by William Robert Stanek
FrontPage includes two dozen templates to help you create powerful Web pages. Not only will creating Web pages with templates save you time, but also the templates themselves are guides that can help you design better pages. This chapter discusses each
of the major templates, with emphasis on how to use them as the basis for Web pages both within your corporate intranet and on the World Wide Web. Even if you do not plan to use templates, you should read this chapter to gain an understanding of the types
of pages used on corporate intranets and Web sites.
A template is an outline for a specific type of page that often contains guidelines to make development of the page easier. Although these guidelines do not ask specific questions concerning design and layout of the page, they do cover the major issues
you should consider when developing a specific type of page. Because these templates were designed by a team of experts, you gain valuable insight into the specific areas your page should cover.
As you know, you create pages in the FrontPage Editor. To base a new page on a template, select New from the File menu and then choose the template you want to base your page on. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl + N.
Using a template, you can cut an hour or more off the development time of a single page. Webmasters who maintain their own site or a corporate intranet site will find the time savings invaluable, especially when they complete complex projects ahead of
schedule and under budget. In the fast-paced profession of Web site design, where cost is usually the deal maker or breaker, the savings you can pass on to your customers by starting with a template could make all the difference in landing the contract.
Generally, all templates include default headings and text that you usually have to replace with headings and text specific to your document. To better understand how templates can save you time and money, let's look at the templates used in FrontPage.
By examining each of the templates, you will gain a thorough understanding of what types of pages are used at Web sites and how those pages are designed.
NOTE
When you create documents with templates, FrontPage automatically adds comments that guide you through the process of designing the page. To allow you to see the page as it will appear in the reader's browser, these preset comments do not appear in the figures in this chapter.
FrontPage includes a set of five basic templates. You will find that these templates are the ones you will use most often.
If you have been following the examples in this book, you have probably already used the Normal Page template. All this template does is create a blank page for you. By default, the Normal Page template is selected when you open the New Page dialog
box. To use this page, you simply press the Enter key or click the OK button without making a selection.
NOTE
Here is a tip to save you some time: After you know how your Web site will be organized, you might want to redefine the properties for the Normal Page template. For example, if your standard background color is white, redefine the template to set the page properties appropriately. Obviously, the more properties that are standardized across your Web site, the more time you will save by redefining this template.
To redefine the Normal Page template, select Save As from the File menu. In the Save As dialog box, click the As Template button. This opens the dialog box shown in Figure 21.1. By default, the template name is that of the template you are using currently. If you want to redefine the template, click the OK button. When FrontPage displays a warning dialog box that asks whether you really want to overwrite the template, select Yes.
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Not only can you redefine templates in FrontPage, but you can also create entirely new templates. Webmasters who maintain multiple sites might want to define variations of the Normal Page template for use with each of their sites. In this way, you can start with a base page for each of your Webs.
Figure 21.1. Redefining a template.
The HyperDocument Page template is meant to give you a starting point for large hypertext documents, such as technical manuals or reports. As you can see from Figure 21.2, the template can be used to create links to the major sections of your document.
Figure 21.2. The HyperDocument Page template.
The page titles and subtitles contain links and bookmarks. The easiest way to update the bookmark text is to place the insertion point within the bookmark text, type in your title, and then delete the text before and after the title. If you do not
insert your title in this way, you might accidentally delete the bookmark.
Two important links in the page are the document name and section links, which should link to the document's home page and table of contents page, respectively. The document also contains sample images. These gray buttons are place holders for the
icons you will use in your document. Throughout the document, you will find links labeled "Back to Top." Readers can use these links to jump to the top of the Page Title bookmark.
Most sites use a What's New page to provide readers with an update history for a Web site. Repeat visitors to your Web site will appreciate the effort. You will help them find new information faster, and, ultimately, they will return the favor by
revisiting your friendly Web site.
