Providing a graphical user interface that is both pleasing to the eye and intuitive is
a full-time challenge for most webmasters. Nowadays, the trend is to provide a
"wrap-around" interface which surrounds the text and graphics around the
perimeter of the screen.
The problem has been that while these look really cool, they are very difficult to
build so they display the same across different versions and brands of web browsers. These
wrap-around interfaces are comprised of complex, nested tables and sliced graphical
elements. Trying to get them to work reliably across platforms is one of the singularly
most frustrating projects you can make for yourself.
SuperThemes
from DPA Software (aka Frontlook) has created a very
unique add-on tool for Microsoft Frontpage 2000 and 2002. Essentially, it allows you to
bring up an existing web page, select a wrap-around theme from their gallery, and apply it
instantly -- the same way you would apply a standard theme.
This is very cool because sooner or later you will want to give your web site a face
lift, and you will probably want to use a wrap-around theme. Without this tool, you would
spend days or weeks cutting and pasting text and graphics from existing web pages into new
wrap-around page templates. Sure, you can do it this way, but why would you want to waste
so much time and emotion when SuperThemes
can do this in a minute?
Like other FrontLook tools, SuperThemes
is extremely intuitive and easy-to-use. In fact, there aren't a lot of options and buttons
to confuse you. You open your web page the way you normally would, launch the SuperThemes
tool, and then pick a theme to preview.
Instantly the wrap-around theme is applied to your web page, and you can
see the end result in the preview window (you can even resize it to see the complete
picture). Click another button to save the file and you're done. No cutting and pasting.
No endless hours of trying to balance your table elements. A click and it's done.
You can download a trial of SuperThemes
by clicking here.
