Microsoft FrontPage 2000 [OLD VERSION]

by Microsoft

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00002SFM4
• Item model number: 392-00492
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 15, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (103 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,379 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #7 in Software > Web Development > Web Page Editors > WYSIWYG
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The Internet offers unprecedented publishing possibilities, allowing anyone with a few hundred bucks and some spare time to bypass the middleman and reach readers, viewers, listeners, and buyers directly. If you want to tap into the power of Web publishing without staying up nights learning HTML, try Microsoft FrontPage 2000.

With its intuitive interface (especially if you've already done time with other Microsoft applications), you can soon be creating hyper-linked pages to your heart's content. Formatting, inserting graphics or sounds, and keeping track of all your pages is push-button simple--experiment all you want, and retreat when necessary (some color schemes can induce nausea). The package also allows easy use of ActiveX controls, plug-ins, and Java applets--as well as more traditional scripting features--to snazz up your site for the higher-bandwidth viewer.

The integration between Office software, new with the 2000 edition, means you can easily publish information stored in an Access database or Excel spreadsheet without suffering through the nightmare of cutting, pasting, and reformatting. Whether you want to sell Beanie Babies or find new readers for your poetry, Microsoft FrontPage 2000 will help you present yourself in the best possible light. --Rob Lightner

Amazon.com Product Description

Microsoft FrontPage 2000 makes FrontPage-based Web creation as easy as creating a new folder on your hard drive. With many Web servers, you have one Web site, but with FrontPage, you can create as many Webs as you want, including nested Webs. A FrontPage-based Web consists of three layers of Web structure, folder structure, and navigation structure. Click one of the links below to select a specific topic. You can use Dynamic HTML to animate, use Cascading Style Sheets 2.0 to wrap or layer text and images, and find just the colors you want with enhanced color tools. The program fixes hyper-links when files are renamed or moved, and 13 new management reports summarize the status of a site at a glance. FrontPage shares toolbars, menus, themes, background spell checking, and Format Painter with Microsoft Office.

In-box upgrade good ONLY for those who own one of the following Microsoft products: Microsoft Office, Professional, Standard, Small Business Edition, Developer, or VAR edition version 4 or later; Microsoft Word version 6 or later; Microsoft Excel version 5 or later; Microsoft PowerPoint version 4 or later; Microsoft Access version 2 or later; Microsoft Visual FoxPro version 3 or later; Microsoft Publisher 97 or later; Microsoft PhotoDraw 2000 or later; or Microsoft Project version 4 or later for MS-DOS, Windows, and Windows NT Workstation.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

94 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Is this the tool for you? Probably not., May 8, 2000

By 

John Harris Stevenson "tranquileye" (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft FrontPage 2000 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

FrontPage 2000 is, like much of Microsoft Office 2000, very little improvement over its predecessors.

I eat, breath and sleep Web design and site management. Since 1994 I have searched high and low for a Web page editor that would provide the same kind of control and ease-of-use that I had come to expect from page layout programs like Quark XPress and PageMaker. I tried them all: PageMill, NetObjects Fusion, AOLPress, and then FrontPage. While better than what had come before, FrontPage has always had one overwhelming shortcoming: it is inexorably linked to other Microsoft software, particularly the IIS Web server and Internet Explorer.

I am not a Microsoft-hater; I use IE5 everyday and think it to be a very good browser. And I used FP98 for a number of sites in the past. However, the many problems raised by other reviewers are legitimate

- HTML "Correction" - All versions of FP give the author access to the underlying HTML code, but not complete control over it. If there was only one right way to do something in HTML, that wouldn't be a problem, but with three or four ways to centre something, how can FP know which one is correct? An HTML editor should give the user complete control over all code. Pointing out errors is fine, but correcting them without asking is not.

- Server-side extensions - While FP offers some cool stuff like a guestbook, what isn't made clear to the novice user is that you will need to have FrontPage extensions installed on your hosting server in order for the gizmos to work. A lot of ISPs don't want to do this, which is understandable when CGI scripts can accomplish the same functions with less hassles.