To start a What's New page, you can use the template shown in Figure 21.3. Replace the sample text with your own categories, links, and descriptions. You should make an entry on this page every time you make a significant change to your Web site. The
average site tracks about six months worth of changes. Many small sites track the entire change history of the site. Many large sites use the page to track only the hottest topics and changes to the site.
Figure 21.3. The What's New Page template.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pages are very common on the Web. Generally, a FAQ is a list of frequently asked questions and their answers. Although a FAQ can cover a broad range of loosely related topics, usually a FAQ exhaustively explores a
single topic, such as how to make an MPEG movie or what are the options in digital sound. Many companies that sell commercial software products develop FAQs that explore the uses and benefits of the product.
Figure 21.4 shows the Frequently Asked Questions template. The easiest way to use this template is as a starting point. Again, you should carefully replace the title text so you do not accidentally delete links and bookmarks. You should add new
questions to the end of the Table of Contents section, and then add a new section in the body of the document that answers each question.
Figure 21.4. The Frequently Asked Questions template.
To save time when entering a new question, you can copy the entire text of a previous question and then update the associated link properties. To save time when creating a new section, you can copy one of the existing sections and then update the
associated bookmark information. Be sure that both the link name in the Table of Contents section and the bookmark name in the new section match.
Throughout the document, you will find links labeled "Back to Top." Readers can use these links to jump to the top of the Page Title bookmark.
Another common area for most Web sites is a list of links to popular sites. The Hot List Page template shown in Figure 21.5 is organized by topic categories. The best hot lists are for a specific subject category that relates to the features, products,
or services at your Web site. You will want to include a brief description of each link featured in your hot list.
Figure 21.5. The Hot List template.
Generally, your hot list page is a community service to those visiting your Web site. Of course, it takes time and resources to maintain. However, it is good business to create an area of your site that serves Internet community interests. For example,
Virtual Press, Incorporated, has three main groups: Internet Consulting, Web Design, and Electronic Publishing. We maintain several sites that relate to these subjects. The Writer's Gallery (http://tvp.com/vpwg.html)
is a community service for anyone interested in writing and literature. The Internet Publishing Information Center (http://tvp.com/vpjic.html) is a community service for anyone interested in Web design and Internet
consulting.
Business pages can serve the corporate intranet and the World Wide Web. If you plan to conduct business on the Web or maintain a Web site for a business, you will probably want to use these templates.
The Employee Directory template can be used to create a very complete alphabetized list of employees. The directory page is organized into two main sections. The first section, shown in Figure 21.6, contains an index of employee names that is linked to
the detailed list shown in Figure 21.7. As shown, the second section can contain photos and contact information for each employee. Large corporations will probably want separate directory pages for each division.
Figure 21.6. The index to the employee directory.
Figure 21.7. The listing section of the employee directory.
Just as an intranet site could have a hypertext-linked employee directory, so could a site on the Web. However, the goals and scope of pages for internal and external use are usually very different. Within the safety of the corporate firewall, your
intranet site could have a division-by-division listing of all employees. This page could be complete with résumés, phone numbers, work hours, and so on. Your corporate directory on the company's Web site, however, would not be a detailed
list of all employees. It would probably include only key contacts within specific offices, such as PR, marketing, advertising, and technical support.
Replace the sample text with your own employee information and descriptions. The employee index and contact information contain links and bookmarks. The easiest way to update the bookmark or link text is to place the insertion point within the bookmark
or link text, type the new text, and then delete the unneeded text. If you do not insert your text in this way, you might accidentally delete the hypertext reference.
Most businesses have recurring employment opportunities. When companies spend thousands of dollars placing ads in newspapers and $25,000-50,000 for each executive recruited through head-hunters and retainers, a low-cost alternative to filling these
positions makes sense. The tremendous savings companies can realize from posting their own job openings is surely one of the reasons the Employment Opportunities template is so detailed.
As you can see from Figure 21.8, the template begins with a summary list of job openings by title. Each item in the list is linked to a detailed summary of the job.
Figure 21.8. Summary of job openings.
