Frequently Asked Questions

Below are answers to questions you may have about OverSite.

General OverSite Questions

Questions About Printing/Exporting

Questions About Specific Functionality

Registration Questions

OverSite is a tool for web designers and developers, as well as anyone who creates other types of software. It provides a number of functions, all designed around creating prototypes. For example, you can use OverSite to create a sitemap, depicting the overall structure of the Web site you're creating. You can also create wireframes, or mockups of your site's pages, attach notes to the wireframes, and add interactivity.

OverSite also focuses on getting things done quickly. This includes not only the rapid creation of prototypes, but also quick and easy edits as you move forward.

Once you've installed OverSite and launched it, you're ready to create a new prototype. The first thing to do is to create a site structure. OverSite will automatically generate a sitemap illustrating the structure. After that, you can add elements such as text, buttons, images, etc to the different pages in your site structure. As you do this, you can wire up interactivity between different elements and pages, and attach notes to various elements to provide more detailed information. From there, you can test the interactivity of your structure; print out your sitemap, wireframes, and/or notes; and export your site structure in a variety of formats, including HTML, image files, PDF, etc.

Of course! The best way for us to know how to improve OverSite is for you to tell us. Just use the form below to submit a comment; or, you can use the comments form within OverSite by accessing the Help -> Comments/Suggestions menu item. We can't promise that every request will make it into a future version of OverSite; however, many of our feature enhancements have in fact come from users.

I would like to use OverSite to build my mock website and then provide it to my web designer. However, my web designer does not have OverSite. Will I be able to export it into HTML for her to see it (and what format would she see it in)?

You can export your website structure and wireframes into HTML (in addition to other formats such as PDF, although that would not provide you with click- through/link functionality the way an HTML export would). You have two options:

1. exporting as pure HTML, where all widgets (except, of course, for images themselves) would be rendered as HTML widgets; e.g. a button would be rendered as <input type="button" ...>
2. exporting as clickable images, where each page's wireframe would be written to an image, and the browser would display a web page consisting primarily that image. The page would also contain imagemap functionality, so that clicking on links would still work.

When I try to print, I just get a blank sheet of paper from the printer. If I try to output to PDF, I just get a blank PDF. What do I need to do to print a diagram?

Check to be sure that you created any pages in the left-hand structure editor, or if you'd created your wireframe/diagram in the "root" node (which is the node that appears by default, with the globe icon). If in fact you haven't created any pages yourself, go ahead and create one and then try printing/PDF-exporting. Hopefully that should solve the issue.

Here's the reason why: OverSite assumes that you're creating an entire site structure, complete with individual pages. When you go to print, OverSite will print out those pages. But the "root" node is not a page; it in fact represents the top level section of your web site. The reason why it has a wireframe canvas is to allow you to lay out components that will appear on every subsequent; for example, a global navigation bar designed to appear on every page on the site would be a good thing to add to the root node. But again, that navigation bar will only be printed via the pages that appear within top-level section.

That's why adding a single, blank page should allow you to print: any elements you'd added to the root node will show up on that page as well.

When I link from the home page to a Section node 1 level down and use Click Thru, the click thru goes all the way down the tree structure - section1/page1/. I just want it to stop at the Section 1 level. Is that possible?

OverSite treats sections as simply folders that contain pages. So it's not something the end user would actually see on a web site; rather, it just contains the pages, which in turn are what the user sees.

As a convenience, OverSite provides wireframes attached to sections. Those wireframes are to construct global elements to appear within all of its child pages. An example might be navigation bar that should appear on all pages within a certain section.

So when you link to a section in OverSite, OverSite will display the first page in that section (similar to, say, placing an index.html file within a folder on a live website, expecting that when the user enters the URL of that folder into their browser, they will actually see index.html). In the case you describe, OverSite displays the first page that it finds within section 1.

OverSite's grouping feature is not synonomous with the grouping tool found in drawing tools such as Illustrator, in which elements are batched together as a single atmoic entity. Instead, it serves to create a visual border around the elements. Select one or more components in a wireframe canvas, and then access the Layout -> Create Grouping menu item. A border will be drawn around the selected components. If you move or resize any of the components within the grouping, the border will change size and/or shape as required. You can also double-click the border to adjust its appearance.

When you register your copy of OverSite, you will be asked to provide the exact version number that you are registering (this version number can be found in OverSite's About window). You will then receive a registration code that can be entered into that exact version of OverSite. Although you must enter the registration code into the version you'd registered, your registration is valid for any minor upgrade versions. For example, say you'd registered version 2.2.1 of OverSite. You must enter the registration code into version 2.2.1 of OverSite. However, if you upgrade to version 2.2.2--or version 2.3, 2.3.1, 2.4, etc--your upgraded copy will still be registered. Upon the next major release, however (e.g. version 3.0) you will be required to purchase a new registration code, most likely at a discounted price.

Your registration code is valid for any copies of OverSite that you, personally and exclusively, use. For example, if you have a Windows computer at work, and a Macintosh at home, you can install a copy of OverSite on each and use the same registration code. Any co-workers, family members or roommates, however, must purchase their own registration code.

If you've registered your copy of OverSite but can't enter the registration code that you were provided, there are a few possible culprits. First, of course, be sure that you've entered the exact registration code that you were given; cutting & pasting the code is recommended. Next, in the Email address field, be sure that you've entered the exact email address that you'd used to register (your registration email should indicate which email address you'd used.)

If neither of those are the culprit, then you may have received a registration code for one version of OverSite, but are trying to enter it into another version. When you registered, you were asked to enter the version of OverSite that you have installed on your computer. The registration code that was sent to you was generated specifically for that exact version of OverSite. If you'd accidentally entered the wrong version during registration, or if you'd subsequently downloaded a newer version of OverSite, then you won't be able to enter the registration code (your registration email should indicate which version you'd registered). But don't worry; your payment is still valid! Here are a few things you can do:

• If you currently have an older version of OverSite installed but registered the latest version, you can download the latest version and install that. You'll then be able to enter the registration code, and also take advantage of OverSite's latest features!
• If you had registered an older version of OverSite, and then downloaded a newer version, and you still have the older version sitting around, you can simply launch the older version, enter your registration code, then quit the older version and continue using the newer version. (Note that Windows users do not have this option, since the Windows installer requires that a previous version be uninstalled before a newer version can be installed.)

Awhile back, Apple released a new version of Quicktime, version 7.0.4, which wreaked havoc for a number of applications including OverSite. That we know of, OS X version 10.3.9 is the only version of OS X which, when combined with Quicktime version 7.0.4, suffers this issue. Fortunately, we've developed a fix. Just download qt-fix.jar. Place it in the same directory as your OverSite application, and just double-click it. Your problem should be solved!

Have a question about OverSite? Use the form below to send it in. All questions regarding installation and initial use of the OverSite application will be answered in as timely a manner as possible. Other questions from registered users will similarly be answered as quickly as possible. Please be sure to include a correct email address when submitting a question.