Just about every person and every business you know has a Web site, and now you’re ready to jump into the fray yourself. Luckily, the powerful Web publishing tools built into your Windows® 98 system make it easy.

Windows 98 includes a Web-page editor called FrontPage® Express. FrontPage Express allows you to create Web pages in an easy-to-use, familiar-looking desktop interface, without having to learn HTML, the programming language of the World Wide Web.

Whether you’re building a simple site to share pictures of your dog, publishing your magnum opus to the world, or migrating your business online, it’s easy to get started with Windows 98 and FrontPage Express.

Introducing Microsoft FrontPage Express
FrontPage Express offers you two ways to create and edit Web pages. The WYSIWYG editing window is the simplest method, and the one you’re most likely to use if you’re just starting to build Web pages. It instantly shows you what your page will look like once it is published to the Web.

In WYSIWYG mode, simply type directly onto the page, and use the toolbar buttons to change the color, size, and style of the font, or add elements like pictures or video files. The background color of your page, the title, margins, and text colors can all be easily specified in the Page Properties dialog box from the File menu.

In addition to WYSIWYG mode, FrontPage Express allows you to view the HTML that it generates, formatted and color coded so it is easy to read. If you’re familiar with HTML, you can go “under the hood” to edit in HTML mode and instantly see the results on your page. To use this mode, click HTML from the View menu.

Add functionality to your pages
FrontPage Express has several templates and wizards to help you create common types of pages quickly and easily. You can create a personal homepage that displays information about yourself, or a form or survey to collect information from visitors to your site.

Forms and surveys can include elements like drop-down boxes or text boxes where users can type comments, though you must be connected to a server running FrontPage server extensions to use these features (see the Using Windows article Web Publishing Wizardry for more information). You’ll find the templates and wizards for creating a homepage or a survey by selecting New from the File menu.

All versions of FrontPage support components, which are pre-written scripts and programs that allow you to add functionality to your site without having to do the programming yourself. FrontPage Express includes several components, called “WebBot components.” The following WebBot components are included in FrontPage Express:

• Search. Lets you build a search page for users to search the contents of your Web site.
• Time Stamp. Automatically inserts the date and time your page was last updated.
• Include. Replaces itself with the contents of another file. It can be used to place the same text or graphic on every page in a multi-page site, for example copyright information, headers and footers, and product logos. Any changes to the source document are automatically sent to each page in which the component is included.

To insert a WebBot component into your page:

1. Place the cursor where you would like the WebBot component to appear.
2. Click the WebBot button in the toolbar.
3. Select the component you would like to insert from the list and click OK.

Moving up to FrontPage 2000
When you’re ready to try more extensive features and components to add a fully professional look to your site, use the latest full version of FrontPage—FrontPage 2000. FrontPage 2000 not only lets you create sophisticated Web pages and set up your site's navigational structure, but also has many management functions that allow you to easily update, maintain, manage, and monitor your site.

FrontPage 2000 is an effective tool for both experienced Web site developers and users unfamiliar with writing HTML. Plus, it shares toolbars, menus, spell checking, Format Painter, and other elements with Microsoft Office. If you have used FrontPage Express—or another Microsoft Office program like Microsoft Word—the layout and toolbars will look familiar—so you won’t have to learn a completely new program or method of creating Web pages.

Once you finish building your Web site, you’ll want to publish it to the Web. Windows 98 helps with that, too. See this Web Publishing Wizardry article for tips on locating a host for your site, and posting your pages to the Internet using the Web Publishing Wizard tool in Windows 98.

Mark Reed has yet to create his magnum opus, or get a dog.