19
In this chapter Choosing a good foundation for your site using templates Saving time with the magic of wizards Creating polished Web sites with dynamic Web templates Adding color, graphics, and fonts to an entire site using themes 3 Using Wizards, Templates, and Themes The consistency of your site adds a level of professionalism and aes- thetic value. It also makes your site easier to update. Consistency not only involves the navigation elements, but also the colors, fonts, layout, graphics, and writing style of your content. One of the best ways to ensure consistency is to use themes and tem- plates, whether they be those included in FrontPage, those downloaded from other sources, or those you create yourself. With these tools, col- ors can be set for your entire site, font styles are the same from page to page, and navigation tools are located at the same place on each page.

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Page 1: Using Wizards, Templates, and Themes

In this chapter

• Choosing a good foundation for your siteusing templates

• Saving time with the magic of wizards

• Creating polished Web sites with dynamicWeb templates

• Adding color, graphics, and fonts to anentire site using themes

3

Using Wizards,

Templates, and Themes

The consistency of your site adds a level of professionalism and aes-

thetic value. It also makes your site easier to update. Consistency not

only involves the navigation elements, but also the colors, fonts, layout,

graphics, and writing style of your content.

One of the best ways to ensure consistency is to use themes and tem-

plates, whether they be those included in FrontPage, those downloaded

from other sources, or those you create yourself. With these tools, col-

ors can be set for your entire site, font styles are the same from page to

page, and navigation tools are located at the same place on each page.

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Page 2: Using Wizards, Templates, and Themes

Using TemplatesTemplates are predesigned pages that contain pagesettings, formatting, graphics, and fonts. FrontPagehas several default templates you can use, or youhave the flexibility to create your own. Most tem-plates incorporate a matching theme but also havepredefined areas, where you can add your text andany additional images.

Page TemplatesPage templates specify a unique page layout bydetermining where graphics and text are positionedon the page. Complex page templates also canincorporate forms, frames, Web components, ordatabase elements to create discussion groups,guest books, and feedback forms.

To create a page using a template, do the following:

1. Choose File, New. The New task pane opens.

2. From the New page section, choose MorePage Templates. The Page Templates dialogbox opens.

3. From the General tab, select the desired page template. Note that when youclick one of the Web page template icons, a brief summary of the page tem-plate is displayed in the Description section, and a graphic representation isdisplayed in the Preview section of the tab.

4. Click OK.

Choosing the right page layout for the job can save you time and energy. The avail-able page templates are as follows:

■ Normal—Creates a blank page.

■ Bibliography—Creates a simple page that allows you to create a bibliogra-phy containing a list of author names, book titles, and publication informa-tion.

■ Confirmation Form—Creates a page that confirms information enteredinto a form on a separate page. This is most commonly used to confirm anorder, to request information, or for site registration.

42 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MICROSOFT FRONTPAGE 2003

Unfortunately,FrontPage is caught in a

terminology sinkhole. Page tem-plates, Web site templates, anddynamic page templates are allsimilar yet different features, con-fusing as that may seem. In a nut-shell, page templates createindividual pages, Web site tem-plates configure entire sites, anddynamic page templates createpages with defined, editableregions. Each of these is covered in more detail in this chapter.

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Page 3: Using Wizards, Templates, and Themes

■ Feedback Form—Creates a page with form elements to solicit feedbackabout a product or site. This template can be used in conjunction with theConfirmation Form template to reply to site visitors who submit the form.

■ Form Page Wizard—Launches a wizard to lead you through the creationof a page containing a customized form with the fields you require. To learnmore about forms, see Chapter 16, “Creating Forms.”

■ Frequently Asked Questions—Creates a page containing a table of con-tents at the top, with each entry linking to the answer listed below. After eachentry is a link to return to the table of contents at the top of the page.

■ Guest Book—Creates a form that’s used to solicit comments from site visi-tors, as seen in Figure 3.1. The entries that are submitted through the formare appended to a separate HTML file, which is then included at the bottomof the Guest Book page using the Include Content Web component.