Replace the sample job titles with the current employment opportunities. The easiest way to update link text is to place the insertion point within the link text, type the new job title, and then delete any unnecessary text. If you do not insert your
title in this way, you might accidentally delete the hypertext reference.
The main section of the page is the area used to describe the employment opportunities within your organization. As Figure 21.9 shows, each job opening is organized by title, with areas for job description, requirements, and more information.
Figure 21.9. Detailed descriptions of employment opportunities.
Throughout the main section of the page, you will find links labeled "Back to Top." Readers can use these links to jump to the top of the Listings by Job Title section of the page.
The final section of the page contains a form that allows readers to apply for the positions you have offered. Part of this form is shown in Figure 21.10. Although these questions are good for getting you to think about the type of questions you should
ask, you will probably want to create a form that allows readers to enter the electronic version of their résumé.
Figure 21.10. Obtaining information from the prospective employee with a form.
By default, the form uses the Save Results box and stores the data in HTML format to a file called persfile.htm. You can change the form handler and default file using the Form Properties box. To access this dialog box,
select a form element, press Alt + Enter or select Properties from the File menu, and then click the Form button.
Press releases tell the world what the company is doing, and your Web site is definitely the place to showcase this information. Most sites have a section dedicated to press releases, and to public relations in general. The Press Release template
provides a good starting point for your PR needs and is designed for a single press release. After you replace the text in square brackets with the necessary information, paste the body of your press release into the document as requested.
Figure 21.11 shows the Press Release template.
Figure 21.11. The Press Release template.
To give your press releases clear organization, you might want to use the Directory of Press Releases template. As shown in Figure 21.12, the template begins with an index to the current month's, the previous month's, and older press releases. Within
these sections, each entry should link to your press release pages.
Figure 21.12. The Directory of Press Releases template.
The product description page shown in Figure 21.13 and Figure 21.14 can help you showcase an individual product. Like many template pages, the product description page begins with a topic index that links to the key sections of the page.
Figure 21.13. Topic index for the product description page.
Figure 21.14. Defining key features of your product.
Although you usually will not want to use all the sections included in the template, you can use the section topics and subtopics as a guide to help you design a thorough product description page. As with other templates, you will want to replace the
sample text with your product information.
The heart of this template is a registration form. Customers can use the form to register products or to sign up for events, such as conferences. Although comments in the template suggest that the text in square brackets is what you should fill in, you
should probably replace the generalized questions and subject headings.
As shown in Figure 21.15, the first section of the form is used to obtain contact information from the user. The list is quite exhaustive and you generally will not want to gather all the contact information. Therefore, use the form as a guide to help
you select the necessary input and then delete the unnecessary input.
Figure 21.15. Gathering contact information from the user for registration purposes.
The second section of the template is used to obtain product- or event-specific information from the user, such as the product serial number. Figure 21.16 shows this section of the template.
Figure 21.16. Obtaining product or event information.
By default, the form uses the Save Results box and stores the data in HTML format to a file called reginfo.htm. You can change the form handler and default file using the Form Properties box. To access this dialog box,
select a form element, press Alt + Enter or select Properties from the File menu, and then click the Form button.
Software data sheets generally provide information related to product pricing, availability, and system requirements. This data is often tied in directly with product information such as benefits and key features, which can be included on the data
sheet page, the product information page, and sometimes on both pages depending on your needs and the complexity of the software product.
Figure 21.17 shows the first section of the software data sheet. As with other templates, this template provides a terrific guide for the type of information you should include on a data sheet page. You should start by snapping a couple of screen shots
of your product in action and including them on the page.
Figure 21.17. The Software Data Sheet template.
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Whenever you use images, keep in mind my 14-second rule. Large screen shots slow down the loading of the page considerably. Use thumbnail images with descriptions of what the screen shots show instead. This allows users to click the thumbnail to see the larger image if they want to.
