Hit Counters, Time Stamps, and other Dynamic Controls

A number of items can be added to your FrontPage Web site that produce dynamic content based on user input or other system variables. Hit counters update your site every time someone visits it and time stamps automatically update site content without you having to do a thing (other than insert the time stamp). Both of these items are very easy to use and implement with FrontPage 2003. We'll show users how many others have visited your site and let them know when content on your page was last updated.

Hit Counters

Hit counters can be inserted in to your FrontPage Web site quickly and easily with the Hit Counter Web component, shown in Figure 21.13. You can select your Hit Counter type from the Insert Web Component dialog box reached by selecting Web Component from the Insert menu.

Figure 21.13. Pick the style of the counter (or insert a counter style of your own), and select the number on the counter.

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For specific direction on using the Hit Counter tool that comes with FrontPage 2003, see "Using Web Components, Shared Borders, and Link Bars," p. 167.


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If you can't use the FrontPage hit counter on your site and need other options for their use, see "Hit Counters Don't Work" in the "Troubleshooting" section at the end of this chapter.


Time Stamps

FrontPage can automatically place the time and date a page was either updated by you or through an automatic update. You are given full control over the date and time format and don't need to add a line of code (or look up the date and time).

NOTE

Information will be taken from your Web server and will not be updated for people viewing your sites from other time zones.


To use this feature, you must be in Design view. Simply select Date and Time from the Insert menu, and FrontPage will show the Date and Time dialog box, shown in Figure 21.14.

Figure 21.14. The Date and Time dialog box lets you select what kind of updating you'd like to see on the page and how you'd like the information formatted.

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If you select the first option, FrontPage will show the date and time the page was last edited by a human editor. If you select the second option, FrontPage will also update the page if content was updated automatically, through an included file or some other server-side content update process.

TIP

In most cases, a date stamp is sufficient for most uses of this feature. Going down to the specific minute is a bit overboard (and confusing for people in different time zones).


Using the Date and Time dialog box, you can choose the format for the date and time to appear on your site. You can also choose to just show the date with no specific time stamp.

TIP

Be careful not to use the Time Stamp date on a page you don't intend on updating on a regular basis. Just a few short months later, it can often have the unintended effect of telling visitors that you don't care enough about your site to update it regardless of the evergreen nature of your site content.


Marquee

Another dynamic effect is the Marquee, also achieved through the Web Component dialog box (accessed by selecting Web Component from the Insert menu). The Marquee effect scrolls text across your screen (like a theater marquee) in the direction and speed you set. FrontPage will open the Marquee Properties dialog box, shown in Figure 21.15.

Figure 21.15. The Marquee Properties dialog box lets you set every aspect of the <marquee> tag.

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NOTE

The Marquee tag only works on Internet Explorer and is ignored on all other Web browser types. When the Marquee tag is used on a browser that doesn't support the tag, the text will be shown, but the effect will not be rendered.


After the text is entered, set the direction, speed behavior, and size accordingly. If you'd like the effect to repeat, choose how many times. You can also set background colors for the Marquee effect, if desired.

TIP

If you use the Marquee effect, set it to only show once. A continuous moving effect will irritate most site visitors.


Interactive Buttons

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The last dynamic effect we'll specifically discuss in this chapter is the Interactive Button feature, an item new to FrontPage 2003. It provides both a clean button designer with a mouse over effect that is quite impressive. It adds a certain level of effect to your site without being overwhelming and adding the Java solution seen in previous versions of FrontPage.

As seen in Figure 21.16, you can set the text and link for each button and choose from a long list of button styles and colors. In addition, you can insert any image as a button through the Image tab of the Interactive Buttons dialog box.

Figure 21.16. The Interactive Buttons dialog box gives you numerous options for setting a dynamically generated mouse over button.

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For a full explanation on using Interactive Buttons, see "Using Interactive Buttons," p. 441.


Other Controls

FrontPage provides a considerable amount of additional dynamic element options through the Web components feature. This includes, but is not limited to, Flash movies, Java applets, plug-in content, and the like. A number of components also provide content from other Microsoft locations such as Microsoft Expedia (for maps) and MSNBC (for weather and news information).

For more information on using the additional Web components provided by FrontPage, see "Using Web Components, Shared Borders, and Link Bars," p. 167.




Special Edition Using Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
Special Edition Using Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
ISBN: 0789729547
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 443

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