FrontPage World Tips and Tricks

How can I create Navigational Tools on my Web that I don’t have to update on every page as I add new elements to my site? 

Easy and simple navigation tools in a Web site are one of the most important features a site can have.  Content may be King - but if they can’t find their way to that Content, it quickly becomes pointless.

There are three ways to create such tools.  They range in ease of implementation and power. 

Included Navigational Pages

One way to create navigational elements for a Web site is to create these elements as individual pages and then include them using the Component, Include Page option as needed.  This way, one update of the navigational page will provide an update to the entire site.  See below for an example of what the Include Page Properties Dialog Box looks like. 

Because this isn’t the easiest concept to grasp initially, we have an example here at FrontPageWorld.Com that should help make sense of this approach.

The top area of almost every single page (including the one you are looking at right now) in FrontPageWorld.Com is a file called newbanner.htm (you can see the file by clicking on the hyperlink).  Note the navigational elements.  Because this file provides a simple navigational menu bar for the entire site, a simple update to that file can result in an update to the entire site.

By the way, yes, the navigational element at the bottom of every page is also an included page called newfooter.htm.  See how powerful this approach is?

Navigation View Tools

One of the most powerful ways to include navigational tools into a Web site is to create them directly in FrontPage through the Insert, Navigation Bar option (seen below).  This feature automatically creates navigational tools that can be customized to present exactly what you want it to. 

The elements are created either in text or with graphical buttons based on the theme chosen for the entire site.  If a new page is added to the Navigation of the site, FrontPage will automatically update the Navigation Bar accordingly.

The only problem with this approach is that it requires the entire site be created in the FrontPage Navigation View.

Note:  This is not a proper place to explain how to create a site in Navigation View.  Refer to your Help files of trust FrontPage book for more detailed directions.  However, if a site was not created in Navigation View, you can update the site to such and then make use of the Navigation Bar tools.

Shared Borders

Another option for navigational tools is through the use of Shared Borders.  Shared Borders are inserted into a Web page through the Format, Shared Borders command.  This results in the dialog box seen below.

Note: You can only create one shared border for each side of the page per Web.  This means that you are limited to a single Header, Footer, Left and Right border for your Web, regardless of how large it may be.  If you decide to use this feature, be sure to plan ahead.

Note: Although the Shared Borders option can make use of the Navigation Buttons described above, they are not mandatory and do not require that a site was built using the Navigational View.