August 2002

By Tiffany K. Edmonds

Applies to
Microsoft FrontPage® 2002

Introduction

A good team collaboration Web tool will reduce cost, reduce project time, streamline internal information flow (with information asset protection), and increase productivity, which can lead to employee job satisfaction and improved morale. That is exactly what Microsoft FrontPage 2002 has to offer you.

Staff-hours are reduced, errors are reduced, and friction is avoided with automated collection, processing, and distributing of information afforded by FrontPage 2002.

Use the management tools in FrontPage 2002 to collaborate on a team Web project. Store content that is under development in a central location for separate and conjoined access. Manage the team and the development Web site by assigning tasks. Monitor progress and status of the project by using built-in reports and views. Prevent duplication of tasks and overwriting of completed tasks by other team members with tools such as source control.

In this article, you will learn more about these tools and how to use them to help manage the development of a team Web site or project.

Getting started

You will need to establish the development Web site on a remote server that has the FrontPage 2002 server extensions properly installed. Create a team development environment at the initial Web site planning stage or from an existing Web site.

Assign unique permissions for each team member on the remote development server where the team project Web site resides. Vary the level of authority, and assign specific tasks for each team member. Unique permissions help team members find and execute tasks specifically assigned to them.

To assign permissions on the server for each team member

1. Open the development Web site in FrontPage 2002.
2. On the Tools menu, click Server and Permissions to launch the FrontPage Server Extensions 2002 Site Administration page in your browser.
3. Click Manage users.
4. Click Add a user.
5. In the User section, type a user name and password for the new user.
6. In the User Role section, select the appropriate level of permissions for this user. The levels of permissions are defined as follows:
   • Administrator   View, add, and change all server content; manage server settings and accounts.
   • Advanced author   View, add, and change pages, documents, themes, and borders; recalculate hyperlinks.
   • Author   View, add, and change pages and documents.
   • Contributor   View pages and documents; view and contribute to discussions.
   • Browser   View pages and documents.
7. Click Add User. Repeat this process for each team member.

To assign permissions on the development Web site to deny unregistered users the ability to browse pages

1. On the FrontPage Server Extensions 2002 Site Administration page, click Change anonymous access settings, and then select the option to turn off anonymous access.
2. Click the Submit button to help protect these pages with a logon requirement.

Organizing and managing the project

FrontPage 2002 management tools include:

• Source control
• Tasks and Tasks view
• Workflow reporting tools

Source control

Enable source control to prevent work from being overwritten. Only one member at a time will be able to open a Web page for editing. You will be able to open the page for viewing but will not have the ability to save an edited page with the same name while another team member has the file checked out.

To use source control in FrontPage 2002

1. On the Tools menu, click Web Settings.
2. On the General tab, select Use document check-in and check-out, and then click OK.
3. FrontPage will prompt with an alert that the source control project for this Web is changed, and you must recalculate the Web to proceed. Click Yes.
4. A green dot to the left of each file in the folder list indicates that the file is under source control. When you open a page in the Web site, FrontPage will alert you that the file is under source control.
5. Click Yes. FrontPage will change the green dot to a red check mark.

Other members of the team will not see a red check mark when they have the project Web site open in FrontPage 2002. Instead, they will see a lock icon next to the file name, indicating that another team member has this file checked out.

Files that you have checked out must be manually checked in so that other team members can edit the pages when your work is completed. To check in files, right-click the file name in the folder list and click Check In.

Tasks and Tasks view

You can assign tasks to streamline organization of the development of a Web site as well as to monitor or track progress made in the development of a Web site. Assign tasks specifically to members of the team by user name. Use Tasks view to monitor progress made on these tasks and to sort tasks.

To assign tasks to the development Web site

1. On the Edit menu, point to Tasks. Click Add Task and add the following information:
   • Task name.
   • Priority level: high, medium, or low.
   • Assigned to. (Choose the user from the list, or type a name to assign a task to someone who doesn’t have unique permissions for this Web site.)
   • Description of the task, if applicable or desired.
2. Click OK to see the task added in Tasks view.

To associate a task with an existing page

1. Open the page that you want to assign a task to.
2. On the Edit menu, point to Tasks, and click Add Task, as described above.

