"Navigation Bars" in Frontpage

• In a FrontPage Web, there are two different structures:
  • The folder structure, which is essentially like the folder structure in Windows.
    • You can view this structure and make modifications by using View > Folders from the menu bar.
    • Whenever you have a folder selected on the left, its contents will be displayed on the right (files and sub-folders--just like Windows Explorer).
    • The root of the web has a few special folders that are specific to FrontPage web structure, plus any folders you choose to add.
    • You can place sub-folders inside any of your added folders, etc. This all acts just like the folders in Windows.
  • The navigation structure, which is essentially independent of the folder structure.
    • You can view this structure and make modifications by using View > Navigation from the menu bar.
    • Unlike the "Folders" structure (which always contains "everything there is" on your web), the navigation structure contains only what you have specifically put into it (except the default page of your web will probably be there).
    • Removing pages from the navigation structure does not actually delete the pages from the web (unless you ask it to)--only from the navigation structure.
    • The nature of the navigation structure is to define the relationship of pages within your web: which pages are "child" pages of others, in a hierarchy you define, starting from the default page and forming a "tree" structure "hanging" from it.
    • The purpose of the navigation structure is to allow you to use FrontPage "Navigation Bars" to control navigation within your web (and even out of it).
    • Within the navigation structure, you can give each each page a name of your choice. These names are what will actually appear for the user to click on in the resulting navigation bars.
  • Navigation bars
    • A navigation bar is something you specifically place somewhere in a given page on your web.
    • When your users a viewing a page with a navigation bar, what they see are links they can click to jump to pages in your web, as defined in 1) your navigation structure and 2) the individual navigation bar.
    • You can put as many navigation bars as you like, anywhere in your page. (maybe one at the top that shows just the highest "level" of pages in your site, and one down the left that shows what pages are "child" pages of the current page--or whatever)
    • While you are editing the page, and with the cursor where you want the navigation bar to appear, do Insert > Navigation Bar from the menu bar.
    • In the resulting window, use the radio buttons and checkboxes to define the rules that apply to this navigation bar.
      • You can only choose one from the list of: Parent, Same Level, Back and Next, Child Level, Top Level, or Child Pages Under Home. When you click a button, the diagram changes to help you understand the meaning of each choice.
        • "Child Level" is the main workhorse of this group, because it lets your users choose any subpages of the page they are on (and their browser "Back" button would let them return).
        • You may also want a separate navigation bar at the top and/or bottom of your page with "Child Pages Under Home" selected and the "Home page" checkbox at the right, to let users go directly to the home page or any of the first layer of sub-pages.
      • The checkboxes at the right (Home Page and Parent Page) are options you can "add" to the navigation bar, no matter what button you choose on the left. Use with caution--this can get confusing to the user. Sometimes it is better to have different navigation bars in different places on the page instead of "Home" and "Parent" in each navigation bar.
      • The meaning of "Back and Next" is: if the page you are on is one of several which are all children of a given page, then the sibling page (if any) immediately to the right of the current page in the navigation structure, and the sibling page (if any) immediately to the left of the current page will appear in the navigation bar as "Back" and "Next" respectively.
      • On the lower left, you must choose either "Horizontal" or "Vertical".
        • Horizontal generates a bar with one link after another on the same line of text, wrapping around like ordinary paragraph text if it needs the space. This works well across the top or bottom of a page.
        • Vertical generates links that are stacked each below the link before it. This works well in a tall slim panel at the left or right of a page. (Use a table to hold the navigation bar and allow normal flow of text in the space beside it.)
      • On the lower right, you must choose either "Buttons" or "Text". I like text--I think it's clean, neat, professional. If you have chosen a FrontPage "Theme" for your web (which is another choice I avoid, because I don't like the look and feel of the "canned" pages it generates, "Buttons" will place each link of the navigation bar inside an image which is a part of the "Theme" design.
    • Once the navigation bar is on your page, here are some details:
      • In the place of the navigation bar, you may see a note from FrontPage, like "Edit the properties for this page to display hyperlinks here".) You will only see the links if the page you are editing has been saved, has been included somewhere in the navigation structure, and pages exist in that structure that should be displayed according to the rules in the navigation bar.
      • You can go back and modify your "rules" choices if you double-click on the navigation bar location.
      • Placement, font, etc. for the navigation bar are treated just as if it were text within your page. With the navigation bar highlighted, you can select left-aligned, centered, font, font size, etc. just as if it were ordinary text. (Colors will be determined by the settings you have for links for the entire page.)

Notes:

• Navigation to urls_outside_your_web:
  • A page (actually any url) outside of your web can also become a part of your navigation structure, and therefore appear on your navigation bars.
    • In the navigation view, select the parent page under which you want the external url to appear as a "child".
    • Right-click that page, and select "External Hyperlink".
    • In the resulting dialog, on the url line, type (or better: paste) the exact url of the page of your choice. It must begin with the http:// or whatever.
    • Click OK.
• Giving_navigation_names to your pages.
  • The name that shows for each page in the navigation view is the name that will display as a link in the navigation bars in your pages.
  • In navigation view, when you drag a page into a position in the navigation structure, it will be named the same as the page title. You can change its navigation name as follows:
    • Click on the page in the navigation view.
    • Tap the F2 key, which will highlight the existing name and let you type another in its place. (tap the <Enter> key to finish)
• Page Titles
  • A page title (not the same thing as the filename) is what appears in the title bar of the user's browser window when they are viewing your page.
  • The page title (at the time a page is added to the navigation structure) also becomes the default navigation title for the page, but you can change that (see above).
  • When a page is first created from scratch, the page title is the same as the filename. Here's how to change it.
    • In file view, when you look at the filenames on the right, you will also see a column showing the page titles.
    • Right-click the file icon, and choose Properties.
    • In the resulting dialog, the "Title" line should have the current title highlighted, ready to replace with whatever you type.
    • Click "OK" and the new title is assigned
  • You may want to do this before adding your pages to the navigation structure, to save the trouble of giving the pages new navigation names (although you may want navigation names that are different from the Titles).
• Removing pages from the navigation structure--you can remove them, or just deactivate them ("grey them out"). Either one will cause the pages to disappear from the navigation bars your users see on your pages.
  • To remove_a_page from the navigation structure
    • In navigation view, Right-click on the page
    • Choose "Delete"
    • In the resulting dialog, verify that the dot is beside "Remove this page from all navigation bars" and click "OK".
      • CAUTION: If the dot is beside "Delete this page from the web", it will actually the delete the file, and it will be gone, dead, "nada".
  • To deactivate_a_page from the navigation bars but preserve its place and name in the navigation structure
    • In navigation view Right-click on the page
    • In the pop-up menu, note the line "Included in Navigation Bars" that has the checkmark beside it.
    • Click on that line. (The whole pop-up will disappear, but the rectangle representing the page in the navigation view will now look "greyed- out".)
    • The page will no longer be shown in navigation bars until you reverse the process.
      • To restore such a page to the navigation bars, right-click the page, and click "Included in Navigation Bars" in the pop-up menu.
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