Corporate Financial Group provides small businesses to Fortune 500 companies with accounts receivable management, collections, and collection outsourcing services. Founded 13 years ago in Dayton, Ohio, the company develops Web-based solutions that enable its clients to manage collection accounts and information online.

Brian Biddle manages all aspects of the company's Web development and networking, including the design and ongoing maintenance of the corporate Web site. Biddle explains that the company's Web site serves two crucial purposes: "The first is to provide prospective clients with information on the company and its services. The second is to provide clients access to their accounts through our Client Network." The site also offers online account placement forms and articles pertaining to the collection industry.

Biddle recently used Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 in a site redesign that implemented cascading style sheets across the entire site.

Web site requirements

The existing site had provided client access to online resources and a professional-looking "front door" to visitors, but Biddle felt that redesigning the site with cascading style sheets could provide distinct advantages. One of the most important was improved cross-browser compatibility.

"Not being able to determine which browser an individual will choose to view your site can be a bit unnerving," says Biddle. "You want your site to respond as intended. Usability and access are vital for a Web page. Although not perfect, building a site with cascading style sheets and following the guidelines laid out by the W3C [World Wide Web Consortium] move you closer to the goal of cross-browser compatibility for your site."

Biddle adds that style sheets have improved site usability by increasing the speed with which pages open.

FrontPage features used

Biddle primarily used the Code view when redesigning the site. "The fact that FrontPage 2003 added page numbering on the code side was a huge help," he says. Because he was hand-coding much of the time, he relied heavily on the time-saving code snippet feature to insert sections of code rather than entering them manually.

Biddle also employs the Remote Web Site view to update and maintain pages. "I like how FrontPage can easily access a Web server and allow me to remotely work on a site," he says.

For the Client Network online tool, Biddle relied on FrontPage for file management, Microsoft Office Access 2003 for database management, and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 for coding Active Server Pages.

The final result has been "cleaner code and pages that load more quickly," Biddle says.

Additional tools

• Microsoft Office Access 2003
• Microsoft SQL Server 2000