Setting up your Website using Microsoft FrontPage
On this page:
Setting up your Website using Microsoft FrontPage
Microsoft FrontPage is an easy to use WYSIWYG editor and website administration tool that allows you to build and manage web pages without prior knowledge of HTML. You only have to choose the type of website you want; FrontPage will organize and generate all the website documents you need. With FrontPage, you are free to fill your website with text, pictures, sounds and many other features you like to show your visitors.
However, you should be comfortable with personal computer basics and familiar with web browser before you start designing your website using Microsoft FrontPage.
Getting Started
The first thing that appears in front of you is FrontPage Explorer. Here, you can organize how your group of web pages will work together as a unified website.
Folder List - displays the list of folders and files for your website. This feature helps while creating links between the web pages of your website.
Contents Pane – is located on the right side of the screen; displays the name, size and type of your web page files as you create them.
Overview of FrontPage application window
The main application window appears like this:
The application window comprises of:
Title Bar - displays the title of the page that you are working on.
Menu Bar - displays the menus for FrontPage commands. You will notice that this menu has resemblance with MS Office applications.
Toolbar - displays commonly used tools for designing web page.
Format Bar - displays tools used specifically for formatting in FrontPage.
Normal, HTML, and Preview Tabs - located at the bottom of the Contents Pane.
- Normal - this is the view that you will probably work in most often.
- HTML - displays the actual HTML code of your page.
- Preview - displays how your web page would look when published on the web.
How to create a Web page
To create a new web page:
- Click on the File menu, choose New, Page or Web
In the "New" window you can choose a web template that FrontPage has created. However, it is recommended that you design your own page, since the templates may not give you what you really want.
To create a new page: click on the small arrow button next to the New button on the standard toolbar and select Web.
Now, select the type of Web you want to create. It is best to create simple One Page Web as you can add additional blank pages whenever required.
Enter a location for the web in the box provided beginning with http://. This is the location where you can preview the web on your computer. Later you will need to copy it to the server to display your site to the world on the WWW.
Now, click on OK and wait for FrontPage to finish creating the web.
Now, explore your web. Click on Folders view to see the initial page (index.htm) that was created and two folders – images and _private. The "images" folder is where you will place all your graphics and photos.
The Reports view shows a list of reports for the site. As you develop the web, this page will be much more useful. From here, you can identify and correct broken hyperlinks and fix large pages that take a long time to load.
The Navigation view shows the navigation layout of your web. As you add more pages, this page allows you see how all your pages are linked together.
Hyperlinks view allows you to manage the links on your pages. In Tasks view, you can list the tasks that need to be accomplished to create the web. Make pages and save them, marking them as completed in the task view.
The Folders view lets you locate the created pages. When you are ready to publish your web on the web server, you need to copy the folder to the server.
Open a Web page
To open a web page that you have already created, select File > Open Web. Select the web folder from the list and click on Open.
Save a Web
You have to save all pages within the folder created by FrontPage. These pages are saved on the hard drive of your computer and are not visible on the Internet. When you publish your web on the Internet, you have to copy the entire folder to a network drive.
Designing the webpage
With FrontPage you can create different effects on your web page by changing the font size, style, color, and alignment of your text. You can also change your background color, and insert hyperlinks to make your pages more attractive and interesting.
To add new text on your web page:
- Place the cursor into the text area of FrontPage Editor (in Normal View)
- Type your text
- To format your text:
- Select the text you want to customize
- Click on the change font button on the Format toolbar. Select any of the font styles from the drop-down list.
To change the size of text:
- Click on Increase text button
to make the text larger. Click on Decrease text button 
to make the text smaller.
To change the color of the text:
- Click on Font color button
on Format toolbar. A color property box will open
- Select the color you want; the color will be reflected on your selected text.
To change the background of your web:
- Select Background. The Page Properties box will be displayed. Click on Background tab.
- Click on Background drop-down list and choose a color from the list.
Click on OK on Page Properties box. The selected color will be displayed as the background color of your web.
Note:
Don’t forget to save the changed format of your web.
Adding images to web page
Generally, two basic graphic formats are used on the web – JPEG and GIF. Therefore all the images of your web page must be either of these formats.
You can add a Clip Art graphic on your page in the following way:
- Place the cursor on your page where you want to place the Clip Art image.
- Click on Insert menu and select Picture.
- Select Clip Art. The Insert Clip Art section will open at the right side of FrontPage window.
- You can search for specific clip art image by providing Search term in the Search text box and click on Search.
- The Search Results will be displayed based on the search term. For example, if your search term is “flower” - the result will display all the clip art images that match with the word flower.
- You can select any of the images and double click on that. The Clip Art image will be placed on the specified place on your web. You can also insert the clip art by clicking on the down arrow button beside the image, and selecting Insert. The picture will be inserted on your page.
You can add any digital image of your choice on your web page. The images should be stored on the hard drive of your computer. FrontPage will automatically convert your image file into JPEG or GIF and insert that on your web page.
To add your own image on the page:
- Place the cursor on the page where you want to place your image.
- Click on Insert menu and select Picture.
- Select From File. The Picture dialog box will open.
- Select a stored image file from your computer
- Click on Insert
- The image will be placed on your web page.
Adding Hyperlinks
Hyperlink is the most important part of web page as it instantly links to another web page with a simple click of mouse. The target location can be other website, another page within your website or even another location on the same page.
To create a simple hyperlink of any other website on your web page:
- Insert the cursor in the text area of FrontPage Editor’s normal view.
- Type the website address or URL.
- Press Enter. You will notice that the text has been converted into hyperlink.
To convert a word or text of your web page into hyperlink:
- Select the word or phrases.
- Click on Insert menu and select Hyperlink.
The Insert Hyperlink window appears.
- Select the page or file name you want to link to.
- The file name and path will appear in the Address box.
- Click on OK to create hyperlink.
To check whether the hyperlink is working or not, view your page in Preview mode. You will find that the word you have selected for hyperlink has become blue and linked. Click on this link, you will be taken to the specified web page or file.
Publishing your web
When your website is ready for the Internet visitors, you will need to publish it to make it available online. This means, you have to transfer all your files (saved in the local folder) to a web server - a high power computer that stores website documents and stays connected to the World Wide Web all the time. When the users visit your website, they connect to your server through the World Wide Web.
You can also publish your website using an Internet Service Provider (ISP) - a company that sells website spaces on its server and also provides Internet access. To host your website, you have to rent space for your files on the ISP server.
However, before hosting your website on the web, make sure your website is in good working condition – the hyperlinks are working fine and all the content of your site is correct.
back to top
