FrontPage User's Guide (BASD)

Take time to browse through the menus and toolbars to learn the FrontPage features. Using “Microsoft FrontPage Help” found in the “Help” menu provides limited support for using FrontPage. A large number of books and internet web sites are also available. Several links are listed on the BASD Educational Technology web page.

Planning a Web Site:

First, determine what information you wish to present in your web site. What will the content be? What is the purpose of the web site? One of the best ways to get ideas for web pages is by looking at what has already been done by others. Take time to browse web sites of other teachers and other schools. Existing web pages can be used as models or templates for creating new pages. Unless permission is granted, avoid simply duplicating the content of another person’s web page.

Second, plan how you would like the information to be presented. Do you want a basic one page site or do you want to add links to other pages, graphics and dynamic effects? How will the page be organized? Some users find it helpful to map the structure of a web before they begin to produce the pages.

A typical web tree structure.

Software Requirements:

Direct access to your BASD.net internet account requires the use of Internet Explorer and Microsoft FrontPage. With these two programs you can edit web pages on the BASD.net server from school, from If you need either of these programs, submit a technical services request and ask for the Office CDs. (Pages can be created and edited with other programs. These pages can not be saved directly to BASD.net web server but they can be imported). A blank web page has been set up for every BASD.net employee.

Content and Acceptable Use:

Please follow that following guidelines as listed in the acceptable use policy.

· The purpose of BASD.net web pages is to support education and district administrative operations. All content should reflect this purpose.

· All content must be in compliance with the BASD.net acceptable use policy and all applicable copyright laws.

· Users are solely responsible for all files contained in their own directory, and can be held legally liable for the contents of their web site.

· Web pages may not contain objectionable material or link to objectionable material. Objectionable material is determined on a case-by-case basis by BASD technology committee. All content must represent Bellefonte Area Schools in a positive manner.

· Except in cases of public domain (events open to the public), photos of students may not be published to a web page without the approval of the building administrator. Parents who object to having photos of their student published to a web site must notify their student’s building administrator.

· Except in cases of public domain (events open to the public), names of students will not be published with photos without the permission of a parent or guardian.

· School groups who have web pages linked from BASD.net, but hosted on other servers, will provide a hyperlink back to an appropriate BASD.net web page.

· Every effort must be made to keep content up-to-date and free of spelling or grammatical errors.

· The services of BASD.net are provided on an "as is" basis without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied.

· Authorized BASD employees may remove accounts or links to web pages without reason at any time.

· Each web site should include the email address and name or initials of the person responsible for the site.

Tips for Good Web Design

Do:

· give each page a clear title and name

· use clear navigation with links back to home page

· update content as appropriate

· repair or remove dead links

· provide contact information

· make font style, size and color easy to read

· use backgrounds and colors that compliment text

· limit scrolling (no scrolling right to left)

Do not:

· use “Under Construction” messages and graphics, keep links inactive until pages are presentable

· use sounds that can not be turned off

· overuse animated images and effects

· use an animated introduction that can not be skipped

· trap users in frames

· bombard users with pop up windows

· use large images that require minutes to download

Accessing Your BASD.net Web Page

Finding your BASD.net web page

1. Start Internet Explorer.

2. Enter the following web page address (URL): http://www.basd.net/staff/username
Enter your BASD user name where “username” appears.

You can also enter http://www.basd.net/staff and click on your user name.

3. Click the large Edit button along the top menu bar or select “File”, “Edit with Microsoft FrontPage”.

4. FrontPage will start up and request your user name and password. Enter your user name and password that you use to log on to BASD.net.

*If the “Connect to www.basd.net” dialog box does not appear or your user name and password are not accepted, your changes will not be automatically saved to the BASD.net web server.

The changes are often saved to a folder named “My Webs” which is located in “My Documents”. The files can be transferred into your web folder once access is regained.

5. Upon successful login to www.basd.net, the following screen will be displayed in FrontPage.

6. The “Folder List” shows the contents of your BASD.net web folder. Files can be added, deleted and renamed in the folder list. If the folder list does not display www.basd.net, you are not connected to the web server.

7. The folder list can be displayed or hidden by selecting “View” , “Folder List”, or by clicking the blue shortcut which is highlighted in the above image.

8. Click “View”, “Views Bar” to hide the Views Bar which will provide more screen area to view your web page.

Troubleshooting: The FrontPage Edit Button is not Displayed

1. Clicking the down arrow on the large “Edit” button reveals other programs. The FrontPage button may be located on the drop down menu which is not always displayed.

2. If FrontPage still can not be accessed displayed, click on “Tools” in Internet Explorer, then select “Internet Options”. Click on the “Programs” tab. In the HTML Editor window, use the down arrow to select “Microsoft FrontPage”.

3. If FrontPage is not an option for HTML editor, verify that FrontPage is actually installed. If FrontPage is installed, start up FrontPage. If asked if you wish to make FrontPage the default HTML editor, select “Yes”. Quit Internet Explorer and then start up Internet Explorer again.

4. If this doesn’t work. Quit Internet Explorer and start up FrontPage. Use the “Tools” menu and click on “Options”. Make sure there is a check next to “Check if FrontPage is the default editor for pages”. Quit FrontPage, then start up FrontPage. When asked if you wish to make FrontPage the default HTML editor, select “Yes”. Quit Internet Explorer and then start up Internet Explorer again.

*If all of these methods fail to launch FrontPage, contact the nearest trainer or email aroth@basd.net .

Text, Hyperlinks, Adding/Importing Pages

Exploring “Views” of FrontPage:

Near the bottom left hand corner of the window are three tabs: “Normal”, “HTML” and “Preview”.

The “Normal” view is where text and graphics are entered. Clicking “HTML” reveals the HTML code for the page. The “Preview” tab shows what the current page will look like when

viewed on the internet. After previewing, click “Normal” to return to the normal view.

3. Click each tab to explore the different views of your new web page.

Entering Text:

1. Make certain that the “Normal” tab is selected. (When selected, “Normal” will appear in bold with a white background.)

2. In “Normal” view, enter text by simply typing. You can select the font size, color, style and format just as you would using word processing programs. Notice that the toolbars and menu options are very similar to Microsoft Word and other Microsoft programs.

3. Use the toolbar symbols or click “Format”, “Font” to select the font type, color and font size of your choice.

4. Add additional text as desired. Take some time to experiment with entering and formatting text. Your home page should include your name and contact information such as your email address and voicemail extension. Teachers with links to homework assignments should place a link in a prominent area of the web page where it can be easily found by parents and students.

5. Text may also be added by cutting and pasting from other documents.

Note: Avoid using spaces or tabs to center text. Differences in monitor size and resolution will cause the text to appear out of alignment. Use the center align button or place the text inside a table.

Single Spacing Text:

1. Hold down the Shift key and press “Enter” or select “Insert”, “Break” to single space text.
Pressing enter creates double spacing since FrontPage translates “Enter” as a new paragraph rather than a line break.

Saving a Page:

1. To save your work, click the floppy disk icon in the toolbar or select “File”, “Save” Remember: Save early and often!

**If a pop up window asking for your user name and password are displayed, FrontPage is having problems connecting to your web folder. If this happens, save the current web page to the C: drive or a floppy disk. The changes will NOT be saved to the internet but can be imported into your web folder later.

2. To save a page to your internet folder, make sure your user name appears in the “Save in” box. If “My Webs” appears in the “Save in” box, the file will not be saved to the BASD.net web server.

3. Click the “Change title” button to enter the name of the page which will be displayed in Internet Explorer and in the Favorites.

4. In the “File name:” box, type the name you wish to give to the page. Use of all lower case letters is customary. Avoid the use of spaces. The underscore “_” may be used between words.

Note: Do not change the file name of your home page from “default.htm”. The page named default will automatically load when your web folder is accessed.

5. If a web page includes images, you will be asked to “Save Embedded Files”. Click “OK”.

Previewing a Web Page

In order for a web page to be viewed as it will appear on the internet, the page must be previewed either using either FrontPage or a web browser.

1. To preview a page using FrontPage click the “Preview” tab. Click “Normal” to return to your web page.

2. To preview a page using a web browser click the preview icon (page with magnifying glass) on the toolbar or select “File”, “Preview in Browser”.

Note: You may notice that the layout of your page may change when viewed in a browser. This may result because the page view in FrontPage is not as wide as the screen view in the browser. To make the page view in FrontPage wider, click the blue folder view icon on the toolbar. Click the button again to return to the “Folder View”.

Editing a Web Page

1. The simplest way to make changes to a web page is to view the page on the internet using Internet Explorer.

2. When the desired page is loaded, the large edit button on the toolbar or select “Edit with Microsoft FrontPage” from the “File” menu.

3. FrontPage will start up and the web page will be displayed.

4. Enter your user name and password.

**You can only edit pages that are in your web folder. Email aroth@basd.net if you can’t access|
your files, would like to set up a new folder or need access to a current folder.

5. Make desired changes then save the page.

6. To view the changes, view the page on the internet. You may need to click “Refresh” to see the changes.

Adding Hyperlinks:

Hyperlinks, or links, allow the user of a web to jump to another address on the internet, open or download a file (sound, video, image, program), or move to another area on the same page. Once a hyperlink is set up, the link with automatically update when a file name is changed or files are moved to other folders in the same web.

Both text and images can be used as hyperlinks. Select the image or highlight the text that you wish to use as a hyperlink.

* For text links, it is often more helpful to use the name of the web page as a link rather than the actual URL address. This is especially true for long URL addresses.

While the text is highlighted, press the right click button on the mouse. Select “Hyperlink… Ctrl+K” from the menu. The hyperlink icon on the toolbar may also be used.

Note: Right clicking on a word that is not recognized by the spell checker (underlined with red wavy line) will bring up the spelling options rather than the edit options. To avoid this, either right click on a part of the text that is not underlined or use the spelling options to correct the error or select “Ignore”.

3. The Insert Hyperlink window will open. Under the “Link to:” column, select the type of file that you with to link to.

4. Click the appropriate location of the file under the “Look in:” column. “Current Folder” displays all of the files in your web folder.

5. Use the “Browse the Web” button (blue globe with magnifying glass) to find a URL address from the internet. Addresses can also be copied and pasted into the hyperlink window.

6. Use the “Browse for file” button (open folder) to link to file on your computer.

7. Click “E-mail Address” to create a hyperlink which sends an email message.

Testing Links:

In order to test any type of link, the web page must be previewed either by using the “Preview” tab at the bottom left of the window or by viewing the page in a browser such as Internet Explorer.

1. To test the links using FrontPage click the “Preview” tab.

Click on a link. If it works correctly, the target web page will appear in the window. If

the target is an email address, a new email message window will open.

Click “Normal” to go back to your web page.
To test links in a web browser, select “File”, “Preview in Browser” or click the Preview in Brower icon (magnifying glass over a page with blue globe) on the toolbar.

Editing and Deleting Links:

In “Normal” view links can be edited by right-clicking on them and selecting “Hyperlink Properties” . This will open the “Edit Hyperlink” window.
In the “Edit Hyperlink” window, add, delete or edit anything that needs changed.

Adding New Pages to a Web

To add a page, you can either create a new page or import an existing page.

1. On the “File” menu, select “New” then click “Page or Web”. The “New Page or Web” window will open.

2. Selecting “Blank Page” will open a new blank page.

3. The templates provide web pages that are pre-formatted for a certain style. To learn the function of a template, single click on a template to highlight it. In the right side of the window, read the description of the template and view the preview.

Importing Files

In order for a file to appear properly as part of your web site, the file must be moved into your BASD.net web folder. For best results with files that are not web pages, open the file in the program used to create it (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and use the “Save as web page” option.

1. To import a file into your web folder, select “Insert”, “File”.

Note: Files can also be added to a web folder by using copy and paste or drag and drop.

Backgrounds and Images

Adding a Background

All images and pictures that can be used as graphics on a web page can also be used as backgrounds. Completing a search using the word “backgrounds” will reveal hundreds of web sites that can be used to obtain background patterns, textures and images.

1. In “Normal” view click “Format”, “Background” .

2. The “Page Properties” window will open. (You can also open the Page Properties window by right clicking on a web page and selecting “Page Properties”.

3. To use an image or picture as a background, click the box next to “Background Picture” then click “Browse” to locate the file.

4. Use the menus under “Color” to change the color of a background (if an image is not being used) text and hyperlinks.

Using A Theme
A theme can be used to apply the same background, font type, font style and color scheme to all pages in the same web. A theme can provide a uniform look to a web site.

1. To use a theme, select “Format”, “Themes”.

2. Click the name of a theme to view a sample. Use the “Modify” button to make changes to a theme.

3. Select “Selected Page(s)” to apply the theme to all open pages or use “All Pages” to apply the theme to every page in your web folder.

Adding Graphics

Graphics, pictures and clipart can be obtained from a number of sources including web pages, scanners, digital cameras, draw/paint programs, and clip art galleries. (To capture graphics from a web page, place the curser on the image, press the right button on the mouse, then select “Save Picture As…”).

1. Place the blinking cursor in the area on the page where you want the graphic to appear. Select “Insert”, “Picture”, “From File…”.

2. Clip art can be added by selecting “Insert”, “Picture”, “Clip Art…”.

3. Images and graphics can also be added by copying and pasting or dragging and dropping.

Resizing an Image:

1. Click on the image. Release the mouse button, then scroll to the corner of the image. The mouse pointer changes into a diagonal double arrow.

2. Hold in the left mouse button while dragging the double arrow to make the image larger or smaller.

Note: Using a corner to resize an image will preserve the proper height and width dimensions without distorting the image.

Positioning an Image:

1. Images can moved to the left, center, or right by using the toolbar. Single click on an image then click on one of the following symbols.

Note: Avoid using spaces or tabs to center an image. Differences in monitor size and resolution will cause the image to appear out of alignment. Use the align buttons or place the text inside a table.

Working with Images

1. Use the picture toolbar under “View”, “Toolbars”, “Picture” to modify or change the appearance of an image. The “Set Transparent Background” tool can be used to make the background of an image transparent allowing it to blend in with the web page background.
Images can also be cropped, lightened or darkened.

Using Tables to Position Objects

Often, images and graphics appear to have moved or appear out of alignment when a web page is viewed in Internet Explorer. To gain greater control over the position of an image or text, place the object inside a table. This is the best method to place text next to an image.

1. Position the cursor on the area of the web page where you wish to insert a table.

2. Select “Table”, “Insert Table” or click on the insert table icon on the tool bar.

3. Select the number of rows and columns and customize any other settings.

4. Once a table is created, use the right mouse button to display command to change the alignment, color, and size of the table. Rows and columns may be added and deleted as needed.

Web Components-Bells and Whistles

Hit Counter

A hit counter can be used to record the number of times a web page is viewed.

1. Place the cursor on the location where the hit counter should be inserted. Select “Insert”, “Web Component”, “Hit Counter”.

2. Choose the style, starting number and number of digits then click “OK”.

Hover Buttons

A hover button changes in some way when the user moves the mouse pointer over it. The button may change colors or display another effect. Since hover buttons slow the loading time of a web page and may not be displayed properly in older browsers use them sparingly.

1. In “Normal” view, select “Insert”, “Component”, “Hover Button”. The “Hover

Button Properties” window will open displaying the various options that can be used.

Note: A web page must be viewed in “Preview” view or previewed using a web browser in order for hover buttons to work correctly.

Scrolling Marquees

A marquee can be used to scroll text across a web page. While this feature is useful for capturing the attention of viewers, it is not supported by Netscape 4.7 or earlier.

In “Normal” view place the cursor at the location on the page where the marquee should appear.
Click “Insert”, “Web Component”, “Marquee”. This will open the “Marquee Properties”

window.

Type the message you wish to display in the text box and use the options to change the appearance

and behavior of the scrolling marquee.

Note: In order to see the marquee text move, the page must be viewed in “Preview” view or previewed using a web browser.

Photo Gallery

Several pre-formatted photo galleries are available in the Photo Gallery web component.

1. To use one of the photo galleries, click “Insert”, “Web Component”, “Photo Gallery” and select the desired layout under “Choose a photo gallery option”.

Note: The maximum resolution for viewing images on a web page is 72 dots per inch (dpi). Images with resolutions over 72 dpi will require additional time to download or view without any improvements in appearance.

Spreadsheets and Charts

Spreadsheets and charts can be copied and pasted into a web page or they be created by FrontPage using the web component.

1. Select “Insert”, “Web Component” , “Spreadsheets and Charts”.

Maintaining a Web Site

Identifying Broken Hyperlinks

1. Select “View”, “Reports”, “Problems”, “Broken Hyperlinks”.

2. Click the verify hyperlink button (chain link with red check mark) on the toolbar to have FrontPage double check unknown links. Verification progress is displayed in the bottom left of the window.

3. To return to the normal page view, select “View”, “Page”.

Moving or Deleting Multiple Files

In page view, only one file can be selected which can make the process of moving or deleting large numbers of files time consuming.

1. When the folder view is selected (“View”, “Folder”) multiple files can be selected and moved or deleted.

Note: It is often helpful to place large collections of photos in folders in order to avoid a long list of files in the folder list.

Finding Support and Additional Training

Resources

One of the fastest ways to find answers to FrontPage questions is to use Microsoft FrontPage Help which can be found under the “Help” menu. Microsoft also provides free tutorials, interactive demos and how to guides at www.microsoft.com/frontpage .

Interactive training CDs for most MS Office products are available on loan from the MIS office. To borrow any of the CDs, submit a technical services request.