GENERALLY SPEAKING

ST GEORGE'S DAY COMPETITION

AnyFrontPage Bytes editors would like to
announce the St George's Day Competition.
We're drag-gin' this out for Tina & the UK (smile)

St George's Day Tuesday 23rd April

" I see you Stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the Start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit; and, upon this charge
Cry "God for Harry! England and Saint George!"
Shakespeare, Henry V (1599) act 3, sc. 1, l. 31

Well we don't expect you to do that <smile> but
what we would like for you to do is to enter into
the spirit of St George's day and celebrate it by
trying your hand at designing a template or
theme for FrontPage (any version).

The winner will receive a custom-designed
Themes Installer program from Enborne
Computing as featured in Karey Cummin's
themes design article last issue:
http://www.enborne.com/_afp/offer.htm
(A $50.00 prize) AND a 7- Point Website
Analysis from George. NO! Not St George
(Smile) but George Prociuk, Webmaster of:
PointAfter.com http://pointafter.com

The runner up will receive a 7 - Point Website
Analysis from PointAfter.com

The analyses are for the site of your choice, but
must not be personal sites (George says "they
are almost impossible to analyze because
they're mostly a form of free expression") If you
don't have a business/resource/educational site
why not recommend a friend's? Or pass it along
to someone you admire? They must confirm
with us via email that they agree to the analysis.

The editors of FrontPage will choose the winning
template or theme, based, not on
professionalism of design, but on sheer fun, the
subject matter can be about anything. So as
Shakespeare says "Follow your spirit". Get
into Brit mode and 'have a go'.

The contest will close on May 23rd and the
winners will be announced on June 6th.

You need to send your entry details to:
mailto:Editors@anyfrontpage.com  and include the
following:

NAME: (your name)
EMAIL: (your email address)
URL: (The site address of the template or
theme you designed and wish to enter)
CONFIRMATION: (You must confirm (state) this
is your own original work)
YOUR SITE OR NOMINATION: (The site you
are submitting for analysis if you win - if
nominating we also need the name of the person
whose site you are nominating and email
address)

We look forward to your contributions, by
George. <Smile>

If you want to find out more about St George
check out this website.
http://www.britannia.com/history/stgeorge.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PLEASE NOTE:
The Latest issue of the Microsoft FrontPage
Bulletin Archives 2002 E-Book is now available
for download at: (April Issue)
http://anyfrontpage.com/bytes/ebooks/

Your password can be found in your welcome
message
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
IT WAS BRILL

We are trying to keep a proper stiff upper lip, but
we keep breaking out in smiles. AnyFrontPage
extends a very warm and special 'Thank you!' to
all who participated in the very successful "Meet
the Author in Real-Time" in our chat room on
Saturday the 13th. So many of our friends put
special notices on their websites with the time
and place. (Even the Microsoft website linked to
us for this very special occasion.) Turn out was
exciting. While many of you got to know a little
more about our favorite author, Tiffany K.
Edmonds, it was so nice to chat with you and
get to know you too!! (Very Big Smile)

For those who may have missed it, we have two
gifts for you. First - the transcript is on
[ out of date link - removed ]
for your review, and secondly, due to the
proverbial Popular Demand, we are planning to
do it again (yes, at a time later in the day - TBA)
Anyone have an idea to help us serve a Proper
Cyber Tea? That seemed to be the only thing
missing! (The tiny cucumber sandwiches just
kept jamming the scanner!!)

There was a lot of animated discussion going on
while our editor, Tiffany K. Edmonds personally
autographed Bookplates for her "Essential
FrontPage 2002 for Web Professionals". One
request was particularly exciting to us (because
we all thought "Now why didn't I think of that?").
So many of us move frequently. We need a
centralized place that lists local FrontPage
groups.

We intend to provide that for our readers. If you
belong to a local FrontPage user group, please
email us at editors@anyfrontpage.com  with your
information. We will provide a centralized listing
along with contact information by locality.
If you do not belong to one already, please see:
FRONTPAGE USER GROUPS
Find out about User Groups and some pointers
on how to start your own at:
http://www.microsoftfrontpage.com/support/usergrp.html
then let us know about yours!

