Getting Started with the Basics

In some books, they tell you to forget everything you learned previously, because everything is different. Well, I m not going to do that. Instead, I m going to let you in on a little secret ”a big secret, actually. Here goes: When it comes to the basics of entering and editing text, working with a document in FrontPage 2003 is very similar to working with a document in Microsoft Office Word 2003.

You ll find similar or identically-named menus , menu options, toolbars , and tools, and these basic features work much like they do in Word 2003. So, rather than spending several chapters discussing things you already know, let s take a quick look at the basics of working with text, and then go on to more challenging tasks .

Entering and Manipulating Text

FrontPage makes it easy to enter and manipulate text. You enter text by typing it. When you type, the characters appear at the cursor position. Unlike Word, FrontPage doesn t allow you to switch between insert and overwrite mode. FrontPage is always in insert mode, meaning that, when you type, characters are inserted at the cursor position, and any existing characters are pushed to the right.

You can correct typos and manipulate text using the Word techniques you know. For line-editing :

• Backspace Press Backspace to erase characters to the left of the cursor.

• Delete Press Delete to erase the character to the right of the cursor.

• Enter Press Enter to complete a paragraph and move the cursor to the next line in the document.

If you want to select text so that you can manipulate or delete it, you have several options. You can:

• Select single word Double-click the word to select it.

• Select paragraph Triple-click anywhere in the paragraph to select it.

• Select section of text Click at the beginning of the text section, drag the mouse to the end of the selection, and then release the mouse button.

• Select all text from cursor to beginning of document Press Ctrl+Shift+Home

• Select all text from cursor to end of document Press Ctrl+Shift+End

• Select entire document Press Ctrl+A

Getting Text Just the Way You Like It

You can format text using headings, paragraphs and alignment. Headings help you organize your ideas. For example, the chapters of most nonfiction books use many levels of headings. You will usually find chapter headings and section headings that pertain to each major topic, and subheadings pertaining to subtopics.

FrontPage provides six levels of headings. You set the heading level using the Style drop-down list on the Format toolbar. Select Heading 1 for a 24-point font size, Heading 2 for an 18-point font size, Heading 3 for a 14-point font size , and so on. When you enter a heading and press enter, FrontPage returns to the Normal style, which is the style for regular paragraphs.

Paragraphs help to visually break up the page, and are normally styled using a 12-point font. Don t overlook the importance of the way text is used on the page. To better organize and control text more precisely, use:

• Alignment To align a paragraph, heading, or other text element, just move the insertion point to the text element you want to align, then select the alignment you want to use from the Format toolbar. The alignment options are Align Left, Center, Align Right, and Justify.

• Font Size To the right of the alignment options, you ll find the Increase Font Size and Decrease Font Size tools. Click Increase Font Size to step up the font size incrementally. Click Decrease Font Size to step down the font size incrementally.

• You can indent text using the Format toolbar's Increase Indent tool. Each time you click this tool, FrontPage indents the text element about an inch. To decrease the indentation, use the Decrease Indent button.