Figure 21.18 shows the first section of the Office Directory template. Although the Office Directory template is designed for organizations with worldwide office locations, any business with multiple offices can use the concept of an office directory
page. Simply put, the directory page tells your customers where your offices are.
Figure 21.18. The Office Directory template.
Organizations as large as those implied by the template will probably want to link to separate pages that contain office listings either by state or by country. Small organizations, even those with offices located within a single metropolitan area,
probably will not want to use this template. However, you can still use the concepts introduced by the template. The main concept is to organize your office locations based on geographic areas. These geographic areas can be cities, states, or countries.
Often, sections of a Web site are restricted to those who have registered with your Web server using a form such as the one shown in Figure 21.19. User registration is used to track visitors and can provide valuable statistics.
Figure 21.19. The User Registration template.
By default, the form handler for this page is the Registration box. Although you probably will not want to change the form handler, you can change the default file used as the database for user information. You can do this from the Form Properties box.
To access this dialog box, select a form element, press Alt + Enter or select Properties from the Edit menu, and then click the Form button. Alternatively, you can right-click on the form and select Form Properties on the popup menu that appears.
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If you are not using the Personal Web server, you might not be able to use self-registration. To see whether your server software with installed FrontPage extensions supports self-registration, try exporting the page to your Web server. The FrontPage Explorer will test for this capability and flag the page with a red triangle in the Outline view if there is a problem.
Because of how the self-registration process works, you must save this page to the Root Web. After users fill out and submit the registration form, they will become registered users of another Web on the server. This other Web must already exist before
you save this page and must be specified in the Results tab of the Settings for Form Handler Properties box. If the Form Properties box is open, you can access the Settings for Form Handler Properties box by clicking the Settings button. In the Web Name
field, you can enter the name of the target Web, which cannot be the Root Web. (See Chapter 20, "Automation with FrontPage's WebBots," for complete details on setting up the registration bot and the Results tab.)
The registration box tracks the user name and password throughout the current session, which allows the user continued access to your restricted Web site. The next time the user visits the restricted Web site, he or she will be asked to enter the user
name and password.
Meetings, lectures, and seminars are a part of professional organizations and career tracks. The templates in this section can help you announce these events to the world or strictly to employees who have access to the corporate intranet.
The Meeting Agenda template covers all the important details related to meetings. You can use the template shown in Figure 21.20 to ensure that your meeting announcement is thorough. As with other templates, replace the generic text with detailed
information and delete the sections you do not need.
Figure 21.20. The Meeting Agenda template.
Thousands of seminars and workshops are organized every year. A key part of these seminars and workshops is the lectures. Usually, attendees want to know what the lectures will be about beforehand. You can use the Lecture Abstract template shown in
Figure 21.21 to help you develop a page that covers all the key information attendees will want.
Figure 21.21. The Lecture Abstract template.
Seminars, workshops, and conferences are organized in much the same way. You can use the template partially depicted in Figure 21.22 to help you develop a list of sessions and speakers. Generally, each lecture title should be linked to a lecture
abstract page.
Figure 21.22. The Seminar Schedule template.
This section discusses the main templates you can use for on-line publications. Most on-line publications have key elements, such as a table of contents, bibliography, and glossary.
The Table of Contents template is shown in Figure 21.23. You will use the Table of Contents template with the Table of Contents bot to automatically generate an index to your Web site. (See Chapter 20 for complete details on using the Table of Contents
bot.)
Figure 21.23. The Table of Contents template
The Bibliography template is shown in Figure 21.24. You will use this template to create a bibliography for your on-line publication. Unlike print publications, your on-line publication can contain hypertext links to the bibliography page. You can also
include links to additional references sites or to works on the Web.
Figure 21.24. The Bibliography template.
The Glossary of Terms template can be used to create a comprehensive glossary for your on-line publication. As shown in Figure 21.25, the glossary page is organized into two main sections. The first section contains an index to the actual terms. The
second section contains the words and their definitions. This allows readers to click the first letter of the word or phrase they want to see defined. For example, if you click Z, the browser jumps to the section containing words starting with the letter
Z.
