Interactive Buttons in FrontPage

FrontPage 97 introduced the Hover Button as a means of providing interactivity to a FrontPage Web site. The Hover Button is a Java applet that makes it easy to insert buttons onto a Web page with configurable rollover interactivity. The Hover Button, however, has its share of problems. The Hover Button relies on your Web site visitors having a Java virtual machine installed on their computer. Microsoft no longer ships a Java virtual machine with any of its operating systems, so if you're using Hover Buttons for navigation, you'll need to provide an alternative for those who won't be able to see them.

For more information on Hover Buttons, see "Using Web Components," p. 168.

FrontPage 2003 replaces the Hover Button with Interactive Buttons, and it's a change that FrontPage users will find to be a good one. Because Interactive Buttons are implemented using JavaScript and DHTML, their full functionality requires only a browser that supports DHTML scripting, but even a browser that does not will fail gracefully. This means that even on an older-generation browser, links created with Interactive Buttons will still work even if the rollover effects don't.