FP: Overview of FrontPage Components (WebBot Components)

- Microsoft FrontPage 98 for Windows - Microsoft FrontPage 97 for Windows - Microsoft FrontPage for Windows, versions 1.0, 1.1 - Microsoft FrontPage for the Power Macintosh, version 1.0

SUMMARY

This article describes what a FrontPage component (WebBot component in Frontpage 97 or earlier versions) is and lists the components that are available in the versions of FrontPage listed at the beginning of this article. A WebBot component is a dynamic object on a Web page that is evaluated when the page is saved or, in some cases, when the page is opened in a Web browser.

In addition to the components available in earlier versions of FrontPage, the following new components are available in FrontPage 98:

   Comment
   Hit Counter
   Page Banner
   Banner Ad Manager

   Annotation
   Confirmation Field
   Discussion
   HTML Markup
   Include
   Registration
   Save Results
   Scheduled Image
   Scheduled Include
   Search
   Substitution
   Table of Contents
   Timestamp

MORE INFORMATION

Comment

The comment is text that you can view in FrontPage Editor but is hidden when you open your page in a Web browser. Comment text appears in purple in FrontPage Editor. It retains the character-size and other attributes of the current paragraph style.

Hit Counter

The Hit Counter is a graphical component that counts the number of times your Web site has been accessed by other browsers.

Page Banner

The Page Banner is a FrontPage component that allows you to place the title of the page in text or graphical format at the top of the page. You can use this component with themes and shared borders to add a title to each page in your Web without having to modify each individual page.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q174421
   TITLE     : FP98: What are Page Banners?

Banner Ad Manager

The Banner Ad Manager is a FrontPage component that shows each of a series of designated images for a given number of seconds, then transitions to the next image using any of several transition effects. The Banner Ad may be used as advertisement banners or simply to show a series of images.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q173438
   TITLE     : FP98: How to Create Banner Ads using Banner Ad Manager

Annotation

The Annotation allows you to insert annotations or comments on your Web page. These annotations can be viewed from FrontPage Editor; they will not be visible in a Web browser. Annotation text is formatted in purple in FrontPage Editor. It retains the character size and other attributes of the current paragraph style.

Confirmation Field (WebBot Confirmation Field)

The Confirmation Field is a run-time component that is replaced with the contents of a form field. It can be used to echo information, such as a user's name or e-mail address, back to the user as confirmation of the values they entered in a form. Another use for the Confirmation component is to verify the name and mailing address of a user who has submitted a form.

Discussion Form Handler (WebBot Discussion component)

A Discussion Form Handler (or WebBot Discussion component) allows you to set up a discussion Web page. The Discussion Form Handler collects information from a form, formats it into an HTML page, and then adds the page to a table of contents and to a text index. The Discussion Form Handler gathers information from the form and stores it in one of a selection of formats, such as HTML or ASCII text. The Discussion Form Handler is accessed from the Form Properties dialog box.

HTML Markup Component (WebBot HTML Markup component)

The HTML Markup Component allows you to enter HTML tags that are not directly supported or available in FrontPage Editor. For example, FrontPage Editor versions 1.1 and 1.0 do not include support for table elements or the marquee element. To enter either of these elements in FrontPage Editor, you must use the HTML Markup component.

NOTE: Because FrontPage Editor 1.1 and 1.0 do not support these elements, these elements will be preserved on export only; they will not be imported. FrontPage does not verify that your markup is valid HTML.

Include Page Component (WebBot Include component)

The Include Page component is designed to replace itself with the contents of another file. The most common use for the Include Page component is to place the same text or graphic on every page in a multi-page Web. Examples of items that you might want to appear on each page in your Web include: copyright information, headers and footers, and product logos. The Include Page component requires the URL of the file that contains the text and images to be included on a page. Any modifications to the source document are automatically sent to each page for which it is included.

Registration Form Handler (WebBot Registration component)

The Registration Form Handler allows you to automatically register users for access to a service. The WebBot Registration component adds the user to the services's authentication database; it can then gather information from the form and store it in one of a selection of formats, such as HTML or ASCII text. The WebBot Registration is accessed from the Form Properties dialog box.

Save Results Form Handler (WebBot Save Results component)

The Save Results Form Handler gathers information from a form and stores it in one of a selection of formats (HTML, ASCII text). When you submit the form, the Save Results Form Handler appends the form information to a specified file in a specified format. The Save Results Form Handler is accessed from the Form Properties dialog box.

Scheduled Image (WebBot Scheduled Image component)

The Scheduled Image component is used when you plan to replace one image with another within a specific time period. On the expiration date, the original image is no longer displayed and another image takes its place or the place where the image existed is left blank.

When you insert a Scheduled Image component, you will need to enter the name of the image and any alternate image to be included on the page. The image must be from the current Web.

A Scheduled Image component runs when a change is made to your Web. To ensure proper timing of the Scheduled Image component, make some changes to your Web daily.

Scheduled Include Page Component (WebBot Scheduled Include Component)

The Scheduled Include Page component is used to insert the contents of a file during a specified period of time. When the time period expires, the contents of the file are no longer displayed. You can specify an optional page to be included after a given date.

A Scheduled Include Page component is run when a change is made to your Web. To ensure proper timing of the Scheduled Include Page component, make some changes to your Web daily.

Search Form (WebBot Search Component)

Use the Search Form to create a search form. The FrontPage Server Extensions maintain a list of words found in each page in a Web. If the Web includes a discussion group, FrontPage also maintains a dynamic list of words found in each entry of the discussion group. At run-time, the form created by the Search Form returns a list of pages containing the words the user entered in the form. The words can include Boolean constructs, such as and, not, or, and parentheses.

Substitution Component (WebBot Substitution Component)

The Substitution component allows you to type an abbreviation that will be substituted by its expanded form. For example, you can set a variable, such as HTML, to represent "HyperText Markup Language" (without the quotation marks). Then, instead of writing out "HyperText Markup Language," you could type HTML, and HTML will expand to "HyperText Markup Language" at run-time. You define the variable as a parameter in the Web Settings dialog box (on the Tools menu, click Web Settings) in FrontPage Explorer.

Table of Contents (WebBot Table of Contents Component)

The Table of Contents component generates an outline of your Web. The Table of Contents updates this outline each time the Web content changes. It does not create a table of contents based on bookmarks. It uses the title element of the subpages to generate the table of contents.

Timestamp (WebBot Timestamp Component)

The Timestamp inserts a date and time stamp that corresponds to the last time the page was edited or automatically updated.