Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003

Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003

Designing and maintaining a Web site requires a sophisticated knowledge of HTML and Internet servers. But for those of us who are pressed for time, Microsoft FrontPage 2003 is an excellent tool to help create professional-looking Web pages, even without a computer degree.

I am proud to say I have been using FrontPage since the 97 version, although I have received the scorn of many of my friends who are more advanced in Web page development. FrontPage commonly has been viewed as a “newbie” application because it encourages users to concentrate on the “look” of a Web page rather than worry about the underlying code.

FrontPage is a “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” tool. This means you can move pictures and text around on the screen and not concern yourself with the intricacies of HTML code. In the past, this caused problems because FrontPage commonly would put a huge amount of extraneous HTML code into a page. This sometimes made pages appear screwy, and there was no hope of deciphering what the code was doing.

Fortunately, one of the biggest improvements with FrontPage 2003 is it now generates clean, efficient and pristine HTML code. This means your Web pages will appear accurately, and the page will be more compatible with all Internet browsers. Browser compatibility is another area Microsoft improved in FrontPage. As you can imagine, Web pages designed in FrontPage always have looked great when viewed with Internet Explorer, a Microsoft product. When those same pages were viewed in Netscape, they sometimes looked as if a monkey put them together.

FrontPage 2003 strives to make sure Web pages are compatible with all browsers. You can check this with the “Preview in Browser” mode, or even run your pages through the “Browser Compatibility” test under the “Tools” menu.

The “Split Screen” view is a fantastic new feature of FrontPage 2003. In earlier versions, you either could view the graphical layout of your Web page or you could work directly with the HTML code. The “Split Screen” feature now allows you to view both at the same time.

Since I am still not all that proficient with HTML code, the “Split Screen” view allowed me to learn as I built my page. I could see how the code was built as I created tables, placed graphics and typed text. If something didn’t look good when I viewed my page in “Preview” mode, I could quickly look at the underlying code to try and correct the problem. The “Split Screen” mode has been available in more professional Web design tools such as Macromedia’s Dreamweaver, and I am glad Microsoft made this tool available to us less-proficient Web page developers.

Another significant feature in FrontPage 2003 is the support of eXtensible markup language. Microsoft claims that FrontPage 2003 is the first fully WYSIWYG editor to support XML. The significance of XML can’t be appreciated fully at this time, but in the near future, XML will become the de facto language of the Internet. Bravo to Microsoft for looking ahead.

A few other features worth mentioning in FrontPage 2003 are the new “Layout Table” feature and Dynamic Web Templates. The Templates let you modify entire sections of a Web site by simply updating a master template. FrontPage 2003 also provides something called the “Quick Tag Selector.” This tool basically allows you to select data within a specific HTML tag and make changes with a click of the mouse. I found it to be very helpful.

I really think Microsoft did a lot of things right with FrontPage 2003. If you are interested in designing and maintaining a Web site, but have been too afraid to jump into the pool of HTML, then FrontPage 2003 is a great way to get your feet wet.

In addition, since it’s a good bet you already are familiar with the look and feel of Microsoft Office applications, you will feel right at home moving around FrontPage since you will not have to learn many new commands or work with new tools. FrontPage still might not be the tool of choice for professional Web site developers, but for the price and ease of use, it’s a terrific choice for do-it-yourselfers.

Microsoft Corp.
(425) 882-8080

www.microsoft.com/
frontpage

Price: $199 or $109 upgrade

Windows 2000 and higher

Reviewed by Brett Burney, a legal practice support coordinator at Thompson Hine in Cleveland. You can e-mail him at brett.burney@
thomsonhine.com.

Apr/May '04 Issue

PROS
New “Split Screen” view, much improved HTML coding, support for XML and better browser compatibility.

CONS
Requires Windows 2000 or higher.

VERDICT
I absolutely recommend it. It’s an excellent product for people who want to build their own Web sites but don’t have a lot of time to learn HTML coding. Plus it’s much less expensive than the professional-grade Macromedia Dreamweaver application.