Tina's FrontPage News
~~Tina Clarke, AccessFP - FrontPage Resource Centre

FrontPage Add-ons 

FrontPage is a good program but would it not be nice if it could do this?… or that?… or the other?  Well, fortunately for us, it can. It can because there are great developers out there that make FrontPage Add-ons and Plug-ins for FrontPage and quite a lot of them are FREE! 

That’s what I’m going to tell you about in this issue and, if you have ideas of your own that you would like to see in the latest FrontPage add-on, pass them on to me and I will pass them on to the developers.

Perhaps you have wanted to optimise your Meta tags and put your title into first position?

Would you love to be told where you have left out your alt tags and, what’s more, have the size of the graphic calculated so the browser loads more quickly? How about having your pages or the whole website tested for missing Description and Keyword Meta tags? Well surely you would want to be told when you forgot to code for background colour? You do? Well look no further than TP_ErrOmi v2 from http://solution-shelf.com The best tune up for a FrontPage website available and, if you have feedback about the application, Tom Price the webmaster would love to hear from you.  That’s how his products are improved; by user feedback.

New add-ons are always coming out, xmedia http://www.xzmedia.com/frontfx/index.asp has two recent ones just for you: 

FrontFX Galleria: This new addin creates an Image Gallery type Shopping Cart in which users can select images across your website to later be compiled into a single page gallery of images.   

FrontFX PrintWeb: Ever wanted to print a listing of Files/Folders etc from your current web?  Not that easy is it?  Well it is now, thanks to FrontFX PrintWeb.  Fully optioned and ready to report! 

These are not the first FREE Addons that Andrew Brisbane the Webmaster has brought out.  

With FrontFX Picture Splitter there is no more switching to other graphic applications or utilities to cut up large images.  The  functionality is now built into FrontPage 2000 for FREE! 

Now answer me this.  Have you ever wanted to check all the images in your FrontPage web to ensure that there are no broken images? The FrontFX ET Image Reporter will do just that.

For those musical lovers out there that have FrontPage 98 and 2000 you can utilize:

Crescendo http://www.liveupdate.com/tech/fp2000.html (A plug-in for Netscape and Internet Explorer that plays MIDI and MP3 music off of the web) directly with FrontPage.

Did you know there is a site that has over 20 add-ons and utilities for FrontPage and more coming all the time? No? Well you should stop by Jimco’s Add-ins http://jimcoaddins.com/ which has become synonymous with FrontPage add-ins throughout the FrontPage Community. Amongst the many is Multi-page Background, which allows you to easily add a background image to multiple pages in one easy step. (2k/02). Next up is Style Sheet Linker, which is a more robust way to apply style sheet links to your pages. You can even see a preview before applying your changes! (02). The Hyperlink Underline Remover allows you to add an embedded style sheet to selected pages that will remove the underline from your hyperlinks. No HTML hand coding required (2k/02)! 

Do you want to hide the fact that the site you just made is a FrontPage Site? No problem.  No FrontPage Meta will remove the GENERATOR and ProgId Meta tags when you save your pages (2k/02).

Just moved to a Unix server and discovered you can't have upper case file names? Never fear, Case Changer will change all files and folders in your Web to lower case (2k/02).

Forgetful? If you have an unsaved page open when you publish, FrontPage will not publish your changes.  Pre-publish runs in the background and prompts you to save any unsaved changes prior to publishing (02).

Did you forget the time and have to run out the door? You have 10 pages open all wanting to be saved, Save All will come to the rescue.  It adds a menu item to the File menu in FrontPage that saves all unsaved pages (02). 

Fed up of having to close the New Page that opens automatically when you launch FrontPage? Well No New Page 3.0 will now prevent the new page when FrontPage is launched and it will also prevent the new_page_#.htm that FrontPage automatically creates for you (2k/02). 

There are many more add-ins at Jimco’s.  The ones listed above are just a taster and, what’s more, they are all FREE.

