Copyright: Copyright © 1997 Microsoft Corp.


Welcome

The Channel Definition Wizard assists you in creating a Channel Definition Format (CDF) file. A CDF file allows users to subscribe to your Web site as a channel or a desktop component. When a user subscribes to your FrontPage web as a channel, they can browse your web offline, display updates to your web on their screen saver, and download or receive e-mail notifications when pages in your FrontPage web are modified. This feature is available only in Web browsers that support channel definitions, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0.

Before continuing with this wizard, you should consider the following:

•	If you do not want to include all the pages in the current FrontPage web in your channel, organize the pages that you want to include in one folder or group of subfolders.

The Channel Definition Wizard initially compiles a list of all of the pages in the specified folder (and subfolders), and then lets you choose which pages you want to include in the channel. If the specified folder and subfolders contain only the pages that you want to include, you will simplify the process of choosing pages.

•	Create or select artwork to be used as the logo and icon images for your channel.

The logo image identifies your channel in a user's Web browser, and should be an 80x32-pixel GIF image. The icon image identifies the pages in your channel, and should be a 16x16-pixel GIF image. The Channel Definition Wizard lets you type or browse to the files you want to use for these images. The image files can be in any folder in the current FrontPage web.

This is not required when creating a channel, but using these images makes your channel look unique.

•	If you plan to publish the current FrontPage web to a remote Web server after completing the wizard, you will need to supply the complete URL of the location on the World Wide Web (or the location of your organization's intranet Web server).

Options

Create a New Channel Definition Format File for the Current FrontPage Web

Select this option to create a new CDF file for the current FrontPage web.

Open an Existing Channel Definition File

Select this option to modify an existing CDF file in the current FrontPage web. Type the name and path of the file in the box, such as "myweb/mychannel.cdf" or click Browse to locate the file in the current FrontPage web.

Browse

Click Browse to locate an existing CDF file in the current FrontPage web. Typically, the CDF file is stored in the top level folder of the current web.


Channel Description

In this step, you describe, in general, what information identifies your channel in a user's Web browser.

Options

Title

Initially, this field lists the title of the current FrontPage web, or, if you are modifying an existing CDF file, the title of your channel. You can type a different title that will identify your channel in a user's Web browser. Typically, this is the name of your web, business, or activity.

Abstract

Type a brief description of your channel. In Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, this is the text that displays when a user rests the pointer on your channel's logo image or title.

Introduction Page

Type the URL of the first page that will be displayed when a user subscribes to your channel, or click Browse to locate the page in the current FrontPage web. By default, this field displays the URL of the current FrontPage web's home page.

Logo Image

Type the URL of the image that identifies your channel in a user's Web browser, or click Browse to locate the image in the current FrontPage web. The logo image should be an 80x32 pixel GIF image. If you do not specify an image, the user's Web browser will display the default logo for channels.

Icon Image

Type the URL of the image that identifies the pages in your channel, or click Browse to locate the image in the current FrontPage web. The icon image should be a 16x16 pixel GIF image. If you do not specify an image, the user's Web browser will display the default icon for pages in a channel.

Last Modified

This field displays the date and time that you started the Channel Definition Wizard or the date and time that you last modified the CDF file.


Choose Source Folder

In this step, you choose the folder that contains the pages you want to include in your channel. You will choose which of those pages to include in your channel in the next step.

Options

Source Folder

Type the URL of the folder that contains the pages you want to include in your channel, or click Browse. All of the pages in that folder will be listed in the next step of the Channel Definition Wizard.

Browse

Click Browse to specify the folder in the current FrontPage web that contains the pages you want to include in your channel.

Include Subfolders

Select this check box if the folder you specified in Source Folder contains subfolders that contain pages you want to include in your channel. All pages in all subfolders will be listed in the next step of the Channel Definition Wizard, along with the pages in the source folder.


Edit Page List
Edit New Page List

In this step, you specify which pages to include in your channel. The title of this step and the list of pages change depending on whether you are creating a new CDF file or editing an existing one:

•	If you are creating a new CDF file, the list of pages includes all pages in the source folders you specified in the previous step. Select the pages that you do not want to include in your channel, and then click Exclude to remove them from the list.

