Microsoft FrontPage #2



*1.  LINE 'EM UP! 

January 21st, 1999

You love the look of those indented paragraphs--you know, the 
ones that are inset a little from either side of the margins of 
the page. But when you try to indent paragraphs yourself, by 
using the Tab key, you just lose your patience. Here's a quick 
trick to get indented paragraphs: 

- 1. Highlight the paragraph that you want to indent. 
- 2. Click the Increase Indent button on the FrontPage Editor
     toolbar. (This button shows an arrow pointing to several
     lines on the right.) 

You can continue to indent that paragraph with each additional 
click of the Increase Indent button. So keep clicking until 
you're satisfied. 


*2.   INSTA' LINK 

January 22nd, 1999 

Want to link from one page of your Web site to another? 
Suppose, for example, that you want to add to your Resume page 
a link to your Interests page. Why bother with menus and 
buttons and all that stuff? Use the drag and drop method: 

- 1. Make sure both FrontPage Explorer and FrontPage Editor
     are open. 
- 2. In FrontPage Explorer, double-click the file where you
     want to create the link. If you are following our example,
     you'd open the Resume page, which displays in the
     FrontPage Editor. 
- 3. Go to FrontPage Explorer and click the page that you want
     to link to (the Interests page in our example). 
- 4. Continuing to hold down your mouse button, drag the
     Interests page icon to the FrontPage Editor on your
     Windows taskbar (the bar at the bottom of the screen that
     shows which programs you have open); hold the mouse steady
     until you see the FrontPage Editor appear on-screen. 
- 5. When FrontPage Editor pops up, position your mouse where
     you want the link to appear and then release the button. 

The link appears on-screen, displaying whatever the title of 
the page is (Interests, for example). 


*3.   TWEAKING THE THEME 

January 25th, 1999 

You like almost everything about your theme--the color of the 
hyperlinks, the bullets, and so on--but you don't like the 
background pattern. Instead of losing the whole theme, just get 
rid of the background. Here's how: 

- 1. Right-click anywhere on your page and choose Theme from 
     the pop-up menu that appears. 
- 2. In the Choose Theme dialog box, uncheck the Background
     Image box. You get a preview of what your page looks like
     without the background pattern. 
- 3. If you like what you see, click OK. If you don't like what
     you see, you can always click the Background Image again
     (it works like a toggle). 


*4.   SPRIGHTLY TEXT--PART 1 OF 4 

January 26th, 1999 

Want to add a little flair to the text on your pages? Designing 
images with Microsoft Image Composer lets you design headers 
and logos with the fonts and colors you want. In this tip, we 
show you how to get started by generating a shape. 

- 1. Open Microsoft Image Composer (the image program bundled
     with FrontPage) by clicking the Start menu and choosing
     Programs + Microsoft Image Composer + Image Composer 1.5. 
- 2. Click the Shapes button (the one with the circle, square,
     and polygon). 
- 3. In the Shapes dialog box, click the shape--rectangle, oval,
     curve, or polygon--you want for your image. 
- 4. Create the shape, as described in the following: 
     - Oval or rectangle: Click once in white area of the main
       window; then hold the mouse button and drag your cursor
       until you have the shape and size you want. To get a
       perfect circle or square, hold down the Shift key as
       you drag. 
     - Curve or polygon: Click a few times in your composition
       area to set the points of your shape. To remove a point,
       right-click the point and choose Delete (or Add or Move,
       depending on what you want to do). 
- 5. When you're satisfied with the shape you want, decide how
     transparent you want it to be. Under Opacity for New
     Shape, move the slider to the left to make the shape more
     transparent; move it to the right to make the shape
     less transparent. 
- 6. At the bottom of the Toolbar (to the left of the
     composition area) is the Color Swatch (an icon that has
     one block of color). Right click the color to see a
     palette. Choose the color for your shape. 
- 7. Right-click your shape and choose Create. 

Tune in tomorrow to find out how to add text to your new shape. 
In the meantime, save your shape: Choose File + Save, type in a 
name for your image, and click Save. Make sure you put the 
image someplace easy to find. If you follow this series, you'll 
be able to use it tomorrow! 


*5.   SPRIGHTLY TEXT--PART 2 OF 4 

January 27th, 1999 

Yesterday, we explained how to create a new shape, using 
Microsoft's Image Composer. Today, we show you how to add text 
to that shape to create a text image for your Web page. 

- 1. Open the shape in Image Composer by choosing File + Open
     and double-click your file. (If you followed yesterday's
     tip, you can open the shape you created.) 
- 2. Click the Text button on the left-hand side of the screen
     (it's the one with the "A" on it). 
- 3. In the Text dialog box, select the font name, style, and
     size; choose a color from the color palette; and indicate
     how transparent you want the text. Also make sure that
     the Smoothing box is deselected to ensure that your text
     doesn't have jaggie edges. 
- 4. Move the cursor over the white composition area of your
     screen (the cursor turns into a cross-hatch with an "A"
     next to it) and click to create a box; then type text in
     the box. 
- 5. After you enter your text, click anywhere in the
     composition area outside the text box to close the Text
     dialog box. 
- 6. Move your cursor over the text. When the cursor changes
     into a cross-hatch with an arrow facing in every
     direction, click and drag the text to where you want it
     to appear. 