CHAPTER 3 USING WIZARDS, TEMPLATES, AND THEMES 43

FIGURE 3.1

The Guest Book

page template

has a text field

for visitors to

submit com-

ments about

your site.

■ Photo Gallery—Creates a photo-gallery page with placeholder images. Thispage can be customized using the Photo Gallery tools. To learn how to createand modify a photo gallery, see the section “Creating a Photo Gallery” inChapter 6, “Creating and Modifying Graphics.”

■ Search Page—Creates a page that enables visitors to search for informationin your site. The page also contains a quick guide to Boolean searches to aidvisitors in narrowing down their search criteria.

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Page 4: Using Wizards, Templates, and Themes

■ Table of Contents—Generates a table of contents page for your site. Youcan configure this page to update automatically as you add pages to yoursite, or you can adjust it manually to customize which pages are listed. Formore information about the Include Content, Search, and Table of ContentsWeb components, see Chapter 18, “Adding Bells and Whistles with WebComponents.”

■ User Registration—Creates a page with a form for visitors to register andaccess password-protected subsites within your Web site. This page won’twork on all servers, and some Web-hosting companies won’t allow you to usethese types of registration forms, so it’s best to ask your Web host before creat-ing pages with this template.

Depending on the nature of your site, you might use several of these templates. Forexample, you might create a site with a photo gallery, a FAQ about how the imageswere captured and chosen, and a guest book for feedback about your site. As youcan see, however, these templates are so specific that you might choose not to useanything other than the Normal template, adding form elements, Web components,and other features as you require. There isn’t anything on a page template that youcan’t add to a page by yourself.

Web Site TemplatesWhereas page templates form the foundation of a single page, site templates formthe basis of an entire site. Additionally, they establish the site in FrontPage, enablingyou to then work with the site’s pages as a unit when publishing the site or creatinglink bars and site maps. For this reason alone, it’s worth using the site template evenif you only want to start with an empty Web site or a single blank page. For moreabout creating sites in FrontPage, refer to Chapter 2, “Creating Sites and Pages.” Tolearn how to add link bars to your site, see the section “Adding Link Bars” inChapter 12, “Creating a Navigation Structure.” For help adding a table of contents,see the section “Adding a Table of Contents and Site Map to Your Web” in Chapter 18.

While the Empty Web Site and One Page Web Site templates are intentionallysparse, other Web site templates are incredibly full bodied, with preformatted pagesto serve specific purposes, including navigation elements and Web components.These templates are still flexible, however, and can be modified to meet your needs.You can add your own content, and modify, add, and delete pages as you see fit,and the navigation elements will adjust themselves accordingly.

One of the drawbacks of using a template is that your site’s layout has a cannedlook, meaning that it’s similar to those of other FrontPage users. Luckily, the abilityto apply customized themes and otherwise modify the appearance your site prevents

44 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MICROSOFT FRONTPAGE 2003

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Page 5: Using Wizards, Templates, and Themes

this from becoming too much of a liability. You can use a template to form the basisof your site, but then modify the layout beyond all recognition to make it uniquelyyour own. As with page templates, however, you also can choose to start with anempty site and add all the same elements and components that appear in otherWeb site templates to new pages within your site.

To apply a Web site template, do the following:

1. Choose File, New. The New task pane opens.

2. From the New Web Site section, choose More Web Site Templates. The WebSite Templates dialog box opens (see Figure 3.2).

CHAPTER 3 USING WIZARDS, TEMPLATES, AND THEMES 45

FIGURE 3.2

The Web site

templates are as

generic as the

One Page and

Empty Web Site

options or as

complex as the

Personal Web

Site or Customer

Support tem-

plates.

3. From the Options section, select the location for your new Web site using thedown arrow and/or Browse button. To add the Web page template to the Website that you are currently working in, select the Add to Current Web Sitecheck box.