•	If you are editing an existing CDF file, the list of pages includes all pages in the source folders you specified in the previous step that you did not include the last time that you ran the wizard, or new pages that have been added to the current FrontPage web since you last ran the wizard. If you have moved pages into the source folders or renamed pages in the source folders since you last ran the wizard, these pages will be listed as well. Select the new pages that you do not want to include in your channel, and then click Exclude to remove them from the list.

Options

Exclude

Click Exclude to remove the selected pages from the list. These pages will not be included in your channel.

Restore

Click Restore if you have excluded pages from the list, but want to restore the list to its original state.


Missing Page List

This step displays only if you are editing an existing CDF file, and the Channel Definition Wizard determines that pages you included as items in your channel the last time you ran the wizard are no longer in the current FrontPage web. Typically, this is because the pages have been deleted, moved to another folder, or renamed.

•	If you want to retain the items in your channel that correspond to the missing pages, click Next to skip this step.

•	If you do not want to retain the items in your channel that correspond to the missing pages, select those items and click Delete to remove them from the channel.

Options

Delete

Click Delete to remove the selected pages from the list. These items will not be included in your channel.

Restore

Click Restore if you have deleted items from the list, but want to restore the list to its original state.


Channel Item Properties

In this step, you specify the properties for each page in your channel. Each page corresponds to an "item" in your channel. Select a page in the Channel Items list, and then specify the Abstract, Page Cache, and Usage options for that page.

Options

Channel Items

This list displays all of the pages that will be included in your channel. Select a page from this list, and then specify its Abstract, Page Cache, and Usage options, or click Delete to remove the page from your channel.

Delete

Click Delete to remove the selected page from the Channel Items list. The page will not be included in your channel.

Restore

Click Restore if you have deleted pages from the Channel Items list, but want to restore the list to its original state.

Abstract

Type a brief description of the selected page in the Channel Items list. In Internet Explorer 4.0, this is the text that displays when a user rests the pointer on this page's icon image or title in the Web browser's list of channel items.

Page Cache

Specify how the selected page in the Channel Items list should be cached, or downloaded, on a user's computer:

•	(User Default) specifies to cache the page based on a user's Web browser settings.

•	Don't Use Cache specifies not to cache the page on a user's computer. This means that the page will not be downloaded to a user's computer for offline browsing; the user must connect to your Web site via the Internet or your corporate intranet to view the page.

•	Use Cache specifies to cache the page on a user's computer. This means that the page will be downloaded to a user's computer for offline browsing. The user does not need to connect to the Internet or your corporate intranet to view this page.

Reset

Click Reset to restore the Abstract, Page Cache, and Usage selections for the selected page to the page's original settings.

Usage

Use the options in this area to specify how the selected page in the Channel Items list should function in a user's Web browser, or whether the page should be hidden from a user.

Specify Usage

Select this option to specify how the selected page should function in a user's Web browser. You can select any combination of check boxes if you want the page to have multiple functions.

Channel

Select this check box to use the selected page as an item in your channel. If this check box is selected, when a user opens your channel in a Web browser, the selected page will appear in your channel's list of channel items.

Email Notification

Select this check box to send an e-mail notification to users subscribed to your channel when the selected page is modified or updated with new content.

Screen Saver

Select this check box to enable the selected page as a screen saver on the user's computer.

Desktop Component

Select this check box to enable the selected page as a desktop component, and then specify the Height and Width of the component.

•	For Height, type the height, in pixels, for the desktop component.

•	For Width, type the width, in pixels, for the desktop component.

Note   In some Web browsers, a single channel item used as a Desktop Component may override the usage specified for all other items in your channel.

Hidden

Select this option if you want to download the selected page for offline browsing, but do not want the page to appear as a channel item, screen saver, or desktop component. For example, this could be a page that you do not want to appear as a channel item, but which is pointed to by a hyperlink on another channel item.


Channel Scheduling

In this step, you specify when and how often a subscribed user's computer should connect to the current FrontPage web via the Internet or your corporate intranet to download updated pages or content.

