Disable Frontpage automatic height and width for images

[simpleuserid]

I need to find a way to disable the "feature" that automatically adds height
and width tags to all images in an html page. I'm not sure if this is being
done by Frontpage or by the Frontpage server extensions on the server
somehow.
If this can't be done, our company will have throw away microsoft's products
and get something else (we already own Adobe GoLive and could host on a unix
server without Frontpage server extensions.)
Has anyone managed disable this?
Thanks!

 

[Steve Easton]

I don't think it can be done

Curious as to why you need to do this??

--
Steve Easton
Microsoft MVP FrontPage
95isalive
This site is best viewed............
........................with a computer

 

[E. T. Culling]

What's the problem?
I'm curious also. You aren't using FP to resize your images are you? Be
sure to make the images the size you want them in your image eding program
before you import them into your site. You sure don't want to start using
GoLive!
Eleanor

 

[simpleuserid]

What's the problem?

First, a short rant: The problem is the 'we know better than you do'
features of products like this which can't be disabled. I think everyone
would agree that the purpose of a tool is to make a task easier. In this
case, the automatic addition of size information is making the task
incredibly more difficult. That's the big picture answer. End of rant.

The real answer is bound up in this wonderfully simple piece of code:
<a onclick="photo1.src='photos/big.jpg'">Big Version</a>.
When people click on "Big Version," they see the big photo. Only they don't
because Frontpage has hard coded in size values for height and width.

We intend to offer at least three sizes- small, medium, and large. We have
about 3000 photos. So, if we were to write the code to, for example, update
the photo source and simultaneously change the width and height- we would
need to get the exact dimensions for 9000 photos and write those into the
code. All because Frontpage wants to 'help me' by adding height and width
values.

If that's not an example of a tool performing antithetically to the way it
should, I don't know what is.

So, can it be done?

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

No, not possible, however if you using a database and server-side scripting then you only need to
modify 3 pages (templates) for displaying the 3 sizes.

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
==============================================
If you feel your current issue is a results of installing
a Service Pack or security update, please contact
Microsoft Product Support Services:
http://support.microsoft.com
If the problem can be shown to have been caused by a
security update, then there is usually no charge for the call.
==============================================

 

[Steve Easton]

If you're using <a onclick="photo1.src='photos/big.jpg'">Big Version</a>.
to link to an image that opens in a new page, it isn't FrontPage writing height
and width info.


Additionally, why use an onclick event when a simple link to an image will open
it in a new window

<a href="'photos/big.jpg'">Big Version</a>


--
Steve Easton
Microsoft MVP FrontPage
95isalive
This site is best viewed............
........................with a computer

 

[Andrew Murray]

Oh, I think I see the problem: you're linking to the image rather than to an
html page with the image on it. In that case you have no control over the
size of the image (i.e. the big image is the size you've made it in your
image editor).

You need to use code more like this:

Your link to the big pic <a href="picture1.html">Big Version</a>

and the picture itself such as: <img src="big.jpg" width=480 height=590> in
the page "picture.html"

If you want a popup window to display picture1.html with the big pic, use
the behaviour in FP2003, or use the add-in on www.jimcoaddins.com - the
"Spawn" addin.

Again, the way you've done it won't allow you to change the size, because
you're linking directly to the picture, rather than to an html page with the
pic in an img tag.

 

[simpleuserid]

No, not possible, however if you using a database and server-side scripting then you only need to modify 3 pages (templates) for displaying the 3 sizes.

No, that doesn't work- every one of the 9000 photos is a unique size.

And now I need to write a database and do server-side scripting because
someone at Microsoft decided that end users are too stupid to be trusted to
write their own HTML code? Not a very encouraging answer.

 

[simpleuserid]

to link to an image that opens in a new page, it isn't FrontPage writing height
and width info.

Thank you Steve.

However, it is not opening in a new page and it certainly is Frontpage (or
the server) writing the height and width info.

Additionally, why use an onclick event when a simple link to an image will open
it in a new window

Do you want 9000 new browser windows opening on your machine?

More importantly, this completely misses the point. This should be a simple
task: let me write the code the way I want it (which works very elegantly)
and don't touch it. That doesn't seem like too much to ask of a tool.

So the question is NOT "Why do I want to do this" but rather: "Why is
Frontpage standing in the way of productivity at my company?" and how can it
be made to work correctly?

 

[simpleuserid]

I notice people give suggestions for working around problems in Frontpage
instead of confronting the question more directly- the question is not "How
can we rewrite the code" but rather "How do we stop Frontpage from screwing
up a very simple piece of code?" Put another way, the original code works
perfectly on every browser we've tested UNTIL Frontpage alters it. So, does
anyone know how to make Frontpage stop altering the functioning code? Have
you had similar experiences?

you're linking to the image rather than to an
html page with the image on it. In that case you have no control over the
size of the image

No, we're not linking to an image in the conventional sense- youll notice
there is no href in the tag. And we specifically do not want to control the
image size- just the opposite, we want it to display at whatever native size
it is.