4. Choose the desired Web site template. Note that when you click one of theWeb site template icons (the ones without the magic wands), a brief sum-mary of the Web site template is displayed in the Description section of the tab.

5. Click OK.

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The available Web site templates and wizards are as follows:

■ One Page Web Site—Creates a site with a single page named index.htm.This template also creates an images folder to store any images you add toyour pages.

■ Corporate Presence Wizard—Creates a site to promote a business orcorporation on the Web. The wizard can create pages to list products andservices, solicit feedback from customers, and promote new features.

■ Customer Support Web Site—Creates a site to interact with customers andprovide additional information about a business and its products. The tem-plate creates all the elements of a discussion group, pages to download man-uals and product updates, a frequently asked questions page, and a what’snew page to promote new products.

■ Database Interface Wizard—Creates a site that links to an Access or SQLdatabase. Databases can be used as the backbone to an e-commerce solutionor provide contact information for site members, among other uses.

■ Discussion Web Site Wizard—Creates a site for a discussion group, other-wise known as a message board. If you want to limit your group to just mem-bers, the wizard will create an interface to register for access. The wizard alsoenables you to create a table of contents, to add a search feature, and to con-trol the interface (frames, no-frames, or the ability to detect the browser anddisplay either interface as appropriate).

■ Empty Web Site—Creates a FrontPage Web site containing an imagesfolder, but doesn’t create any default pages.

■ Import Web Site Wizard—Imports a site or pages from a site stored on theWeb, a network drive, or locally.

■ Personal Web Site—Creates a site to promote your personal interests andexperiences. The template automatically creates pages to share yourfavorites, interests, and a photo gallery.

■ Project Web Site—Creates a site to track or promote an ongoing project.The template creates pages for a discussion group, schedule, and archivedinformation. This template is useful if you’re working on a remote projectteam. You also can use it to describe a home remodel, a training program foran athlete, or other noncorporate projects.

■ SharePoint Team Site—Creates a site using Windows SharePoint Servicesto utilize a calendar, library, task lists, discussion groups, and other featuresuseful for a professional development team.

46 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MICROSOFT FRONTPAGE 2003

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Page 7: Using Wizards, Templates, and Themes

WizardsIf you look at the preceding list, you’ll notice that many of the Web site templatesare actually wizards. Wizards simplify the process of creating common types ofpages and sites by walking you through a series of questions. The wizard then gener-ates pages and content based on your answers. Simply fill in the requested informa-tion on each screen, then click Next to proceed to the next prompt.

FrontPage wizards can help you create forms and sites ranging from a single page tocomplex sites for discussions, database connections, or corporate promotion, as seenin Figure 3.3. You also can import an existing site into FrontPage using a wizard. Tolearn more about importing sites and pages, refer to the section “Importing Files andFolders” in Chapter 2.

CHAPTER 3 USING WIZARDS, TEMPLATES, AND THEMES 47

FIGURE 3.3

With the double-

click of an icon,

the wizard

launches and

walks you

through the

automatic appli-

cation process.

Modifying and Creating TemplatesYou don’t have to be trapped using the standard page and Web site templates. Evena canned template can be dressed up and saved as something unique, to be usedlater on your own sites. If you’re not of an artistic bent or want to include otheradvanced elements on your site without the hassle, you can find thousands ofFrontPage templates on the Web.

To modify a page template, do the following:

1. Create a page using a page template.

2. Make the desired changes to the page.

3. Choose File, Save As. The Save As dialog box opens.

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Page 8: Using Wizards, Templates, and Themes

4. Click the Save As Type down arrow and choose FrontPage Template from thedrop-down list that appears.

5. Give the template a new name.

6. Click Save. The Save As Template dialog box opens.

7. In the Title field, type a title for your template.

8. In the Description field, type a brief summary of your template.

9. Click OK.

The new template will appear in the My Templates tab of the Page Templates dialogbox when you create a new page.