Options

From Start Date

Specify the date on which the user's computer should begin connecting to the current FrontPage web. The default is (now), which instructs the user's computer to begin connecting as of the day the user subscribes to your channel. Otherwise, type a starting date in the correct format for your Windows Regional settings, such as 12/31/98.

Until End Date

Specify the date on which the user's computer should stop connecting to the current FrontPage web. The default is (forever). Otherwise, type an ending date in the correct format for your Windows Regional settings.

Check Every

Use these boxes to specify how often the user's computer should connect to the current FrontPage web for updates. In the left field, type a number, and then in the right field, select a time interval, either Days, Hours, or Minutes. For example, if you type 2 and select Days, the user's computer will connect to the current web every two days.

Delay Checks Between/And

All of the users subscribed to your channel will begin connecting to the current FrontPage web via the Internet or your corporate intranet at midnight (in the subscribed user's time zone) on the Start Date specified above. If you anticipate that a large number of users will subscribe to your channel, and that a large number of these users will be connecting to your web simultaneously, you can minimize the load on your Web server by randomly delaying the connection times.

To do so, select this check box, and then in the fields, specify numbers and time increments for the delay. For example, you might randomly delay connections between 1 and 4 hours to have the subscribed user's computer connect at random intervals between 1:00 AM and 4:00 AM.


Log Target

In this step, you can specify the URL of a custom form handler that you have created in the current FrontPage web to collect information about the offline browsing behavior of users subscribed to your channel. When a subscribed user's computer connects to the current FrontPage web to obtain updates, the user's Web browser will transmit usage information to your form handler.

This is an advanced feature. If you have not created or obtained a custom form handler for this purpose, click Next to skip this step.

Options

Log Target URL

Type the URL of the custom form handler, or click Browse to locate it.

Browse

Click browse to locate the custom form handler in the current FrontPage web.


Finish

This is the final step of the Channel Definition Wizard. In it, you specify the destination for the CDF file that the wizard creates. You can also place a hyperlink on the child-level navigation bar of the home page of your channel that a user can click to subscribe.

Note   You can re-run the Channel Definition Wizard at any time to create an additional CDF file, or to modify an existing one.

Options

File Name

Initially, this field contains the default name and location for the new CDF file, or the name of the existing CDF file that you are modifying. The default for a new CDF file is named channel.cdf in the top-level folder of the current FrontPage web. If you have previously created and saved a CDF file using the same name, the wizard automatically increments the name of this file to channel0.cdf and so on. You can have multiple CDF files for the same FrontPage web, but you must use a unique name for each. However, you should always use the .cdf file extension.

You can click Browse to select a different folder or file in the current FrontPage web in which to store the CDF file. However, it is recommended that you always save CDF files in a web's top-level folder to ensure compatibility with all browsers that support CDF files.

Browse

Click Browse to select a different folder or file in the current FrontPage web in which to store the CDF file.

Place a Button on the Navigation Bar of Your Home Page that Allows Users to Subscribe to This Channel

If you select this check box, the Channel Definition Wizard will add a child node labeled "Subscribe" to your navigation structure in the FrontPage Explorer's Navigation View.

•	If the current FrontPage web uses shared borders and navigation bars, this adds a Subscribe button to the child-level navigation bar of the home page of your channel. When a user clicks the Subscribe button, they will subscribe to your channel.

If the current FrontPage web has multiple CDF files and you add Subscribe buttons for each, you will need to edit the Subscribe button labels uniquely for each channel. To do so, edit the titles of the "Subscribe" nodes in the FrontPage Explorer's Navigation View.

•	If the current FrontPage web does not use shared borders and navigation bars, you can create a hyperlink pointing to the CDF file on the home page of your channel. When a user clicks this hyperlink, they will subscribe to your channel.

Prepare for Publishing To:

•	Select this check box to prepare your CDF file for publishing to a remote Web server on the World Wide Web (or on your organization's intranet), and then type the complete URL of the location of that server. Once you have selected this check box, your CDF file will only allow users to subscribe to your channel in its new location on the remote server.

