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Last Updated: Jun 30th, 2006 - 21:58:57 |
There are a few configurations worth making in FrontPage that will affect the
HTML which is automatically generated.
1. Controlling your HTML Format
To do this click Tools> Page Options >
HTML Source
In most cases you will want to have the 'Preserve Existing HTML' box checked:
If you have a preference for the way your HTML is displayed you can choose
the 'Reformat using the rules below' option and then choose how you want each
tag to be displayed.
2. Thumbnail Appearance
When you use the auto thumbnail feature in FrontPage, some HTML is generated
to control the appearance of the thumbnail image. You can change the default
settings to have the generated HTML display the images as you want them to be
seen.
To do this click Tools>Page Options >
Auto Thumbnail
You can now set the width of any thumbnails generated, decide whether you want
a border and how thick it should be and whether or not you want a bevelled edge
on your thumbnails. Play around with changing these settings and creating a
few thumbnails while checking HTML view to see the differences that changing
the setting makes to the HTML.
3. Creating Cross Browser Compatible Code
There is some help available within FrontPage for doing this, though it is
far from infallible. However it is worth using.
Click Tools>Page Options > Compatibility
You have the option here to set compatibility to Internet Explorer only, Netscape
only or both browsers. The last option is highly recommended. You can also choose
the versions of the browsers you want your pages to be compatible with. What
this will do is prevent you adding any FP feature that is not compatible with
the browsers you have selected. If you try to add such a feature you will find
the options for doing so are unavailable to you.
There are important limitations to this however. It is not retrospective, so
if you are having a compatibility problem with existing pages rushing to change
these settings will have no effect at all. It will not stop you creating incorrect
code which is not readable by all browsers. This is especially true in the case
of poorly created tables which are the most frequent browser compatibility problem
encountered.
4. Color code your HTML
This is an underused facility that can really help a lot with reading your
HTML. What this does is set the colors in which various parts of the page in
HTML view will be displayed.
Click Tools>Page Options > Color
Coding
The default colors are quite muted and you can make your HTML quite a bit clearer
by changing these to more garish selection. Try it! Select your colors and then
take a look at HTML view.
5. Locating Code in HTML view
There are times when you need to add something to an existing page in HTML
view, for example a piece of JavaScript or some code for an affiliate program.
Looking at a page full of code it can be hard to see just where the new stuff
should go, but a simple trick will overcome that problem.
Simply look at the page in normal view, decide where you need the code and
write the word 'HERE' in that position. Now highlight the word 'HERE' and switch
to HTML view - the word will be highlighted there also and you can simply replace
it with your code.
Occasionally I have found that this results in all the text or a large block
of text in HTML view becoming highlighted so here is an alternative method.
Place your cursor where you want the content to go in Normal View. Do Insert>
Comment and type some text into the box that appears. Now when you go to HTML
view this comment will appear in whatever color you selected above for comments
and you will easily be able to find and replace it.
