by Curtis Carmichael

To implement a graphic using FPE, click on the icon depicting a mountain range with a yellow sky. If you do a mouse-over, you should get the message "Insert Image." You can also complete the same operation by going to your menu bar and selecting "Insert" and clicking on "Insert Image."

A dialog box, similar to the one shown below will appear. You’ll get some options here from which you can decide how to set-up your image.

Before linking to an image on your hard drive, make sure it’s in the current folder or in the folder where you store your graphics. This prevents having a link to your hard drive, which would normally be inaccessible by other users when clicked upon.

For the following placement instructions, we’ll assume you store your images in a folder titled "graphics."

To link to a graphic in a folder in the current directory, place a single dot before the forward slash (ex. "./graphics/yourimage.jpg"). Although placing the single dot is not entirely necessary for the proper functionality of the image appearance in most cases, it’s a little more proper than simply placing the forward slash. Placing this dot also prevents any possible confusion which may arise from any members of your programming team, if they exist.

To link to a graphic in a folder in the directory immediately off from your current directory (which is usually done for graphics that are universally used within the site such as navigation graphics, etc.) you would place two dots before the forward slash (ex. "../graphics/yourimage.jpg")

If you target directory is beyond the given examples, you’ll have to add more dots and slashes. A probable instance of this happening would be if you have a directory off from another directory created from your root directory. (ex. "../../graphics)

If the given examples didn’t help you solve your linking problem, try experimenting with different combinations of dots and slashes. If you continue to experience difficulty, check to see if your target link still exists. It’s possible your file might have been moved into another folder or saved in the wrong directory.

Side Note: There is a different method for implementing image maps. It is a little encouraging to know that most image map editors generate the appropriate HTML code you need to place onto your Web pages. One program, MapMaker32 (available at http://members.tripod.com/~mharing/mapmaker.html) lets you easily create client-side image maps.

Also, if you want a tiled background image, link to by clicking "File" on the menu bar, "Page Properties...", going to the "Background" Tab, checking the "Background Image" field and either typing in the location of the image or click on the "Browse..." button to find it yourself. Make sure the file location doesn’t refer to your hard drive or the file will be inaccessible for viewing.