Tips and Tricks : FrontPage 2000

Strip Out Text Formatting in FrontPage

Text imported from word processor files or copied from another Web page into FrontPage often contains unwanted formatting such as fonts, colors, and font sizes. To quickly remove all such formatting and revert to the default FrontPage settings:

1. In page view, select the text.
2. On the Format menu, click Remove Formatting . Or press CTRL+SPACEBAR.

Edit the HTML in FrontPage Shared Borders

Have you ever tried to edit the HTML code in a shared border? At first glance, you can't, because in the HTML view, FrontPage hides the HTML of the shared borders.

To edit the HTML of a shared border in FrontPage 2000:

1. On the Tools menu, click Web Settings , and then click the Advanced tab.
2. Select the Show documents in hidden directories check box to show or hide files in hidden folders. Click OK to continue.

Now, if you use shared borders in your Web, when you look at the Folder List, you'll see a new directory called _borders. Inside this directory, you'll find an HTML page that corresponds to the shared borders you've used in your Web: top.htm, bottom.htm, left.htm, and/or right.htm. You can open these files in FrontPage Editor. And when you save the file, the shared borders on every page are updated automatically.

Build Your Own Hover Buttons in FrontPage 2000

Have you ever wondered how to make the buttons on your Web pages change color, move, or light up when users point to them with a mouse? It's easy to do with FrontPage 2000.

First, you'll need to create two versions of the button you want to put on your page. One version that appears when the page first loads and another slightly different version that users see when they point to the button with a mouse. You can create your graphics using Microsoft PhotoDraw® 2000 or any drawing program you use to create graphics for the Web.

Once you've created your graphics, here's how you put them on your page:

1. On the Insert menu, click Component , and then click Hover Button .
2. In the Link to box, enter the URL of the page or file you want to display when the button is clicked.
3. In the Button text box, type the text label for the hover button. Leave this box blank if the graphic you created already contains a text label.
4. Click Custom .
5. In the Button box, enter the URL to the picture you want users to see when they first open the page.
6. In the On hover box, enter the URL to the picture you want users to see when they put a mouse over the button. Then click OK .
7. In the Width and Height boxes, type the width and height of the picture in pixels, and then click OK . The size of the hover button must match the size of the picture you use for the hover effect.

And if you don't have graphics already created, you can select one of the built-in hover effects in FrontPage 2000, such as Glow or Bevel , to quickly add interactivity to any page on your site.

Insert Line Breaks in FrontPage

In the Normal view in FrontPage, when you press ENTER, FrontPage automatically inserts a Paragraph "<P>" tag, creating double line spacing between lines. To insert a line break-or "<BR>" tag-so you have single line spacing, hold down SHIFT and then press ENTER.

Create an Outlook Message Signature Using FrontPage

You can spruce up your Outlook 2000 message signature using FrontPage 2000 (or your default HTML editor).

To create a message signature using HTML:

1. In Microsoft Outlook®, on the Tools menu, click Options , and then click the Mail Format tab.
2. Under Message format , select HTML from the Send in this message format drop-down menu. Then click the Signature Picker button.
3. In the Signature Picker dialog box, click New .
4. In the Enter a name for your new signature box, enter a name.
5. Under Choose how to create your signature , select Start with a blank signature , and then click Next .
6. Click the Advanced Edit button. Outlook will then launch FrontPage 2000 (or your default HTML editor), and you can take full advantage of the features in the editor to create your signature. You can embed graphics, add hyperlinks, or even animate your signature using DHTML.
7. When you have finished creating your signature, save your changes and exit FrontPage.
8. Click OK twice.

Switch Quickly Between Views in FrontPage

To switch between Design, Preview, and HTML views in FrontPage 2000, just press CTRL+PAGE UP or CTRL+PAGE DOWN .