Word as Web Editor
There are two key issues when using Microsoft Word as a Web
Editor.
- Before
beginning your project, create a folder on your hard drive and store
EVERYTHING (pictures, sounds, files, clips, background
textures--EVERYTHING) in that folder. If you do this, when you move your
web pages, all the necessary information to be moved will be in a single
file folder. Word will create
folders each time it saves as a web page.
These folders will also be in the folder you created. So you will transport everything when
you zip your folder to upload it to a server.
- When
you begin your web page, open a new document in Word and immediately save
it as a web page. If it is your
homepage, save it as index.htm.
Every time you start a new document, first save it as a webpage and
name it with the .htm extension. File
| Save as Web Page
If you follow these two key tips, you will be successful in
creating web ready pages using Microsoft Word
Word has a Web Wizard to help you. It will help you to quickly create pages ready for the Internet
with preset layouts and graphics.
Simply run the Wizard and your pages are done.
- Select
File | New…from the menu bar.
- Click
the Web Pages tab on the New dialog box
- Highlight
the Web Page Wizard | OK
- Click
the Next button on the first page of the Wizard
- Title
and Location | Enter a title for you web site and select the location
on your computer where the files will be saved (This is the folder we just
created to hold all the files)
- Click Next
- Now
select the Type of Navigation your want. Separate page is usually the best choice and is the
easiest to use.
- Add
pages next and you can click Add New Blank Page
- To add
a page you have already created to the site click Add Existing File
and select the page you want to add.
- IF you
want the whole site to look the same click the Add Template Page
- This
will insert a page with a layout
- Preview
the template to be sure it is the look you want
- Click
OK
- Organize
Pages is next
- Reorder
the pages
- Highlight
the name of the page you want to move
- Use
the Move Up and Move Down buttons
- You
can also Rename pages here by selecting the Rename button
- Visual
theme
- Select
No visual theme for blank pages or select check Add a visual Theme
then Browse Themes and select your look
- From
the Themes window, highlight the themes in the list to preview them. Check the Vivid Colors and Active
Graphics boxes to apply those options.
Uncheck the Background Image box to remove the graphic from the
background of the page. Click OK
when finished.
- Click
Finish to create the web site.
If you want more control over the page you can start from
scratch and avoid the wizard. This way
you create the page and add only those elements you want, not those that
comprise a total theme. When working on
a web format document, view the page in web layout by selecting View | Web
Layout from the menu bar. Enter
text and insert graphics just as you would in a normal Word document.
Hyperlinks
A hyperlink connects two web pages on the Internet, two
files, or a bookmarked location further down the page. Hyperlinks can be produced from text or
graphics but they must have some anchor from which the linked page is
activated. To create links to other web
sites and to pages within your website, follow these directions:
- Type
the text you want to appear on the page (this is the anchor) or add a
graphic

Highlight the text or graphic (the
handles show at the corners and sides of the graphic) and click the Insert
Hyperlink button on the standard tool bar OR press CTRL+K
- From
the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, change the Text to Display if
necessary.
- Type
the file or Web page name in the appropriate box, or browse to find the
item (page, file, or bookmark), or select from the list
- Click OK
and the link is created
Periodically select the File | Save as Web Page
from the menu bar to avoid loosing your work.
Remember this was the first thing you wanted to do when you started so
that your page already has a name and is located in the folder we created. You are simply saving periodically to avoid
disasters.
Creating a Web Page from a Template
Word features several layout templates that you can add to
your content. To create from a template
- Select
File | New… from the menu bar
- Click
the Web Pages tab on the New dialog box
- Highlight
one of the templates listed and click OK
- The
template will now appear in the main window. Replace the holding text with your own and save the new page
by selecting
- File
| Save as Web Page
Web Page Themes
You can use the themes from the wizard in creating any web
page. To add a theme to a blank page or
existing page, select Format | Theme…from the menu bar. Highlight the theme name to preview the look
of the page.
Choose a theme from the list and click OK
The page content will remain blank unless a background image
is part of the theme selected. The
style listings, default font, and bullet images have been changed to reflect
the new theme. To change the theme of
the page, simply select Format | Theme and select some other
theme.
Be sure that you Preview your page before uploading
to the web. Select File | Web
Page Preview. This opens the page
in a browser so that you can actually see what it would look like on the web.
If you want a totally unique background, you can use any of
the background textures found on the web.
Once you save the texture that you want in your folder follow the steps
below:
- Format
| Background
- Select
Fill Effects
- Select
the Texture tab
- Select
Other Texture button and find the file you saved
- Click OK
- Then OK
and you will see the texture on your page.
- The
texture file is repeated over and over to fill the background of the page.
IF you want to take a picture and make it into a background
you can by following these steps.
- First
if it is a digital camera image you will need to wash out the look of it
first so that it does not interfere with your text.
- This
is very easy to do using another of the program that comes free with
Windows, Microsoft Photo Editor.
- Open
Photo Editor (it is located in the Microsoft Office Tools)
- Start
| Programs | Microsoft Office Tools | Microsoft Photo
Editor
- Open
your picture in this program File
| Open locate your file
- Now
select Image | Balance
- Move
the Brightness control to the right
- Move
the Contrast control to the left
- The Gamma
control will sharpen or make fuzzy the image
- When
you have it changed for a background to your satisfaction, File | Save
As | Give it a new name and save it in your web page folder. Close Photo Editor
- Back
in Microsoft Word Click Format | Background | Fill
Effects
- Select
the Picture Tab
- Locate
the image you just created with Photo Editor and select it
- Click OK
- The
Background will now be the picture you selected. If the image was large, it will cover the page, if not it
will be repeated again as much as necessary to cover the page.
Microsoft Word will work as an HTML Editor. Of course, as you become familiar with HTML,
you can then add new elements by entering the source code tags into the
document. In the mean time, this
alternative will create web pages that look great with little or no knowledge
of HTML code.