Contents
Overview 1
Benefits of Using Site Manager 2
Signing Up for Site Manager 4
Creating the Home Page of a Web Site 6
Customizing the Home Page 7
Lab 2: Creating and Customizing a Home
Page Using Site Manager 15
Review 20 Module 2: Creating and
Customizing E-Commerce
Web Sites

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Module 2: Creating and Customizing E-Commerce Web Sites iii Instructor Notes
This module provides students with the knowledge and skills required to use the
Site Manager service of Microsoft
®
bCentral
™
to create and customize the
home page of a Web site.
After completing this module, students will be able to:
!
Identify the advantages of using Site Manager.
!
Sign up for Site Manager.
!
Create the home page of a typical e-commerce Web site by using Site
Manager.
!
Select a design for the site by using Site Manager.
!
Customize the site home page by using Site Manager.


Use the following strategies to present this module:
!
Benefits of Using Site Manager
Review the uses of Site Manager and explain how Site Manager helps an
online business to create and customize a Web site home page.
!
Signing Up for Site Manager
Explain how to sign up for Site Manager by demonstrating the process
through simulations. Then, have students practice the sign-up process on the
live site.
!
Creating the Home Page of a Web Site
First, explain the concept of a home page and describe the basic components
of an ideal home page for an e-commerce Web site. Next, demonstrate the
steps involved in creating a home page by using Site Manager. Finally, have
the students create a home page for the given sample site by using Site
Manager in the lab.
!
Customizing the Home Page
Review the basic structure of a Web page. Then, explain how customizing
various page elements can enhance the look and feel of the page. Discuss
and demonstrate how Site Manager enables site designers to customize the
content, layout, design, and header and footer of a Web site home page after
it has been created.

Module 2: Creating and Customizing E-Commerce Web Sites 1 Overview
! Benefits of Using Site Manager

To provide an overview of
the module topics and
objectives.
Lead-in
In this module, you will learn
about Microsoft bCentral
Web services and create an
e-commerce Web site by
using bCentral Site
Manager.
2 Module 2: Creating and Customizing E-Commerce Web Sites Benefits of Using Site Manager
! The Site Manager service enables you to:
#
Create customized Web sites without writing code
#
Immediately preview changes made to a Web site
#
Specify keywords to describe a Web site
#
Outsource site creation to professionals, as Site
Manager supports Microsoft FrontPage 2000Today, almost anyone with a good business idea, a computer, access to the
World Wide Web, and software for creating a Web site can launch an online
business with relative ease and minimal financial investment. However,
creating an e-commerce Web site requires a detailed business plan, a significant

To identify the benefits of
using the Site Manager
service to create and build a
Web site.
Lead-in
Microsoft bCentral offers the
Site Manager service, which
enables you to create, build,
and customize an e-
commerce Web site based
on your specific business
requirements.
Importan
t

Module 2: Creating and Customizing E-Commerce Web Sites 3 !
Site Manager provides templates for standard Web content pages such as
About Us, Contact Us, and Frequently Asked Questions. You can use these
templates to quickly add standard page types to your Web site.
!
You can use Site Manager to specify the keywords that describe your Web
site. When a user submits a search parameter to a search engine such as
Yahoo!, the search engine lists all of the Web sites whose keywords match
the parameter.
!
Because Site Manager supports FrontPage 2000, you can outsource the
creation of your Web site to professionals. After your Web site is created

Manager for the first time, you need to fill out a sign-up form by entering
personal details such as the name, e-mail address, state, company name, and
credit card you intend to use. It is important that you enter your e-mail address
for the following reasons:
!
You use your e-mail address to sign up for bCentral.
!
After you sign up for Site Manager, bCentral sends your new account
confirmation to the e-mail address you provided.

You should have a personal e-mail account so you can sign up for Site
Manager. If you do not have personal e-mail account, you should register for a
new Microsoft Hotmail
®
account and then use that e-mail address to sign up for
Site Manager.
To use Site Manager, you must first subscribe to the service by paying a fee.
Payment of fees is part of the Site Manager sign up process. Site Manager
offers you the choice of paying before or after you create the home page of your
Web site. To pay for the Site Manager subscription, you need to specify your
mode of payment.

Your first monthly hosting fees will be charged to the account you
specify during the sign-up process. After your first billing, you may change the
account that you want to be billed.

Topic Objective
To demonstrate the process
of signing up for bCentral
Site Manager to use the

!
Address, including the city and ZIP code
!
Country
!
Phone number

Details of payment include the credit card type, number, and expiration date.

