Download Frontpage

To be successful, a good webpage needs to incorporate many different elements. Graphics are good; but graphics alone don't make a page; they must also be backed up with informative and entertaining text, as well as interactive fields, animation, and a host of other features. One of the most important of these, of course, is the ability to offer downloads.

The word "download," like "mouse," "double-click," and even "internet" itself has become such a regular part of mainstream vocabulary that we rarely think about it. A good web designer, however, makes sure that he or she is using a program that supports user downloads. This way, visitors will be able to access those programs and documents that are connected to the page itself.

In order to handle this kind of activity, many webpage design programs, such as Microsoft FrontPage, allow the user to "import" files into an existing page. These files can be anything from documents to programs to movies and music. So long as the visitor has a program that can read them, they are free game. Once imported, the files can be downloaded from the site with a simple click of the mouse.

A good way to think of this is with a business analogy: think of a baker's window that contains a delicious, chocolate-glazed cake. This cake is the icon that links your site's visitor to the huge warehouse full of downloadable "cakes" that he can access by simply clicking on it--in other words, by telling the person behind the register which particular product her or she wants. As in a physical business, the product is then transferred from host to visitor.