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Microsoft FrontPage 2003

Microsoft Frontpage 2003 - Installed new copy from CD no problems

I just installed my copy of Microsoft FrontPage and it looks like the installation went ok, I think it installed about 350 megs worth of files, so it is rather large.

I was not sure if I should do a custom install because there was a lot of stuff about the French language, and I don't speak French so I really don't need it on my computer.

The spelling checker seems to work fine, but it has a slight delay in it, so I am usually typing on the third or fourth word when the underline pops up that there was a misspelled word back there. 

I guess I will get used to that at some point, or I am thinking about getting a new computer anyway, my computer is more than a year old now, so it's time for a new one.

It looks like there is a "publish site option", but it is grayed out so it looks like I am not going to be able to just upload it like I am used to.

The help is kind of interesting, when you click on it a browser page opens and a person starts talking to you... "So you want to publish your web site, first you..."

 The instructions are kind of cool, but they seem to tell you a lot of stuff you don't really need, and somehow they always seem to just miss what you do need.

All I want to do is put a page on the web or modify one of the pages I already have, not that complicated.

First they want me to set a goal, like make $500,000 in sales on the internet. 

Great.... how about if we just start with putting up one page and make the million dollars later when I have a little more time. 

There seems to be a major difference between FP publishing to your computer or to your server, I guess it can only do one with each site and you have to decide before you start.

I am going to keep at this until I get it, but for now I am back to Nvu where I can just type what I want then click the "Publish" button and it sends it to my server. 

I think Front Page may do something similar but it looks like it will take a while to figure out all the options and get it set up. 

Give me a couple days I may be able to get a page published with FrontPage.


It has been 4 hours now and I have screwed up 3 templates beyond all recognition.

Other than that I did upload one site to my server, but I was not able to make many changes that I wanted to it.

The linking structure looks like it would work well if I can figure it out, right now it is like having 12 cats in one room and wanting them to go to another room, the best way to do it is to pick up one cat at a time and carry them to the new room always keeping the door closed.

That's how FrontPage is working for me so far, it looks like everything I want to do is possible it just is not something that I can figure out.

So I am still using Nvu but I am will continue to search the internet and the program to see if I can learn enough to get a site that I want to publish on the internet.


Three more hours and I have figured out that to change the linking structure you have to create your new page then copy the following code into it.

oops it looks like that code works in Nvu also, I thought it was something that was only for pageview, anyway here it is:  

< - - webbot bot="Navigation" s-orientation="vertical" s-rendering="graphics" s-type="top" b-include-home="TRUE" b-include-up="TRUE" - - >

only you don't put the spaces between the dashes.

then you click on Navigation and then drag the page to where you want it on your chart, make sure that you have list on.

Then right click on the menu and go to link bar properties, here you pick the structure of the menu that you want to show.

After this I think your menus will mostly work.

The main problem I was having was with the link bar properties, you can only like to parent pages or child pages, so it's easy to have some pages in your tree that no other pages link to.

The only way you can tell this is to go to the actual web pages and try all the links and see if you hit all the pages or not.

 
I have the menus figured out now. They seem to work ok, you have to figure out how they attach pages first then you can decided how you want to make your web pages.

The major thing I don't like is the 80 or so lines of java code that it takes to make each of the menus.  And the steps you must go through to add a page.

I admit it is only clicking a dragging and clicking buttons, but if you know html you can just copy another link and past in your new one, it's faster and you end up with 1 or 2 lines of code not 80 or more.

Now if you are putting in 30 menus then changing the way they are attached to each other, then changing the names a couple different times.

Then FrontPage is going to work great.

Otherwise I am still not sure if it is worth all the trouble.

The program does seem to be very stable, unlike Nvu which crashes if your not very careful with it. FrontPage has been running for many hours and I have not had any problems with it hanging up.

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April 21, 2005

 

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