Anchoring the design

When you submit a design, it needs to be anchored to a page in the site's navigation hierarchy to become part of the hierarchy--that is, to become a live part of the site. If you submit it without anchoring it, its pages becomes scratch pages.

You can add an anchor to an unanchored design you have already begun work on. But if you know how you will be using a design before you begin the design, you should anchor the design before you begin. If the design is a complete site, you create a blank site and anchor the design to the site's home page. If the design is a subtree of the site's complete navigational hierarchy, you anchor the design to the page the subtree descends from.

To anchor a design to an existing page in a site:

1 Display the page that will anchor the design in a site window, either in a navigation view, a links view, or the Files tab. Using a navigation view gives you the best idea of how the design will be anchored.

2 Open the site design window for the design.

3 Make sure that both windows are accessible, moving one or both windows if necessary.

4 Drag the page that will anchor the design from the site window to the design view. The page appears in the design view with an anchor icon (). It is also listed in the Anchor Pages group in the Staging tab.

Note: Dragging the anchor page to a design view shows it in the view and lists it in the Design folder. However, it does not move or copy the page to the site data folder or place an alias (Mac OS) or shortcut (Windows) there.

To anchor the design of a complete site:

1 Create a blank site. (For information, see Creating a blank site.)

2 Follow the procedure for anchoring to an existing page, using the home page of the existing site as the anchor.

To add an anchor page to an existing unanchored design:

1 Follow the procedure for anchoring to an existing page, but drag the anchor page onto a page in the design.

2 Continue the drag to a position that establishes a family link between the two pages. For information, see Rearranging the parts of a hierarchy.

Make the anchor page a sibling of the page it is linked to. Parent-child links can produce unexpected results.

Designing Web Sites > Setting up a site design > Anchoring the design