Web Design

This is the first year I have tried to make a website. It has turned out to be much more challenging than I had originally expected. I will talk about three different programs to make web pages. The first is Adobe Dreamweaver CS3, it is very difficult program to just jump into and use. I would also like to take the opportunity to say that a it does not have a tutorial within the software. That is one major setback, but this is a great program if you can figure out how to use it.

Another program is Yahoo GeoCities it is too easy, and is lacking in the things you can do with it. I also feel that it is more of an elementary level program. It would be a great resource to use if you are going to learn how to make a webpage for the very first time. Then there is the program I am using called Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003. It is a very good program if you know how to make a website or you are in middle school. It is a very easy program to figure out even if you are just starting out in the program. It will let you do whatever you want from interactive buttons to a nice background to cascading style sheets to inserting web components.
Here is an online tutorial for using Microsoft FrontPage 2003 to build a webpage:

Welcome to the online tutorial for using Microsoft's FrontPage 2003 to create a personalized webpage!
In the ten easy steps below you will become familiar with the process of using FrontPage, an HTML editor that lets you design webpages easily and quickly with a great deal of creative control.Enjoy!

To be able to complete this tutorial you will need the following:

a computer with Internet access and FrontPage 2003

Prior to beginning this tutorial you should be able to perform the following basic tasks on your computer:

Be able to turn on the computer

Be aware of basic navigation using the keyboard and mouse

Know the meanings of some basic computer terms

Locate 'Start' on the desktop and be able to navigate to the desktop

Be able to open programs by using the mouse and clicking

Be able to use a search engine such as Google

Be able to select text and graphics by highlighting

Step One	Create and name a folder on the desktop
Step Two	Open FrontPage and create a new blank page
Step Three	Rename the webpage and save it in a folder on the desktop
Step Four	Choosing the background of the page and view in a browser
Step Five	Inserting and modifying a table
Step Six	Modifying cells
Step Seven	Modifying font
Step Eight	Inserting and modifying graphics
Step Nine	Creating hyperlinks
Step Ten	Create the page

Before you begin, two words of advice that cannot be stated often enough while doing a computer project...

Word One: SAVE EARLY, SAVE OFTEN to avoid losing your page and its revisions!!!

Word Two: If you do not like the changes, 'Ctrl' and 'Z' simultaneously to undo or...
on the toolbar, go to 'Edit' > 'Undo' to undo the changes

Now, time to begin!

Step One

In this step you will use the right mouse button to create a new folder on your Desktop and you will then rename the folder to reflect the project on which you are working.

1. Right click anywhere on the Desktop to open the menu

2. Go to 'New' > 'Folder' to create a new folder on the desktop and click on it

3. Right click on the folder and rename the folder 'biography' to reflect the project on which you are working

4. From this point on, save everything you create for this project in this folder

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Step Two

In this step you will use the 'Start' button to open FrontPage and create a new blank page.

1. Click on the 'Start' button in the lower left of your computer screen

2. Go to 'All Programs' > 'Microsoft Office' > 'Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003' and click

3. Once FrontPage opens, click on the 'New Page' icon to create a new page in FrontPage

4. The new page should have a tab that has the heading 'new_page_1.htm'

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Step Three

In this step you will rename the new blank page you created in FrontPage and save it in the folder you have created on the Desktop.

1. Go to 'File' > 'Save As...' and click to open the window

2. Use the pulldown menu to navigate to your 'biography' folder on your Desktop and click on it

3. When the window pops up, select the 'Change title...' button and title your page whatever you want
     (I titled mine 'Sabrina's Autobiography Page')
     Click on the 'File name:' window and name your page 'bio.htm'
     Click on the 'Save' button

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Step Four

In this step you will choose the background of your page and then view the page in a browser window.

1. Right click anywhere on the 'bio.htm' page to pull up the menu

2. Go to 'Page Properties...' and click

3. From the 'Page Properties' menu, navigate to the 'Formatting' tab and click

4. Click on the pulldown menu on 'Background' and then click on a color you want for the background
Then click on 'OK'

5. The entire 'bio.htm' page changes to that color

6. Go to 'File' > 'Save' to save the changes to your folder automatically

7. Click the 'Preview in Browser' icon on the toolbar to open a new window

8. This will allow you to view what your page will look like on the Internet
Use this option often to check your progress as you build your site

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Step Five

In this step you will choose a table size and modify the properties of the table.

1. Click on the 'Insert Table' icon in the toolbar

2. Highlight the number of cells you want to appear in your table and click

3. Right click on your new table to open the menu and click on 'Table Properties'

4. The 'Table Properties' window allows you to change the size, alignment, width, cell spacing, border size and
     color, and background color of the table. Experiment to get the look you want by clicking 'OK'.