Stay tuned for tomorrow when Jane says, "How do you resize this 
thing, anyway?" 


*6.   SPRIGHTLY TEXT--PART 3 OF 4 

January 28th, 1999 

Over the last two days, we told you how to create a text image, 
using Image Composer. But if you save that image in Image 
Composer's default format, you get a file with the .mic 
extension, and you won't be able to add your creation to your 
Web page. Your image files need to have a .gif or .jpg 
extension in order to work on the Web. To save your creation so 
that you can use it on the Web, follow these easy steps: 

- 1. From Microsoft Image Composer, open the image file (choose
     File + Open). 
- 2. Choose File + Save As. In the Save as Type drop-down list,
     select CompuServe GIF; then name the file and click Save. 
- 3. A message appears saying this format flattens out the
     sprites in your composition. (In other words, the text and
     the shape are glued together permanently, and you won't be
     able to move or edit them separately.) If this is
     acceptable, click OK. If you think that you might want to
     do some tweaking in the future, click Cancel. Then choose
     File, Save and type a name for your file. Click Save and
     your image will be stored Now you can safely follow these
     steps to create a new GIF file. 


*7.   SPRIGHTLY TEXT--PART 4 OF 4 

January 29th, 1999 

After you create a text image and save it in the right format 
for the Web (as explained in the last couple of tips), you're 
ready to insert the image on your page. Just jump over to 
FrontPage Editor, place your cursor where you want the image to 
appear, and insert it (choose Insert + Image and double-click 
the file). But your image appears HUGE on the page! Has all 
your work been for naught? Nope. You just need to do a little 
more tweaking in Microsoft Image Composer. 

- 1. Open Image Composer (click the Start menu and choose
     Programs + Microsoft Image Composer + Image Composer 1.5)
     and open the text image you created. 
- 2. Click the image once. A box with handles appears around
     the image. 
- 3. Using your mouse, click and grab a corner handle until the
     image is the size you want. 
- 4. Your image might be the right size, but now you need to
     resize the white composition space to fit the size of the
     image. Drag your cursor over the dotted line around the
     composition area until the cursor changes to a line with
     an arrow at either end; then click and drag the
     surrounding lines until they fit your text image perfectly.
- 5. Resave your image (choose File + Save). 
- 6. Jump back to FrontPage Editor and insert the image again.
     If it's still not the size you want, keep tweaking,
     resaving, and reinserting the image until you get it
     just right. 


*8.   IMAGINATIVE BUTTONS 

February 2nd, 1999 

Say that you want a bulleted list, but instead of using little 
round circles, you want to use images. You can, and here's how:

- 1. Click where you want the list to begin. 
- 2. Choose Insert + Image; then navigate to and double-click
     the image. (Tip-in-a-tip: Think small. Remember that
     people won't be able to see all the detail of a complex
     image that's been resized as a button.) 
- 3. Click OK. The image appears on your page. 
- 4. If the image is too large, click it once; then grab a
     corner handle to resize it. 
- 5. When the image is the right size, click on either side of
     the image to insert your text. 
- 6. Select the image and choose Ctrl + C (to copy it) and
     Ctrl + 5 (to paste it) as many times as you need. 

*9.   YOU'RE DATING ME! 

February 4th, 1999 

You've heard it before: The Web is up-to-date, filled with 
information about news and events that happened just minutes 
before. But how do you know whether a Web site has really been 
updated regularly? Such a site has one of those nifty date 
stamps that tells you the last time someone actually added new 
information or edited existing data. If you want people to know 
that your Web site is current, you can add your own date stamp: 

- 1. Place the cursor where you want the date stamp to appear
     (we recommend an out-of-the-way place, like the bottom of
     the page). 
- 2. Choose Insert + Timestamp. The Timestamp Properties dialog
     box appears. 
- 3. Under Display, select Date This Page Was Last Edited. 
- 4. From the Date Format drop-down list, select how you want
     the date to appear. 
- 5. Click OK. 

The date stamp appears. (Note: You may not see the updated time 
and date unless you preview your page in your browser.) 

*10.   WHAT'S TODAY'S DATE ANYWAY? 

February 4th, 1999 

Want the current date to appear automatically on your Web page? 
Follow these steps sent to us from reader Steve Bonario. 
Thanks, Steve, for sharing: 

- 1. Place the cursor where you want the date to appear. 
- 2. Choose Insert + Advanced + Script. A Script box appear
     on-screen. (Don't get intimidated!) 
- 3. Under language, make sure that VBScript is selected.
     Then click in the Script box and type the following: 

     document.write date 

- 4. Click OK. 

Don't see anything? First you have to save your page and then 
preview it in your browser.
