Dynamic Multilink Pages

Don't let 'em leave. Keep visitors at your site by ramping up its level of sophistication. For our second scenario, testers created a page with advanced formatting features, including background textures, navigation bars, and e-mail links. Here, Microsoft FrontPage 97 was the top choice. Testers especially appreciated the ability to import existing files by dragging and dropping them into FrontPage Explorer. Also popular were the ready-made WebBot CGI scripts for adding text searches, forms, and other interactive elements. And despite confusion over the difference between FrontPage Explorer and FrontPage Editor, testers found the powerful site-mapping and link-verification tools worth the extra effort it took to sort them out.

Get It All Done:Microsoft FrontPage 97's To Do List helps you stay on top of growing sites.

FrontPage did well on all four tasks, but testers preferred NetObjects Fusion for adding graphics. They also found it easier to link pages and import. And drag-and-drop Fusion components like AutoFrames and MessageBoard let them easily add interactive elements to their pages.

While Claris Home Page has similar features, such as drag-and-drop tables, image maps, and frames, testers could not add interactive elements. Unlike FrontPage and Fusion, Home Page lacks CGI scripts and JavaScript helpers. If you want dynamic pages, FrontPage is the one to choose.