Front and Center: A Few Words on Word

When you talk to some people about creating content for the Web or helping you out with your Web site, they get a glazed look on their face and you know, no matter how hard you try, that these people just don't "get it." Funny thing is, tell these same people that you need a Microsoft Word document and you have a willing helper.

In the end, the Web is about content. If you run the numbers, many more people are going to create content with Word than will ever create content on all the Web development products anywhere.

Use this fact to your advantage in any of the following ways:

  • Let others create in whatever program they want to create. The hardest part is the content creation, and if you have people willing to create content, let them. Have them send you the content in whatever file format they want, and all you have to do is simply cut and paste the content into your FrontPage Web site.

  • Let others create HTML content in Word. If you can get others to create HTML content in Word, they've done even more of the work than in the first option. If they want to create your Web content for you, let them. Sure, you will have to reformat the content to meet your site look and feel, but they've already done the hard work. Even though the HTML created by Word isn't as optimized as you might like, you can always use Word's html optimization features to clean it up.

For more on optimizing HTML in FrontPage, see "Optimizing FrontPage's HTML," p. 549.


In addition to these two options, another approach to Web development should be considered. Forget content creation it is often already available. I've been to offices and consulted on too many projects too many times with people who feel that they have to create content from scratch for the Web. Often, content has already been created, and, more time than not, it has been created in Word. Take these already existing files and either cut and paste them in to your Web or use Word to product the HTML files.

Finally, the issue of Word files saved as HTML needs to be examined.

When Word content is pasted directly in to a Web page, FrontPage will also keep a significant amount of Word metadata in the HTML. Unless the Save as Type option of Web Page, Filtered is selected when a document is saved for the Web site, the content will be saved with the additional Word-related metadata. Best practices state that you remove this additional data through the HTML optimization tools that come with FrontPage.

Two other issues should be mentioned in the discussion of Word and Web development with FrontPage 2003:

  • Don't forget how Dynamic Web Templates radically change the Web design process. When .DWTs are used, you can simply grab text from any source, apply the DWT, and…bam! You have the formatting for the rest of your site. With that kind of ease of use and formatting power, it would be silly to have anyone do any of the work in Word.

  • Simply have people design the content in whatever program they want and email it to you. Heck, have them email the content. Paste the content into a Web page, apply the Dynamic Web Template, and everything else is done for you. It couldn't be easier.

For more detailed information on the design of Dynamic Web Templates, see "Creating Editable Regions," p. 415.


Finally, you need to remember to use each tool for what it is worth. I'm not a big fan of people who try to squeeze too much functionality out of a product that was never meant for the task. How many flyers have you seen developed in PowerPoint or how many tables have you seen made in Excel because the user didn't know that Word had a table option?

If you need to use Word, great. If you are just creating simple content, remember that FrontPage has a good chunk of the functionality and interface that Word does and can meet the needs of most users.

Here's one more thing: Word content tends to be long because it is typically designed for the printed page. When you write for the Web, you need to be short and to the point. If your Word content is long and drawn out and doesn't "translate" well for the Web, make sure to edit as needed.

But Word is there for you to use when and as needed.



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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