1. A Word about Fonts
2. Add Headlines
3. Format with Tables
4. Enter Text
5. Insert Images
6. Use Bulleted Lists
7. Add Author's Name & Date
8. Insert Hyperlinks
9. Change Color of Text
10. Add Background Color
11. Enter Page Title
12. Review New Page in a Browser
13. Publish It on the Web

Hints
Resources

Printable Version
(total tutorial)

BEGINNING TO USE FRONTPAGE 2003
TO EDIT WEB PAGES

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

III. Construct a Simple Web Page

Begin with a blank page in FrontPage 2003, and follow the tutorial below. (Note: When a button is referred to, it is usually a button on one of the toolbars at the top of FrontPage 2003. To view the label of any button on a toolbar, simply move the mouse pointer over that button and pause until a textbox appears with the action of that button.)

1. Before you begin, read this "word" about fonts. Every font that is used on a web page must be resident on the computer that the person viewing the web page is using. If a font is not there then the browser chooses the closest font in a list of available fonts and NOT the font that matches the font style the best! There are only two font families that are supported by essentially all computers: Times New Roman and Arial. These are the Windows names for these fonts, but Macs and Linux computers also have equivalent font styles.

If you feel you really must use a special font in a title or such special text, then use a paint program to make a graphic with the text in the special font and imbed the graphic in your web page.

2. Place a Headline at the Top of the Page.

With the cursor at the top of the page, press the button to center text. Change the Text Style box to Heading 1. Then type the heading you wish to give your web page. (If you do not have another project in mind, begin by entering your name as if you were working on a personal web page.) When you are finished entering the heading, simply press Enter and notice that the Text Style returns to Normal, but that the next line is still centered. Press the "Align Left" button to get the new line completely back to normal.

3. Use a Table to Facilitate Formatting.

Press the Insert Table button and then drag through two cells in the top row and release the mouse. A default empty table will appear below your main heading. Then from the Table menu choose Select Table and press the Center text button.

4. Enter some text.

If the cursor is not in the left most cell of the table, click once there. Begin typing some information in paragraph format. Include at least enough to make two paragraphs. Note that pressing the Enter key at the end of a paragraph produces a half space between paragraphs. So as not to place an extra blank line at the end of the last paragraph, DO NOT press Enter at the end of the last paragraph.

Note 1: There are times when that half space is not desirable after the end of a line. To place an HTML "break" as an ending for a line as opposed to a "new paragraph" command, hold down the Shift key while pressing the Enter key. A right-angled left-arrow will appear to indicate the "break" command, but it will not show up on the final web page. If you do not see the right-angled left-arrow, then move to the toolbar and press the "Show All" button which has a "paragraph mark" on it as a graphic.

Note 2: At this point it is a good idea to save the emerging web page document. Choose or create an appropriate folder under your account or on your computer. For the first (topmost) web page at any site, use the file name "index.html". This simplifies the URL (web address) for your web site since the file name "index.html" will not have to be part of the address, since the web server will automatically assume that is its name when no file name is given in the URL.

5. Insert a picture.

Images (pictures, charts, and other graphics) should be first saved in the folder in which the web page calling them is located on your computer. Once that is done, back in FrontPage 2003, click on the second cell of the table. Then press the Insert Image button and browse to locate the image in the folder from which you are editing your web page. Press OK and see the image show up on your emerging web page.

Caution: Do not browse into other folders on your computer to locate an image. First copy the image from its location into the folder into which you have saved your web pages.

6. Use a Bulleted List

One characteristic of web pages, that quickly becomes obvious to users when they stop to think about it, is that data is often best presented in "bite-sized" chunks. Under most circumstances, users will not read several paragraphs to obtain a few selected items of information. So try redesigning your two paragraphs into bulleted lists. Begin by placing the cursor at the beginning of the cell in which the text now exists. Follow this by pressing the Bulleted List button, and proceeding from there.

Note: If you change your mind about a particular editing activity, it can be reversed by going to the Edit menu and selecting "Undo Typing," or you may click on the Undo button on the toolbar.

7. Include the Author's Name and the Date of Creation.

Just as knowing the author and date of publication has some importance when reading or citing a book or article, so does knowing this same information for the web pages we read or create. Take the time to add your name, your email address (if possible, so readers may contact you) and the date of creation or modification of your web page. Begin by adding a horizontal line below the other info on your page. Go to the Insert menu and choose Horizontal Line. Then add your name and other information below that.

8. Insert a Hyperlink to Another Page or as an Automatic Email Link.

Adding a hyperlink that enables the user to email the author is straight forward. Locate where you wish to place this link, possibly after the author's name, and type in the email address (with spaces on either side), and FrontPage 2003 will automatically turn it into a "mailto" command and thus an active hyperlink.