- Bad HTML Code - Like most Web editors that have come before it, FP2K produces bloated HTML.

- IE-specific JavaScript and DHTML - The first time I tried to slam out a page in FP2K, this problem bit me. JavaScript is a problematic thing: different Web browsers interpret it differently. It is important to use code that will be understood equally well by IE and Netscape. With FP2K, forget it. Some JavaScript and DHTML effects are cross-browser, but many are not, and the interface doesn't tell us which is which.

FrontPage 2000 is not a professional Web designer's tool. For them, there is Macromedia Dreamweaver, and text editors like Allaire Homesite and HotMetal. And FP2K isn't a tool for people just starting out, because they won't know how limiting the software really is until it is too late. For them, I recommend a good free WYSIWYG editor such as Netscape Composer or Namo WebEditor, and some books on HTML.

The bottom line? Take a serious look around before purchasing FrontPage 2000.

60 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Let's compare APPLES to ORANGES...., February 27, 2001

By 

Jessica Carter (Fort Lauderdale, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Microsoft FrontPage 2000 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

As a professional web designer who spends countless hours using different programs, YES I DO WORK IN DREAMWEAVER, I find that the Microsoft Front Page 2000 has gotten a bad rap.

A lot of my professional collegues scoff at the idea that a professional designer uses Dreamweaver. They say Front Page is not a real program, it's for hack web designers.

What most of these designers are missing is the true point of MS Front Page 2000. It is designed for the average joe to come in and be able to design and maintain a simple site with out a huge learning curve. The interface is very familiar to any Microsoft Office user and they don't have to spend a lot of time learning the meaning and locations of new buttons and tools.

My Company AffordableNetSolutions.com has become a great sucess by designing complex web design and graphics and then empowering our customers to use MS Front Page 2000 to edit and maintain their own sites. It is easy to add/change photos, edit text and create new pages based upon an exising model. Our customers are thrilled with our service and the fact that they don't have to pay an expensive web designer to make simple changes to their web site.

I beleive that so many web designers who complain that MS Front Page is a loser program are failing to realizing the benefits that this software can provide for the customers. Sure, from a professional web designer standpoint Dreamweaver is more functional to do layout design and such. But, it's interface is very intimidating to a newbie. Also, a lot of features of Dreamweaver require you to have some knowledge of programming.

Microsoft Front Page 2000 on the other hand is less expensive, easier to use, and no programming is required. People who don't have a lot of time and money to spare will find this to be a useful program.

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FrontPage 2000 > More Powerful than You Think, August 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Microsoft FrontPage 2000 [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

It is so frustrating to read the reviewers who blast FrontPage and extol their favorite web editor. In most cases it is not the program's fault but the fault of the user. To the reviewer who stated, "...I'd recommend Front Page only to users who know that they won't be creating complex websites..." is totally off the mark. An experienced and knowledgeable web author, not the program, creates a complex web site. Yes, FrontPage hides much of the complexity of creating a simple web site and yes, using the surface features of FrontPage will only get you so far. That is why, like using any other complex product, one has to spend time learning the program and find out what it can and do... Flash animations

If you need a tool to quickly get a web site up and running, and one that will grow with you, FronPage is your best bet for your money. Or if you are a content producer on an intranet where you need basic workflow and group editing features, FP is sill the answer. If you are purely a programmer or scripting professional that does complex database work on enterprise-level databases, FrontPage may not be for you.

Besides its ease-of-use and powerful features, FrontPage also has the largest third-party support of any web authoring product. Dreamweaver does have its extensions architecture that adds additional functionality to the product, but the breadth of available extensions does not match FrontPage's add-in support.

If you are serious about your site and you want a program that will grow with you, FrontPage is the answer. For program enhancements, visit the Microsoft Office Update site (officeupdate.microsoft.com)

A great web site is a product of the web author, not the product that built it.