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FrontPage Editor 97 - Microsoft

Found at: http://www.microsoft.com/

Overview:

• MS-Windows 95/NT
• Stand alone program
• WYSIWYG
• HTML checking -- during editing
• Very Stable
• Cost: $149
• Screen shot
• User Comments

Nice features found in this package include:

Complete Web site development tool

This package includes everything you need to start a Web site. The Personal Web Server is included along with a number of CGI like serer extensions for searching, gathering feedback, and creating discussion groups. The 97 version has added support for IDC (Internet Database Connector) and other extensions. Access to all the features are integrated into the editor. For example, you can easily create a user feedback form by inserting the feedback "bot" (bots are MS term for server side utilities or extensions). Bots also allow you to create "libraries" of HTML code which are inserted into a page by the server before it is sent to the browser (great for a common navigation bar found on all pages). FrontPage Explorer and FrontPage Editor are compatible with other servers (if you need more security, or control), but I did not verify that this was true or how well the programs worked with other servers. I looked at IIS and PWS only, but did notice the install program recognized Netscape and Oreilly servers.

Graphical Table and Forms editing

The package allows the user to graphically manipulate forms and tables inside the displayed page. A right button pop-up menu allows the user to quickly bring up "properties" dialogs to define attributes of form elements. I especially liked the table handling within the application. Menu selection allow you to select the portion of the table you wish quickly ("select cell", "select row", "select table") and then the properties are only a right click away. Forms are clearly shown in the text and faithfully rendered within the editing window.

Comprehensive set of Wizards to do almost everything.

The set of wizards included is very impressive. With one wizard you can create an entire Web site, including search pages, feedback forms, and table of contents. Other wizards will create a discussion site (simple web based news groups) with no effort. Like most of Microsoft's wizards, these step you through each activity with simple directions, and visual feedback of the potential results.

Supports Frames and HTML 3.2 and VBScript

FrontPage includes a wizard to create frame pages quickly and graphically. Unfortunately you cannot directly access the frame tags once the page is created, and must go through the wizard to make changes. The editor is geared toward web authors who are not familiar with HTML, so a few of the lesser used tags and attributes are not available (fortunately, you can added custom tags into the documents, though they obviously are not rendered). The application also includes a script wizard for helping authors add VBScript to your pages. Not every HTML 3.2 is generated by the package (It uses <P> with align attribute instead of <DIV> for large blocks of elements, for example)

Link and image dialogs allow browsing for locations

The image and link dialogs go a step further than most other editors. This is primarily due to fact that FrontPage can link to a web created using the explorer program or another URL. You can also use Internet Explorer to browse to page to insert. I wish there was a quick way to access your shortcuts or bookmarks from IE or Navigator as targets in a link.

Built in tools for image map and image manipulation.

The package allows the user to define hot spots on inline images inside of the editor. The corresponding map files (or tags for client side) are created are created automatically by FrontPage. The image editor I believe may vary, but the copy I looked at included Microsoft Image Composer which includes a large number of web oriented effects.

Good HTML generation

FrontPage does a wonderful job at generating the HTML from the graphical view. For example, pressing the return key at the end of bulleted line (unordered list item), another bullet item appears. However, if you press the return key again, on the empty line, the bullet list is ended and a new paragraph starts. These small details provide a very satisfying editting environment.

Great support for ActiveX, Java, and embedded objects

The package includes dialogs to add embedded content into your pages. Not surprisingly, the ActiveX portion includes lists of many available components which allow you to adjust their characteristics using property sheets similar to Visual Basic's. Java support is not quite as good, with no example class files included for you to use.

Other features

FrontPage includes a number of other features including: spell checker, thesaurus, and todo lists. You can also edit HTML directly in a window to place the final touches, if necessary, and FrontPage will attempt to "parse" the changes into the graphical view. I also appreciated the "Extended" button in most dialogs. This allows you to add extra attributes to tags which FrontPage does not support.

Missing/Poorly Implemented Features:

Still not a complete "Microsoft product"

I'm still disappointed that FrontPage is not a "full" member of the Office family. In today's environment, an HTML editor needs as much power as your word processor. Microsoft is in a great position to leap ahead of many vendors. I'm still waiting for customized toolbars, macros (VB for applications or VBScript), live ActiveX and Java (after all they invented the OCX control....). Also, as with many products, I wish the package supported dialogs for all the attributes supported by every tag.

Very focussed on Microsoft's view of the Web

Not surprisingly, the function of FrontPage mimics the style of other Microsoft products (Internet Assistant, the new Office 97 Web features). Prime positions on the tool bars are reserved for FONT tag attributes (colors, font types, size, etc.), while headings and other tags are placed on an awkward drop down list. Also, while some editors offer canned Javascript, FrontPage has VBScript features (Why no JScript?).

Comments and custom markup hidden by <!> symbol.

The FrontPage editor places a little icon <!> in each location where a comment or unsupported markup is placed (a "bot" allows you to insert a tag which is not checked by the editor). This is counter productive since comments normally provide information to the developer. Microsoft expects developers to use the annotation bot to insert comments.

Conclusion:

FrontPage provides an integrated environment, with server, editor, and project manager, for creating a web site with little effort. Typical features--comment forms and searching--which normally require knowledge of CGI and scripts are built into the server. The simple graphical interface and comprehensive wizards will simplify the process of setting up departmental and small web sites. FrontPage is a very impressive graphical editor. Many authors may feel cramped in the environment, but I find the level of integration and ease of use perfect for new comers and those who need to create pages quickly. If you are concidering a graphical editor, FrontPage must be on your list to consider (especially if you need ActiveX and font control).

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