You need to use code more like this:
Your link to the big pic <a href="picture1.html">Big Version</a>

Nope, does not achieve the same affect. It is NOT an href- the "a" tag is
just a convenient way to trigger the onclick event inline.

and the picture itself such as: <img src="big.jpg" width=480 height=590> in
the page "picture.html"

Again, this would require knowing ahead of time the size of all 9000 images
and then creating a new page for every one of them and then hard coding in
all the image sizes (although- Frontpage would do the last step for us,
ironically).

If you want a popup window to display picture1.html

9000 pop-up windows? Nope- no popup windows!

Again, the way you've done it won't allow you to change the size,

The size would change automatically to accomodate the dimensions of any of
the 9000 photos if Frontpage would stop putting hard-coded height and width
values in the HTML. (That is another way to state the problem.)

So how can Frontpage be made to stop inserting the offending code?

I'm starting to sense Adobe GoLive (or maybe Dreamweaver) with Unix servers
in our future.

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

It was all based on user feedback, as it would allow the text content of pages to appear quicker,
since the browser could reserve the space for images.

When FP98 was release it didn't set the image width or height, many users complained, so in FP2000,
MS started add the width and height for images.

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
==============================================
If you feel your current issue is a results of installing
a Service Pack or security update, please contact
Microsoft Product Support Services:
http://support.microsoft.com
If the problem can be shown to have been caused by a
security update, then there is usually no charge for the call.
==============================================

 

[Stefan B Rusynko]

No matter what you may think it is not a FP problem
- since FP does not write Any image sizes to your questionable (invalid) html code:
<a onclick="photo1.src='photos/big.jpg'">Big Version</a>
Especially since FP Never "adjusts" Any script on any page and your image is in a scripted event
- you must have something else in the page (another script or tag) to even make that tag work as a link to some image that is
visible, because the onclick event you have has no action

Infact the below page does not link to anything w/ your code
- paste it in an empty page and save it, then preview in browser and try clicking on it

<html><head><title>Photo</title></head>
<body>
<a onclick="photo1.src='photos/big.jpg'">Big Version</a>
</body>
</html>


Post a URL to a published page using exactly that code to show where an image height/width supposedly is being added by FP to that
single line of code



|I notice people give suggestions for working around problems in Frontpage
| instead of confronting the question more directly- the question is not "How
| can we rewrite the code" but rather "How do we stop Frontpage from screwing
| up a very simple piece of code?" Put another way, the original code works
| perfectly on every browser we've tested UNTIL Frontpage alters it. So, does
| anyone know how to make Frontpage stop altering the functioning code? Have
| you had similar experiences?
|
| > you're linking to the image rather than to an
| > html page with the image on it. In that case you have no control over the
| > size of the image
| No, we're not linking to an image in the conventional sense- youll notice
| there is no href in the tag. And we specifically do not want to control the
| image size- just the opposite, we want it to display at whatever native size
| it is.
|
| > You need to use code more like this:
| > Your link to the big pic <a href="picture1.html">Big Version</a>
| Nope, does not achieve the same affect. It is NOT an href- the "a" tag is
| just a convenient way to trigger the onclick event inline.
|
| > and the picture itself such as: <img src="big.jpg" width=480 height=590> in
| > the page "picture.html"
| Again, this would require knowing ahead of time the size of all 9000 images
| and then creating a new page for every one of them and then hard coding in
| all the image sizes (although- Frontpage would do the last step for us,
| ironically).
|
| > If you want a popup window to display picture1.html
| 9000 pop-up windows? Nope- no popup windows!
|
| > Again, the way you've done it won't allow you to change the size,
| The size would change automatically to accomodate the dimensions of any of
| the 9000 photos if Frontpage would stop putting hard-coded height and width
| values in the HTML. (That is another way to state the problem.)
|
| So how can Frontpage be made to stop inserting the offending code?
|
| I'm starting to sense Adobe GoLive (or maybe Dreamweaver) with Unix servers
| in our future.

 

[Ronx]

Wrap the swappable image code in a mark-up webbot:
In code view:

<!--webbot bot="HTMLMarkup" startspan -->
<p><img border="0" src="images/defaultimage.jpg" name="photo1"
id="photo1"></p>
<!--webbot bot="HTMLMarkup" endspan -->
<p><a onclick="photo1.src='images/bigImage.jpg'">large image</a></p>

though that link will be better written as
<p><a href="javascript:;"
onclick="photo1.src='images/bigImage.jpg';return false;">large
image</a></p>
when it will be recognised as a link, and not as a non-functioning
bookmark.

IMO, the big images should be opened in a new window:
<p><a href="images/bigImage.jpg" target="mywindow">large image</a></p>
Naming the window will ensure that only one new window is ever opened,
though to make this work each image will have to be placed on its own
page (using javascript or server-side scripting, with the <body> tag
as
<body onload="window.focus()">
to ensure the picture is brought to the foreground, and not hidden
behind the main page The links, obviously, open the page.

 

[simpleuserid]

No matter what you may think it is not a FP problem

FP is adding width and height tags- as several others have acknowledged.
Perhaps reading prior responses would help.

