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Microsoft FrontPage 2002
| | Fr. Jacob Myers July 20, 2000 |  | I remember 6 or 7 years ago there was a Comdex Computer Show at the OMNI in Atlanta in which Bill Gates was the keynote Speaker. I had a press pass at that time and sat in the second row of a huge auditorium listening to Mr. Gates speak. In his talk he made a prediction about the overall importance that the Internet would have in our society in not too many years to come. The Internet was in its baby stage at that time, and it was hard to see what Mr. Gates envisioned and what the Internet has become...one of the key methods of communication and learning in our society as a whole. But then, I guess that is why Mr. Gates is the richest man in the world...his vision sees such things. By now the Internet is at the very least the predominant electronic publishing medium on this earth. Where in the beginning stages of the Internet, people were content to view what several others had placed forward as information, by today, a vast number of people want to express themselves artistically, graphically, and just about every other way they can. Publishing Web Pages is big business, and the software that covers both the Graphics Artist in his or her visual complexity and the artistic side of a beginner to the Internet will find itself quite successful. As with most of Microsoft's products, FrontPage 2002 is on top of its game in the creation of Web Pages. Truthfully, there are some simpler software packages for the beginner to create a nice web page. FrontPage is more for the Intermediate and Advanced user, who quickly, but artistically wants to create works of art utilizing all that the Internet and its various code advancements is in the year 2002 able to offer. FrontPage 2002 begins with Web site creation, going to the ability to manage your creation on the Internet, and allowing for a management that includes a team approach using a technology called SharePoint Team Services that allows for "quickly set up a team web site for intranet or Internet users to store, find, and share information, documents, and web pages." We have gone from previous years where one person was in charge of everything related to a Web Page to where many can work on and glean information from their mutual page simultaneously, greatly enhancing e-commerce. In fact, its e-commerce functionality, using forms and database support, and usage analysis features is excellent for the businessman who wants to know the facts and figures related to his Web page. This is a great plus with as many people world wide doing much of their shopping on the Internet. Here is an example of the Usage Analysis Report, which analyzes your site traffic keeping tabs of daily, weekly, or monthly Usage Analysis Reports which reveal which pages are getting the most hits and how visitors arrived at your site. These reports can be saved in Microsoft Excel or HTML format for further analysis. 
Besides the speed with which one can create a Web page, one can also quickly customize the page, adding either included graphics or using our own Photo Galleries, backgrounds, fonts, formatting and Themes. FrontPage is in the Microsoft Office format, looking much like Microsoft Word and any of the other Office products. This course means that it shares similar toolbars, menus, clipboard, and all other features for the most part.  This allows you to either work exclusively in a familiar Office interface without having to program, or directly use HTML code. In the screenshot below you can see that you can work on various pages at the same time, bringing them into FrontPage and then clicking on the one you wish to edit. The Page tabs allow flipping between multiple pages without having them all open at once. Then you can choose Normal mode which allows you to edit the page you have chosen as if it were in your word processor, or you can click HTML and see and edit code. Then you can preview your work as it would look on the Internet.
You can also add content on a web site that renews itself with updated information. This feature is a must to tweak visitors interest in coming back. FrontPage 2002 allows you to place on your site access to timely MSNBC headlines and weather, Microsoft MoneyCentral stock ticker lookups, Microsoft Expedia maps, MSN search, and Microsoft bCentral small-business tools. FrontPage has a new set of drawing tools to create attention-grabbing AutoShapes, drop shadows, WordArt, and callouts. I will show you how easy it is with the picture of the young girl below to create a bubble of words for someone on your web page to appear to be saying something:
FrontPage2002 allows for the adding of a collection of photos or other images to your Web site in the form of a visual catalog. Visitors can scan a collection of images they may wish to see a larger picture of by reviewing a collection of smaller (thumbnail) images. Visitors then view your photo gallery in a browser window, choosing which images they want to see and clicking each thumbnail to display the full-size image the thumbnail represents. See below how easy this is to do:
And now you can have HTML, ASP, and XML source-code preservation which allows you to import code created in a text editor or other HTML editing tool without rearranging or changing it:
The Custom Link Bars have become a great way to move through a web site by clicking on them on each web page and going quickly to the prescribed address including email addresses. Creative buttons lend style and originality to a site as you can see on the page below:
New Publishing dialog box allows you to drag files and folders between source and destination Webs. FrontPage has increased the speed of access to your Web Page on the Internet from your computer: 
FrontPage now allows you to host your site on your own server or on one managed by the thousands of Web hosting companies that support FrontPage-based publishing:
And today we know how important it is in e-commerce to be able to sell a product right from your Web Page. as you create product pages, category pages, and a list of all the product categories you offer with the Microsoft bCentral Commerce Manager service and Microsoft FrontPage wizard:
Selling on the Net also needs the use of Databases. The new Database Interface Wizard makes connecting forms to a database easy, and allows authorized users to edit or query databases through a Web-based form. Collect data from online forms, then have it delivered to a text file, e-mail address, or database, such as Microsoft Access:
The Program give us increased Table and Table Formatting. Table AutoFormat helps
you create professional looking tables:
Other options are the Table Fill allows you to repeat the contents of an individual cell to the right of a cell or below it. Table Split allows you to divide a table at any location quickly and easily.
