create a Scrippy, or heaven forbid have to format and recreate your hard drive and don't put everything back "exactly" where it was when you created the Scrippy ... then you'll get the dreaded Red Xs when you reopen the Scrippy file. I have a separate folder on my hard drive for all my Scrippys, with subfolders as needed. After I finish my Scrippy, first I click on File > Copy Files > Copy Graphics and Sounds into whatever folder I'm saving it into (this could even be your stationery folder). Then I click on File > Save As and give the SSC file a name and save it into the same folder as the graphics. This puts the proper path into the SSC file for the graphics, showing them in the same folder as the SSC file. If you know for sure your graphics will always be where you have them when you created the Scrippy, then you don't have to resave the graphics with the SSC file. But I for one don't trust that thought! :O) And as always, back up your files!
Snagging graphics from Scrippy Messages - To save any of the files used to create a Scrippy message ... here's what you do:
Saving the SSC file, instead of the HTML file, gives you the ability to open the file again in Scrippy and make adjustments or changes to it later .. or to use it as a template for new creations.
Sometimes it's difficult to visualize where a container is located or how big it is after you create it. To make it easy to see the size and location of a container, just insert a 1 pixel frame into that container with a contrasting color. That will give you a visual look at the container. When you're done sizing and locating it where you want it, just go back and delete the frame.
If you've created several positioned containers and decide you need to move all of them from say ... being centered from the top to 30 pixels from the top, an easy way to do that is create a new Positioned Container and drag all the other containers into the new one. Set the size to fit all the other containers inside it and then you can easily move everything by just adjusting the Horizontal or Vertical position for the new container, rather than each individual container.
When placing positioned objects or containers in Scrippy, always work from a known point. By that I mean, if you have 4 objects you're adding to Scrippy, it's best to place them all X number of pixels from the same point, say the center. Be careful if you place some from the right and some from the center because it may not always display correctly if the viewer's preview area is smaller than your created area.
You can change your default loading message any time you'd like. Just click on Tools and then on Default Object Settings. Here you can set to have a loading message or not ... and if you decide to have one, how long you want your loading page to be displayed, as well as the background color. You can add graphics or text to your loading message. You can also add a default ticker if you'd like and select settings for the message area. There is also an Options button for setting the minimum display size, background color, page title and hyperlink colors. These settings will be the default for every message or web page you create. If you want a different loading message or option just for one particular Scrippy, you can leave your loading message defaults alone, and just click on Insert > Loading Message or Options. These buttons will override the default settings for that message.
This is a personal preference, but I keep my default margins for text set at zero all the way around. I adjust them for each Scrippy as needed. The reason I do this is because if you have say a 50 pixel margin set ... it can drive you nuts trying to figure out why things aren't looking right in your container, only to discover it's because of your default margin spacing.
If you are creating stationery that you'll want to use for writing messages, be sure you always include a Message Area with at least a blank space in it, or just write the words "Text here". That way other people can use it and will have a message area to write in.
Scrippy File Size - You can keep track of the size of your Scrippy file by looking down in the lower, right hand corner of the Scrippy window. As you add new objects, you'll see a running total of the file size. NOTE: Keep in mind that this is the actual size of the Scrippy and not what it will be once you've sent it to Outlook Express. OE adds it's own stuff and therefore increases the file size. Sometimes it can be quite a bit. If you don't have a Size column for your Outbox, you can always just right mouse click on the message in the Outbox and then click on Properties, that will give you the total size of your message before you send it. If you want to add a size column, click on View > Columns and put a checkmark next to Size. You may have to adjust the distance between the columns for viewing.
Be sure to layer things in the order you want them to appear in your final creation. The last object inserted on the control panel will be on top of everything else.
If the scroll bar doesn't seem to work in your message area, one possible reason is because you have a transparent graphic over the top of the message area. Scrippy won't let you reach through a transparent gif to get to the scroll bar. Try moving the transparent gif ABOVE the container containing the message area on the control panel. Your scroll bar should work then.
If you add graphics to a Message Area, once your Scrippy is in Outlook Express, from the Edit tab, you can right mouse click on that graphic and go to Properties where you can put a border around it if you like.
There have been a few times when I have copied text from something to the clipboard and for some reason Scrippy won't let me paste it into my Message Area. If this happens, just paste the text into NOTEPAD first, then recopy it and now it will paste into your Scrippy Message Area.
Suzaan gave me this great tip on using two backgrounds scrolling in opposite directions, one set at 50 percent transparency. You can obtain a very nice effect if you set the Horizontal Start at say 20 pixels and the Vertical Start at 40 pixels on one of the backgrounds, or whatever might work best for your particular needs.
Don't forget that you can drag buttons up and down the Control Panel and in and out of containers any time you like. It's amazing how just moving things around can completely change the look of your stationery!
Animated Graphics - If you create a complicated Scrippy with lots of graphics, scrolling, etc in your stationery, any animated gifs will be the last to be given priority when the message is displayed. That means that the animated gif may not be animated. So don't think it's anything you're doing wrong.
If you add a complicated textured or pattern background to your Scrippy, you'll notice that when you add a message area, you're stuck writing on that complicated background. If you add another background using a solid color close to your texture/pattern color, and put it ABOVE the textured/pattern button on the button list, then your message area will have the solid color available for you to write on rather than the texture or pattern, making it much easier to see your text while writing it. Just make sure the solid color button is above the texture/pattern button. The solid color will not show up on your Scrippy.