One of the newest FrontPage developers is Simon Haddad who has a corner spot at At-FrontPage http://www.at-frontpage.com/simonbots/ owned by Tiffany K Edmonds, Microsoft MVP – FrontPage. Simon has developed the following add-ons: 

Pick up a Cross-browser pop-up window using your choice of web address, trigger, and window settings. If you're the type of person that likes coloured scroll bars, now you can quickly and easily customize the colours of the browser's scroll bars in Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher (no ill effects in other browsers). If you want to keep a 'very rough' count of hits on your site but don't want to look like a newbie, Simon has produced an add-on for inserting an invisible Hit Counter – Secret Hit Counter. Two New Add-on’s from the SimonBots stable are the 3D-style drop shadow Text, which will insert text with that appearance. Simon's other new production is an add-on to insert HTML directly into the Normal view of FP2k2, and specify its design-time appearance – Custom HTML Mark-up.  Keeping those scripts & styles from being accidentally deleted, great for server-side scripts. Simon has more listed at the above link.

ExtraFrontPage http://www.extrafrontpage.com brings one FrontPage add-on with five fantastic features these include. Slide Show, which adds a slide of pictures displayed one picture at a time with NEXT and PREVIOUS buttons. IE users will see a transition effect when pictures change. Scrollbar color, which changes the colour of the scrollbar and it has an easy to use colour picker. You can add the effect to single page, all pages, or a linked style sheet. Fading Messages continuously displays text or html messages in a specified location. Messages will show up with a fading effect. Add To Favorites adds a link or an image that once clicked adds the page to the browser’s favourites. Current Date adds the current date, according to client's clock.

Keeping on top of your site Statistics is a must and for that you can pick up HitBOX Site Analyzer! http://www.hitboxcentral.com/index.php?sid=support&cntid=wizard This wizard installs an add-on in FrontPage 2k/02, which will allow you to add HitBox code to multiple Web site pages at once, without having to open a single HTML file.

Nothing could be better than to start earning money on your FrontPage web sites by adding merchant affiliate links with Channel Cash! http://www.websunlimited.com/channel_cash.htm  Each time your visitor clicks on a merchant link from your site and buys, you earn commissions! Channel Cash is fully integrated into FrontPage 2000 and is accessed through the Insert Component icon on the FrontPage toolbar.

Do you need Pixel-perfect accuracy? Then you must have the Screen Callipers http://www.iconico.com/ they are a unique on-screen measurement tool. They resemble real life callipers in both form and function and are now linked directly from Microsoft FrontPage for seamless integration.

Now, we all know size matters and no more so than on the web.  This next add-on is great if you want to quickly check if your page falls within a certain size (suggested size: 30KB-60KB). PageWeight Add-in for FrontPage http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?releaseid=31854 will do that job. With PageWeight, you have one-click access to the main factors that contribute to the size of a page. When the PageWeight window is displayed, you will see: size of page in KB, total number of characters, total number of font tags, total number of scripts, total size of all images and a breakdown of each image and how large it is. This add-on is only available free from the Microsoft Downloads section.   the developers (http://office-power.com/) provide it, but only as part of their other packages.

Every Webmaster wants to meet accessibility and usability guidelines and HiSoftware is helping us do just that. AccVerify® SE™ http://www.hisoftware.com/msacc/index.html for FrontPage provides verification and reports all errors/non-compliance with accessibility policy and standards for Web sites under the WCAG 1.0 P1-P3 Guidelines and the Section 508 standards. In addition, the software provides a complete checklist for standards that must be manually verified to take you 100% of the way to an accessible Web site.  And,  HiSoftware also provides an E-Book to go with it:  HiSoftware® Understanding Accessibility eBook for Microsoft® Reader & PDF http://www.hisoftware.com/msacc/regbook.htm  (You must register to receive your free copy)

Microsoft, of course, has their own FrontPage add-ons (why not put them into the program?) and this article would not be complete without them. 

• Comprehensive DHTML, HTML, and CSS Reference

http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/downloads/addin/
searchdetail.asp?aid=146

This add-in will insert a link for a comprehensive developer's help reference for HTML, DHTML and CSS on the help menu in FrontPage.  

