Yes, I know that there are over 250 opinions written on this particular software. But I use it on a regular basis and think that I do have some important insight to share!

So without further a due, let me introduce Microsoft FrontPage2000....

Those of you who don't know what WYSIWYG means, read my article on the subject. It will give some insight as to how WYSIWYG software can make your web publishing experience a snap.

FrontPage is my personal favorite WYSIWYG software.

I have been using FrontPage since it first came out with a beta product (before windows 98 was in production).

I always saw this as a lifesaver when creating web pages and publishing to the web.

Page creation:
Easily create HTML pages in an easy and straightforward interface. No need for HTML knowledge!
FrontPage has built in buttons and menu options that allow you to
1. Edit text- fonts, sizes, colors, formatting

2. insert images, from your own collection or from the built in clipart software (which you can add to by browsing their web site)

3. create themes- I generally don't use this feature because I create custom pages and graphics, but it's a good feature for those who want to create personal or small brochure like sites with a general theme

4. Links - links are easy to create and when moving pages or graphics around, FrontPage will automatically recalculate the links and make sure they are not broken

5. Tables- oh those wonderful tables that arrange our pages in such an orderly fashion. FrontPage makes this a breeze. You can create tables just as easily as you would create them using Word! Only draw back- when creating complicated tables, make sure to check the tags for Netscape compatibility (especially older versions)

6. Forms- Easily insert mail-to forms into your pages- no scripting knowledge necessary. Create text boxes, option buttons, drop downs and the like, all with one click. Even specify requirement for each field so that the form is not submitted unless all the fields you need are filled out.

7. Three views (tabs):
- Normal: where you create your pages in the normal interface
- HTML: where you can see the code that has been generated and add/remove/change code.
- Preview: will show you how the page will appear in the browser without opening a browser window.

8. Other features: Insert -
- Bookmarks
- Scripts
- Hit counters
- Plug-Ins
- Office files
- Headers (uniform to all pages)
and many other features.


Site management

1. Somewhat clumsy, but non-the less good check-in check-out feature. Good to use when more than one author is working on the same pages. Lets you know which pages are being worked on.

2. Reports- different reports such as link validity, which pages are assigned to whom, component errors, etc.

3. Instant publish- You can work on a web on your local drive and with the click of a button update the remote web. Or, you can open a remote web, work on pages that are live and by saving the page, automatically update the remote site. This eliminates the need for FTP software.

4. Import - you may import files to your web - graphics, pages, files. You can import single files or entire folders.

5. Navigation - you may create a navigation map to show relations between pages. This can be used as a point of reference or if using FrontPage's built in Navigation bar, automatically creates links for - Home, up, previous, next, etc. Links can be generic, or names after the specific pages. This doesn't need to be repeated on each page, but rather just once in the navigational map.

6. Tasks - a somewhat simple but handy project management utility. Assign tasks, track progress, and generate reports.

7. Database- again, this is quite simple and not very 'feature rich'. Allows you to link a database to your page and generate tables/results based on the table. I personally don't use it because I create more complicated .asp(active server page) scripts and database connectivity for my purposes.
If you use this feature, make sure to ask your site administrator to create a dsn (data source name- letting the page know where the database is) for your database on the remote server.

8. Find and replace- allows you to find any word or combination of words in your entire web (in the HTML) and replace. This feature is great when you want to replace a name or word that you know you have in more than one page but can't remember where it is.

Basically
To create web pages in a snap, and without any HTML knowledge, this tool is great! It takes away the need for FTP software and what you see on the page is really what you get. The only exception here is with Netscape
(where Netscape browser may not recognize certain tags-
if you run into this problem- sorry, you will have to get an HTML guide and make the fixes yourself.
- I have only run into this problem with tables, especially when adding background pictures to cells).

Ease of use
As a Microsoft baby (yes I admit it), this software is extremely easy to use. It follows much of the same interface as Word, Excel, and the like. Menu options are intuitive and the Office Assistant will try its best to help... Microsoft also has some tutorials on its web site:

www.Microsoft.com/FrontPage

Cons
Well, yes, FrontPage is not perfect.
Besides the Netscape booboos... If you are an advanced user and would like to create custom scripts (java, vb, asp, etc.) FrontPage will sometimes butcher the code!
With all of the genius behind Microsoft products- they sometimes try to make their software too user friendly and helpful! That is my personal pet peeve with their products. FrontPage is nor different.
Work around- if you are an advanced user, create your graphic interface with FrontPage and open your pages in a text editor such as notepad (or use a more advanced application such as visual studio) to edit scripts.

Requirements:

1. Testing on your PC- in order to test the components and scripts on your pc without publishing, you will need Microsoft's Personal Web Server (comes with FrontPage) to be running on your machine. This is a mini-version of a web server and will allow you to browse your web as if it is published remotely.

You may also use this utility to publish your pages to the web and allow others to view it, but I personally would not recommend it (for many reasons- not to be discussed in this review, as they are more appropriate to discuss in a web server review).

2. Remote server- in order to use FrontPage's built-in utilities and scripts (such as the hit counter, forms, search utility and automatic navigation bars)- your server must have FrontPage extensions installed. These extensions are basically a set of .dlls and executable files which process the scripts and ensure the proper functioning of the site. This is usually not a problem as most web hosts include the installation of the extensions in even the most basic packages.

3. Operating environment- FrontPage2000 extensions require an NT server (last time I checked). FrontPage97 extensions can be run on a Linux based server, but will not have all the functionality of 2000 (especially the database connectivity).


Bottom line
FrontPage2000 is an easy to use feature rich WYSIWYG software. It will allow you to create web pages in a snap. Site management utilities (although few) are a good help.
Publishing is easy.

Advanced use requires integration of third party utilities.

Use it- it will make your life a heck of a lot easier by eliminating the need for much hand coding. The rest you can fill in - as you would anyway with a text editing tool or a more robust code writing and debugging software.

As for the price, I can't really say because I bought the Office 2000 professional package and FrontPage is included.

Demo- you may order a demo CD of FrontPage200 from the web site ($6.95 - www.Microsoft.com/FrontPage). The demo is good for 45 days from installation. And also comes with a tutorial and a Microsoft PhotoDraw 2000 evaluation- good for 30 days.






Recommended: Yes