I apologize if this question is dumb but this is my first attempt to use FM and the web.

I am just wondering if it is possible to use FM as a simple web authoring tool to create web pages: No fields, no data, no records, just 3/4 pages (layouts) with static info and hyperlinks to navigate from 1 page to the other. As a test I created a layout and tried to save it as HTML so I can view it with a browser but would not save. Does that mean FM can't be used as HTML composer or am I doing it wrong?

You're not doing it wrong, you're just going about it the wrong way.

FM will EXPORT HTML - but only the DATA in the records - but NOT containers!

If you want to web publish the layouts then look at using Instant Web Publishing.

FM is a database system not a HTML generator.

Mark is right here, why take Filemaker out of it's realm at all?

You should be able to get a combination of tools doing exactly what you're after from plucking here:

http://directory.fsf.org/category/web/

What could talk in favor of FM/IWP anyway is that the site maintenance then is pretty intuitive, but do not expect all renderings to be exactly WYSIWYG. The measure of javascripting and CSS in the stream from filemaker is actually pretty clever done, but somewhat shooting sparrows with a canon if the site is static ... and could become tiresom for the reciever to await the rendering of.

I can only see the such a purpose as an attempt to fly under the radar, to prevent fiscal intervention - owing resemblance to pirate radio stations or guerilla warfare???

--sd

Thanks guys. It's just that FM is such a great tool that sometimes I try to make it do what it cannot do; this tells you that I am still a novice.