Normally, line art (that is, Vector Markup Language, or VML) features
such as Drawing and WordArt work fairly well in FrontPage Design view,
in Preview mode, and in Windows versions of Internet Explorer.
However:
o Certain functions, such as hyperlinking, may not work the way you
want.
o VML graphics are always positioned absolutely. In other words, the
art is
positioned a certain number of pixels from the top left corner of
the
page. This means that the art *doesn't* self-adjust its position
like
a normal HTML object. This presents problems if the rest of your
page
*does* self-adjust.
These drawbacks, plus lack of support from other browsers and other
operating systems, have pretty much made VML a nice idea that never
caught on. For that reason, the usual advice (and not just from me) is
to avoid using it.
You could probably get past your current problems (the "pop-up
download which goes nowhere" is a place to start) but you can't get
past the rest. So, the question is, how much more time do you want to
spend on this before giving up? Because with a high degree of
certainly, I can guarantee you *will* eventually give up on FrontPage
Drawing, Word Art, and all other forms of VML graphics.
Changing platforms to a Mac won't help because, to the best of my
knowledge, there are no Macintosh-based VML editors, and no
Macintosh-based VML browsers. (I suppose this means there are no VML
headaches, either, but that would bring us back to the dreaded Italian
sushi analogy.)
FWIW, most designers figure out how to use tables or images to get the
graphic results they want. Then, if really they need line art, they
turn to something like Macromedia Flash.
If you *really* want to pursue the VML route, please post the URL of
the problem page. Otherwise, if you can't figure another way of
getting the results you want, please describe your objective and I'm
sure I or someone else can tell hou how to get it done.
Jim Buyens
Microsoft FrontPage MVP
http://www.interlacken.com
Author of:
*----------------------------------------------------
|\---------------------------------------------------
|| Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Inside Out
||---------------------------------------------------
|| Web Database Development Step by Step .NET Edition
|| Microsoft FrontPage Version 2002 Inside Out
|| Faster Smarter Beginning Programming
|| (All from Microsoft Press)
|/---------------------------------------------------
*----------------------------------------------------
billgates-support this...please... said:
Let's face it ...your sushi anology is bogus. Microsoft puts out
this product where the draw and word art freature clearly dont work.
Then they dont support it and you have to come deep into this slow
p-o-crap site just to confirm that it indeed doesnt work, because they
don't support it. Maybe this would be like buying sushi in central
park, and after they drop your plate off they run to NJ. If this were
bad sushi, in a restaurant, at least you could send it back or ask why
it smells like a 2 year old flounder. Come on microsoft.........