If you want to create an entirely new page template, simply create a page contain-ing any elements you wish, then follow steps 3–9 in the preceding list.

Finding More Templates OnlineAdditional FrontPage templates may be found onthe Internet. A good one-stop shopping site isFrontPage World (www.frontpageworld.com). This sitecontains tons of templates, with links to sites con-taining even more. If you look at these sites hardenough, you can sometimes find a free gem or two,but you should generally expect to pay for tem-plates you find online. Most of them range in pricefrom $15–$30, depending on the features of thetemplate. Templates containing Flash or Swishelements can cost upwards of $50.

FrontPage also enables you to access additionalpage templates directly from Microsoft. To accessmore templates from Microsoft, do the following:

1. Choose File, New. The New task pane opens.

2. From the Templates section, chooseTemplates on Office Online. The MicrosoftOffice Online Web page opens.

3. In the blank search box, type FrontPageand press Enter.

4. The search is initiated; when it is complete, all the available FrontPage Webpage templates are listed.

5. Select the hyperlink to the desired template, and then follow Microsoft’sinstructions to download it.

48 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MICROSOFT FRONTPAGE 2003

Flash is a multimediagraphics application devel-

oped by Macromedia. Flash filesare saved with a .swf extensionand can contain graphics, text,video, sound, and interactive ele-ments. Swish is another applica-tion that can create .swf files, andis particularly popular withFrontPage developers. Chapter 8,“Adding Multimedia,” has moredetails about this powerful addi-tion to your site.

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Page 9: Using Wizards, Templates, and Themes

FrontPage ThemesA theme is a set of design elements and colors that you can apply to give your Webpages a professional look. Applying themes helps keep your pages visually consis-tent, as well as visually appealing.

When you apply a theme, all your headings, body text, colors, bullets, and so onwill be automatically styled according to the theme. Themes also can include back-ground images. You have the option of applying a theme to one page, to manypages, or to your entire Web site.

Themes do not define things like the location of navigation bars or the layout ofyour page. Instead, themes simply alter the appearance of color, fonts, and certainimages on your pages, as shown in Figure 3.4.

CHAPTER 3 USING WIZARDS, TEMPLATES, AND THEMES 49

FIGURE 3.4

When you select

a new theme,

the new colors,

graphics, and

fonts are applied

to your Web

page in an

instant.

Applying Themes to Pages and SitesTo apply a theme to a page, choose Format, Theme. The Theme task pane opens, asshown in Figure 3.5. From the Select a Theme section, choose the desired theme. Thetheme you select will automatically be applied to the Web page on which you arecurrently working.

When you’re applying a theme to only one page of a site at a time, remember to beconsistent. If you use the Compass theme for one page and the Canyon theme foranother, your site will lose its flow from page to page and could disorient your visitors.

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A better choice is generally to apply themes to an entire site. This ensures consis-tency throughout. Even better, you can change the theme on a sitewide basis whenyou’re ready for a new look.

To apply a theme to an entire site:

1. Choose Format, Theme. The Theme task pane opens.

2. From the Select a Theme section, choose the desired theme. The theme youselect will automatically be applied to the Web page on which you are cur-rently working.

3. To apply this theme to your entire Web site, click the selected theme’s downarrow. A file menu is displayed.

4. Choose Apply As Default Theme. A FrontPage message box opens, warningthat applying the desired theme to the Web site will replace existing format-ting.

5. To continue, choose Yes.

When you apply a theme to an entire site, any pages to which you’d previouslyapplied a different theme will remain unchanged. Themes you apply locally—thatis, to a page itself—take precedence over themes applied to the entire site. This samemindset applies when you start using cascading style sheets (CSS), so it’s a good les-son to learn early. Cascading style sheets are the preferred method for controlling

50 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MICROSOFT FRONTPAGE 2003

FIGURE 3.5

The Theme task

pane displays

thumbnails of

each available

theme.

