Each primary page of the MSDS Master site has four primary text areas; their content is controlled through the PageMinder System. These areas are automatically formatted for proper appearance through an array of web browsers on a variety of operating systems. You can further control the appearance of that text by entering preferences that will be used across all of the pages. You may select center all of the Headlines on your pages and make them bold in an Impact font. Further customization is even possible by entering HTML Tags in the PageMinder System. By setting up your text area preferences for this layout option in the boxes below you can easily maintain a consistent style across your entire site. You may format four text areas for each page:

• Headline
• Header
• Body
• Footer

The general location of each of the text areas is shown below, under both horizontal and vertical navigation location scenarios:

Setting Font and Text Area Preferences
Text area preferences are set by area across all of the pages within your site. This is done in order to help you maintain a consistent appearance across all of the pages within your site. The settings are also done for the best, most cohesive appearance across different browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Opera, etc.) and their different versions. Each area has a default setting, so your site will still have a professional appearance even if you don't set up all of your Font and Text Area preferences right away.

There are nine preferences you may set for each text area; and with a little bit of creativity you can get remarkable results. The Text Area Preferences screen is shown below, yellow boxes with arrows have been added to acquaint you with the nine Text Area options. Tips on using these options are shown below. A complete description of each option and tips for usage appear below the preferences screen illustration.

Alignment
Choose whether to have the text in that area aligned to the left, right, centered or justified. You may wish to center you headlines and have your footer text aligned to the right. Generally the only area you should set a justified alignment for is the Body, unless you have a large amount of text in the Header or Footer text area. Normally the Headline should have an alignment other than Justify. A visual representation of each alignment appears below:

Font
Only a limited number of font options appear in the drop-down box for the Font option; this is because you wish to use fonts that will actually be installed on most of your site's visitors' browsers. Because of this, there is a font degredation feature for any font you select. In other words, if you select "Impact" and a specific visitor does not have the "Impact" font installed on his or her computer, another font will be substitued, such as "Arial" or "Helvetica", so any choice you make will still have a professional appearance even if that font is not installed on the user's computer. The primary fonts are shown below, each in a 12 pixel size:

Font Size
Font sizes are based upon pixels, which are represented most accurately across various browsers and operating systems. Each area has a different range to choose from, based upon what is appropriate for that area (header and footer ranges and the same). Remember when viewing the preferences you've selected for your site that fonts that appear small to you may be much larger to other visitors, based upon your various computer settings. If you think that your text is much small in comparison to most of the other web site's text areas then increase the font size for that text area.

Bold
Makes all of the text in that text area appear bold. Keep in mind that not all fonts and font sizes look good in bold; the Impact font, for instance, is already a very bold font and just doesn't look good in bold. As usual, preview your settings to make sure they are what you want your visitors to see after you make any changes.

Italic
Makes all of the text in that text area appear italicized.

Color
The color of the text in that area. You can use the border and background colors preferences in the Border Options area for very individual effects. Select a white font with a dark background color, use the same color for the border and create a striking footer; perfect for placing a company slogan or customer testimonial.

Border Size
If you wish to create a border around a text area, set that areas Border Options Size to something greater than 0; a border of 0 will show no border at all. If you are creating a sold block of color by using the same border and background colors, the small the border size, the smaller the block of color will be.

Border Color
Select the color for the border. Disregard if the Border Size has been set to 0.

Background Color
Choose the background color for the text area. The default background color is white. Create slogan bars by choosing the the same background and border colors, most usually a dark color, and then putting one line of text in a bold white, with a company slogan on each page of your site.