Publishing a FrontPage Web is an
often-misunderstood concept. I'm writing this article
to help clear the air. In this article I will cover
FrontPage publishing vs. FTP, FrontPage Publishing vs.
Importing, and Permissions issues associated with
FrontPage publishing.
FP vs. FTP
There are 2 ways to move your web site to a host -
FrontPage publishing and FTP. Both methods have
distinct advantages. FTP is fast and easy and does not
require that the server have FrontPage Server
Extensions installed. FrontPage publishing takes longer
and does require FP Server Extensions, but it's more
comprehensive. More files than meet the eye are created
when you use proprietary FrontPage functionality like
the Search bot, the FP form handler, or even the
dreaded FP hover button.
It is possible, in some cases, to figure out what
files have been created and thus need to be moved to
your host server. However, it's much easier to just hit
the "Publish" button and let FrontPage worry
about that. There is official Microsoft documentation
that warns folks not to mix the use of FTP and
FrontPage publishing on a site. The documentation
claims that using FTP can result in FrontPage Server
Extension file corruption issues. I must admit,
however, that a number of highly respected participants
on the OutFront Forums report that they mix the two
processes regularly and have never had difficulty.
The main reason in my mind not to mix the two is
that FrontPage can only recognize files that have been
added through FrontPage. If you add a file any other
way, the search bot won't see it, FP navigation
components will not see it. The FP Table of Contents
component won't see it, etc.
Publishing vs. Importing
FP Publishing is the way that Microsoft intends for
everyone to move FrontPage webs. That's true for moving
a web to a host. It's also true for moving a web from a
host to your local machine and from a server to a disk
or another folder on your hard drive. Lots of folks try
to use the Import feature for this. It seems like a
logical approach, but the Import feature was not
designed for this. True, it can move all the linked
html files and images in a site. That's not all there
is to a Web site, however. Import follows hyperlinks
and image paths to find the files it takes. It can't
find a form handler. It can't follow a JavaScript
redirect. It can't find a FrontPage theme.
Import is for bringing individual files or small
groups of files into your site. I have also used it to
suck in all the images from a client's existing Web
site so that I have all the pictures I need for a
redesign. If you want to bring a site onto your local
computer, your best bet is always to open that site in
FP and publish to a local web.
Publishing and Permissions
This is a moot point if you're on NT. You're pretty
much the only person who can move things live unless
your server admin has set up permissions for others to
do so as well. The big advantage of Unix hosting for
FrontPage is that you can set up new users and
passwords.
If you give someone author access to your web, they
can publish to and edit that site. They can also
publish that site elsewhere. They cannot, however,
create a new subweb on that site by publishing to
url.com/subwebname. You have to create that subweb for
them. If you want to allow them to create their own
subwebs then you must give them admin level
permissions. That's the "keys to the store."
It shouldn't be any more or less common for a site
owner to give admin level access than it is for a
storeowner to have somebody else lock up at night. You
only do it when you need to, but sometimes you need to.
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Thomas Brunt
OutFront, a Microsoft FrontPage learning community
http://www.outfront.net/
