Printable Version
(total tutorial)

BEGINNING TO USE FRONTPAGE 2000
TO EDIT WEB PAGES

Dr. Richard L. Bowman
Academic Computing, Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, VA, USA 22812

Appendix A: Follow These Suggestions
and Things to Remember

• Edit Your Web Page in FrontPage 2000 and at the Same Time Display It in Internet Explorer .

FrontPage 2000 attempts to display web pages as they would be viewed in a web browser, but to be certain of the look and feel of a web page, display it in a web browser. Note: Remember to save the file after making changes and to refresh the web page display in the browser to see what effect the changes have on how the page displays.

• Make Certain Your Web Page Has a Title.

To add or change a title of a web page, right click on the web page and select "Page Properties". This title is what will show up at the top of the browser when the page is viewed by a user. It will also be the name of its entry in the Favorites column, when it is added there, and it will be the name displayed by search engines that index your site.

• Place Your Name (as Author) and the Date of Creation or Modification at the Bottom of Your Web Page.

Just as a book should identify its author, so should web pages. Also, with the rapid changes in our world, placing the date of creation or modification on a web page is very important. If you have an email address, it is also a good idea to make a link from which persons can email you.

• Hyperlinks and Email Addresses Should Usually Be Shown as Full URLs.

While there are cases where making a special word or phrase a hyperlink to some other web resource, remember that the associated web address (URL) does not print out when the web page is printed by a user. Good web authoring practice would thus be to use the full URL as the hyperlink text. This is what has been done most often in this tutorial.

This also makes creating the hyperlink in FrontPage 2000 an easy experience. Simply type the URL, e.g., http://www.bridgewater.edu/~rbowman/ (with a space before and after the URL), and FrontPage 2000 will automatically convert it to a hyperlink. If the URL is an email address, then the appropriate "mailto" HTML code will be created, e.g., rbowman@bridgewater.edu .

• The Main Web Page of Your Site Should Have the Name "index.html".

On the Bridgewater College web server, as on many web servers, if the main page at any site is named "index.html," then it can be referenced in a hyperlink by giving the directory name only. For example, the main page of Bridgewater's Academic Computing site is named "index.html" and can be access by going to http://www.bridgewater.edu/cescc/acadcomp/ where the file name of "index.html" is provided implicitly by the server.

• Initially Edit And Save Your Web Pages on Your Hard Drive.

Web pages that are saved on any hard drive can be viewed by a browser by simply locating the file and double-clicking on its icon/name. It will be displayed automatically by the browser. Editing web pages off of the web server allows the user to make changes without displaying all of the construction process to the world.

• When You Are Ready to Show the World Your Creation, Save the Web Pages and Associated Files to the Web Server.

At Bridgewater, web pages can simply be saved to the W-drive to be visible to the world. Minor changes can also be made to a web page directly from the W-drive, as long as the file is saved back to the W-drive.

• Include Pictures or Graphics, but Keep Them Small with a Narrow Subject Focus.

Use the "Insert" menu or the "Insert Image" button to add a picture or graphic where the cursor is presently located. Images can add a lot to a web page; however, keep in mind that the larger the image file, the longer it will take to load on computers that are off-campus and using modems to connect to the Internet.

• Use Tables to Facilitate Layout of Text and Graphics.

Many times columns of text and graphics are desired on a web page, or the author wishes a graphic to be placed at a certain position on the page and for text to flow around it in a certain way. This can be accomplished by using tables. Hint: the border around a table can be set to zero, and it will not be displayed on the web page. Additional Hint: do not use the width parameter on your tables so that they will be sized automatically by whatever browser is displaying the web page. Horizontal scroll bars should be avoided at all costs!

• Learn to Use the Right Mouse Button to Get Menus that Facilitate Tailoring Particular Features on the Web Page.

FrontPage 2000 will present a context-specific menu when a web author right-clicks on a particular location or feature on the web page being edited. Learn to use this very valuable feature from your first day of web authoring.

• Utilize a Bite-sized Informational Style.

Internet users expect to find information in bulleted lists, short paragraphs, and hyperlinks to more information. Avoid long and wordy pages that are hard to read and that make it difficult for users to find exactly what they want. (Pages such as this tutorial are exceptions to this rule.)

• Avoid Using Animated Graphics, Dark Backgrounds, and General Clutter.

Remember that conveying information is what the Internet is all about. A glitzy web site that does not have much if any content is a worthless site. Dark backgrounds and light letters may look neat at first glance, but they are often difficult for sustained reading. Also, such pages do not print well. Black type prints faster than colored type on color printers and stands out well when printed. (White or yellow type on white paper is impossible to read. Also, use only the default fonts (plus italics and bold type) since someone else's computer may not have your favorite font available.