Configuring Web View Options

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After you create your core Web page documents and save your documents (including adding title bar text), you're well into Web page creation territory. As you start to design your Web pages, you're going to need to keep track of whether your content will be displayed according to your design plans when the page is displayed in Web browsers. To help you keep an eye on your pages, Word provides a number of Web-centric views you can use while you create and modify Web pages, as follows:

• Web Layout view. Web Layout view is the working view in Word when you're creating Web pages and documents that will be viewed on screen. When you're in this view, you can see backgrounds, text wrapping, and graphics in a manner similar to how the page will be displayed in a browser. To switch to Web Layout view, choose View, Web Layout, or click the Web Layout View button to the left of the horizontal scroll bar.
• Web Page Preview. You can view your Web page documents in your browser at any time. You should do this frequently to ensure that your page will be displayed as planned. To view an open Web page document in your browser, choose File, Web Page Preview. If your browser isn't open, it opens automatically, and the current Web page document is displayed in your browser. To return to Word, close or minimize your browser window, and redisplay the Word window.
• HTML source code. You can view and edit a Web page's HTML source code at any time. To do so, choose View, HTML Source. You might have to install the Microsoft Script Editor the first time you choose this option. If a message box appears, stating that you need to install the script editor, insert your installation CD, and then click OK in the installation message box. For more information about editing source code, see the section "Editing Source Code Using the Microsoft Script Editor."

In addition to using these views, you should always check your Web pages in a variety of browsers (including past and present versions of Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator) and on various platforms (at least on the Mac and PC) before you publish your Web pages on line. If you're designing for the Internet, you'll want your Web pages to look the best possible to the widest audience. Of course, if you're designing for a company network, you'll probably have to test your Web pages only on the browser types and versions used by employees.

Tip - View your pages on various platforms

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Although checking your Web pages on various platforms is highly recommended, it's not always easily accomplished. If you don't have a test network set up for this purpose, you can use some creative ingenuity to check your Web pages. For example, consider posting your pages on line in a temporary directory. Then you can ask friends, relatives, and associates to view the temporary pages on their systems. You can also copy your files to a disk and take the disk to a nearby copy store to view your Web pages on their computers (for which you will probably be charged a fee). Or you can check out your Web pages on your local library's computers if it provides Internet access for members or allows you to bring your own disks. Finally, if you don't want to buy another computer or two for testing purposes, you can purchase software that enables you to install and run multiple operating systems on a single computer. Currently, VMWare is a popular software package that enables you to run multiple operating systems. You can find out about the software by visiting the company's Web site, at http://www.vmware.com.