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Top Ten Tips for FrontPage 2002
Courtesy of Microsoft Corporation

On June 30, 2001, Microsoft will post a massive list of tips for FrontPage 2002 to the Office XP Web site, but we've got an exclusive peek at the top ten tips from that list now. Enjoy!

#4. Working with AutoShapes: Callouts & Drop Shadows
Microsoft FrontPage• version 2002 provides PowerPoint-like drawing tools including AutoShapes and Shadow Style to create great effects for your web site. With the auto-shape •Callouts•, you can put dialog balloons together with photos to add interest to your pages. FrontPage makes it easy. To make a text balloon or •callout• like the one in the picture below, select the Drawing icon from the main toolbar to start a new drawing then-

  1. In Page view, click on AutoShapes, then Callouts and select a choice.
  2. Place your cursor in the new drawing canvas on your page and click to create your callout shape.
  3. Click on the callout shape to select it, then click the Fill Color (paint bucket) icon in the Drawing Toolbar and select the color you want to fill the shape with.
  4. Reselect your callout shape, click the Shadow Style icon on the Drawing Toolbar and select a drop shadow choice.
  5. Reselect your callout shape and type or paste text.

More information
For more information about using the PowerPoint-like Drawing Tools, see Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Help.

#6. Add Syndicated Content to Your Web from MSNBC
Add exciting sports content to your Web site from MSNBC•. By inserting MSNBC Components included in Microsoft FrontPage• version 2002, your Web content is updated daily by MSNBC. Now you can have the latest sports content without having to continually update your site.

To add sports content to your Web site from MSNBC, open a new or existing page in FrontPage 2002 and do the following:

  1. In Page view, select Web Component from the Insert menu.
  2. Under Component Type: scroll down to MSNBC Components.
  3. Select MSNBC Components.
  4. Under Choose a MSNBC component: select Sports Headlines from MSNBC.
  5. Click Finish.

#7. Track How Visitors Access and Use Your Web Site with Usage Analysis Reports
Microsoft FrontPage• version 2002 features usage analysis reports that show how your Web site is being used. With these reports, you can determine what pages in your web site are most popular. You can also learn about how visitors use your Web site, where they come from and what Web browsers they are using.

There are more than a dozen different usage analysis reports you can choose from to help you improve your Web site•s navigation and better understand your visitors• interests. Half of these reports provide usage summaries of the visits to your Web site and number of hits on individual pages on your Web site by month, week, or day. The other reports are as follows:

  • Visiting Users: number of unique site visitors using your Web site. 
  • Operating Systems: summary of the operating systems used by your Web site visitors.
  • Browsers: list of the browsers used by your Web site visitors. 
  • Referring Domains: list of the most frequent referring domains to your Web site.
  • Referring URLs: list of the most frequent referring URLs to your Web site. 
  • Search Strings: list of the most frequent search terms used to find your web site.

All of these usage analysis reports can be filtered to see just the information that you want and can be exported to HTML or Microsoft Excel.

Note: This feature is only available on Web sites published to Web servers running SharePoint• Team Services from Microsoft or Microsoft FrontPage• 2002 Server Extensions.

More information
For more information about using Usage Analysis Reports, see Setting Up Usage Analysis in FrontPage 2002 or Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Help.

#9. Build Custom Link Bars to Navigate to Pages On or Off Your Site
In Microsoft FrontPage• version 2002, Link Bars can be applied site-wide or created ad-hoc and applied anywhere in your web. You can also use them as •back• and •next• links to navigate your web pages in a sequence, or include only one link to quickly make a button. You can even insert Link Bars into pages on your site with Microsoft Word• 2002.

To add a link bar to a page or your entire Web site, open a new or existing page in FrontPage 2002 and do the following:

  1. In Page view, select Web Component from the Insert menu.
  2. Under Component Type: select Link Bars.
  3. Under Choose a bar type: select a bar type.
  4. Select Next and let the wizard walk you through finishing the Link Bar.
  5. Click Finish.
  6. In Link Bar Properties, enter a name for your new Link Bar in Create New Link Bar and click OK.
  7. Under Links, enter your custom links by clicking on Add link.
  8. Complete your link list and click OK to close Link Bar Properties.

