Resources

FrontPage 2000
Navigation, Shared Borders and Themes

Set Up the Web's Navigation Structure
Set Up Shared Borders
Apply a Theme
Adding New Pages
Troubleshooting
Free Themes

FrontPage themes can give any website a professional appearance. When used in combination with FrontPage navigation and shared borders, maintaining navigation links when adding new pages is a snap! If you already have a few pages of a web ready, here is a way to convert it to a web using a FrontPage theme.

Set Up the Web’s Navigation Structure

• Open up your home page, usually index.htm, in the regular page view. Click on View, Navigation

• There will be a box on the right side pane that says home, right click on the box and choose Rename. Give it a short title for your home page, press enter.

• Go to the left pane and drag the .htm file of a page that should be linked to the home page to the right pane so that it lines up under the home page. Continue dragging page files to complete the navigation structure you want for your web. As you drag a new page over, right click on it to rename it if necessary.

• For more information on the navigation structure, see the "Working in Navigation View" section of the Microsoft FrontPage 2000 Quick Source folder.

Set Up Shared Borders

• Go back to View and select Page and open up your home page.

• Click on Format and select Shared Borders

• Select All Pages if you want to coordinate your entire web

• Decide where on your pages you want to have your navigation links. Check off Top to get a page banner and check off navigation buttons if you want your page links to be graphical buttons directly under the banner. Click OK.

• In page view of your home page, right click on the "Edit the Properties for this Navigation Bar to display hyperlinks here" copy, choose Navigation Bar Properties.

• Selecting Child level, and Home and Parent (under additional pages) usually works well. Select Horizontal and Buttons under Orientation and Appearance. (There are countless combinations, but these are good for beginners.) Click OK.

Apply a Theme

• Go to Format and select Theme.

• Select All Pages if you want the same theme throughout your web.

• Highlight the various themes and experiment with selecting Vivid Colors, Active Graphics and Background Picture. If you want, you can also modify the color schemes or graphics of a theme. Click OK.

Adding New Pages

From now on, remember to go to View, Navigation and drag new pages to the appropriate place in your web’s navigation. FrontPage will then automatically maintain the navigation, links and theme for your site.

Troubleshooting

• If you used my FrontPage 101 tutorial as a guide, go back and more sure you completed all steps in order.

• Completely remove all shared borders before trying out a new shared border scheme.

• If you want the same theme or shared borders throughout the website but it doesn't show up on each page, check to make sure you've selected all pages after apply theme to.

Free Themes

The following sites offer free themes for download.   (List compiled June 20, 2002.)

PixelMill (23 free - click  on Themes and sort by low to high price)
www.pixelmill.net

KEP Internet FrontPage Themes (3 free)
www.kepthemes.com

Theme Mart (2 free)
www.thememart.com

Theme-Pak - Themes for Microsoft FrontPage (2 free)
www.themepak.com

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