Faster Smarter Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003

Link bars are common elements used in shared borders. A link bar is a textual or graphical menu that links to pages in the site, or to pages in other sites. Two types of link bars can be added to pages:

• Navigation link bars Link bars that are based on the navigation structure of the site.

• Custom link bars Links bars whose links must be specified explicitly.

The sections that follow discuss how you can use navigation and custom link bars in your pages.

Working with Navigation Structures and Link Bars

Before you add navigation link bars to your pages, you should plan the site s navigation structure, using the Navigation site view. Then, you should add the appropriate shared borders to the site, so that the link bars can be a common element of the site s pages.

When working with site hierarchies, such as the one shown in Figure 5-8, it is important to understand what is meant by the terms global , parent, and child . Your site should have a home page, which is the top-level page for the entire site. Any pages that are at the same level of the site s navigation structure are referred to as global pages. In Figure 5-8, Feedback , Contents, and Search are global pages.

Figure 5-8: Study the navigation structure shown in this example to better understand how parent, child, and global structures are defined.

Pages that have links to and from other pages are referred to as parents or children . In FrontPage s navigation hierarchy, parent-child relationships are limited to a single level of pages. A child is a page immediately below the page containing the link bar. The pages above it are the parents of that level. Pages can be referred to as both parents and children, depending on whether they have pages above and/or below them in the navigation structure. In Figure 5-8, Home is the parent of News , Products , and Services . You could also say that News , Products, and Services are child pages of Home .

Each subsequent level in the navigation hierarchy contains its own child pages. News is the parent of Press Release 1 , Press Release 2 , and Press Release 3 . Products is the parent of Product 1 , Product 2 , and Product 3 . Services is the parent of Services 1 , Services 2 , and Services 3 .

Now that you know a bit about navigation structures, you are ready to add navigation link bars to your pages. You can add a link bar to your site by completing the following steps:

1. Position the pointer on the page where you want to insert the link bar, then select Insert, Navigation.

2. The Insert Web Component dialog box is displayed with the Link Bars component type selected in the left pane. In the right pane, choose Bar Based On Navigation Structure, then click Next.

3. Choose a style for the link bar, then click Next. Link bars with graphic styles are shown first in the list. Link bars with text-only styles are shown last.

4. Choose the orientation of the link bar, either horizontal or vertical, and then click Finish. Horizontal link bars work best with the headers and footers used with top and bottom shared borders respectively. Vertical link bars work best as side menus with left or right shared borders.

5. The Link Bar Properties dialog box is displayed as shown in Figure 5-9 on the following page. Use the options provided to choose the navigation level for links, and to add links for the home or parent pages as necessary.

   Figure 5-9: You define the navigation levels using the Link Bar Properties dialog box.

6. Click OK to insert the link bar, using these settings. If you want to change the settings later, just double-click the link bar.

Adding Custom Link Bars to Pages

You can create a custom link bar if you don t want to use the navigation structure of your site for determining which links to use. With a custom link bar, you define the links that are used, and in which order they appear. You can add a custom link bar to your site by completing the following steps:

1. Position the pointer on the page where you want to insert the link bar, then select Insert, Navigation.

2. The Insert Web Component dialog box is displayed, with the Link Bars component type selected in the left pane. In the right pane, choose Bar With Custom Links, then click Next.

3. Choose a style for the link bar, then click Next. Link bars with graphic styles are shown first in the list. Link bars with text-only styles are shown last.

4. Choose the orientation of the link bar, either horizontal or vertical, and then click Finish. Horizontal link bars work best with the headers and footers used with top and bottom shared borders, respectively. Vertical link bars work best as side menus with left or right shared borders.

5. If this is the first custom link bar you're creating for the site, the Create New Link Bar and Link Bar Properties dialog boxes are both displayed. Type a name for the new link bar and then click OK.

6. If an existing custom link bar is available, only the Link Bar properties dialog box is displayed, as shown in Figure 5-10. You have the option of choosing an existing link bar, or creating a new one. Use the Choose Existing selection list to choose an existing link bar, or click Create New to set the name of a new link bar.

   Figure 5-10: When you work with custom link bars, you define the links that are displayed on the link bar.

7. Links that you've added to a custom link bar are displayed in the Links list box. You manage custom links using the following options:

   • Add Link Click Add Link, then use the Add To Link Bar dialog box to set the text to display and the link address.

   • Remove Link Click a link, then click Remove Link to delete it from the Links list.

   • Modify Link Click a link in the Links list, then click Modify link to edit the text to display or link address.

   • Move Up/Move Down Click a link, then click Move Up or Move Down to change the position of the link on the link bar.

   • Additional Links Select Home Page or Parent Page to add the appropriate links to the link bar.

8. When you click OK, FrontPage will add the link bar to the page.