Microsoft FrontPage 2003 Interface Tutorial
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If you're reading this, chances are you've already used a Microsoft Office application, such as MS Word and Excel. If you're a FrontPage newbie, don't get intimated by it – using it is just like using any MS Office application. Remember that one of FrontPage's major strengths is its ease of use, so don't worry too much. This program was designed to cater both to professionals and neophytes.
Before anything else, let's look at the top bar containing the names Files, Edit, View, Insert, Format, and so on. Do they look familiar? This bar is FrontPage's menu bar, with menus similar to those of other Microsoft Office applications.
Beneath the menu bar, you can find the icons that make up the tool bars. Some icons might look familiar (such as the Open and Save icons), while others might look entirely new. Take time to familiarize with each icon that you don't recognize by hovering the mouse pointer over the icon to see a text tip. The text tip indicates the function of that icon. A useful one would be the Preview icon, which lets you see the web page as it appears in MS Internet Explorer or your default browser (such as Mozilla Firefox or Opera) in different screen resolution combinations. You can also preview the page in multiple browsers.
Next up is the web site tab, which you can recognize because it displays the file name (e.g. "project.html") of the web page you're working on. It's located above the content window, where you get to actually design and see your website in action.
There are several "views" available for the content window, and these make your web development a lot easier and more flexible. You can switch between views by clicking on the page mode tabs (design, split, code, preview) found beneath the content window.
The design view is Microsoft FrontPage 2003's WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor. As you build your web page here by typing in text and inserting images, you're seeing the actual website taking form in front of your eyes! This is like having the real browser sitting inside FrontPage for your comfort.
Hardcore web developers and designers might prefer the code view, which displays the HTML code for you to edit. If you're a beginner, you can use the code view to better appreciate and learn HTML tags.
If you want to combine the best of both worlds, you can use the split view, which divides the content window into two panes, one for the design view and the other for the code view. This feature is only found in Microsoft FrontPage 2003.
Finally, you can preview your web page as it would look in an actual web browser. Take note that some pages might not be rendered exactly as they'd appear in the browser; however, the differences are just minor and the preview almost always gives an accurate representation.
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