After you have completed the wizard steps, you can publish your channel by clicking the Publish button on the FrontPage Explorer's toolbar.

•	Clear this check box if you do not want to prepare the CDF file for publishing at this time — for example, if you want to test your channel locally before publishing it to a remote Web server. When you have completed testing and are ready to publish your channel, re-run the wizard and select this check box.


channel

A push technology that allows users to subscribe to a Web site to browse offline, automatically display updated pages on their screen savers, and download or receive notifications when pages in the Web site are modified. Channels are available only in Web browsers that support channel definitions, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0.


Channel Definition Format (CDF) file

A file that enables users to access your FrontPage web as a channel in Web browsers that support channel definitions, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0. The CDF file provides an index of resources available on your channel and a recommended schedule for updating the channel on the user's computer. The FrontPage Channel Definition Wizard uses your input to create a CDF file that allows users to subscribe to your FrontPage web as a channel, a screen saver, or a desktop component, as well as receive e-mail notification when specific files change.


current FrontPage web

The FrontPage web currently opened in the FrontPage Explorer.


desktop component

In a Web browser's desktop, a small screen region that displays summary or update information about a Web site which has been subscribed to as a channel. For example, a desktop component might display a stock ticker, a list of news stories, or a pop-up broadcast message. Desktop components are available only in Web browsers that support channel definitions, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0.


form handler

A program on a server that executes when a user submits a form. A FrontPage form is associated with a form handler in the Form Properties dialog box.


navigation bar

A graphical page element that incorporates the hyperlinks that are part of a FrontPage web's structure. You design the FrontPage web's structure in the FrontPage Explorer's Navigation View. See also FrontPage web structure, Navigation View.


Navigation View

The FrontPage Explorer view that is used to create, display, print, and change the navigation structure of a FrontPage web. The Navigation View includes folder-like view, from which you can drag-and-drop pages into your site structure.


publish

The process of making your FrontPage web public on the World Wide Web or an intranet. You publish your FrontPage web using the FrontPage Explorer.


relative URL

The Internet address of a page or other World Wide Web resource relative to the Internet address of the current page. A relative URL gives the path from the current page to the destination page or resource. A relative URL can optionally include a protocol. For example, the relative URL doc/sample.htm refers to the page sample.htm in the folder doc, below the current folder.


server

A computer that offers services on a network. On the World Wide Web, a server is a computer that runs the Web server software which responds to HTTP protocol requests. Also called host.


shared borders

Page regions reserved for content that you want to appear consistently throughout your pages. Shared borders usually contain navigation bars — hyperlinks to the other pages in the current FrontPage web. When you create a FrontPage web in the FrontPage Explorer's Navigation view, shared borders and navigation bars are automatically created and updated, even when you add, move, or delete pages from the web's structure.


URL

(Uniform Resource Locator) A string that supplies the Internet address of a resource on the World Wide Web, along with the protocol by which the resource is accessed. The most common URL type is "http," which gives the Internet address of a World Wide Web page. Some other URL types are "gopher," which gives the Internet address of a Gopher directory, and "ftp," which gives the network location of an FTP resource.


Web browser

A client program that retrieves World Wide Web pages and displays them to a user.


Current Web Dialog Box

Use the Current Web dialog box to browse the folders and files in the current FrontPage web.

Dialog Box Options

Look in

This box initially lists the URL of the current FrontPage web. The area below this box lists all of the folders and files in that web. If you double-click a folder to explore it, this box lists the name of the current folder.

To choose a different folder to browse, select that folder. The folder name is then displayed in the Look In box, and the contents of that folder are listed in the area below the box.

Up One Level

Click this button to change to a higher-level folder in the current FrontPage web. If the URL of the current web is displayed in the Look In box, this button is disabled.

New Folder

Click this button to create a new folder. If the URL of the current FrontPage web is displayed in the Look In box, this button creates a new top-level folder in the current web. If a folder name is displayed in the Look In dialog box, this button creates a subfolder within the listed folder.

List

Click this button to display a list of page or file names.

Details

Click this button to display a list of page or file names and their page titles.