Support Page

Using FrontPage

Frontpage 98/2000 is a popular web development product which works a little differently from other html editors. We have provided the following information to assist you in creating and uploading Frontpage sites. Should you need further assistance with Frontpage, the best overall source is the company that makes it: Microsoft's FP Authoring Site. We also highly recommend the Builder.com FP98 help site

The most common asked question users ask when using Frontpage is:

The default page still shows up even after I have uploaded my index page.

SOLUTION: You MUST DELETE the default page before your index page will show up.

ALSO: If you are attempting to work with Frontpage across a firewall (from a corporate server) you may experience "unable to connect to host" problems. You need a stand alone dial-up account for the best results.

Frontpage Extensions
Publishing a Website
Opening an Existing Website
Troubleshooting problems in Frontpage
Further Microsoft Frontpage Support

Frontpage Extensions

Frontpage is different from other web editing programs. It uses "extensions" and things called "webbots" to accomplish certain tasks. Some of this makes your job as a webmaster easier, and sometimes it makes things more difficult. Our best advice is to decide early on if you want to use Frontpage or not, and stick with that plan - using a version of Frontpage in combination with another editor and an FTP program is a sure recipe for disaster.

Every OWH account comes with FP extensions enabled but NOT installed - you must do that from your web-based Control Panel (see Control Panel for more information). Installation is a simple matter of selecting an icon, but there are warning messages in the Control Panl about potential conflicts between FP extensions, and some other account features (such as "Protected Directories").

Publishing a Website

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 (earlier versions of FP called this the "FTP Server Name") 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).

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

Opening an Existing Website

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.

Troubleshooting Common Problems with FP98

Getting error - "Root Web Busy"

FTP 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.