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Page 11: Using Wizards, Templates, and Themes

fonts, text and link colors, and even positioning on a page. To learn more aboutCSS, see Chapter 13, “Using Styles and Cascading Style Sheets.”

Setting Theme OptionsAt the bottom of the Theme task pane are options to enhance or modify a theme.Although these changes are generally subtle, they can make your site stand out atleast a bit from others using the same theme. Another good use of these options is ifyou want to give a slightly different look to one section of your site while still havingit appear related to the whole. These options are as follows:

■ Vivid Colors—Choosing this option makes some of the text and graphic ele-ments on your Web page appear even brighter. This varies by theme, soexamine the differences in the thumbnails before applying this option.

■ Active Graphics—Choosing this option animates certain theme compo-nents, such as rollovers on navigational elements.

■ Textured Background—Choosing this option applies a textured back-ground to the page.

Modifying a ThemeYou can modify a theme to meet your needs. Modifications can be made to atheme’s colors, graphics, and/or text. In doing so, you can create a unique themebased upon elements of other themes.

Changing ColorsYou can choose to use a different color palette, change the color scheme, or modify a color using FrontPage’s color wheel. To modify the colors of a theme, do the following:

1. Choose Format, Theme. The Theme task pane opens.

2. From the Select a Theme section, choose the desired theme.

3. To modify the theme, click the selected theme’s down arrow, then chooseCustomize. The Customize Theme dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 3.6.

4. Click the Colors button in the What Would You Like to Modify? section. Anew dialog box opens to enable you to adjust the theme’s colors, as shown inFigure 3.7.

5. Make the desired changes in the Color Schemes, Color Wheel, and/or Customtabs.

6. Click OK twice.

CHAPTER 3 USING WIZARDS, TEMPLATES, AND THEMES 51

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Page 12: Using Wizards, Templates, and Themes

Changing GraphicsWith FrontPage, you have the option of changing a theme’s background picture,bullet icons, navigation buttons and bars, and banners. To modify the graphics of atheme, do the following:

52 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MICROSOFT FRONTPAGE 2003

FIGURE 3.6

The Customize

Theme dialog

box enables you

to modify a

theme’s colors,

graphics, and

text.

FIGURE 3.7

FrontPage offers

several methods

for adjusting

colors in a

theme, either

using the prede-

termined color

schemes, gener-

ating a scheme

based on a

selection on a

color wheel, or

by customizing

individual ele-

ments.

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Page 13: Using Wizards, Templates, and Themes

1. Choose Format, Theme. The Theme task pane opens.

2. From the Select a Theme section, choose the desired theme.

3. Click the selected theme’s down arrow and choose Customize. The CustomizeTheme dialog box opens.

4. Click the Graphics button in the What Would You Like to Modify? section. Anew dialog box opens to enable you to change graphics, as shown in Figure 3.8

CHAPTER 3 USING WIZARDS, TEMPLATES, AND THEMES 53

FIGURE 3.8

If the Active

Graphics option

button is

selected, you can

change the nor-

mal, selected,

and hovered

states of naviga-

tional elements.

5. Make the desired changes to the graphic items. In the case of navigation ele-ments and banners, you also can customize the font used for the element’s text.

6. Click OK twice.

Changing Text StylesChanging the font in a theme can give it a new look with very little effort. You can change the font for the body and headings of your pages. To modify the font usedby a theme, do the following:

1. Choose Format, Theme. The Theme task pane opens.

2. From the Select a Theme section, choose the desired theme.

3. To modify the theme, click the selected theme’s down arrow, then chooseCustomize. The Customize Theme dialog box opens.

4. Click the Text button in the What Would You Like to Modify? section. A newdialog box opens to enable you to change the fonts used by the theme, asshown in Figure 3.9.

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Page 14: Using Wizards, Templates, and Themes

54 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MICROSOFT FRONTPAGE 2003

FIGURE 3.9

You can change

the font for the

theme’s major

text elements in

the Customize

Theme

dialog box.