There is a Border Dropdown Tool Button to quickly add borders of any color or background color to text or graphics. I used this option on the Logo of FrontPage at the top of this review to quickly give dimension to the FrontPage Box:
You can add Speech and Handwriting Recognition to this program and FrontPage 2002 is a great upgrade for all who want to quickly and expertly create Web Pages. Since the Program is so widely used, there are many places on the Internet that will help the new user come up to proficiency quickly. FrontPage 2002 is at the top of its class in Web Page production.
Microsoft FrontPage 2002 CD
Estimated Price: 169.00 | Minimum Requirements
FrontPage version 2002
Computer/Processor
PC with Pentium 133 MHz or
higher processor; Pentium III
recommended.
Memory
For Windows 98 and
Windows 98 Second
Edition: 24 Mb of RAM for
the operating system plus an
additional 8 Mb of RAM for
FrontPage
For Windows Me, Windows
NT Workstation 4.0, or
Windows NT Server 4.0: 32
Mb of RAM for the operating
system plus an additional 8
Mb of RAM for FrontPage
For Windows 2000
Professional: 64 Mb of RAM
(128 Mb recommended) for
the operating system plus an
additional 8 Mb of RAM for
FrontPage
Hard Disk
165 Mb of available hard-disk
space with 115 Mb on the hard
disk where the operating system is
installed; users without Windows
2000, Windows Me, or Office
2000 SR-1 require an additional
50 Mb for System Files Update
(hard-disk usage will vary
depending on configuration;
custom installation choices may
require more or less hard-disk
space).
Drive
CD-ROM drive
Display
Super VGA (800x600) or
higher-resolution monitor with
256 colors.
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 98, Windows
98 Second Edition, Windows NT
4.0 with Service Pack 6 or later
(requires Internet Explorer 4.01
with Service Pack 1 or later), or
Windows 2000 Professional or
later operating system.
Peripherals
Microsoft Mouse, Microsoft
IntelliMouse, or compatible
pointing device.
Miscellaneous
Additional items or services
required to use certain features:
Multimedia computer
required for sound and
multimedia effects
(accelerated video card or
MMX processor will
improve graphical rendering
performance)
For speech recognition
(available for U.S. English
only): Pentium II 400 MHz
or higher processor, 128 Mb
of RAM or more, and
close-talk microphone and
audio output device
Microsoft Exchange, Internet
SMTP/POP3, IMAP4, or
MAPI-compliant messaging
software required to use
e-mail features
Some Internet functionality
may require Internet access
and payment of a separate
fee to a service provider
(local and/or long-distance
charges may apply); some
Internet functionality may
require Web server
software, available
separately from Microsoft
and other third-party vendors
14,400 or higher-baud
modem
Graphics tablet
recommended for
handwriting input features
Some database features
require Microsoft Access or
another ODBC-compliant
database
SharePoint Team Services
Computer/Processor
Pentium 200 MHz or higher
processor
Memory
128 Mb of RAM
Hard Disk
70 Mb of available hard-disk
space for typical installation; your
hard-disk usage will vary
depending on configuration;
custom installation choices may
require more or less space (5 Mb
minimum of hard-disk space for
each newly provisioned Web site
and database)
Drive
CD-ROM drive
Display
Super VGA (800x600) or
higher-resolution monitor with
256 colors.
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 2000
operating system running Internet
Information Services (IIS) 5.0
Miscellaneous
Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE)
or Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 or
later (MSDE automatically
installs with SharePoint Team
Services if SQL Server is not
already installed).
Microsoft bCentral Commerce Manager Add-in for
FrontPage
Miscellaneous
The Microsoft bCentral
Commerce Manager subscription
service provides catalog and
shopping cart functionality for
Microsoft FrontPage-based Web
sites. The Commerce Manager
service is available initially to
U.S. customers; check the
bCentral Commerce
Manager Web site for
information on availability for
additional countries, or
www.bcentral.ca/frontpage
for updates on the availability in
Canada. Requires subscription fee
to bCentral and Internet
connectivity. Local and
long-distance telephone charges
may apply. | Copyright 2001, Fr. Jacob Myers, All Rights Reserved |
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