This article describes what a WebBot component is and lists the components that are available. A WebBot component is a dynamic object on a Web page that is evaluated when the page is saved or, in some cases, when the page is opened in a Web browser.

The following WebBot components are available in FrontPage:

   WebBot Confirmation Field component
   WebBot Discussion component
   WebBot HTML Markup component
   WebBot Include component
   WebBot Registration component
   WebBot Save Results component
   WebBot Scheduled Image component
   WebBot Scheduled Include component
   WebBot Search component
   WebBot Substitution component
   WebBot Table of Contents component
   WebBot Timestamp component
				

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WebBot Confirmation Field Component

The WebBot Confirmation Field component is a run-time component that is replaced with the contents of a form field. It can be used to echo information, such as a user's name or e-mail address, back to the user as confirmation of the values they entered in a form. Another use for the WebBot Confirmation Field component is to verify the name and mailing address of a user who has submitted a form.

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WebBot Discussion Component

A WebBot Discussion component allows you to set up a discussion Web page. It collects information from a form, formats it into an HTML page, and then adds the page to a table of contents and to a text index. The WebBot Discussion Component gathers information from the form and stores it in one of a selection of formats, such as HTML or ASCII text. It is accessed from the Form Properties dialog box.

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WebBot HTML Markup Component

The WebBot HTML Markup component allows you to enter HTML tags that are not directly supported or available in FrontPage Editor. For example, FrontPage Editor versions 1.1 and 1.0 do not include support for table elements or the marquee element. To enter either of these elements in FrontPage Editor, you must use the WebBot HTML Markup component.

NOTE: Because FrontPage Editor 1.1 and 1.0 do not support these elements, these elements will be preserved during export only; they will not be imported. FrontPage does not verify that your markup is valid HTML.

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WebBot Include Component

The WebBot Include component is designed to replace itself with the contents of another file. The most common use for the WebBot Include component is to place the same text or graphic on every page in a multi-page Web. Examples of items that you might want to appear on each page in your Web include: copyright information, headers and footers, and product logos. The WebBot Include component requires the URL of the file that contains the text and images to be included on a page. Any modifications to the source document are automatically sent to each page for which it is included.

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WebBot Registration Component

The WebBot Registration component allows you to automatically register users for access to a service. It adds the user to the services's authentication database; it can then gather information from the form and store it in one of a selection of formats, such as HTML or ASCII text. The WebBot Registration component is accessed from the Form Properties dialog box.

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WebBot Save Results Component

The WebBot Save Results component gathers information from a form and stores it in one of a selection of formats (HTML, ASCII text). When you submit the form, the WebBot Save Results component appends the form information to a specified file in a specified format. It is accessed from the Form Properties dialog box.

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WebBot Scheduled Image Component

The WebBot Scheduled Image component is used when you plan to replace one image with another within a specific time period. On the expiration date, the original image is no longer displayed and another image takes its place or the place where the image existed is left blank.

When you insert a WebBot Scheduled Image component, you need to enter the name of the image and any alternate image to be included on the page. The image must be from the current Web.

A WebBot Scheduled Image component runs when a change is made to your Web. To ensure proper timing of the WebBot Scheduled Image component, make some changes to your Web daily.

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WebBot Scheduled Include Component

The WebBot Scheduled Include Page component is used to insert the contents of a file during a specified period of time. When the time period expires, the contents of the file are no longer displayed. You can specify an optional page to be included after a given date.

A WebBot Scheduled Include Page component is run when a change is made to your Web. To ensure proper timing of the WebBot Scheduled Include Page component, make some changes to your Web daily.

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WebBot Search Component

Use the WebBot Search component to create a search form. The FrontPage Server Extensions maintain a list of words found in each page in a Web. If the Web includes a discussion group, FrontPage also maintains a dynamic list of words found in each entry of the discussion group. At run-time, the form created by the WebBot Search component returns a list of pages containing the words the user entered in the form. The words can include Boolean constructs, such as and, not, or, and parentheses.

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WebBot Substitution Component

The WebBot Substitution component allows you to type an abbreviation that will be substituted by its expanded form. For example, you can set a variable, such as HTML, to represent "HyperText Markup Language" (without the quotation marks). Then, instead of writing out "HyperText Markup Language," you could type HTML, and HTML will expand to "HyperText Markup Language" at run-time. You define the variable as a parameter in the Web Settings dialog box (on the Tools menu, click Web Settings) in FrontPage Explorer.

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WebBot Table of Contents Component

The WebBot Table of Contents component generates an outline of your Web. Each time the Web content changes, the outline is updated. It does not create a table of contents based on bookmarks. It uses the title element of the subpages to generate the table of contents.

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WebBot Timestamp Component

The WebBot Timestamp component inserts a date and time stamp that corresponds to the last time the page was edited or automatically updated.

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