Microsoft FrontPage

FrontPage contains a little bit of everything. It has site management features, pre-designed Web themes, starter Webs that are ready for your content, and advanced features (such as navigation buttons and search bots); all with a familiar interface that feels like a combination of Microsoft Word and the Windows Explorer. Figure 15.1 shows a sample page in FrontPage.

Figure 15.1. A sample page in FrontPage.

One of the best features FrontPage has going for it, aside from the fact that the interface is so familiar to most computer users, is that it includes a variety of Web wizards that you can use to define the type of site and the type of pages you want to have. Select a design theme and the program creates all your pages and adds Navigation bars with the hyperlinks already in place. You just add the basic content in the middle of the page.

The Navigation view of FrontPage is exciting as well. You can add, remove, and rearrange the pages in your Web site and FrontPage automatically updates the Navigation bar. (See Figure 15.2.)

Figure 15.2. The Navigation view in FrontPage. You can add, remove, and rearrange pages in this view and the Navigation bar is automatically updated.

FrontPage is available with the Professional Special Edition version of Office; it can also be purchased separately. It integrates well with the other Microsoft Office software packages, such as Word, Excel, and Access. You can even create a Web page in Microsoft Word, save it as a Web page in your FrontPage Web site, and apply the FrontPage Web theme to the finished product without losing your original formatting.

FrontPage supports basic database interactivity well. It can create and update an Access database from a form. In addition, extensive toolbars, menu choices, and shortcut menus make it easy to add your content without cluttering up the editing window. The tabs at the bottom of the FrontPage window enable you to see the actual HTML source code for your page or a split version of the screen so that you can see both the design and code view. (See Figure 15.3.)

Figure 15.3. The Split view of FrontPage.

FrontPage has another feature that you might enjoy using on your Web sites. It includes the capability to add content from some of Microsoft's most popular Web sites (such as Expedia, MSNBC, and bCentral). In Figure 15.4, for instance, you can see that the MSNBC component includes headlines from the News, Living and Travel, Business, and three other sections.

Figure 15.4. Inserting a FrontPage Web component.

Tip

You can find out more about FrontPage at Microsoft's FrontPage Web site (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX010858021033.aspx).

FrontPage does provide some fairly advanced page components that include an ad banner manager, hit counter, search bot, hover buttons, and scheduled image and page substitutions. Most of these features, however, require FrontPage server extensions that you can download free from Microsoft's site.

Caution

Be aware that if you create a Web site in FrontPage and want to publish it to the World Wide Web, you need to find a Web host that supports these server extensions. You'll learn more finding Web hosts in Lesson 16, "Making a Name for Yourself."