Create Site Map

By creating an “org chart” of sort for your site, Muse will AUTOMATICALLY create a sitemap.xml file that can be used by a search engine like Google to index your site more effectively.

It is important to note, that pages are not the same as templates (e.g., A-Master). Content of a template is APPLIED to pages to make them more consistent and easy to update. While you can have multiple templates on your site,  you can only have ONE template applied to a page at a time.

By default, all pages are AUTOMATICALLY based on the A-Master template. And while you can remove a template from a page, it is to your advantage to use a template even if you have a one page web because you may need to create additional pages later and the common areas (e.g., header, menu and, footer) will already be established.

MEMORY TIP: It is helpful to think of a template as a rubber stamp. For example, you could have five blank pages and if you APPLY (STAMP) those pages with the PAID IN FULL rubber stamp that does not have any ink applied to it, there will be no change to the pages even though the rubber stamp was applied to each page. However, if you dip the PAID IN FULL rubber stamp in some ink and then apply it to the same five pages, you see that those five pages will receive the PAID IN FULL stamp so that they are all consistent. While you could also have another rubber stamp, let's say a OVER DUE rubber stamp, you would not want to apply it to a page that already have a PAID IN FULL stamp applied. Hence, you can only applied one of these stamp (template) to a page at a time.

How to CREATE/DELETE a page or template:

How to APPLY/REMOVE a template to a page:

How to REMOVE a template from a page:

How to prevent a page from being exported:

Instruction

  1. Open up Muse and select File > New Site... from the menu or press CTRL+N.
  2. In the New Site dialog box that appears, change the Column Width to 1200.

    NOTE: Notice the Column Width MATCHS the Comp size created in Photoshop we created earlier. The  Min Width (320) and Min Height (500) properties correspond to the average size of a small phone.

    TIP: Click on the Advanced Settings link and hover over each element in this dialog box to see a tool tip about how to use them. Click on the question mark icon to see additional on-line help. To view the elements that are dimmed, either click to increase the number of columns to change the gutter size or the link icon to change the margins.

  3. Click the OK button.
  4. Select File > Save and navigate to the folder you created in the Prep section (e.g., Cornelius Portfolio), give the file a name (e.g., CorneliusPortfolio) and then click the Save button.
  5. Double-click on the first thumbnail's name (Home) and rename:
    •  About Me
  6. Double-click the page thumbnail to open it in Design View.
  7. Click on the Text Tool and drag out a Text Box at the top center of the screen and in it type:
    •  About Me
  8. Double-click to select the text INSIDE of the text box that you just created to highlight (select) the text.
  9. Click on the Text button to open the Text properties panel and change:
    • Font size to 30
    • Font all caps
    • Font weight to Bold
    • Text alignment to Center
    • Heading Level to <h1> Headline 1
  10. With the selection tool, move the text box to the top/center of the screen below the header area using the smart guide.


    NOTE: It is best to center the text in the Text box and have the Text box sized to match the largest title that will be entered so that if you center the text on the page it will be a true center and not a center based off of the Text Box width:


  11. Click on the website tab (e.g., CorneliusPortfolio) to return to the Plan View.
  12. Press and hold down the ALT (PC) or Option (Mac) key and click the plus sign (+) to the right of the thumbnails repeatedly to add the following SIBLING pages based on the [A-Master] template and give each descriptive title name:
    • About Me (Bio or Objective)
    • Experience (Resume)
    • Portfolio (Works / Accomplishments)
    • Contact Me (Feedback form)
    • Private Page (Not shown on site)

      NOTE: By using the ALT or OPTION key, you DUPLICATED the page with the About Me header on it instead of creating blank pages where you would had to add a heading to each one of them individually.
      NOTE: It is important to give the page short names as they will be used as menu items later.

  13. CHECK POINT: You should see each page created with the heading ABOUT ME displayed.



  14. Click the plus sign (+) at the bottom of the Portfolio thumbnail (or whatever page you want to add a sub-menu to) and add the following CHILD page based on the [A-Master] template and give it a descriptive title name:
    • Web Design
  15. Click the plus sign (+) to the right of the the Web Design thumbnail (or whatever page you want to add a sub-menu to) and add the following CHILDREN pages based on the [A-Master] template and give them descriptive title names:
    • RIA
    • E-learning Apps
    • Mobile Apps

  16. CHECK POINT: You should see the following site maps:


You will see later, that when you use a menu widget:

Time-saving Tips

Below is a list of other things you can do while in the Plan View: