Are you someone who likes to get things done quickly and efficiently? I am. Sometimes my creativity is blocked, while other times I just want to get the groundwork done in a hurry so that I can get to the fun part of dressing up the pages. That is what I enjoy the most.
If you are pressed for time or short on ideas for pages, FrontPage has a bountiful supply of templates from which you can choose. Although most of the pages are designed for business purposes, they give you a basic structure to work from. You can modify the content in any way you choose. There are some good ideas in these templates. They can help get those creative cells working in your brain.
You cannot get all your work done in one day. Most likely, when you create new pages, you save them to a web that already exists on your computer. It is simple to open an existing web to save pages to it.
| NOTE |
The Name and Password Required dialog box appears if you have not yet performed a task that requires authorization. Your web opens after you perform these steps. |
Now that you have a web open, you can add pages to it. Use the FrontPage Editor to create new pages and add them to the web.
To create a new page,
| NOTE |
For purposes of this book, I have divided the templates into two categories. Use the basic templates if you do not have the FrontPage Server Extensions on your target server. The advanced templates use the FrontPage Bots that require the server extensions. |
You can use the basic page templates regardless of whether you have the FrontPage Server Extensions on your target Web server. They use the basic features of FrontPage, as well as the more commonly used FrontPage Web bots. In FrontPage, what you see is what you get. The page templates make great Web pages possible.
The Normal template creates a blank page to which you can add your own content. It is the template that you most often use.
The Meeting Agenda template, shown in Figures 5.1 and 5.2, describes the date, time, location, and purpose of a meeting. The topics for discussion and a list of attendees also appear on the page. Footer information shows when the page was most recently updated.
Figure 5.2 : The lower portion of the Meeting Agenda page lists the attendees.
The Bibliography template, shown in Figure 5.3, provides a list of publications. For each publication, you see the author's last name and first initial, its title, the city and state where it was published, and the name of publisher.
Figure 5.3 : Use the Bibliography page when you want to display a list of references for a topic.
The Directory of Press Releases template, shown in Figure 5.4, helps you organize press release pages by date and title. The most recent entries appear at the top. You need to add links to the press release pages that appear on your site.
| TIP |
Use a Scheduled Image bot to add a calendar graphic to Press Release Directory pages. The Scheduled Image bot allows you to specify a start and end date within which an image appears on a page. |
The Employee Directory template provides an alphabetical list
of the employees in your company. The section for each employee
contains his or her photograph, his or her title, current projects,
office location, mail stop, telephone number and extension, e-mail
address, and a link to his or her home page.
| TIP |
If your company contains more than a few employees, you might want to split this page into several pages-such as by department or by letter of the alphabet-and provide links to them on a master page. You might also want to add a Search bot to search for employee names if your workforce is very large. |
The Frequently Asked Questions template, shown in Figure 5.5, provides a numbered table of contents of the questions that appear on the page. It uses bookmarks and links to jump to each question and answer that appear on the page.
The Glossary of Terms template, shown in Figure 5.6, contains definitions for the terms used in a given subject. Each section name is designated by a letter of the alphabet. You create new entries in alphabetical order inside the appropriate section.
Figure 5.6 : The Glossary of Terms page provides an alphabetical list of terms and definitions.
The Hot List template provides links to other sites on the Web for a given subject. A manually generated table of contents, containing five categories, appears at the top of the page. Each category contains five sites.
The HyperDocument page is one section of a large hyperlinked manual or report. It is used in conjunction with a home page and a table of contents. You replace the gray buttons on the page with icons that are appropriate for the content of the section.
The Lecture Abstract template, shown in Figure 5.7, announces an upcoming lecture, talk, or meeting. The title of the lecture appears at the top of the page. The name of the speaker, his or her role and organization, and the date of the lecture follow. You add an abstract of the lecture and the topics covered in the appropriate fields. A biography of the speaker appears at the bottom of the page. There is also a link to a page that lists other seminars or workshops.
Figure 5.7 : Use the Lecture Abstract template to announce
an upcoming lecture.
| TIP |
Design a lecture abstract when you book a lecture, and use a Scheduled Include bot to place the page on your site two weeks before the lecture. Then have the Scheduled Include bot remove the page from your site after the lecture has occurred. |
The Office Directory template, shown in Figures 5.8 and 5.9, is useful if your company has many offices scattered throughout the United States, Canada, and other countries. Every state appears on this page, as well as every Canadian province and several foreign countries. Delete the ones that do not apply. The page also includes a link to an example of how office information is displayed, as shown in Figure 5.9.
Figure 5.9 : You can enter location information for each office.
The Press Release template is used along with the Directory of
Press Releases template. A title and subtitle of the press release
starts off the form, and the date and announcement follow. Company
contact information appears at the bottom of the page.
| TIP |
Develop your press releases ahead of time, and use a Scheduled Include bot to release them to your site on the right day. |
The Product Description template contains a summary of a product. It describes key features of product, lists its benefits, and shows product specifications. You can also include an image of the product.
The Seminar Schedule template, shown in Figure 5.10, presents a conference schedule. Bookmarks and links provide navigation throughout the form. Each session includes the title of the lecture and the speaker's name, role, and organization.
Figure 5.10: A Seminar Schedule page describes ongoing
seminars.
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The Scheduled Image and Scheduled Include bots can make your seminar schedule update itself dynamically and automatically. |
The Software Data Sheet template, shown in Figures 5.11 through 5.14, includes a graphic or screen shot of a software product; its key benefits and features; a section for system requirements, pricing, and availability; and company contact information.
Figure 5.11: The top portion of the Software Data Sheet page provides a graphic of the software.