- since FP does not write Any image sizes to your questionable (invalid) html code

Two points- 1) I did not say it was writing image sizes to the script, 2)
The code works in every browser we've tested.

Especially since FP Never "adjusts" Any script on any page and your image is in a scripted event

Again I did not say it was altering the script. FP is adding width and
height tags to every image on the page- outside scripts.

- you must have something else in the page (another script or tag) to even make that tag work

Obviously. The event changes the image source of the image named photo1. No
other scripting is required- which is one of the nice features of this code
fragment.

In fact the below page does not link to anything w/ your code

Yes, that, too, is patently obvious and I said as much in a prior post.
<The rest of the message was just a repetition of the same point>

So, the answer, categorically, is there is no way to make Microsoft's
Frontpage stop altering your code? I can now see why serious programmers make
fun of MS products- it's like having Word try to rewrite a Steven King novel
because Microsoft thinks his grammar needs fixing. There should be a way to
tell the program- NO, don't touch it.

Seems like a bug- in fact, it's a category P1 "Customer Down" bug because it
is impossible to use the program to accomplish a simple required task. The
only alternative, it seems, is to throw away the MS products and use
something else.

 

[simpleuserid]

It was all based on user feedback, as it would allow the text content of pages to appear quicker,
since the browser could reserve the space for images.

It's good that MS responds to feedback (hint hint). But what if a programmer
has an images-only page and there is no text that needs to load quicker? This
is just ONE example of a reason why a programmer might want to turn off this
feature.

In my opinion, it is either very shortsighted or paternalistically arrogant
to enforce a rule that changes code without the ability to disable that rule.
What is worse for MS is that, by not giving programmers the option, FP
becomes useless (in this instance) and must be thrown away in preference of
another tool.

When FP98 was release it didn't set the image width or height, many users complained, so in FP2000,
MS started add the width and height for images.

It's great that MS responds to user feedback. But, there should be a way to
disable this dubious feature. That seems obvious.
For example, perhaps the majority of users liked the fact that height and
width tags were not added automatically. You would not have heard from them
because it was something that worked well and therefore would not prompt them
to write. (I admit that is a stretch- but it's just a "for instance")

I've used FP off and on for many years (since it was first available as a
free download). But now, to get my work done, I'm going to have to learn a
new tool. By assuming 'the MS way is the only correct way,' MS is forcing
away a long term customer. And, I will now be very leery of using any other
MS tools since I won't know what automatic changes are being made in the
background that may become obstacles to getting the job done. Big
productivity killer.

 

[Steve Easton]

Ok, write this down on a sticky and paste it to your monitor.

FrontPage is "NOT" altering my code.!!!!
I need to learn how to write the correct script.


--
Steve Easton
Microsoft MVP FrontPage
95isalive
This site is best viewed............
........................with a computer

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

If I had a lot of images to display, I would be using a server-side solution with a database, so I
would only have to correct 3 pages at most, to remove the image height and width tags if need be.
However I always try to design pages that specific at least the image width.

I don't use HTML Validators, but don't they flag image tags that do not have a image width and
height specified?

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
==============================================
If you feel your current issue is a results of installing
a Service Pack or security update, please contact
Microsoft Product Support Services:
http://support.microsoft.com
If the problem can be shown to have been caused by a
security update, then there is usually no charge for the call.
==============================================

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

simpleuserid,

Question: If the script snip was not the issue or related to the issue with the width and height
tags, why did you include it in your post?

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
==============================================
If you feel your current issue is a results of installing
a Service Pack or security update, please contact
Microsoft Product Support Services:
http://support.microsoft.com
If the problem can be shown to have been caused by a
security update, then there is usually no charge for the call.
==============================================

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

Are you trying to create a page where using your script, you are using a single page (picture.html)
to display different version (sizes) of the same item (image)?

If so you still only have to create a single page, insert your image, save the page, then open and
switch to HTML/Code view and remove the image width and height tags and set the image filename to a
variable.

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
==============================================
If you feel your current issue is a results of installing
a Service Pack or security update, please contact
Microsoft Product Support Services:
http://support.microsoft.com
If the problem can be shown to have been caused by a
security update, then there is usually no charge for the call.
==============================================

 

[Steve Easton]

In Line

Thank you Steve.

However, it is not opening in a new page and it certainly is Frontpage (or
the server) writing the height and width info.

If it's not opening a new page, then where is the image showing??

Do you want 9000 new browser windows opening on your machine?

I doubt that many visitors to the site are going to view all 9000 images
and or variations there of.

It is standard paractice to have images open in their own new window or
a modal window.

More importantly, this completely misses the point. This should be a simple
task: let me write the code the way I want it (which works very elegantly)
and don't touch it. That doesn't seem like too much to ask of a tool.

FrontPage will let you write anything you want. It won't ensure that it
functions properly though.

So the question is NOT "Why do I want to do this" but rather: "Why is
Frontpage standing in the way of productivity at my company?" and how can it
be made to work correctly?

I don't believe FrontPage is the issue. I think you need to work on
your scripting solution.


--
Steve Easton
Microsoft MVP FrontPage
95isalive
This site is best viewed..................
...............................with a computer