TTFN!! (TaTa For Now!!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You would think we have nothing left to tell you
this issue but there is one more thing. We are
pleased and proud to announce, that we have
been accepted to the premier 'Webring' of
FrontPage. Tom Rowe's (MVP) - WebCircle
http://anyfrontpage.com/rd/wc.htm

Thank you, Tom. Our subscribers will certainly
enjoy the other outstanding sites that are part
of this foremost FrontPage WebCircle.

We at AnyFrontPage strive to bring you nothing
but the best. Our caring, sharing FrontPage
Community just got bigger and better again!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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FRONTPAGE ADD-INS
By Jimco
http://www.jimcoaddins.com

In this article:
* What are add-ins?
* The difference between add-ins and
FrontPage components.
* How to install add-ins and the FrontPage
Add-ins dialog.
* How to uninstall add-ins.



What are add-ins?
Add-ins are programs that extend the
functionality of another program. On their face,
they are just that simple. However, the
technology involved in add-ins (speaking from
the context of Microsoft Office) is far from
simple. Add-ins in Microsoft Office use
Component Object Model (COM) technology. A
discussion of COM is out of the scope of this
article, but there is plenty of information
available at your local bookstore or on the
Internet. Read away!

People have been extending Office programs for
years using VBA and other scripting languages.
Most Office applications have had a macro
recorder and scripting ability for years.
However, there are drawbacks to using this
method for extending an application. One of the
most apparent drawbacks is that if you write a
cool macro and you want to share it with others,
they have to import the macro into their
application. It also exposes all of your source
code to anyone using the macro.

With the advent of COM add-ins, extensions of
the Office interface can be easily redistributed
and shared among many users without
experiencing the drawbacks of distributing
macros. A COM add-in is a DLL file that is
installed into the application very easily by
registering it on the system. We'll get into that
in more detail later.

FrontPage Components vs. COM Add-ins
A programmer can extend FrontPage using
many different methods. The two most common
are FrontPage components and COM add-ins.

FrontPage Components
All FrontPage users are familiar with FrontPage
components. If you insert a Database Results
Region onto a Web page, you are using a
FrontPage component. A FrontPage
component usually presents the user with a
dialog box. The user fills in the dialog box and
selects certain options. The component then
generates code according to the information and
options provided by the user.

One very cool feature of a FrontPage component
is that they are extremely easy to edit later.
You simply double-click on the component or
right-click on it and choose Properties from the
context menu. You can then change whatever
options you wish and click OK to regenerate the
component's code.

A FrontPage component's code is easily
identifiable by the webbot tags that are inserted
into your Web page. These tags are used by
the component to repopulate the options dialog
box when you are editing the component.

COM Add-ins
COM add-ins are not FrontPage components in
the true sense of the word. A COM add-in
cannot be edited by double-clicking or
right-clicking on it and accessing a context
menu. However, COM add-ins are able to
extend the FrontPage interface in ways not
possible for a FrontPage component.

COM add-ins can add menu items to
FrontPage. A programmer can then write code
behind these menu items to execute certain
actions in the FrontPage interface. A COM
add-in can also alter the HTML code that
FrontPage generates, such as removing the
GENERATOR and ProgId meta tags.

In many ways, I have pushed COM add-ins
beyond their limits by creating add-ins such as
Flasher. Flasher will actually parse through a
page and read in OBJECT tags and populate its
dialog box using the data in those tags.
However, the code behind that is extremely
complex. Such tasks are actually better suited
to a FrontPage component.

How to Install COM Add-ins
A user-friendly add-in should come with an
installer that takes care of this for you. That
way, you simply double-click the installation file,
answer a few prompts, and you're done!
However, you may encounter an add-in writer
who doesn't provide you with an easy installation
routine. In those cases, you will have to install
the add-in manually.

There are only two steps involved in installing a
COM add-in manually:

1. Copy the DLL file to your computer.
2. Register the DLL on your computer.

That's it, assuming the add-in doesn't have any
dependencies.

To register the DLL, you can either use
regsvr32.exe from a command line, or you can
use the Add-ins dialog on the Tools menu in
FrontPage. If you browse to the DLL from there
and add it to FrontPage, it will automatically be
registered for you.