5. Make the desired changes to the text settings.When you select a font name, the font willbe displayed in the preview window.

6. Click OK twice.

If you want to dig deeper into this feature, you canedit the CSS styles for other page elements andchange the size, color, and decoration of the text,as well as the font. To do this, click the More TextStyles button, then edit the style as you would inany other style sheet. To learn more about editingcascading style sheets, see the section “ModifyingStyles” in Chapter 13.

Dynamic Web TemplatesThe page templates found in previous versions ofFrontPage are simply a starting point for the pagelayout; once a page is created, the layout can beeasily changed to the point that the template is nolonger recognizable. Dynamic Web templates,which are new to FrontPage 2003, are different inthat they enable you to create editable regions on

The font list displayedin the Customize Theme

dialog box lists all the fontsinstalled on your computer. Thisdoesn’t guarantee that those fontsare installed on the computers ofyour site’s visitors, however. Ifyou’re changing fonts for text ele-ments, stick with the most com-mon fonts, such as Arial, TimesNew Roman, Verdana, Helvetica,and Courier. You can list multiplefonts separated by commas. Youalso can add a generic font type,such as sans-serif or serif.

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the page, thus blocking access to areas such as the navigational elements while stillenabling you to add and modify the content of, say, your main content area andyour sidebars. Dynamic Web templates can also apply graphics, themes, and stylesheets that aren’t included in standard page templates.

Dynamic Web templates can save you from being your own worst enemy in that ifyou protect consistent content such as navigation bars and page banners, you can’tadd menu items that don’t appear elsewhere on your site or insert the wrong sitelogo. As your site grows, this is likely to become a bigger issue than when you’re firststarting out. You’ll be adding pages that might branch into directions you didn’tanticipate when you first designed your navigation menu, and it’s easy to forget thatthese additions need to be made consistently to old pages as well as future ones.

If you’re a Web designer creating pages that might be edited by others, you can setthe page banner, a copyright notice, and the site-navigation components in areasthat can’t be edited, leaving only the main content area free for changes. A practicalexample of this would be a commercial site where you design the layout and navi-gation, while another person adds the marketing content. The marketing staffer cango wild with the fancy prose while the navigation and other page elements areuntouchable.

The other benefit of using this kind of template is that it remains attached to a pageeven after you’ve added content. Thus, you can update all the pages using that tem-plate at once simply by modifying the template, without disturbing the content onany pages that are using it.

Creating a Dynamic Web TemplateA dynamic Web template starts as a basic page. If you create this page and immedi-ately save it as a dynamic Web template, you won’t have to worry about remember-ing to change the file format later.

To create a dynamic Web template, do the following:

1. Create a new page, using whichever page template suits your needs.

2. Select File, Save As. The Save As dialog box opens.

3. Click the Save As Type down arrow and choose Dynamic Web Template fromthe drop-down list that appears.

4. Type a name for the file in the File Name field. The correct file extension willautomatically be added by FrontPage.

5. Click Save.

Once you’ve created the template page, design it just as you would any other page,adding elements or content that you wish to appear on all the pages to which the

CHAPTER 3 USING WIZARDS, TEMPLATES, AND THEMES 55

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template will be attached. The best way to lay out your page is using tables. Thiswill enable you to create your consistent content in certain cells and define others aseditable regions.

Defining Editable RegionsA dynamic Web template is divided into editable and noneditable regions. You mustdefine at least one editable region on a template before you can attach it to a page.To do this, perform the following steps:

1. Select an area on the page that should have unique content—usually a tablecell or cells.

2. Choose Format, Dynamic Web Template, Manage Editable Regions.

3. In the Editable Regions dialog box, shown in Figure 3.10, give the new regiona name.

56 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MICROSOFT FRONTPAGE 2003

FIGURE 3.10

The Editable

Regions dialog

box automati-

cally contains a

defined region

for the page

title.