• Comprehensive JScript and VBScript Reference

http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/downloads/addin/
searchdetail.asp?aid=149  

This is a comprehensive developer's reference for JScript and VBScript and also links you to the Microsoft Add-in Center where you can find more add-ins for FrontPage.  

• FrontPage Database Troubleshooting Utility

http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/downloads/addin/
searchdetail.asp?aid=117  

The FrontPage Database Troubleshooting Utility checks for the following items that may cause a Database Results Region page to fail: - The absence of a Global.asa file. - Whether the Global.asa file is running. - Whether the Global.asa file is running outside of the Web. - The absence of any database connections in the Web.

• Self-service Site Creation SharePoint Team Services:

http://microsoft.com/frontpage/downloads/addin/
searchdetail.asp?aid=111

Server administrators can use the Self-Service Site Creation Add-in to allow users to create a SharePoint team Web site automatically as a subweb of the root web, without needing administrator rights to the root web. For developers, this add-in is also an example of the types of automations you can create for SharePoint Team Services. If you want to create your own add-in, or customize this one, you can use the source files that are included in this download. 

• Document Manager

http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/downloads/addin/
searchdetail.asp?aid=42

This add-in allows users to open/save and close multiple documents. Quickly select a document from the list of open documents. Additionally, users can see files by filenames or by TITLE. 

• Sort Add-in (Available only at MS but developed by Matt Cohen)

http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/downloads/addin/
searchdetail.asp?aid=39

You can sort text, numbers, or data in ascending order (A to Z, zero to 9, or earliest to latest date) in lists or tables. Or, you can sort in descending order (Z to A, 9 to zero, or latest to earliest date). This add-in sorts tables, lists, paragraphs and fields as well. 

• AutoFormat (Available only at MS but developed by Matt Cohen)

http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/downloads/addin/
searchdetail.asp?aid=2

Tables are commonly used on Web pages to organize and present information in rows and columns, in much the same way tables are used in print documents. Table AutoFormat provides the users an easy way to give their tables a professional look to display information on the Web, without having to know how to work with HTML tags. 

• Document Selector

http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/downloads/addin/
searchdetail.asp?aid=43

This add-in allows users to quickly select a document from the list of open documents. Additionally, users can see files by filenames or by TITLE. 

• Microsoft FrontPage Extensions for Web Storage System Forms

http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/downloads/addin/
searchdetail.asp?aid=46

The Microsoft FrontPage Extensions for the Web Storage System provide simple, flexible HTML forms backed by data in Exchange folders. With these forms, you can customize or replace Outlook Web Access forms and views. FrontPage Extensions for Web Storage System forms include: Integration with the FrontPage Forms Editor View Design Time Control Outlook Web Access Design Time Control Simple List Application Template Form Registration Editor Context-sensitive Help. 

Microsoft got their act together this year and finally started their own FrontPage add-ons center (The Microsoft FrontPage Addin Center at: http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/downloads/addin/
default.asp which lists many more Free or Trial/Demo Addins.

Of course you can always find the latest add-ons listed in the FrontPage Resources section of AnyFrontPage Bytes Ezine (Now published monthly) check out the current issue at http://anyfrontpage.com/bytes/

What I’ve mentioned above is only the tip of the iceberg.  There are many, many more FrontPage add-ons and plug-ins available.  For a the oldest archive on the web of FrontPage Add-ons you need to check out AccessFP FrontPage Resource Center at http://accessfp.net/accessst.htm There you will find not only FREE add-ons but all the Trial/Demo and To-Buy Add-ons that there are and if it’s NOT listed, well for goodness sake, TELL me about it by writing to addons@accessfp.net, whether you’re the developer or just want to spread the word.

Happy FrontPage Crafting!

Tina Clarke - Microsoft MVP - FrontPage, is the Webmaster of AccessFP - FrontPage Resource Centre http://accessfp.net/  and http://addonfp.com  She is also an editor of AnyFrontPageBytes Ezine. Subscribe to the ezine http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AnyFrontPageBytes  and get FREE FrontPage E-Books upon joining. And don't forget to subscribe to get Weekly FrontPage Tips. Tina is also an artist and the owner of http://clarke-abstract-art.com