You should either print a copy of the invoice, save it on your local
disk, or e-mail it to your account for future reference. The invoice number in
the invoice is important because you will need to refer to it if you correspond
with Site Manager Customer Support.

Delivery Tip
Access the site
www.sitemanager.bcentral.c
om and tell the students that
they should access this site
to sign up for Site Manager.
Then, demonstrate the
procedure for signing up for
Site Manager as a new
member. In the class, some
students may try to sign up
along with you. Remind
them that they should just
watch your demo and sign
up later during their lab
exercises. Also, remind

You should give your Web site a name that can be easily associated with your
business. For example, the company Mightyflight Toys might name its Web
site “mightyflight-toys” to give site visitors a clear idea of the nature of its
business.
You should consider the following points when specifying the name of your
Web site:
!
A Web site name should have a maximum of 21 characters, including
letters, words, numbers, and hyphens (-). A hyphen cannot be the first or last
character of a Web site name, and two consecutive hyphens are not allowed.
!
A Web site name should be in lowercase, not capital letters.
!
Spaces, punctuation marks, and special characters are not allowed within a
Web site name.

Topic Objective
To demonstrate how to
create a home page for an
e-commerce Web site by
using Site Manager.
Lead-in
This topic explains the steps
involved in creating a home
page for a Web site by using
Site Manager.
Delivery Tip
Demonstrate the procedure
for creating the home page
of the Mightyflight Toys site

Home page design.
!
Headers and footers.

Topic Objective
To demonstrate how to
customize a home page
based on specialized
business requirements.
Lead-in
Site Manager lets you
customize your home page
according to your specific
business requirements. In
this topic, you will learn how
to select the home page
layout, format the content,
and customize the header
and footer.
8 Module 2: Creating and Customizing E-Commerce Web Sites Customizing the Home Page Content
! Page content should be striking and appealing enough
to draw the attention of site visitors
! Site Manager allows users to add various elements of
content to the home page
#
This can be done by using a form that contains fields for
various home page elements

links to the home page that are present on other pages of
your Web site. The page title should be no more than 30
characters long.
Highlight text A quote or a slogan to be displayed on the home page.
Home page text One or more paragraphs that convey about your business or
your site. It should be impressive and compelling enough to
hold the visitors’ attention.
Bullet introduction A brief introductory statement to be displayed as a heading
above the bullets.
Bullet text Short and precise bulleted text fields corresponding to the
text in the Bullet introduction field.
Image file location The path of the image to be displayed on the home page if
you select the Display image check box. You can also
click Browse to locate the folder that contains the image
file, and then select the file.
Image caption The caption to be displayed under the image on the home
page.
Additional text Additional text that is not appropriate in the introduction or
as bulleted text.

You can preview the appearance of your home page after selecting its layout
and customizing the content.
Delivery Tip
Demonstrate the procedure
for customizing home page
content by using Site
Manager. Tell the students
that they should ideally add
the home page content first
and then select the page

requirements. Site Manager offers various customized pages including:
!
Top links, left-focused page
!
Top links, right-focused page
!
Top links, centered page
!
Left buttons, left-focused page
!
Left buttons, right-focused page
!
Left buttons, centered page

A graphical representation of the selected layout is displayed along with the list
of layouts.
Topic Objective
To describe how to use Site
Manager to customize the
layout of a Web page
according to specific
business requirements.
Lead-in
Site Manager provides a list
of layouts from which you
can choose the layout that
best matches your type of
online business.
Delivery Tip
Demonstrate the procedure
A design defines the look and feel of a Web site. Your choice of a design
affects various aspects of your site, such as the background color, fonts,
buttons, shadows, and graphic images.
When choosing a design for your Web site, you need to consider the type of
business your site is promoting, and the image of your business that you would
like to present to customers. For example, a site that promotes fashion apparel
would present a different design than a site that promotes automobile
accessories.
Your audience and customers may also influence your choice of a site design.
For example, a Web site that is specifically meant for children will necessarily
look different from a site meant for networking professionals.
Site Manager offers you a set of customized site designs. You can choose the
design that is best suited to your type of business. Before deciding on a site
design, it is advisable to preview the effect of each design on the appearance of
your site and, when you are satisfied, select the appropriate design for your site.
When you select a design, a graphic representation of the design is displayed to
the left of the list of designs. In addition, a brief description of the design and
the business types for which it might be suitable is displayed to the right of the
list of designs.
Topic Objective
To select a design for your
site that is suited to your
type of business.
Lead-in
Site Manager enables you
to customize your home
page by selecting a design
for your site that is

