9.1. Understanding the Types of Web Components
SharePoint Designer, as in previous versions of FrontPage, installs many client components that provide support for authoring Web components. These client components facilitate insertion and setup of the Web components through SharePoint Designer. Web components available in SharePoint Designer can be of two types, depending on how they function after being configured on a Web page.
9.1.1. Author time Web components
Author time Web components require the services provided by FPSE only at the time they're being inserted and configured on a Web page. After they're set up on Web pages, they don't need FPSE to operate. This means that the Web pages that use these components can be placed on Web sites that don't have FPSE on them. The following is a list of some of the commonly used author time Web components:
Included Content: Allows you to include content, such as pages, pictures, date, and time, on the Web pages
Link Bars: Provides navigation features to Web sites by allowing you to create bars with links to various sections
FrontPage Themes: Provides formatting and styling by using HTML and CSS
Photo Gallery Component: Allows you to create picture galleries on Web pages
Table of Contents: Allows you to compile a table of contents for your Web sites
NOTE
While these components don't require FPSE, they still need to use the hidden metadata for functionality and maintenance.
9.1.2. Runtime Web components
Runtime Web components require the services provided by FPSE at the time they're configured on a Web page as well as at the time when a Web page is being browsed to. Runtime Web components don't work if the Web pages in which they're placed are published to a Web site that doesn't have FPSE properly configured for it. At runtime, these components use FPSE for performing their operations. The most commonly used runtime Web components include the following:
Hit Counter: Keeps track of the number of page hits made to a Web page on which the component is inserted
FrontPage Form Handlers: Provides features to create HTML forms that send data collected from a user to a file, e-mail address, etc. They also provide enhanced features, such as custom confirmation pages, save format, etc.
Search Component: Allows you to enable content search on Web sites
File Upload Components: Enables file upload by using form handlers
Confirmation Fields: Allows you to create dynamic custom confirmation pages when using form handlers
Throughout the rest of this chapter, I show you how you can use SharePoint Designer to configure these Web components on Web pages.