     Some things to note:

    keep width of your table below 800 pixels to avoid horizontal scrolling on a monitor with 800 x 600 resolution

'Cell padding' and 'Cell spacing' refer to the distance (in pixels) text and images will appear from the border

cell padding/spacing of one...	cell padding/spacing of five...

a border of zero will show a dashed line on the 'Split' view but no border on the 'Preview' view

border of zero...	border of one...	border of five...

Here is a sample layout...

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Step Six

In this step, you will learn how to modify individual cells in your table.

1. Right click on the cell you want to modify and on the menu click on 'Cell Properties'

2. The 'Cell Properties' window allows you to modify many parts of individual cells.
     Use the pulldown menus to experiment with the look of the cells

     A thing to note...

     'Alignment' determines where in the cell font and graphics will appear

     Here is an example of a layout...

3. You may also merge the cell by highlighting the cells you want to merge into one
Right click to bring up the 'Merge Cells' command and select it

4. Or split an individual cell into rows and columns by right clicking on the cell to bring up the menu
Select 'Split Cells...'

and then choose whether you want 'rows' or 'columns' and the number

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Step Seven

In this step you will learn how to modify the font.

1. Highlight the font you want to change

2. Use any combination of the characteristics below

a. Change the font type by clicking on the pulldown arrow next to the font type

b. Change the font size by either clicking on the pulldown arrow to select a number

or clicking on the 'A' icons on the toolbar to make the font larger or smaller

c. Change the font color by clicking on the 'Font Color' selector icon and choosing your color

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Step Eight

In this step you will insert and modify graphics you find on Google.

Warning: Many sites on the Internet contain copyrighted graphics, so try to choose your images from sites that are copyright free.

1. Right click on the image you want to insert into your document to pull up the menu
Click 'Save Picture As...'

2. Save the picture in your 'biography' folder on your desktop

3. Click on the location you want the graphic on your page
Go to 'Insert' > 'Picture' > 'From File...'

4. Navigate to your picture and select it
Click 'Insert'

5. An example of the finished result

6. You may modify the picture by clicking on it and using the various tools on the 'Picture Toolbar'

7. An example of the finished result

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Step Nine

In this step you will create hyperlinks.
There are three types of hyperlinks:
     links to outside websites
     links to other pages in your website
     links to places within the same document

To link to an outside website (opens in a new window)

1. Highlight the text or graphic you want to link to an outside site

2. Click on the 'Hyperlink' icon on the toolbar to open the 'Insert Hyperlink' window

3. Select the 'Target Frame...' button
Select 'New Window'
Click 'OK'

3. In the 'Insert Hyperlink' window, make sure 'Existing File or Web Page' is selected
Type in the full URL of the outside site in the 'Address' window
Click 'OK'

4. The word is now linked

Link to other pages in your website

1. Go to 'File' > 'New...' and select 'Blank page' from the menu that appears

2. Use the steps outlined in Step 3 to name and save the page

3. Highlight the text you want to link to the new page

4. Click on the 'Hyperlink' icon on the toolbar

5. Make sure you select the 'Existing File or Web Page' icon in the 'Hyperlink' window
     Navigate to your 'biography' folder on the desktop and select the proper .htm page
     Do not select 'Target Frame...' > 'New Window' as you did in the previous example
     Click 'OK'

6. The word is now linked

Linking to a place within the same document

1. Click the cursor to the place in your document to which you want to navigate

2. Go to 'Insert' > 'Bookmark' and click

3. A 'Bookmark' window will appear, name your bookmark
(In this case, I want to navigate from the bottom to the top of my page, so I named mine 'top')
Click 'OK'

4. A tiny 'flag' appears, representing a bookmark
(This flag will not appear when viewed in the browser)

5. Highlight the text or image in your page from which you wish to navigate
(In this case, I highlighted 'top' since I am wanting to navigate from bottom to top)

6. Click on the 'Hyperlink' icon and choose 'Place in This Document' and the name of the bookmark
Click 'OK'

7. The area you highlighted is now linked to the bookmark
You may now 'jump' from one area to another within the same page

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Step Ten

In this final step you will assemble a webpage using all you have learned.

Time to put your FrontPage skills to work!
Create an autobiographical webpage with the components listed below:

at least one table that has been modified to reflect your personal choice of alignment and color
at least two examples of modified fonts
at least two graphics that have been saved and modified by using the picture toolbar
at least two hyperlinks that navigate within the webpage
at least two hyperlinks that link to outside sites and open in a new window

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Credits: http://viking.coe.uh.edu/~smarsh/fp2003/

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