About HTML

HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. HTML uses special markers, called tags (tag: A text string used in HTML to identify a page element's type, format, and appearance. Many elements have start and end tags that define where the element starts and stops. ), that indicate how Web browsers should display page elements such as text and graphics.

Microsoft FrontPage is a WYSIWYG (WYSIWYG: Acronym for What You See Is What You Get. Allows a user to view a document as it will appear in the final product and to directly edit the text, graphics, and other elements within that view.) design tool that generates HTML code for you when you add page elements in the Normal pane.

Editing HTML

You don't need to know HTML to create a web page in FrontPage.

• When you edit a web page in the Normal pane, you can show or hide HTML tag markers that indicate the start and end of underlying HTML tags. These markers appear on the page as yellow icons within the content of the page.
• If you want to work in the HTML pane, all the standard editing commands are available (for example, Copy, Cut, Paste, Find, and Replace). FrontPage also shows the properties of HTML tags so you can modify properties yourself.
• You can also modify how FrontPage formats HTML tags displayed in the HTML pane. For example, you can display the names of HTML tags in uppercase and HTML attributes in lowercase to differentiate them.

HTML preservation

When you open an existing page, including pages created in other editors, FrontPage automatically preserves the content, syntax, and formatting of HTML of that page, even if it contains errors or unrecognized HTML. When you save the page, FrontPage saves any custom formatting — such as indentation, the capitalization of tags, and so on — for any new HTML you've written. The original HTML of the page, however, will not be modified or reformatted in any way unless it was edited in FrontPage.