Introduction to Microsoft Front Page

• Double-click on the MyComputer Icon on your desktop or right-click and choose "Open" or "Explore"

• Double-click on the C:\ drive Icon (usually second from the left)

• Double-click on the Program Files Icon

• Double-click on the Microsoft FrontPage Icon

• Keep double-clicking until you reach an Icon called Microsoft FrontPage and which looks similar to this:

• Right-click on the Start Button located in the bottom left hand corner of your screen.

• Select "Explore" from the pop-up list
• 

• In the file menu which is displayed on the left, select the Program Files Icon from the menu under C:\, then select Microsoft Front Page from the menu on the right.  Continue as in option 1. 

• Left-Click on the Start button.

• Hold your mouse over Program Files from the pop-up menu and choose the Microsoft FrontPage Icon from the list.

New – this choice will allow you to open a new “page or web” depending on your desire. There are other options but will not be dealing with them in this introduction..
Open and Close -- these allow you to open a new page or close the current page.  Be sure to save your work!
Open Web – this links the user directly to the “My Webs” section in “My Documents” located on the C:\ directory. We will discuss more on the concept of “webs” in another section.
Save – Allows the user to save the current document.
Save As... – Sometimes it is desirable or necessary to save the current document under a different name.
Save All – Saves all open pages automatically.
Search – Finds files and pages based on the criteria you set.

Import – allows you to copy files and folders directly into your website.
Preview in Browser – sometimes it is better to view your page in an internet browser program like Explorer or Netscape.
Page Setup – allows you to modify the design and layout of your page.
Print Preview – gives you a different perspective of your work (not often used in this program because the idea is not to print but to publish).
Print – self explanatory.
If you have configured your system to send email from outlook express, this will allow you to send your work as an email attachment.
Properties – allows you to view the properties of the current or selected page(s).

Recent Files – allows you to view the last few files that you have had open.
Recent Webs – has the same function as Recent Files, but with complete webs. This makes for quick referencing.
Exit – Quit the program. If you have not saved your current page or web, the program will prompt you to do so. If you choose “no,” then your information will be lost.

Undo – automatically reverses any blunders that you may have made (eg. You cut something out by accident and you want it to come back.
Redo – When you realize that you want something reversed back to the original change.
Cut – removes a selected item/text and places it on the clipboard.
Copy – copies a selected item/text without removing it and places it on the clipboard.
Paste – inserts an item from the clipboard into a selected area... you can paste cut and copied items/text.
Paste Special – sometimes the items selected, cut, or copied have a special format (eg. A table).
Delete – cuts a selection without placing it on the clipboard.
Select All – selects all items/text in an open document/page.

Find – allows you to search through a document/page for specified text or web.
Replace – searches for and replaces text or webs.
Check Out – makes a specified file unavailable for editing by anyone but you.
Check In – allows others to edit a previously checked out file.
Undo Check Out – simply does what it says.
Task – not normally used by average users.

Page – allows you to view the page you have selected to work on. It is the view you use when you create, edit, and publish.
Folders – shows how the content of a web is organized.
Reports – allows the viewing of various site reports or summaries.
Navigation – allows you to see the structure of your web in an organized chart/diagram.
Hyperlinks – allows you to view the status of hyperlinks in your web.
Tasks – allows you to view tasks that you have set for yourself using the edit menu... this is a way of helping you plan you web.
Views Bar – allows you to view or hide the displays bar on the left of your screen. This bar contains quick links to many of the options listed in this menu.
Folder List – allows you to view the complete contents of your web while still working on individual pages.

Navigation Pane – allows you to view the navigational structure of your web.
Reveal Tags – displays or hides html tags in the Normal tab view.
Toolbars – allows you to display or hide a variety of toolbars that are available for your use.
Refresh – a very useful tool... you will need to refresh your page/web constantly if you want to be sure that any changes you have made are going to be effective. Basically, this works the same as the refresh option in a web browser.

Break – inserts a page break at the selected insertion point. Many browsers will not display empty paragraphs (this tends to make a page look jumbled) but they will display breaks as blank spaces.
Horizontal Line – inserts a basic line that can be modified for use as a separator bar, a heading bar, etc.. 
Date and Time... – inserts the date and time according to the format you choose.
Symbol – a wide variety of symbols are available for your use. is just one example.
Comment – Sometimes an author or editor may want to make a comment on an item or selection of text. 
Navigation... – insert navigation points based on the structure of the website.
Component – inserts a component such as a scrolling marquee, a hover button, etc. This is a very useful tool.
Database – insert a new or previously composed database into your website.
Form – insert a form such as a text box or a depressible button, etc

Advanced - contains features such as ActiveX Controls, Java Applet controls, etc.   This is beyond the scope of our current discussion.
Picture – allows you to insert a picture from a file, clip art, or other location (eg. From the internet).
File... – allows you to insert a previously created file directly into your site.
Bookmark – a kind of link for internal navigation in a website. It creates a hyperlink between two points on the same page.
Hyperlink – similar to a bookmark but it links the selected text/item to another page either in your own web, an email address, or on the internet.