Or

1. Click a page in the folder list.
2. On the Edit menu, point to Tasks, and click Add Task, as described above.

To view all assigned tasks and monitor the progress made to them

1. Click Tasks in the Views bar.
2. In the Tasks view, you see all tasks assigned in the Web site. Each task is listed under column headings: Status, Task, Assigned To, Priority, Associated With, Modified Date, and Description. Click on the column heading to sort tasks by the column heading value for each task.
3. Double-click on the task name in this view to open the task.
4. To start a task from Tasks view:
   1. Right-click on a task in Tasks view.
   2. Click Start Task to open the page for editing directly from the Tasks view. FrontPage will update the task and Tasks view to reflect edit dates and edited by information when a task is started this way or from the Task dialog box.
5. To mark a task as completed, right-click on the task and click Mark as Completed.
6. To delete a task from the Tasks view, right-click on the task and click Delete.

Workflow reports

Use workflow reports to manage the development progress and status of a Web site. Sort results in each report by any column heading by clicking the column heading. Custom sorting options also can be configured in each report view. Workflow reports include:

• Review Status
• Assigned To
• Categories
• Publish Status
• Checkout Status

To view the workflow reports, point to Reports on the View menu, click Workflow, and then click the desired report.

To sort files in a report

1. Click the appropriate column heading.
2. Each column heading has an arrow next to it that will open a list with the variables under that heading. Click any variable in the list to sort files and list them by the selected variable.
3. Click a name or title heading to sort the results alphabetically.
4. Create custom sort filters by clicking Custom from the list of any column heading, and then set your custom sort variables in the Custom AutoFilter dialog box.

Edit a Review Status, Publish Status, or Assigned To name by clicking the appropriate cell for the record that you wish to edit.

• Click inside the cell to reveal a menu of variables from which to choose.

Review Status

Review Status reports help manage your team project progress. FrontPage 2002 comes with five default review statuses:

• Code Review
• Content Review
• Legal Review
• Manager Review
• Denied

You can add your own custom review statuses and use the Reports view to view and sort files by review status.

To add Review status to your files

1. Open a page in FrontPage 2002.
2. On the File menu, click Properties, and then click the Workgroup tab.

Or

1. Right-click on the file in the Folder List.
2. Click Properties on the menu, and then click the Workgroup tab.

Continue adding the review status as follows:

1. On the Assigned to list, click a username to assign the review to.
2. On the Review status list, click the review status to assign to the file.
3. Click OK.

To add a new or custom review status

1. In the File Properties dialog box, click Statuses next to the Review status box.
2. Type the name of the new or custom review status, and then click Add.
3. Repeat for other additions.

To add a new member name to the master list:

1. On the File menu, click Properties, and then click the Workgroup tab.
2. Click Names next to the Assigned To box, launching the Usernames Master List dialog box.
3. Type the user name to add, and then click Add.
4. Repeat to add more member names to the master list, and then click OK.

Assigned To

The Assigned To report shows the following information for each file in the Web site: Name, Title, Assigned To, Assigned Date, Assigned By, Comments, Type, and In Folder. Use this report to sort and locate files that are assigned to you or to see what files are assigned to other team members. For the team member, this report can save time by sorting files assigned to them in one location with the ability to open the file directly from this view.

• Open files from this view by double-clicking the file name.

For the project manager, the Assigned To report will help streamline and balance the assignment of work by showing you the pages assigned and to whom they are assigned.

Publish Status

In the Publish Status report, you have the ability to view and sort files in the Web site by publish status. Using the lists on each column heading, you can sort the publish status records by many variables, or show only files published or modified on a specific date.

Checkout Status

Use the Checkout Status report to view a list of files currently checked out. This allows you to monitor the progress of the overall project as well as specific assignments.

Conclusion

Manage the challenges of collaborating on a team Web project with the Web site management tools of Microsoft FrontPage. Use the ability to work directly on a remote server to control the development process of a team project. Track and streamline assignments with source control, tasks, and workflow reports. The end result of every team collaboration project is enhanced if it can be brought in error free, under budget, and on time. Proper use of the Web site collaboration tools can make this a reality.

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Tiffany K. Edmonds is the owner of the At-FrontPage Web site and the active Microsoft FrontPage e-mail forum, FPlist@yahoogroups.com. She is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP), and the author of Essential FrontPage 2002 for Web Professionals and FrontPage 2000 the Right Way. Tiffany also writes articles for the Microsoft FrontPage Web site.

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