Introduction to FrontPage

What Is FrontPage and is it better than other web editors?

FrontPage is a "What You See Is What You Get" editor or WYSIWYG (pronounced wizzy wig).  This means that the "editor" writes the HTML code while, to the casual user, the interface is very much like typing in MS Word or similar word processing program.

It's a very powerful program, advanced enough for professional web designers, and yet easy enough for the beginner.  Like any other program, there is a learning curve.  We found it worth the time and effort and love the program... which is what started us on the path to theme and template designing.

Throughout these sections we will help you get your basic web developed and ready for your content. We will cover getting your new template installed correctly on your computer, creating your first web template and adding pages. As well we will take you through the basics of FrontPage Navigation.  Don't forget to look for the FAQs and Developer's Tips along the way.

FrontPage bundles in some very easy-to-use features:

• Easily add or delete pages from your web
• Create forms - from simple to complex
• FrontPage keeps track of all changes
• Run helpful reports to find broken links, outdated pages, and more
• Work on your site "live" on the host server, if desired.
• Easy to get your site up and running
• Dynamic HTML effects
• Visual guide to your site and navigation structure
• Create on-the-fly Table of Contents and more
• Convenient use of "themes" and templates to change the look of your site

Well....the list just goes on and on.  So this is good, isn't it?  Well there is a catch to the easy convenience afforded by FrontPage.  Most of the great features rely on specific scripts and programming called "Server Extensions".  These must be present on your host site in order for many elements to work correctly.

FP2003 Note: The new version does not need server extensions if you are hosted on a Windows 2003 server.

These server extensions are the trade-off for the convenience of creating a form, for example, in minutes rather than hours.  While some may complain that FrontPage needs "room to work" and you need a bit more web space than the same site done without FrontPage, we find the benefits far outweigh any negatives.

Just a final word....select your web host carefully.  We advise selecting one who is familiar with FrontPage, offers good technical support, and one who doesn't blame every little glitch on FrontPage.  Do some research on the different types of servers (Unix, NT, etc.) and how they may affect your web performance.