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publishing with FrontPage®

The following instructions describe one method of publishing your web site files using the FrontPage® "Publish" feature. There is a troubleshooting section at the end of this tutorial; refer to it if you are unsuccessful with any of the steps outlined below. Note that this tutorial is provided as a service and is designed to help guide you through the publishing process. Currently, we do not provide further technical support for FrontPage® authoring or publishing.

For further help with FrontPage® please consult the help index within the software, Microsoft's online manual, or their extensive knowledge base at http://www.microsoft.com/FrontPage. For tech support phone numbers at Microsoft, please see: http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/overview/
overview.asp.

the FrontPage® publish feature

Step 1
Make sure you are connected to the Internet and then open FrontPage® to generate the following screen
Step 2
Click on "File" and then "Open Web" to open the web you have created on your desktop. The "Look in" field will then prompt you to browse to the web folder you have created on your computer. Select the web that you would like to publish and click on "Open" in the lower right hand corner of the screen. In our example below, the web is called "test_websites".
Step 3
Once you click on "Open", your Website and all files and folders contained therein should appear in the format below. You will see that we have an index.htm homepage along with some gif picture files and other test pages. These are the files that comprise our example Website and when we publish the web, all the files and folders will be sent to the Dinsol web server where your remote Website account is located. (Note, you may exclude some files from the publish feature if you wish. Please see the online FrontPage® help section and click on "Microsoft FrontPage® help". In the answer wizard area, type in "Publish web using HTTP" and this will provide you with the proper instructions on excluding files from the publish.) When you are ready to publish your web, simply click on "File" and "Publish Web".
Step 4
Once you click on "Publish Web" the following screen will be generated. Enter in the full URL of your website: http://www.yourdomain.com as FrontPage® will find your remote Website account on our web server using your domain name. Once you have entered your domain name in the field, all you need to do is click on "Publish".
Step 5
Once you click on "Publish", you should be prompted for your FrontPage® username and password, which were furnished to you when your domain was created. Type in your username and password and click "OK" and FrontPage® will begin publishing your Website.
Step 6
Depending on the size of your Website and the rate of your Internet connection, this process may take a while. Once the site is successfully published, you should receive the following message:
Step 7
You may click on the link highlighted in blue to view your newly published site on the Web.

troubleshooting

where can I find additional FrontPage® support?

For more FAQ's and support please go to Microsoft's Product Support Services site.

how do I install FrontPage® extensions on my website?

When you signup you will be asked whether or not you want FrontPage® extensions installed. If you specified "no" but have since changed your mind please contact us to request it.

why do I have to have FrontPage® extensions installed?

Installing FrontPage® server extensions gives you full support of all the features of FrontPage®. Features include remote authoring, threaded discussion groups, full text search and surveys.

what is the scope of technical support for FrontPage®?

We are not able to provide any support related to the use of your FrontPage® software.

what are FrontPage® server extensions?

FrontPage® server extensions are CGI programs which provide the server side implementation of FrontPage®. FrontPage® communicates with the extensions via Hyper Text Transmission Protocol (HTTP) using a Remote Procedure Call (RPC).

When the server sees the "POST" request addressed to the FrontPage® server extensions it simply directs the request to the appropriate CGI program. The extensions implement authoring (uploading/downloading documents, To Do Lists), administration (setting end-user, author, and administrator privileges), and dynamic content (browse-time WebBot components).

Without the FrontPage® Server Extensions you will not be able to take advantage of the WebBots that are available through FrontPage®. Also, without the extensions you cannot author and administer your web using the tools provided as part of the FrontPage® Editor/Explorer package.

are there any precautions that I need to be aware before I begin using FrontPage® to publish my site?

In order to protect the FrontPage® extensions on your Unix account, please take into consideration the following precautions:

  1. FrontPage® uses the same .htaccess file as the Protect Directories utility in your Control Panel, which could cause problems. Once you have installed FrontPage® extensions, use the directory protection that comes with the software
  2. Do not use features found in your Control Panel to set passwords, limit access, set file permissions or delete directories or files in a FrontPage® web. This should only be done through the options in FrontPage® Explorer.
  3. Do NOT use regular FTP (such as WS_FTP) to upload files to the server when FrontPage® extensions are installed. This may corrupt the extensions, disabling the interactive features available with FrontPage®.

NOTE: The exception to this is when loading custom scripts to the cgi-local directory on your site.

what is a WebBot?

WebBots are the mechanism for invoking many of the interactive features built into FrontPage®. These features are added to your web through the FrontPage® Editor | Insert FrontPage® Component.

Some, such as Include and Substitution allow elements of the web to be entered once and included in any or all of the pages by inserting the Bot component referencing that element for example a logo or a navigation bar. Changes made to the "master" element are made automatically to any page containing the referencing WebBot.

Other WebBots, such as Search, Table of Contents and Timestamp, control dynamic browse-time features. These WebBots work "behind the scene" to keep your site up-to-date for visitors.

do you support all of the features available in FrontPage®?

FrontPage® was created for developing websites in the Windows environment, so the following features are not available on our LINUX/UNIX servers:

why doesn't my new password work in my FrontPage® web?

Loading and changing passwords in FrontPage® is a little more complicated than with FTP programs. To set or change passwords, you'll need to log on to your current web in order for the security menu choice to be active.

to change the user and password for FrontPage® login:

Go to the FrontPage® menu:

  1. Click: Tools->Permissions [Tools->Security in FP2000]
  2. Add: Name, Password
  3. Click "Administer, author and browse.." radio button
  4. Click "Apply" and then "Ok".

To change the password:

  1. Click: Tools->Change Password [Tools->Security->Change Password in FP2000]
  2. Type in old password, then the new password. (if you've lost your old password, please contact us).