Building & Managing Web Sites
Lab 5 - Using Advanced FrontPage Features

1. Create a new directory for this lab in you class child web called "Lab05"

2. Timestamp Component
Create a new page called default.htm. Add some content to the page, and at the bottom of the page, add a timestamp by going to the "INSERT" menu, selecting "Date and Time...". Note the available options (press the HELP button for more details), and select the "March 1, 1999" date format. Close the dialog and note the both the date and that the robot icon appears when you hover over the data. You can right-click on the component and edit its properties. You should consider adding a timestamp to many if not most of your pages, e.g., "Last updated: February 14, 1999".  Examine the HTML of your page to see FrontPage Server Extensions code.

3. Substitution Component
Go to the "TOOLS" menu and select "Web Settings..." and then the "Parameters" tab. Create a parameter called "webmaster" and make the value your e-mail address, and close the dialog. This parameter is now available to all pages in your FrontPage web. Add the following text near the bottom or your default.htm page: "Contact: ". Then under the "INSERT" menu, select "Component...", then "Substitution...", and select the "webmaster" parameter you created from the drop-down box. Also note the other default parameters that are available (click on HELP for more details). Close the dialog and note the results. Create another Substitution Component on this page that lists the page URL. Right-click on both of your components and notice that they have editable properties. Examine the HTML of your page to see FrontPage Server Extensions code.

4. File Include Component
Create a new file in your lab directory called "footer.htm". This will be a very small file that begins with a <HR>, then a URL to the home page of your Lab 5 home page, then your name and e-mail address. Close the file, and then create a new page in the lab directory called "foottest.htm". Add some content to the top of the page, and at the bottom of the page, go to the "INSERT" menu, select "Component", then select "Include Page...", browse to your footer.htm file, select it, and close the dialog. Note that the contents of your footer.htm page is inserted at the bottom of the foottest.htm page. Examine the HTML of your page to see FrontPage Server Extensions code. Create a directory called "_private" in your lab directory, copy "footer.htm" into this directory, and repeat including this footer in your default.htm of your lab directory. Examine the differences in the FrontPage Server Extension code.

Now use this same technique to add a common navigation bar to multiple pages. Create a file in the "_private" directory called "navbar.htm" and add four links, each in its own paragraph as listed below:

• "Home" linked to the absolute address of your child web home page.
• "CSC120" linked to the URL of the class web site.
• "Microsoft FrontPage" linked to the Microsoft FrontPage home page (see Resources page).

Now create a new page called demo.htm, and add a table of 100% width like below:

Put your cursor in the green cell, and use the "Include Page" component to insert the navigation links into the page.  Also include your footer at the bottom of the page.

5. Search Form
If you publish your web to a webserver that supports the FrontPage Server Extensions, the Extensions include a program that indexes the contents of your pages. Using this, it is very easy to create a simple search feature for your site. First, make sure you have a few pages in your lab web with a unique word or two on each page that can be searched. Then create a new page in your "Lab05" directory called "search.htm". After adding a page title, go to the "INSERT" menu, select "Component...", and select "Search Form...".  Note the features and options in the "Search Form Properties" dialog box.  Add the search feature, then open the page in your web browser by going to "FILE" menu, and selecting "Preview in Browser..." (the search form will normally not work in the FrontPage Preview view). Experiment with the options of the search feature.

6. Experimentation
If you have time, try out some of the other FrontPage Components, like the page counter or the Banner Manager. Most of them are pretty obvious to use, and most also include HELP features. Remember than many of these features are dependent on the FrontPage Extension being installed on your webserver.

7. Finished Lab
Your finished lab should consist of the following pages

Lab05 directory
   default.htm
   foottest.htm
   search.htm
   demo.htm
   
   _private directory
       footer.htm
       navbar.htm

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