FrontLook.com Newsletter Tip

Volume 1 - Issue 12 - March 2002

Changing List Picture Bullet Images
By David Pfeiffer of FrontLook.com

This can be accomplished via a change to the List Properties dialog or a change to the FrontPage theme.

So lets get started: You will need two things to change the first level picture bullet, an image to replace it with and a list or theme to apply the new picture bullet to.

Locating a Picture Bullet Image
One way to obtain a picture bullet is to use one from the currently applied FrontPage theme. To do this, access to the hidden "_themes" folder will be required.

Enable the Documents in Hidden Directories
First bring up a FrontPage web with a theme applied. Then enable the hidden documents folders by selecting the Tools->Web Settings... menu item. The Web Settings Dialog will appear, go to the advanced tab and check the "show documents in hidden directories" check box. Then press OK. You will asked if you would like to refresh your web, press the OK button.

The Advance Tab of the Web Settings Dialog

You can also find a good selection of picture bullets in the Clip Art galley (Insert->Picture->Clip Art) and in the "C:\Program Files\DPA Software\" folder, where depending on the FrontLook product installed, you may have various clip art folders.

Copy the Picture Bullet to your Images Folder
From the Folders list, open the "_themes" Folder and then the folder corresponding to your applied theme (illustrated below). Then search for the desired picture bullet image and right click on the image file. Select "Copy" from the popup menu. Now right-click on your "images" folder and select the "Paste" menu item to paste the image into the "images" folder. This copy process will insure that the picture bullet will remain valid even if you modify the web's FrontPage theme.

Changing the List Properties Bullet Image
Now bring up a page using a picture bullet you would like to replace. Right-click on the picture bullet and select the "List Properties..." from the popup menu. The List Properties dialog will appear as illustrated below:

List Properties Dialog using the current Theme's Picture Bullet

Now press the "Specify picture:" radio button and then the browse button and select your recently saved picture bullet from you "images" folder. Then press OK and you will note the change to the Picture Bullets in the "List Properties" dialog. Press the OK button to confirm the change.

List Properties Dialog after changing the Picture Bullet

You should now see your new picture bullets.

Changing the Theme's Picture Bullet
If you would like to make the picture bullet change global to the entire web, then changing the picture bullet graphics of the applied theme is an easy way to do this.

First select the FrontPage Theme Browser from the "Format->Theme..." menu. The FrontPage "Themes" window will appear. Press the "Modify" button. 

FrontPage Theme Browser Window

Then press the "Graphics..." button and the Modify Theme window will appear. Then select the "Bullet List" item from the "Item:" popup menu. Now press the "Browse..." button under the "List Bullet 1" text field and locate the new picture bullet in the "images" folder. Press "OK" to select the new picture bullet and then "OK" to dismiss the "Modify Theme" window.

Modify Theme Window

From the "Theme" window press either the "Save As..." or "Save" button to save the new Picture bullets to the theme. 

Save Button
If you choose the "Save" button, the changes may be propagated to all webs that use that theme. After pressing the "Save " button, press the Cancel button on the "Themes" window.