Tip: If a theme has been applied to your web site, button link bars will use fonts, colors, and other style elements from the theme.

More information
For more information about Building Custom Link Bars, see Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Help.

#10. Insert a Top 10 List Linking to Your Most Popular Pages
Using Microsoft FrontPage• version 2002, you can quickly insert Top 10 Lists that link to the Top 10 most frequented pages on your site. Create lists by number of visited pages, referring domains, referring URLs, search strings, visiting users, and more. These lists are automatically refreshed when the user comes to the page. Use the Top 10 List on Internet or intranet sites.

To add a Top 10 List to a page on your Web site, open a new or existing page in FrontPage 2002 and do the following:

  1. In Page view, select Web Component from the Insert menu.
  2. Under Component Type: select Top 10 List.
  3. Under Choose a usage list: select a usage list.
  4. Select Next and let the wizard walk you through finishing the Link Bar.
  5. Click Finish.
  6. In Top 10 List Properties, enter a name for your new usage list in Title Text: box.
  7. Under List Style, select a list style and click OK to close Top 10 List Properties.

Tip: To see list usage data, you must save and publish this page to a web on a server that supports the Microsoft FrontPage• version 2002 Server Extensions. Note: If no data appears in your list, check to see if Usage Analysis is enabled. To find out more about Usage Analysis see, •Setting Up Usage Analysis in FrontPage 2002•.

More information
For more information about inserting a Top Ten List, see Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Help. 

#13. Remotely Administer a Web Site based on SharePoint Team Services
You can remotely administer a SharePoint team Web site from your browser. Using Microsoft FrontPage• version 2002 and SharePoint• Team Services, it is easy to set up remote administration by adding a user account with Administrator role permissions. The Administrator role is a collection of rights that allow a user to modify all Web site content as well as manage site settings and accounts. With this user role, a SharePoint team Web site member can then browse to the Web site and perform administrative tasks remotely.

To add a user account with Administrator role permissions, open a SharePoint team Web site with FrontPage 2002 and edit it directly on the server as follows:

  1. On the Tools menu, point to Server, and then click Administration Home.
  2. On the Site Administration page, under Users and roles, click Manage users.
  3. Click Add a user.
  4. In the User area, click Add a new user with the following information, and then type the user name and password for the new user account.
  5. In the User Role area, select the Administrator role for the new account.
  6. Click Add User.
  7. To remotely administer your SharePoint Team Services Web site, open a browser and go to the Web site.
  8. Click on Site Settings on the home page.

Tip: To add a user account, your account must already have the Administrator role. You may need to check with your Internet service provider (ISP) or web server administrator to set up your initial permissions.

More information
For more information about managing users and user roles, see Microsoft SharePoint Team Services 2002 Help.

#22. Use the Enhanced Publishing Feature to Drag and Drop Files Wherever You Want
The new Enhanced Publishing Dialog in Microsoft FrontPage• version 2002 makes publishing simpler by allowing you to see both the pages and files on the source Web and the pages and files on the destination web at the same time. Now, you can easily drag, drop, or delete files in either location.

To use the Enhanced Publishing Dialog, open a new or existing Web in FrontPage 2002 and do the following:

  1. From the File menu, click Publish Web.
  2. Under Enter publish destination:, enter a URL (see Note:) or click Browse to select a destination Web.
  3. In the Publish Web dialog, click the Show>> button to show the contents of the server you•re publishing to.
  4. Click and drag files from the source to the destination, or you can click Publish to publish all new or changed pages.

Tip: Type the destination Web URL in the form- http://servername/ directory (where servername is the name of the server you want to publish to, and directory is the directory you want it placed in).

More information
For more information about publishing your Web, see Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Help.

