Copyright © 1996 by Sams.net Publishing™
FIRST EDITION
All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. For information, address Sams.net Publishing, 201 W. 103rd St., Indianapolis, IN 46290.
International Standard Book Number: 1-57521-149-1
Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
FrontPage is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
When one looks at a painting on a canvas or listens to a musical piece, the focus is usually on the elements in the foreground. Without background scenery or instrumentation, the compositions are incomplete.
This book has its own background-a team of dedicated individuals without whom this book simply would not be. At the helm of this team are Chris Denny, Angelique Brittingham, Andrew Fritzinger, Mary Inderstrodt, and Mark Taber of Sams Publishing and Sams.net. Their skill in providing technical expertise parallels their abilities to provide moral support and friendship.
The driving force behind this book, and the series of which it is a part, is Laura Lemay, a true master in the field of Web authoring. Her clear, no-nonsense approach in her award-winning books about Web authoring are sprinkled with style and wit. This style was the inspiration throughout this book, for all involved.
Denise Tyler is a computer graphics artist/animator and author. After a 15-year career as an engineer with technical writing and customer training experience, she left the corporate world and started her own business in 1991. She combined her technical knowledge with a lifelong interest in art and music, and developed her skills in computer art and animation. She began by specializing in the development of graphics for multimedia presentations and computer games. As the World Wide Web grew, so did Denise's interest in developing and authoring Web pages.
Using her background experience in technical writing and customer training, Denise began writing tutorials in creating computer graphics. She is a co-author of the best-selling book Tricks of the Game Programming Gurus and is the author of Fractal Design Painter 3.1 Unleashed, both published by Sams Publishing. Using the same hands-on style of writing, she is now directing her attentions to the World Wide Web.
As a reader, you are the most important critic and commentator of our books. We value your opinion and want to know what we're doing right, what we could do better, what areas you'd like to see us publish in, and any other words of wisdom you're willing to pass our way. You can help us make strong books that meet your needs and give you the computer guidance you require.
Do you have access to CompuServe or the World Wide Web? Then check out our CompuServe forum by typing GO SAMS at any prompt. If you prefer the World Wide Web, check out our site at http://www.mcp.com.
| NOTE |
If you have a technical question about this book, call the technical support line at (800) 571-5840, ext. 3668. |
As the team leader of the group that created this book, I welcome your comments. You can fax, e-mail, or write me directly to let me know what you did or didn't like about this book-as well as what we can do to make our books stronger. Here's the information:
| Fax: | 317/581-4669 |
| E-mail: | programming_mgr@sams.mcp.com |
| Mail: | Greg Wiegand
Comments Department Sams Publishing 201 W. 103rd Street Indianapolis, IN 46290 |
During the infancy of Web development, it took an Internet guru to develop Web pages. The pioneers of Web page development developed a standard program code called Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML for short. Though HTML is a relatively easy programming language to learn, the task of Web page development was usually left to the experts. Then, along came trailblazers like Laura Lemay, who developed books that clearly and effectively demonstrated the proper use of this code. As a result, the Web took off like wildfire.
The Internet is more than a phenomenon-it's rapidly becoming the way to communicate for the '90s and beyond. By far, the most popular area of the Internet is the World Wide Web, where corporations and individuals alike are creating home pages and Web sites that tell the world about themselves. Take a look at television advertising, movie trailers, and business cards nowadays. You'll see a home page address displayed as conspicuously as other contact information. Now, everyone wants a place on the Web. For some, though, this isn't an easy undertaking.
Despite the plethora of books on the subject, there are still many who shy away from developing their own pages. No matter how they look at it, they still see HTML as programming. Over time, software tools have been developed that make Web page development easier. Still, there are those who need more. "What we need," they say, "is a tool that will let us see what we actually get when we view the pages in our browsers-without worrying about touching any code."
We are now seeing a new generation of Web authoring tools that fulfill this need. After I evaluated several of them, FrontPage became my tool of choice. It's clearly one of the best, especially for those who want to develop a medium- to large-sized Web site. The reason for this is that FrontPage goes beyond Web page development-it combines a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) Web page editor with a Web server and site management tool. As you develop your site, FrontPage's bots, templates, and wizards make the job easier. You can quickly and easily verify the links in your Web, making sure they all work before the site is published. FrontPage takes all the drudgery out of Web page development, and makes it fun and easy.
Also, until the advent of FrontPage, Web page developers had to learn other programming languages in order to add interactivity to their sites. FrontPage provides a solution to this also. Using some of the bots, you can create online ordering forms, surveys, guest books, and other items that can retrieve input from those who visit your site. By selecting an Internet service provider that uses the FrontPage Server Extensions, a novice can add these advanced features to his or her Web pages without any programming.
The goal of this book is to combine the best of both worlds-FrontPage's ease of use and the straight, hands-on tutorial approach that is the Laura Lemay trademark. I hope I've succeeded in accomplishing this goal and that it opens up an exciting, interesting, and fun new world for you. Enjoy!
This book is designed for those of you who are familiar with browsing and surfing the World Wide Web and who want to develop pages of your own. The chapters in this book teach you how to design Web pages and complete Web sites using Microsoft FrontPage, and cover version 1.1. The chapters progress from the quick-and-easy way to develop pages toward more advanced techniques such as adding interactivity and incorporating your own code into your FrontPage Web sites. The lessons should appeal to beginners and intermediate-level authors who want to learn how to develop Web pages the FrontPage way.
This workshop book assumes that you have already surfed the Web and that you are somewhat familiar with the basic terminology of the Web. You should, at a minimum, recognize what Web pages, URLs, and links are, and what they do. Of course, this book also assumes that you use the Windows 95 operating system, and that you have or will use FrontPage as an authoring tool.
This book is divided into five sections, beginning with the easiest and quickest way to develop Web sites and progressing through more advanced techniques and publishing your Web site. The projects in the "Real-Life Examples" chapters teach you how to build complete Web sites while incorporating the majority of the features available to you in FrontPage.
The chapters are arranged so that you can find most everything you need to know about a particular topic in one area. Margin notes direct you to other areas of the book where related information appears. Tips and notes provide you with important or interesting information that can assist in your Web page development. Cautions tell you about things that will help you stay out of trouble.
The CD-ROM contains support files for the tasks and projects in this book, as well as some additional resources that will help you make your Web sites the best on the Internet. If all this isn't enough, visit my support site for this book. In addition to a user-to-user discussion group, you'll get to see most of the FrontPage features live and in action. I'll also have some goodies and art on the site as things progress. Visit me at the following URL:
http://frontpage.flex.net/dtyler/FPSite/index.htm
Thanks for buying this book, and here's to great success in building your Web sites with FrontPage!