! The header and footer appear at the top and bottom of
your Web pages
! The header and footer help to give your Web site a
consistent appearance
! You must enter the following information in the header
and footer area of Site Manager:
#
Tagline
#
Phone number
#
E-mail address
#
Logo
#
Logo file location
#
Alt text
#
Company nameHeaders and footers appear at the top and bottom of Web pages, respectively.
Site Manager lets you customize the header and footer of your Web pages
according to your business needs.
The header and footer that you select by using Site Manager will be displayed
not only on your home page but also on all of the pages of your Web site. This
helps to give your Web site a consistent appearance and to establish the brand
image of your site.


Logo file location Use this field to enter the location of the graphics file for the
logo you wish to display. You can also click Browse to
locate the folder that contains the graphic file, and then select
the file.
Alt text Use this field to enter the alternate text (alt text) that you
want to associate with the logo. Alt text, which is a
description of the image, is displayed when the graphic is
being loaded on a Web page. In browsers that do not support
graphics, the alt text remains on the screen.

Delivery Tip
Demonstrate the procedure
for customizing the header
and footer of a Web page by
using Site Manager. Explain
the relevance of each field
within the header and footer
information areas. An
explanation is provided at
the right side of each field.
Add the logo image file
SiteLogoI.gif in the instructor
CD.
Module 2: Creating and Customizing E-Commerce Web Sites 15 Lab 2: Creating and Customizing a Home Page Using Site
Manager
Topic Objective
To introduce the lab.
Lead-in
In this lab, you will sign up
for Site Manager and create
the home page of your Web
site. You will also customize
the home page that you
created.
Explain the lab objectives.
Note
16 Module 2: Creating and Customizing E-Commerce Web Sites Exercise 1
Creating a Web Site Using Site Manager
In this exercise, you will sign up for the Site Manager service of Microsoft
bCentral so that you can use Site Manager to create the home page of your Web
site.
!
Sign up for Site Manager
1. Access the site and click SIGN UP
NOW.
2. On the Sign Up page, enter or type the following information about
yourself:
• E-mail Address
• First Name
• Last Name
• Address
• City

Toys. For instance, you can specify your domain name to be
www.mightytoysXY.com, where XY are any two digits. This is because there
are other students in the class who might also assume their company name
to be Mightyflight Toys. Please note that the Site Manager server accepts
only unique domain names. If you supply a domain name, that already exits,
you will get a message stating that it already exists. This is more likely if
you select mightytoysXY as the domain name, since other students may have
used it. If you need to change your domain name, you may want to modify
your company name, so that the two names are similar.

3. In the Web address summary page, verify your Web address and click
Continue.
4. In the Sign up for bCentral Business Web Services page, click Continue.

Im
p
ortan
t
18 Module 2: Creating and Customizing E-Commerce Web Sites Exercise 2
Customizing the Home Page of a Web Site
In this exercise, you will use Site Manager to customize the layout, the content,
and the header and footer of the home page you created in the previous
exercise.
!
Customize the home page content by using Site Manager
1. On the Try it! Create your Home page page, ensure that the Yes, help me
create it now option is selected, and click Continue.

and footers.
2. In the Company name text box, type Mightyflight Toys.
3. In the Tagline text box, type The largest collection of toys on the Web.
Im
p
ortan
t

Module 2: Creating and Customizing E-Commerce Web Sites 19 4. In the E-mail address text box, type For suggestions, write to before the e-
mail address already entered in the text box.
5. To specify the image file in the Logo file location field, browse to the
<install folder>\Labs\Lab02\Starter\sitelogos.gif file.
6. Click Save to save the header information.

By default, the home page includes information such as your name,
address, and phone number. These are taken from the Sign Up form. You
can remove the information that you do not wish to display on the home
page. To do this, delete the information from the relevant text box on the
page where you edit header and footer information. !
Preview your site
1. On the Site Manager start page, click the appropriate link to preview your
site.
2. After previewing your site, return to the Site Manager start page.


2. What is the significance of the layout of a Web page?
The layout of a Web page defines how various elements are arranged
on the page, such as buttons, text, links, and graphics. 3. What factors will influence your choice of a site design?
Your choice of a site design will be influenced by the type of business
you are promoting, your target audience, and the image that you want
to present to customers.
Topic Objective
To reinforce module
objectives by reviewing key
points.
Lead-in
The review questions cover
some of the key concepts
taught in the module.