Getting Started with FrontPage
Publishing Your FrontPage Web
By Frontpage Admin
Jun 26, 2006, 19:06

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.