Microsoft FrontPage 97 At a Glance

COMPUTER BOOK REVIEW  

401 words

Title: Microsoft FrontPage 97 At a Glance;  Stephen L. Nelson; Microsoft 
Press; ISBN: 1-57231-573-3; Paperback, 266 pages, US $16.99, 
CAN $22.99, UK £15.49

Reviewer: Lorna Ens, "Time is a precious commodity and if you need 
to create and maintain a web site, Microsoft FrontPage 97 at a Glance 
could be your new best friend."

The Door Opener to FrontPage 97

Microsoft FrontPage 97 At a Glance is one of Microsoft Press' Visual 
Reference titles. Mr. Nelson's aim in writing this book is to provide a 
quick reference which doesn't overwhelm a new user and will provide 
assistance - quickly - to those more familiar with the software. 

He accomplishes this by following a logical progression through the 
features of FrontPage 97, from the basic steps for creating a  site, 
(complete with an explanation of what a web site is) to administering 
the web site. 

Each new section has a brief overview of the specific topics to be 
covered. This is handy for the new user. Thankfully, the author uses 
plain English through most of the book, taking time to explain some 
jargon users are just going to have to come to grips with - such as, 
hyperlink. 

Scattered throughout the sections are sidebars headed "Tips", "See 
Also" and "Try this", providing useful information without sidetracking 
the reader from the task at hand. Each function is laid out with screen 
shots and numbered steps, which goes a long way towards 
accomplishing the goal. 

Some sidebars suggest alternate methods to achieve the same result - 
using right mouse menu button items instead of pull down menus or 
toolbar buttons, for example. This supports the individual style of the 
user. 

Some of the features covered are the Image Composer, WebBots, 
creating Forms and Special Effects (using video clips or adding 
background sound). I was unable to explore some of these features 
because I wasn't using an actual web server, but I was able to create 
a corporate web site with product and services pages, a feedback 
form and more, all without having used the program before. 

I made occasional miscues when examples of screen shots led to 
making menu choices I didn't want, but more experienced users aren't 
likely to have this problem. The experienced users I did show the book 
to quickly found one section or another that had them stop, read through 
it and learn something they hadn't known - a good test of reference material.

Overall, I was impressed with the amount of information presented with 
just a few screen shots, some numbered steps, and an extra bit of advice 
on the side. 

Time is a precious commodity and if you need to create and maintain a 
web site, Microsoft FrontPage 97 at a Glance could be your new best friend.