FrontPage's Add-ins Dialog
FrontPage's Add-ins dialog (located on the Tools
menu) is a good way to determine which add-ins
are installed on your system. However, if you
don't understand the information displayed there,
it can be confusing.

The information that confuses many people is
the Load Behavior. It's important to realize that
even though an add-ins load behavior may
indicate that it is not currently loaded, that
doesn't mean that the add-in isn't available for
your use. The Load Behavior is determined by
the developer. Some add-ins are left unloaded
until you select the menu option for that add-in,
at which time it is loaded into memory.

The point here is to not worry if the Load
Behavior isn't what you expect. Let the
developer worry about that end.

How to Uninstall COM Add-ins
If your add-in is installed using an installation
program (as Jimco add-ins are), you will want to
use the Add/Remove Programs applet in Control
Panel to uninstall the add-in. This will ensure
that all of the files and other information added
by the add-in are correctly removed. If your
add-in does not offer an installation program,
you will have to remove it manually.

Removing an add-in manually is very simple. As
you may have guessed, it requires two steps,
and they just happen to be the reverse of the
steps involved in installing an add-in manually.
They are:

1. Unregister the DLL from your
computer.
2. Remove the DLL file from your
computer.

By far the easiest method of unregistering the
add-in is by removing it via the Add-ins dialog in
FrontPage. When you do that, the file is
unregistered. However, you will still need to
manually delete the file from your hard drive.

One drawback to manually uninstalling an add-in
is that you might not be removing everything.
The add-in may have created files when it was
running, or the add-in may have created Registry
entries while it was running. If you manually
remove an add-in, these will remain after you
unregister and remove the DLL.

Conclusion
COM add-ins are a great addition to Microsoft
Office products. They provide additional
functionality that isn't originally included in the
product, and they provide an easy way for you to
customize your Office application to do exactly
what you want it to do.

Many companies offer add-ins for FrontPage.
Jimco Add-ins ( http://www.jimcoaddins.com )
offers free add-ins that add many features to
FrontPage. Drop by the Web site and check
out all that is possible through the use of
add-ins!


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
******************************

Jimco, is the
owner of Jimco Add-ins, a one-man-shop
that creates freeware add-ins and
utilities for FrontPage and tools for
developers.

You can reach him at
jimco@jimcoaddins.com, or visit
http://www.jimcoaddins.com

******************************

Let us and our author know what you think
about this article at our new Article Poll.
Your feedback will help us bring you just
the information you want!
[ out of date link - removed ]  
Next Issue: " FrontPage, Meet XML: An
Introduction" by FP MVP, David Beauchemin!
--------------------------------------

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Our Featured site this issue is brand new and
AnyFrontPage is pleased as punch to introduce
it to you first!
--------------------------------------

TrackPay.com ( http://www.trackpay.com/  ) is a
clean, attractive site with common sense
navigation - including a Tour feature that walks
you through the steps and features of brand new
software developed for PayPal users.

We have all read the keys to success:
Communication, Organization, Hard Work, and
Collection.

So many of us FrontPage crafters use PayPal,
and it has been great, but has left a lot of this
area uncovered.

Easy to use and intuitively organized, TrackPay
features simplify the tracking of customers and
products as well as offering an evaluation tool to
assess and grow your sales. Take advantage of
the FREE 15 Day Trial and see for yourself!

One example of this is the auto-responder. You
can use this as a simple "thank you for ordering"
or you can use it for cross-selling or to follow-up
on marketing or promotions.

TrackPay automatically sends a response when
your customer buys a product. It can also send
new product notifications and inform your
customers about similar and complimentary
products.

PayPal will handle your collections. TrackPay
will handle your communication and
organization. Hmmmm - That still leaves the
Hard Work, doesn't it? Well - we will keep an
eye out for further developments on the 'net for
you.
--------------------------------------

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HnF_ctipsNnews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HnF_ctipsNnews 
This community list is dedicated to answering
questions and sending tips/hints and news
items regarding various computer software and
hardware queries (Windows and its application
programs, PCs, peripherals, LANs, etc)on an
almost daily basis.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, April 14, 2002:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20020414.html
Website Usability for Children
------------------------------------------------------

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at $57 each, with 20 new proposal templates
added. See the complete list at

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NOW $57 each - usable by virtually any
business.

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