Other hyperlinks can be constructed similarly using the full URL for the site. Place the cursor where the hyperlink is to be place and type the URL leaving a space on either side of the address. This will be automatically converted to a link to that web site.

To link to another page at your web site, enter the text (one or more words) or an image that you wish to become the hyperlink. Then highlight the text or image and select the "Insert Hyperlink" button. In the resulting dialogue box, delete the text, "http://" from the URL box if it is present, and simply type the file name of the web page to be linked. This should include the extension, e.g., next.html, of the web page file. It is important to know if you have used .htm or .html as the file extension in the file name. Either one is fine, but they are distinct extension names.

Caution: Remember, do not browse into other folders on your computer to locate a file or an image. First copy the file or image from its location into the folder into which you have saved your web pages.

9. Change Text Color.

To change the color of a section of text (such as the header), highlight the appropriate text; then select the Format menu and the Font option. As is usual, one can also simply right-click on the highlighted text and select the Font option from the resulting menu. This particular red color is a custom choice. In the Font dialog box select the drop-down menu options under the Color box. Any of the demonstrated colors can be selected. Or one may click on "More Colors," and a new dialog box opens. Then choose either a color from the color wheel (really a hexagon) or type in the RGB (red-gree-blue) color in hex notation (from 00 through FF for each of the three basic colors).

Caution: While different font styles may be selected in the Font dialogue box, remember to resist this temptation, please! Most users will not have all of the fonts on their computer that you have on yours, so a page that looks right for you may look much differently to others.

By now my sample web page (in FrontPage 2003) looks like the screen shot below. Your will probably be similar.

10. Add Background Color to a Table or to the Page as a Whole.

Some times the web author may wish to add color to a given cell or a whole table; to do this, right click in that cell or table and select either Cell Properties or Table Properties. In the resulting dialogue box, choose the background color you wish from the list of possibilities or make a custom color.

Do a similar right click on the web page and select Page Properties to obtain a dialogue box that allows choosing a background color for the page as a whole.

Note: The color of a table or cell overwrites the color of the background.

11. Enter a Title for the Web Page.

Search engines, as well as most browsers, use the title of a web page for various purposes. For examples, the title assigned to a page is the default name that will be used when users save your web page in their Favorites collection or Bookmark your web site. Thus begin with the most important word or idea and do not use such words as Home or Page (there are unnecessary). To change or add a title, from the File menu select Page Properties and enter the title in the appropriate box. Or simply do a right click on the web page and select Page Properties.

Note: Do not confuse the text you place at the top of a web page with a Heading style as the title for the page. The tile is the technical term described above and only shows up on the title bar at the very top of the browser.

12. Review Your New Web Page in a Web Browser.

Always take a look at your web page in a browser--in fact in more than one if you have access to more than one. (You have been saving your web page at intervals as you have progressed in your editing, haven't you?) Note anything you need or want to change, and then make those editing changes in FrontPage 2003. Finally go back and view the edited web page again. Remember to save the edited page and to press the Refresh or Reload button on your browser to view the newest version of your web page.

Here is how my sample page looks in a browser window (with the monitor set at a resolution of 800 X 600 pixels.

Note: While FrontPage 2003 will automatically check your spelling as you type, you may wish to do a spelling check after you are all finished. Go to the Tools menu and select Spelling to accomplish this task.

13. "Publish It!"

When the web page contains the information you want it to, and it looks good when viewed using a browser' then it is ready to be "published." This involves transferring all HTML files and graphics files into the appropriate directory on the computer acting as the web server for our college. This simply means copying all of the files from your X-drive to the W-drive, if they are your personal web pages or course-related pages. Some necessary links may have to be added to your departmental web page. Talk to your department's web master to have these links installed.

If you are responsible for departmental web pages, then the HTML and image files must be copied to the appropriate folder on the O-drive. If web pages for your department have not existed in the past, or if you want them linked to the main college pages in a different fashion, then contact the IT Center for assistance.

But don't rest yet! Your job is not complete until you view your web pages from a different computer and, if possible, from a different login account. Some image and hyperlink problems do not show up until a person who is not the author tries to access the web pages. So see what your web pages look like in your office and from home. Also, have other persons (students, family and friends) view your creations. Make whatever adjustments are necessary.

IV. In Conclusion

• Read and apply the Hints and Resources for effective webpage authoring that are part of this tutorial.
• Remember: Place solid content on your web page, make it easy to read, provide good additional resource links, and you will have a good web site!