4. Click Add.

5. Click Close to return to the document window.

Once you’ve created an editable region, it will belabeled and outlined in Design view, as shown inFigure 3.11. Be sure to save the template to pre-serve the editable region.

The title of a page isautomatically defined as an

editable region. This enables youto give each page of your site aunique title even if each page isbased on the same dynamic Webtemplate. To modify the title, right-click on the page in the documentwindow, then choose PageProperties from the context menuand edit the Title field on theGeneral tab.

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Attaching a Dynamic Web Template to a PageOnce you’ve created a dynamic template and defined one or more editable regions,it’s ready for use. To attach a dynamic Web template to a page, do the following:

1. Create a new page.

2. Choose Format, Dynamic Web Template, Attach Dynamic Web Template. TheAttach Dynamic Web Template dialog box opens.

3. Select the desired dynamic Web template.

4. Click OK.

FrontPage will automatically place all the elements from the dynamic Web templateon the new page. If the page already has content on it, you’ll be prompted to deter-mine which editable region should contain it, as shown in Figure 3.12.

Modifying Dynamic Web TemplatesAside from consistency and not having to reinvent the wheel on every page in yoursite, one of the biggest advantages of using dynamic Web templates is having theability to change the entire site simply by modifying the template. To do this, openthe template itself in FrontPage by selecting the .dwt file in the Folders view. Then,you can change themes, update a copyright year, or radically change the colors andgraphics on a site to give it a whole new look. When you save the file, you’ll beprompted to update all the pages to which the template is attached.

CHAPTER 3 USING WIZARDS, TEMPLATES, AND THEMES 57

FIGURE 3.11

The label

around the

defined editable

region won’t

show up when

you publish the

final page based

on the template,

but it serves as a

guide when

designing the

template and

attached pages.

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Page 18: Using Wizards, Templates, and Themes

You can even modify the editable regions on your template. To add a new editableregion, select the area and then choose Format, Dynamic Web Template, ManageEditable Regions, and then name and add the new region just as you did when cre-ating the initial regions. To delete an editable region, again use the Manage EditableRegions dialog box, select the name of the region, then press Remove.

EDITING EDITABLE REGIONS WITH CAREWhen editing dynamic templates, you need to be careful with the editable regions. If youdelete an editable region, you’ll be prompted to find a new location for any content that’scontained in those regions on pages created from the template. This includes any graphicor other elements in that region.

For example, say you have an editable region for a sidebar on your pages that contains anested table with cells for the sidebar heading and the text below. If you delete the sidebareditable region in the template, you’ll be prompted to move everything that was in thesidebar of each page into another region. If you elect to move this content into, say, themain body text of the page, the graphic heading and the table will appear along with thetext itself. This can really mess up the formatting of your pages.

58 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MICROSOFT FRONTPAGE 2003

FIGURE 3.12

FrontPage will

prompt you to

put preexisting

content into an

editable region

when you

attach the

dynamic Web

template.

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Page 19: Using Wizards, Templates, and Themes

CHAPTER 3 USING WIZARDS, TEMPLATES, AND THEMES 59

The Absolute MinimumYou don’t have to become overwhelmed by such complex elements as discussiongroups, guest books, and link bars. There’s no shame in using the tools FrontPageprovides—relying on Web site and page templates to create these elements for you.Similarly, not everyone has an eye for design and color. Themes take the guessworkout of the design process. If the idea of using one of the canned themes bothers you,use them as the foundation for your own themes or download themes from the Webthat might not be as familiar to Web surfers. Just know that at an absolute mini-mum, you can create a full-featured site using templates and themes that will getthe job done more than adequately.

Dynamic Web templates are an exciting addition to FrontPage because they offerthe consistency of templates and themes with the flexibility to design an entire pagelayout and protect it. If you’re the do-it-yourself type, you’ll want to master usingthis feature.

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