Figure 21.25. The Glossary of Terms template.
Throughout the page, you will find links labeled "Back to Top." Readers can use these links to jump back to the alphabetical index.
Many types of pages are designed for a specific type of form. In earlier sections, you saw some of these pages. This section looks at a group of miscellaneous forms that should be useful in your Web publishing operation as well. All forms can be used
to collect additional data automatically. This data includes the date and time the form was submitted, the name of the user submitting the form, the name of the host providing services to the user, and the type of browser used.
Whenever a user submits a form, a confirmation page can be displayed to show that the form was submitted successfully. This page uses the Confirmation bot to automatically insert values for input fields, such as the UserName, UserEmail, UserTel, and
UserFax fields shown in Figure 21.26.
Figure 21.26. The Confirmation Form template.
Most Web publishers use confirmation pages, and you probably will want to as well. You can use the Confirmation Form template as the basis for your default confirmation page. Figure 21.26 shows this page. (See Chapter 20 for complete details on using
the Confirmation bot.)
NOTE
Keep in mind that if you do not specify a confirmation page, the Save Results, Registration, and Discussion bots create one automatically. You define the URL to the confirmation page in the Results tab of the Settings for Form Handler Properties box. On the page with the form for which you would like to create a confirmation page, open the Form Properties box, and then access the Settings for Form Handler Properties box by clicking the Settings button. In the URL for Confirmation Page field, enter the name of the confirmation page.
Getting feedback from customers is essential. The template shown in Figure 21.27 provides a good starting point for some of the questions you might want to ask visitors to your Web site.
Figure 21.27. The Feedback Form template.
By default, the form uses the Save Results bot and stores the data in a text database with fields separated by tabs. The destination file is feedback.txt in a private directory. You can change the form handler and default
file using the Form Properties box. To access this dialog box, select a form element, press Alt + Enter or select Properties from the File menu, and then click the Form button.
As you surf the Web, you will find that many sites use guest books. Guest books have been around for centuries, and it should be no surprise that Web entrepreneurs adopted the idea to obtain both a listing of visitors and comments from those visitors.
Figure 21.28 shows the Guest Book template, which includes a single text area for submitting comments.
Figure 21.28. The Guest Book template.
By default, the form uses the Save Results bot and stores the data in an HTML file called guestlog.htm. You can change the form handler and default file using the Form Properties box. To access this dialog box, select a
form element, press Alt + Enter or select Properties from the File menu, and then click the Form button.
The Search Page template creates a page that lets you search through the full text of your Web site. Whenever you save a Web page or recalculate links, FrontPage creates a text index to your site. Using the Search bot and the search page, you can allow
users to access and retrieve information from this index.
If you plan to use the Search bot, the template shown in Figure 21.29 is the perfect starting point. As you can see, the page includes the search form and detailed information on the search process and query syntax. (See Chapter 20 for complete details
on using the Search bot.)
Figure 21.29. The Search Page template.
Another way to gather information from visitors to your site is with a survey like the one shown in Figures 21.30 and 21.31. This survey is not meant to be usable; rather, it is designed to help you create your own survey. Therefore, your first step
will be to replace the sample questions with ones more appropriate for your survey. Like many other templates, the first part of the survey contains an index to key sections of the page. Within the major sections, the template includes a number of sample
questions.
Figure 21.30. Creating a survey.
Figure 21.31. Sample survey questions.
By default, the form uses the Save Results bot and stores the data in a text database with fields separated by tabs. The destination file is survresp.txt. You can change the form handler and default file using the Form
Properties box. To access this dialog box, select a form element, press Alt + Enter or select Properties from the File menu, and then click the Form button.
Old and new Web publishers alike might want to base their pages on an appropriate template. Not only will creating Web pages with templates save you time, but also the templates themselves are guides that can help you design better pages. If you target
your pages correctly, you can use templates regardless of whether you plan to publish on the corporate intranet or on the World Wide Web.