Site Builder is the cornerstone of the SiteMason Content Management System. Site Builder allows you to create a full-featured web site out of a group of SiteMason tools. Since Site Builder completely separates the content from the design, you can change your entire “look and feel” at any time. Site Builder is only available to customers with an SBS (business) account, or Enterprise customers. For more information about signing up for a SiteMason account and using Site Builder, see our products page: http://www.sitemason.com/products/service.html.

To get started, first click the "Create Website" button next to the group that you would like to convert into a web site. All of the tools in that group will be a part of the web site. To add pages to your site, simply add tools to that group.

Upon clicking "Create Website," you will be prompted to select a configuration and a template for the site. You can change the template at any time, either during the creation process or any time thereafter; however, the configuration of the site cannot be changed. The next section will teach you more about configurations. After selecting a configuration and template, you are ready to start building your web site!

Your choice of configuration include the SiteMason Simple Configuration and the SiteMason Standard Configuration. The Simple configuration is a subset of the Standard configuration, the difference being that the Standard configuration gives more options, for more control over your site. Having fewer options, the Simple configuration is easier to use. You can choose whichever configuration you wish, but after one is chosen for any particular site, you cannot change it. If at some point down the road you wish you had chosen the other configuration, you can create a new group, turn that into a Site by clicking Create Website, then move all of the tools from the old group into the new group.

One question you may have is: “How do I get that information, such as the copyright information, displayed on my web page?” Or, perhaps more fundamentally, “How do I design the look of my site?” The template that you are using, which is selected under the Configure Layout tab, handles these processes. The template of your Site Builder establishes the look and feel of your web site.

Under the Configure Layout tab, you will see several templates listed with descriptions. Select a template by clicking on the button located to the left of the template that you want to use. When you decide that you want a new look to your site – it's as easy as going to the Configure Layout tab, clicking one button and changing the template!

In general, the information under this tab is integrated into the template and is displayed on every page contained within your Site Builder. More specifically, the elements are as follows:

Description and Keywords
Description and Keywords are not visible on the page. They are used in meta tags to help search engines appropriately categorize the web site. Description should be a one or two sentence description about the site. Keywords should be a list of words that distinguish this site from another.

Title
Title can be seen at the top of the browser window. It is used as the default name when bookmarking a page.

Header Image
Header Image is a wide graphic that might take the place of or complement the text of the Header field. If your logo contains your company name and is wider than it is long, this is the place for it. If it is a graphic currently on the web, enter the URL in Header Image URL.

Main Image
Main Image is any additional picture or decoration that will appear at the top of the site. Many sites include a corner graphic that is different from the standard header. It could be a logo or personal photograph, for instance.

Header and Slogan
Header makes up the main title or header text on your site. It is typically the company name or topic of the web site. Slogan can be a slogan, description, catchphrase or any other text that would describe what is listed in Header. Often, these phrases appear beneath the Header Image.

Background Image
You can use a Background Image to create a pattern for your site.

Navigation, Sidebar, & Tools 
Add extra content to the sidebar of the page by selecting a SiteMason tool. Navigation/Sidebar Tool will be displayed in the navigation bar. Tool 1 and Tool 2 will be displayed on every page. The main use for them will be in the sidebar. All are optional.

Footer
Footer is a generic space for any extra information that needs to be displayed on every page. It could be a disclaimer, a slogan, an address or some links.

Maintainer
Maintainer is the person/webmaster responsible for this site. The maintainer's name can be made clickable with an email address or URL.

Copyright
Copyright is designed to hold any copyright information you wish to include.