Building Web Pages and Web Sites

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Now that you've mastered the details of configuring Word to serve as a Web page editor according to your needs, you're ready to look at some of the Web page creation features in Word. As mentioned, you can choose from a variety of approaches when you're creating Web pages: You can save an existing document as a Web page, open a new blank Web page, base your Web page on templates, or create an entire site using the Web Page Wizard. In this section, we'll take a brief look at some of the techniques you can use to get your Web pages off on the right foot.

The process of saving existing documents as Web pages is discussed in the section "Saving Your Web Pages" .

Starting from Scratch

If you want to create a Web page without using a template, your best bet is to start by opening a blank Web page. To do so, open the New Document task pane (by choosing File, New), and click the Blank Web Page link. When you open a blank Web page, Word automatically disables features that aren't supported on the Web by the target browser(s) specified on the Browsers tab in the Web Options dialog box (as described in the section "Specifying Target Browser Options"). For example, underline colors aren't supported when you create Web pages. In addition, the New Blank Document icon on the Standard toolbar changes to a New Web Page icon, so when you're working on a Web page, you can quickly create a new, blank Web page by clicking the New Web Page button on the Standard toolbar.

To customize your Web pages, you can integrate of number of Word features, just as you do when you create other Word documents. The following features will come in especially handy when you're creating Web pages:

  • Frames. You can display multiple Web pages at one time by using frames, as described in Chapter 23, "Using Word's Desktop Publishing Features." The most common way to use frames in Web pages is to present a menu bar in a side frame that contains hyperlinks to the Web site's Web pages. As users click the hyperlinks in the menu frame, the associated Web page's contents are displayed in the main frame.
  • Tables. When you create Web pages, you can use tables to help control your page's layout. Using tables in Web pages is an extremely popular technique for page setup, and some of the Word Web page templates take advantage of tables, as you'll see in the next section, "Using Web Page Templates." For more information about working with tables, see Chapter 18, "Organizing Concepts in Tables," as well as the section "Using Tables to Align Web Page Elements".
  • Themes. You can quickly add a background, text formatting, bullets, and horizontal rules to Web pages by applying themes. For more information about themes, see Chapter 23, "Using Word's Desktop Publishing Features." If you work through the Web Page Wizard to create a Web site, you'll be able to apply a theme as you create your foundation Web site. For more information about the Web Page Wizard, see the section "Using the Web Page Wizard".

Remember, creating a Web page from a blank Web page document is the same as creating a document from a new, blank document. If you'd like to jump-start your Web page creation project, you might want to try out the default Web page templates provided in Word, as described next.

Using Web Page Templates

If you need a little help getting started on your Web page, you can turn to the templates available in the Templates dialog box for ideas. You'll probably find that Word provides a template that will serve your needs nicely. By default, Word offers seven Web page templates (in addition to the Blank Web Page template): Column With Contents, Frequently Asked Questions, Left-Aligned Column, Personal Web Page, Right-Aligned Column, Simple Layout, and Table Of Contents.

To access the Web page templates, follow these simple steps:

  1. Choose File, New to open the New Document task pane.
  2. Click the General Templates link, and in the Templates dialog box, click the Web Pages tab, shown in Figure 31-8.

    figure 31-8. by default, word includes seven web page templates that contain preformatted page layouts and placeholder text.

    Figure 31-8. By default, Word includes seven Web page templates that contain preformatted page layouts and placeholder text.

  3. Select the template you want to use, make sure that Document is selected in the Create New section, and then click OK.
  4. When the template document opens, replace the placeholder text and graphics with your contents.

Tip


To best retain a Web page template's formatting and hyperlink settings, replace each placeholder element individually, instead of deleting the template's contents and attempting to rebuild the template's page layout.

The main advantage of using templates is that you can instantly start to focus on your Web page's contents instead of the page's layout and formatting.

Using the Web Page Wizard

To streamline Web page creation beyond using templates, you might want to put the Web Page Wizard to work. When you work though this wizard, you have the opportunity to add existing documents and Web pages to your Web site, apply a theme, insert a hyperlink bar (such as a navigation bar or a menu bar), and automatically use frames. By the time you complete the wizard, you'll have an almost complete Web page or Web site that you can fine-tune to suit your preferences.

Tip - Prepare text before running the Web Page Wizard


If possible, prepare a text file for each page you plan to include in your Web site using standard Word default styles, such as Heading 1, Normal, and so forth. If your existing Word documents use default Word headings, your Web pages' text will be automatically formatted according to the theme you select while working through the Web Page Wizard.

To use the Web Page Wizard, follow these steps:

  1. Choose File, New to open the New Document task pane, and click the General Templates link to open the Templates dialog box.
  2. Click the Web Pages tab, and double-click the Web Page Wizard. The Web Page Wizard Start page opens. Click Next to continue to the next page.
  3. On the Title And Location page, enter a name for your Web site and the path where the main page of your Web site should be stored. Make sure that you enter short, descriptive text for the title text—this text will be displayed in viewers' title bars, so you'll want to be sure that it clearly identifies your Web page. Click Next to continue.
  4. On the Navigation page, specify whether you want to use a vertical or horizontal frame for navigation by clicking Vertical Frame or Horizontal Frame, or click Separate Page to provide navigation via hyperlinks rather than a navigation or menu bar. Click Next to continue.
  5. The Add Pages page allows you to specify which pages to include in your new Web site. You can add new pages, pages based on templates, or pages based on existing files. Click Next to move to the next page.
  6. On the Organize Pages page, select a page in the list and click Move Up or Move Down to change the page's order in the navigation bar. You'll want your home page to be displayed at the top of your list. You can also select a page in the list and click Rename to open the Rename Hyperlink dialog box and change the name of the selected page. Click Next to continue.
  7. On the Visual Theme page, specify whether to use a theme for your Web site. By default, the default theme will be selected for your Web site. If you want to select a different theme, click Browse Themes to open the Theme dialog box. Click Next to view the final page.
  8. Click Finish on the End page to create your Web site.

You'll find that the Web Page Wizard will enable you to quickly pull together a functional Web page or Web site that you can customize to suit your needs. The wizard comes in especially handy when you're creating Web pages based on existing documents. For example, you might want to use the Web Page Wizard to create an online résumé based on an existing Word version of your résumé, or maybe you'd like to post your company's policies on line and you already have the policies in Word format. Using existing documents, the Web Page Wizard can help you to quickly create a Web site containing formatting and hyperlinks to related information.

Tip - Modify your Web pages for your server


Before you create a Web site using Word's Web Page Wizard, you should check with your Internet hosting service or network administrator regarding a few specifics. Namely, you should check your server's policies regarding .htm vs. .html extensions, default vs. index home-page naming schemes, and the use of spaces in file names. By default, the Web Page Wizard generates HTML files using .htm extensions and allows you to use file names that contain spaces. In addition, the wizard names your home page default.htm instead of index.htm. If your server doesn't support the wizard's defaults, you'll have to edit your Web page's HTML code to conform to your server's specifications.



Microsoft Word Version 2002 Inside Out
Microsoft Word Version 2002 Inside Out (Inside Out (Microsoft))
ISBN: 0735612781
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 337

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