Online resources for using Microsoft FrontPage ...

Basic questions and answers about web development...

  1. How exactly does this HTML thing work anyway?
     
    W3Schools provides a nice online guide to HTML, as well as really helpful example pages where you can easily practice writing your own HTML tags.
     
    WebMonkey for kids is another good resource - their tools and reference guides are a great place to bookmark when you need a refresh on basic tags, color codes, or the codes for any special symbols, such as ¶, whose code is "&#182".  The site is heavy on graphics, so it's not so good from a dial-up connection.
     
  2. What if i want to put images on my pages?
     
    For an academic treatment of this subject, try the "graphics for the web" section of the Yale style manual.  The most pertinent info there - on a 28.8 modem connection, 3.6KB of data will take a minute to download.  Use that as a standard guideline for the maximum total size for all the graphics on your site. 
     
    Other than that, thumbnails are usually about 50x50 pixels, and can be made with any graphics software, including Paint or Microsoft Photo Editor.  Simply find and use the "resize" tools.  After that it's just a matter of inserting the small image in your page and linking it to the larger images, which can be done with HTML or the software of your choice.
     
    Using background images for pages or tables can be done using HTML or the HTML editor of your choice, such as FrontPage.
     
  3. What about design?  How should my page look?
     
    Layout is important.  Using tables is the best way to align your page's content.  Again, W3Schools and their easy to try examples are the best way to practice using tables (scroll down a little to get to tables).
      
    Keep in mind that your viewers will have different monitors and resolutions:  your content should have a maximum width of about 650 pixels, give or take 50.  The Yale style manual has a little bit to say about this also.

    Another important aspect of web pages is navigation - each page should allow a user to easily move to other pages within the site.  Decide on a scheme for navigation early in your design.