Figure 5.12: The second portion describes key benefits and features of the software.
Figure 5.14: The bottom portion provides contact, copyright, and trademark information.
The Table of Contents template uses a Table of Contents bot to automatically generate a table of contents for your Web site. It is ideal for sites that contain many pages.
The What's New template adds a What's New page to your site. This page is similar to the page created with the Corporate Presence Web, discussed in Chapter 4, "If You Mean Business." You manually develop a list of major changes to your web and place the most recent changes at the top of the list.
Figure 5.15 summarizes the key features of each basic page template. Figure 5.16 summarizes the basic bots used in each page template.
Figure 5.15: The key features of a page template.
Figure 5.16: The basic bots in a page template.
Some templates use the advanced bots as form handlers. These advanced bots require that the FrontPage Server Extensions exist on your target web server. Alternatively, you can specify a custom CGI script to handle the forms on the pages.
Pages generated with the FrontPage page templates look as though they took hours on your part. No one has to know that you generated them in a matter of minutes.
The Confirmation Form template acknowledges receipt of responses from visitors to your site when they submit forms with a Discussion, Save Results, or Registration bot. It uses Confirmation Field bots to include information on the form automatically.
The Feedback Form template enables visitors to your site to submit comments, complaints, and suggestions about your company or Web site. It has fields for visitors to enter contact information.
The Guest Book template provides a page where visitors to your site can add comments about it. Their comments appear in a log at the bottom of the page for others to see.
The Employment Opportunities template notifies others of available jobs at your company. The form begins with a bulleted list of available positions and bookmarked links to appropriate sections on the page. (See Figure 5.17.) Each position contains a job description, applicant requirements, and contact information. (See Figure 5.18.)
Figure 5.17: A list of available positions appears at the top of the Employment Opportunities page.
Figure 5.18: Each position is described.
A General Inquiries section follows the list of openings. (See Figure 5.19.) It notifies visitors whom to contact if they want further information on the openings in your company.
Figure 5.19: Contact information for general inquiries.
The Personnel File section on the page asks potential applicants about their current responsibilities and relevant experience. (See Figure 5.20.) Contact information is also entered in this form. (See Figure 5.21.)
Figure 5.21: Contact information is entered in the lower portion of the page.
The Registration template enables visitors to your site to register a product serial number or to register for an event, as shown in Figures 5.22 and 5.23. Users enter personal information in various fields on the form. A check list provides multiple options from which they can select. The form also contains fields for the registration or serial number of a product.
Figure 5.22: Contact information is entered in the upper portion of the Registration page.
The User Registration template is similar to the Registration form, but it contains more fields for the user to enter information. The introductory text explains the benefits of signing up for a registered web or discussion.
The Search Page template places a search engine on your site. Examples of how to search for text appear at the bottom of the page.
The Survey Form template enables you to collect information on any topic. The form provides areas for questions, along with several types of response fields. You can cut, paste, and edit the fields easily.
Figure 5.24 shows the advanced form bots that are used in the page templates. Figure 5.25 shows the form fields that are included on them.
Figure 5.24: The advanced form bots in page templates.
You can create a new page and a link on an existing page at the same time. When you create a new page in this manner, you can base the new page on one of the templates discussed in this chapter.
After you create or edit your pages, you save them to your FrontPage web.
If the templates that FrontPage provides are not sufficient, you can always make your own. Suppose, for example, that you created a great page that want to use as a template for others. With FrontPage, it is easy to make your own templates.
A new directory is created in the /Microsoft FrontPage/Pages subdirectory. Now whenever you create a new page, this template is listed in the New Page dialog box.
This chapter wraps up the built-in templates and wizards provided with FrontPage. Much work and thought has gone into these pages. The webs and pages generated with FrontPage can save you a great deal of time.
In this chapter, you learned how to open an existing web and how to add to it pages based on the FrontPage page templates. You reviewed the features of each page template. You learned how to save new pages to your web and how to create your own templates of your own.
In the next chapter, you will create a corporate web site that combines some of FrontPage's wizards and templates. You also learn how to set up the registration form for a protected web.
To learn how to edit the pages covered in this chapter, check out the following chapters:
| Q: | I have some existing content on the Web, and I want to add some pages there. I don't really want to create a FrontPage web on that site. Can I create my pages in FrontPage and ftp them to the site? |
| A: | Yes, you can use the FrontPage Editor as you would any other editor to design your pages. However, if you plan to put your pages on a site that does not have the server extensions, make sure that your pages do not use any of the bots that work at browse time-such as those mentioned in Chapter 20. |
| Q: | I have several products-employees, services, and so on-that I want to create pages for. I want to create the pages all at once and individualize them later. Is there an easy way to do this? |
| A: | Create your first page as you normally would. Include all the general information that is common to all the pages. There are a couple of ways to make the additional copies after this. The first way is to save the page as a template, after which it appears in the New Page dialog box when you create a new page. You learn how to create a template in Chapter 12 |
| Q: | Can I save pages to locations on my hard drive other than the currently opened web? |
| A: | Yes. If you choose the File | Save or File | Save As command, you can click the Save To File button located in the lower-right corner of the dialog box. The Save As dialog box appears. Locate the directory or folder to which you want to save your page, and press OK to save the page. If any images are included in the page, you can save them in the same directory or folder, or you can choose another one. You can also use another approach. You can save the first page into your open web with the File | Save command. For each subsequent page, use the File | Page Properties command in the Editor to change the title and the URL of the new page. Then use the File | Save As command to place the new copy into your open web. After you create all your pages, you can edit them individually as necessary. |