#38. Change a SharePoint team Web site Logo Using FrontPage 2002
One of the best things about SharePoint• Team Services-based web sites is that it is fully customizable with Microsoft FrontPage• version 2002. Just open the Web site in FrontPage 2002, and use any of the features and functionality available in FrontPage to change your SharePoint Team Services-based Web site. You can easily add your own logos or text, customize lists in the web by changing what fields should be shown or how the list data is displayed, and even apply Themes created and customized in FrontPage to your SharePoint Team Services-basedWeb site.

To replace the SharePoint Team Services logo on the home page with your own logo in SharePoint Team Services-based Web site, edit it directly on the server as follows:

  1. From the File menu, select Open Web.
  2. Type in the URL for your SharePoint team Web site (http://your_SharePoint_team_Web_site_computer•s_name/) next to Web name: and click Open.
  3. In Page view, Double-click on Default.htm to start editing the home page.
  4. To replace the logo with a new graphic, right-click on the large logo on the right side of the page and select Cut from the shortcut menu.
  5. From the Insert menu, select Picture and click From File•.
  6. In the Picture dialog, browse to the image you want to use, select it, click the Insert button, and save the page.
  7. In Save Embedded Files, select options for how and where you want to save the new logo image.
  8. Click OK again to save the image and in the File menu, click Preview in Browser to view your new logo in the SharePoint Team Services-based Web site.

More information
For more information about working with SharePoint team Web sites, see Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Help.

#46. Using Find and Replace Enhancements
Find and Replace has been enhanced in Microsoft FrontPage• version 2002, with a new streamlined user interface. You can still search all the files in your web without opening each individual page to quickly find and replace content or even HTML. Now you can search multiple files, selecting only the ones you want to look at. You can also tab between Find and Replace.

To use the enhanced Find and Replace in a page or across your entire Web site, open a new or existing page or Web site in FrontPage 2002 and do the following:

  1. From the Edit menu, select Find or Replace.
  2. In Find where:, select where to search by clicking Current page, Selected page(s) or All Pages
  3. To find and replace content, click the Replace tab, enter your text in Find what:, and Replace with: and click Replace All or Replace.

Tip: To search Selected page(s) multiple select more than one Web page or file to search. In Folder List view, press the control key and left-click (CTRL+Left-click) on each file to select it. Then open Find or Replace dialog to search only on the selected files. Make sure you select Selected page(s) under Find where: before doing a replace.

More information
For more information about the Find and Replace, see Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Help.

#55. Use AutoFormat for Fast, Easy Tables
In Microsoft FrontPage• version 2002, Table AutoFormat helps you quickly create professional looking tables on your web pages. Create a table and then use the AutoFormat feature to select a style you want to use. Applying the style automatically changes your table•s size, font properties, borders, shading, and colors.

To use Table AutoFormat, open a new page and create a new table or open a page with an existing table in FrontPage 2002, and do the following:

  1. Click on the table while editing it in Page view.
  2. In the Table menu, select Table AutoFormat.
  3. In Formats:, select from the list of 33 table format designs to create the look you want.
  4. To further customize the table format, select options under Formats to apply and Apply special formats.
  5. Click OK.

Tip: Two other new table-editing features in the Table menu of FrontPage 2002 are Table Fill and Split Table.

  • You can easily repeat the contents of an individual cell by clicking on the cell to copy, then selecting that cell and adjacent cells to copy to by dragging the cursor over them. Go to the Table menu and select Fill, then Right or Fill, and then Down.
  • Split Table allows you to divide a table at any location to quickly and easily add text or graphics in between rows in a table. Just click the table row you want to be the first row of the second table, go to the Table menu and select Split Table.

More information
For more information about using new table editing features such as AutoFormat, see Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Help.

A special thanks to Microsoft for this exclusive preview of FrontPage 2002!

--Paul Thurrott
May 29, 2001

 
© 2002 Duke Communications International, Inc. All rights reserved.