Font – this item allows you to change the colour, size, appearance, etc. of the font you are using.
Paragraph – allows you to format an entire paragraph (spacing, placement, etc.)
Bullets and Numbering – allows you to set a bullet list/number list; allows you to change the style of bullet/numbering, etc.
Borders and Shading – formats the border/shading of tables and other selected items on a page, including the page itself.
Position –sets the wrap style and positioning of selected pictures and items.
Dynamic HTML Effects – allows you to insert java script at the click of a button which will cause the appearance of the text or item that you select, depending on the selection. More on this in later sessions.
Theme – Front Page has a number of themes that can be selected; these create a sense of unity and coherence in a web. More on themes in later sessions.

Style – creates or modifies the style for a page (the font, paragraph settings, etc.)
Style Sheet Links... – links the active page to a cascading style sheet.
Shared Borders... – sets shared borders for the current page or for the entire web. Shared borders are regions where you want your material to appear consistently.
Page Transition... – creates a special effect when a user enters or leaves a page (eg. Dissolve, Spiral, Box In, etc.)
Background – part of the Properties of your page. you can modify the background, font, hyperlink, colour or even insert an image. Note: Images appear tiled therefore some may not be suitable for web design due to contrast with other visuals and text.
Remove Formatting – a failsafe... at any time, you can remove the last change to the format. This has the same function as “undo”.
Properties – this controls how the font is presented on the page or entire site.

Spelling... – this is the spell checker for Front Page. It is always a good idea to double check.
Thesaurus... – why use the same words over and over?
Recalculate Hyperlinks... – updates the display of the current web.
Macro – a macro is a user defined shortcut for performing commonly used actions. You can write short programs that make your work easier (<ctrl>+i = italics is a pre-installed macro).
Add-Ins... – registers, loads, and unloads add-ins that you have installed on your computer.
Customize... – Allows you to add and take options away from existing menus and toolbars.
Web Settings... – displays web settings for viewing and editing.
Options... – allows you to customize your internet loading options, such as whether to overwrite existing pages during upload, etc.
Page Options... – displays options for viewing and editing pages, including general options for creating thumbnail images, font settings, color coding for the HTML tab, and browser- compatibility settings.

Draw Table – allows you to use the mouse to create a table by dragging the image.
Insert – allows you to specify the dimensions and number of rows/columns before inserting the table.
Delete Cells – allows you to select and delete specific cells in a table.
Select – allows you to choose cells, rows, columns, or the entire table for modification.
Merge Cells – Joins two or more cells together to make one larger cell.
Split Cells... – breaks a cell into two cells.

Distribute Rows Evenly - spaces unevenly set row heights to average intervals.

Distribute Columns Evenly - sets all columns in a table to equal widths.

AutoFit -automatically sets the width of all columns to the exact dimensions of their contents.

Convert - gives the user the option to automatically convert text into tables or tables into text.  You can create tables to surround your text or take tables filled with text and remove the table borders leaving just the text.  

Properties - controls how the columns, rows, cells, text, borders, etc. are presented in a table.

* Frames are used to present more than a single webpage at the same time.  They are often difficult to manage and have become rather passé.  I, however, still like them.  This introduction to basic web design does not go into the construction of frames pages in any great detail however, if you would like to see such a page in action, visit St. Joseph's main page!  Passé or not, it's still one of the best school sites in NL (even if I do have to say so myself).

Split Frame - splits a selected frame either vertically or horizontally.

Delete Frame - I won't insult your intelligence.

Open Page in New Window -- frames can be quite small and make the pages displayed within them quite difficult to work on... for this reason, this option allows you to open the same page in a new window for design/editing... changes will be made to both open versions of the page.

Save Page - saves a page in an individual frame rather than as part of a group.

Save Page As... - sometimes it is desirable to save a page under a different name... your reasons are your own. 

Frame Properties - allows you to manage how the frames are displayed on a given page.

This menu item, like all which bare its name, allows the user to shift from window to window (hence the name of the operating system: WINDOWS).  That is, you can have multiple pages open at the same time and work between them.  This function allows you to copy and paste items, images, hyperlinked words/images, etc. between open pages of the same offline web.  It can make your life easier but you should always make sure that your hyperlinks work before saving so that the internet is not trying to find files on your A:\ drive or something.

What's This? - this allows you to click on any icon in the menus or in the toolbar and get a brief explanation of its function.

Office on the Web - this links directly to Microsoft's Office Website

Detect and Repair... - automatically searches out, detects, and fixes any problems that may have occurred in your FrontPage document.  NOTE:  never depend entirely on these things... it's like using the "spill chick" to fix spelling mistakes!

About Microsoft FrontPage - this provides you with licensing information, technical support, network information, system information, copyright date and program version number, etc.

The Align Center button centers all selected text and images on the page or in a table.

The Align Right button juxtaposes the selected text and/or images, etc. with the right margin of the page or to the right border of a table.

The Views bar, shown by default at the left of the workspace in FrontPage, lets you switch quickly from one view of your web to another. You can hide the Views bar if you want more space to view pages in Page view, reports in Reports view, and so on.  To do this, you must open the dropdown menu from Views (ironically enough) and remove the check mark next to the Views Bar item in the list. If the Views Bar is not currently displayed in your copy of FrontPage, follow the same steps to make it visible.