CHAPTER SEVEN - MICROSOFT FRONTPAGE

Limited support. FrontPage may not work properly.

Microsoft stopped development of Frontpage Extensions and Frontpage products in 2006. There are no updates to the Frontpage Extensions that are on the server. Microsoft has shifted their attention to another product called Sharepoint Services. Sharepoint Servics act a lot like Frontpage Extensions, the downside is that Microsoft is not distributing the source for this project and therefor Sharepoint Services cannot be ported over to other operating systems. All of our servers are Linux based web servers and not Microsoft based. This means that Sharepoint Services will not work on our servers. Newer products released by Microsoft and some updates provided by Microsoft force Frontpage and Frontpage-based softwares from Microsoft to only work with Sharepoint Services. If you are having trouble publishing with Frontpage, this is probably why. FrontPage 98 rarely works any longer. FrontPage 2000 has a limited lifespan and FrrontPage extensions are likely to be phased out over the next few months. For an alternative editor you might want to consider KompoZer - www.kompozer.net.

NOTE: If your account is a Virtual IP Plan, please remember that your domain name will need to be activated on our nameservers before FrontPage will be available to your account.

Basic FrontPage Instructions

Login: Choose "Open FrontPage Web" from the File Menu in FrontPage Explorer. It will ask you for a Web Server of File Location. Enter yourdomain.com and then "list webs".    Next, you  will need to select (double-click) the root web. The requested login and password will be the same as your FTP account.

Usage:  FrontPage supplies you with two separate interfaces.  The FrontPage explorer is used to manage the files within your web site.  If you open a file in your web site another program called FrontPage Editor will open.  When you are connected to your web then all changes made to any file you edit will be saved to your web.
*Note: Although the software documentation states that you can create the site on your computer and then "publish" it to the web server, we do not recommend this.    Many times publishing to the server from your computer will loose the Interactive web bots features that you may have setup when designing your site on your local computer.   We recommend that you create your entire site by being connected to your web and saving directly to the server.  To move files already created on your web site use the Import command found under the File menu within FrontPage Explorer to select the files to import to the server.  This is by far the best method for moving files from your hard drive to the server.

Additional support documents and complete usage instructions can be found at Microsoft's official FrontPage Home Page.

(Please note that the Our Technical Staff can not assist in client side FrontPage configuration, please check with Microsoft's Technical Support documents)

MICROSOFT FRONTPAGE 98
Publishing a Web
Opening an Existing Web
Troubleshooting problems in FrontPage 98
Further Microsoft FrontPage Support

Publishing a Web

After you have built your html documents and are ready to upload them to our server:

1. Open the web you've created on your PC using FP Explorer.

2. Choose File > Publish

3. If your "Destination Web Server" doesn't appear in the Publish window (it won't the first time you publish to our server) CHOOSE "More Webs" and type the location of the web to publish to. Hit return. IMPORTANT: Use www.yourdomain.com as the Destination Web Server to publish to our server. Leave the "Destination Web Name" BLANK.

4. You will be asked for your USERNAME and PASSWORD. This is your domain's USERNAME and your FrontPage PASSWORD (which may be different than your regular telnet/ftp/POP password). If you're not sure what it is or if you aren't allowed past this point, you'll need to contact us for a new FP password.

5. You can watch the progression of the upload by looking at the bottom left corner of FP Explorer.

Back to the top


Opening an Existing Web

1. Open FP Explorer and choose File > Open Front Page Web.

2. You can now choose to open a previously created web on your PC or your web on our server.

3. Highlight the appropriate web or type in the web address (www.yourdomain.com) and click OK.

4. Enter your USERNAME and FP PASSWORD if required.

5. Make modifications and recalculate links if needed. (See FP help docs for info on when it's necessary to recalculate links.

Back to the top


Troubleshooting Common Problems with FP98

Getting error - "Root Web Busy"

FTP or telnet to your site and remove the "service.lck" file in /www/_vti_pvt. This usually happens when an FP session is interrupted before completion.

Server timing out when publishing large sites.

This difficulty arises when the uploading link times out in the process of copying the web to our server. The only suggestion Microsoft has offered so far is to break the main web into a group of sub webs on your PC, then upload these individually. If this problem persists for you, please contact support.

Getting Error - "Front Page Extensions not Installed"

We often see this error being reported even when the extensions have been installed. If you get this error, please contact support and we'll make sure the extensions are installed and repair them if necessary. NOTE: The extensions are easily corrupted. Please use only FP Explorer to update your web site on the server, not FTP.

I published but my web's not there!

This will happen when the "Destination Web Name" is filled in when publishing to our server.

This box should be left blank. If you put any other name in this box it will create a subdirectory off of your root web and copy all of your files into it. Your site will exist under a subdirectory instead of at the top level /www where it should be.

My counter, bbs, guestbook, etc isn't working.

These problems are generally due to incorrect permissions on either the directory, file(s) or cgi script(s) that are associated with them. Please don't change the permissions of your files or directories unless you have a specific reason for doing so and you know what effect it will have on your site.

My forms won't work through the Secure Server.

The call to a cgi script using the Secure Server must not be within a webbot. Use a normal cgi call in your html script for Secure Server calls.

My search bot doesn't return any results.

The /www directory must be world readable AND you need to recalculate links BEFORE publishing (or after editing directly on the server). If it still doesn't work: FTP to the server and go to the /www/_vti_txt/default.wti directory.Delete any files that begin with "ALL.". Don't delete any other files. Then using Windows Explorer, do the same thing on your PC. Recalculate links, test locally with your browser and publish.

FP starts the Web Publishing Wizard when I try to publish.

Cancel the operation and email support to have the FP extensions installed/repaired.

Why is my page renamed on the server when I publish?

The "Default Document" of your web is automatically renamed by the server to what is required by the configuration of the server. For example, if you've named the main page "index.html", it may be renamed "default.html". Just check the links to your main page to make sure they refer to it the same way.

Back to the top

Microsoft FrontPage 2000

This tutorial will guide you step-by-step through configuring Microsoft FrontPage to exchange files between your computer and your web site.

In order to follow along with us, you'll need to have Microsoft FrontPage installed, and you'll need to be connected to the internet via your Internet service provider

Create a Simple Page

Before you can publish an html file to your web site with FrontPage, you must either have a page already created, or create a page. To create a page with FrontPage, follow these simple steps:

1. With FrontPage open, choose File --> New.

2. Type in "This is a simple test"

3. From the menu bar, choose File --> Save As.

4. Name the html file.
(If this file is to be your homepage, be sure to name it index.html)

Once you have the file saved to your hard drive, you are ready to publish the file.

Publish Your Web Page.

1. From the menu bar, choose File --> Publish Web .

You'll get a dialog box like this:

2. Click on the Options button

You will see a dialog box like this:

3. In box below Specify the location to publish your site to: enter the full URL for your site.

4. If this is the first time you are publishing your site, select Publish all pages...

5. Select Include subwebs.

You should now have a dialog box that looks like this:

Obviously, you will have put your real domain name instead of 'mydomain.com'

6. Click the Publish button.

You should now see a dialog box like this one:

7. Enter your username and password.

If you have entered all the details correctly, FrontPage 2000 will then publish your site. You will see a dialog box like this one when it has finished:

8. Click Done.

Further Microsoft FrontPage Support

If you need further assistance using FrontPage, go to the FrontPage Home Page.

Back to the top

©Copyright 2004 UP Web Hosting. All Rights Reserved.
The entire contents of this site is copyrighted and may not be reproduced for any purpose without prior written permission.

Please contact the Webmaster for UP with comments or broken link information on this site.