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Starting A Website with Microsoft Front Page

Written by Christine Strothman

DeVry University in CA

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• Make sure you have an updated version of Microsoft Front Page and that your computer meets the specified requirements listed on the Front Page box.  If you do not have Front Page loaded on your computer already, please do so.

• Upon launching Front Page, delete the New Page 1 that the software provides.  Go to File, Open Web.  Go to the Navigation by the Navigation button to the left of the screen.  Press New Page icon (directly below File).  Name your page (your club name) by right-clicking on the page box and selecting Rename.  Double-click to enter your page.  Click on View, Folder List to save your page as index.htm.

• Select Theme.  There should be a variety of themes (or backgrounds for your website) available.  Upon selection of a theme, check the Selected Page(s) box.  Be sure to find out what difference the Vivid Colors make so you can see whether you want them or not.  These will help your webpage look its best.

• Right-click and select Shared Borders.  Select Current Page, Left, and Bottom.  Experiment for different page appearances!

• Put your cursor at the top of the page.  Click Insert, Navigation Bar.  Under hyperlinks to add to page, select Top Level, Home Page, and Parent Page.  Under Orientation and Appearance, select Horizontal and either Buttons or Text.

• On the left side of the page, right-click and select Navigation Bar Properties.  Under hyperlinks to add to page, select Child Pages Under Home.  Under Orientation and Appearance, select Vertical and either Buttons or Text.

• If you wish, you can put a heading at the top of the page.  An example could be:  “Welcome to (your company name here).”  To make the text bigger, use the Style box located in the third row at the farthest left (usually says Normal).  Play around with the sizes to see which appearance you like (usually Heading 1). 

• Get an interesting story or tidbit to use as a topic on your home page.  They can include company history, products, or a mission statement.  Be creative and make your home page exciting!!

• At the bottom of your page, type in a “help link,” an example being:  Questions:  Contact Customer Support.  To set up a hyperlink that sends an e-mail to your Support Crew, click on Insert, Hyperlink.  Click on the envelope (third icon from the URL box).  Type in the e-mail address of your Support Specialist.

• A Hit Counter will calculate the number of people who have visited your webpage.  To insert one, click on Insert, Component, Hit Counter.  Choose the one you like the best!

• To insert a Date and Time Component (shows when the page was last updated), click on Insert, Date and Time.  You may choose to have the date switch when you manually update the page or when it is automatically updated.  There is also an option for a time.  There are different formats in which the date and time are presented on the page.

• Picture pages are very informative & show the public what to expect.  I recommend using a table that is 4 boxes wide x ____ long, depending on how many pictures you have.  To insert your pictures, drag them first into your images folder.  Once they have been recognized by the program as part of your website, drag them from the images folder into the table box that you want them in.  To resize your pictures, right-click on the picture, select Picture Properties, & Appearance.  Under the Size section, select Specify Size.  Remember to keep “Keep Aspect Ratio” checked!  Set the width of the picture to 480 pixels.  While still clicked on the picture, hit the Resample button (seventh from the right) in your Pictures Taskbar, most likely at the bottom of your screen.  Now click the Save icon.  After the save process is complete, you may Auto Thumbnail (icon is third from the left in the Pictures Toolbar) your picture.  This will make a “picture hyperlink” to a larger size of the same picture – this will help your public see your products in detail, but will not “bog down” your page.

• Variables are defined as changeable information.  To make updates easy, use Substitution Properties for anything that might change.  To get started, go to Tools, Web Settings, Parameters.  The Substitution name should be something short that relates to the information given, & the Substitution value should be the variable.

Example:              Name:  President

                            Value:  Mr. Smith

SPECIAL NOTE:

• Never use personal information on websites unless you have written consent from the individual!  With regard to names, it is acceptable to use the title and last name of adults.  For example:  “Mr. Smith is the company President.”

This manual was written for instructional purposes only and is specially designed for FrontPage 2000.  It is not for sale.  All references to Microsoft products are copyright/registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp.