FrontPage is an easy to use web design tool, that doesn't require you to know HTML. However, it does have limitations.
Internetter's FrontPage virtual servers are hosted on Unix machines, making them faster than NT servers. The have the Microsoft FrontPage 97 extensions installed.
We do not currently use the FrontPage 98 extensions, because they are not yet in a stable condition.
All the instructions on this page are for FrontPage 97, that is, FrontPage 2.0. FrontPage 98 specific webbots are not supported at this time.
Unlike our Business servers, FrontPage servers are exclusively for users of Microsoft FrontPage software. You don't use FTP, you don't worry about getting CGI scripts to run. Everything you do is through the FrontPage Explorer.
It is reccomended that the first thing you do is connect directly to your FrontPage virtual server account. Make sure you are online and connected to the internet. Now run Microsoft FrontPage. In FrontPage Explorer, select the command File-->Open FrontPage Web. Now type in "UserID.ntx.net," replacing your own UserID and leaving off the quotes. Example: webm982e.ntx.net
Now, select <Root Web> and select "OK." Enter your UserID and password in the appropriate spaces. There, you are now connected directly to your FrontPage virtual server.
It is very strongly reccomended you switch to Folder View, using the View-->Folder View command.
Now, once it is loaded, you should see one file on there, called index.html. This is the name of your main page. It starts out as an under construction page, but when you are ready to upload your own web pages, make sure your own main page is named index.html, so the "under construction" page will be deleted, and your own home page will be visible from the web.
To create your web pages, make sure the FrontPage Personal Web Server is running.
When you start FrontPage, select: Create New FrontPage Web
In the field: "Web Server or File Location"
Make sure this refers to your hard drive, not a remote server.
In the next field: "Name of New FrontPage Web"
Put something as a description, e.g. your domain name.
Creating your web pages is up to you. Refer to your manual or online help. You can add features with the click of your mouse. Creating and maintaining your web pages is up to you, but we have provided a few features that FrontPage doesn't have, such as e-mail feedback form script and a hit counter.
To publish web pages with Microsoft FrontPage, follow these procedures:
First, make sure you are online, connected to the internet through your ISP (Internet Service Provider).
After you have created your web pages as desired, select the
command:
File --> Publish FrontPage Web
Here are the contents of the following fields (replace USERID with your own UserId, etc.):
Destination Server or File Location: USERID.ntx.net
Connect Using SSL: UNchecked
Name of Destination FrontPage Web: <Root Web>
Options:
Copy changed pages only: checked
Add to an existing FrontPage web: checked
Now, hit okay, and after a short pause, you will be prompted for more information:
Name: USERID ( Your User ID ) Password: PASSWORD ( Your Password )
That is all! Your pages will now be uploaded to your server.
Note: If at any time the "Web Publishing Wizard" appears, something is wrong. Your FrontPage Virtual Server has the FrontPage extensions installed, so the Wizard should not load. Try connecting directly, using the File-->Open FrontPage Web command. If this does not work, you should contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider). There connection may have a problem, or they may be failing a reverse name lookup, and cannot be given a socket to connect properly.
You cannot use FTP to upload to your website account. You must publish your pages with FrontPage.
The reason for this is that the FrontPage extensions have a security feature which does not allow you ownership and write-permission for your website directory.
You can connect directly your site in FrontPage, comparable to an FTP connection. Use the File-->Open FrontPage Web command.
You can (and must) use FTP to upload to your Public FTP directory, if you need to keep files there. The write-permission restriction applies only to your website directory.
For a feedback form, use the Insert Form Field command in the FrontPage editor. Make sure you have a push button as one of the components. Right-click on the push-button and choose Form Properties. On Form Handler, choose WebBot Save Results Component. This will save the feedback form to a file.
As you may know, FrontPage does not support an e-mail feedback form. The workaround was to use the Save Results webbot, or a mailto link, both of which had drawbacks. We have now implemented a way for you to have your form submission e-mailed to you.
NOTE: If you have the Secure Socket Layer add-on, then you can run some cgi on that.
Instructions:
In the FrontPage Editor, select a form field and right-click. Select "Form Properties."
For Form Handler, Select Custom ISAPI, NSPAPI, or CGI Script.
Now click "Settings." For "Action," put this URL:
http://webXX.ntx.net/fp/webXXform.pl
where webXX is the first two digits in your UserID after "web". Example: If your UserID is webm982e, you would use http://webm9.ntx.net/fp/webm9form.pl
Click OK.
For "Hidden Fields," select Add.
Name: type the word "recipient" (no quotes)
Value: name@domain.com (the e-mail address to which you want the form mailed)
That's it. Now, save this file, publish it, and test it online.
If you get this: Bad Referrer - Access Denied
when you try to submit the form, e-mail frontpage@Internetter.com and ask to be added to the formmail list. We have a security protocol setup to protect against spammers. Only if your domain name is in the cgi script can you use this. If it doesn't work, no problem, we'll put your domain name in the list within 24 hours.
Note: You cannot have a custom confirmation page with this method.
If you have any questions, let us know.
You can have an e-mail feedback form without using our cgi script:
Click on Settings.
In action, put this: "mailto:anyname@yourdomain.com"
where "yourdomain.com" is your domain name.
The information comes in a formatted e-mail, so you can use a program to unscramble it, available here.
FrontPage does not support a counter. You cannot use the regular counters we offer because custom cgi does not work with a FrontPage account.
There is a webbot counter, but you cannot use it on our FrontPage servers, because we are not running Microsoft's Internet Information Server, which is what the webbot counter needs. We are running a Unix server with FrontPage extensions. This is much faster than the IIS server, but does not support a counter.
If you need information on who is accessing your site, You do have access logs located in /var/log/httpd
This way you can get a good deal of information about who is visiting your site and when, and how many people.
We now have a counter setup on the FrontPage servers. You can put one (1) graphical counter on your page. This is what it looks like:
To place this on a web page, follow these instructions:
<img src="http://webXX.ntx.net/fp/Count.cgi?df=UserID">
where webXX is the first two digits in your UserID after "web". Example: If your UserID is webm982e, you would use this code:
<img src="http://webm9.ntx.net/fp/Count.cgi?df=webm982e">
IT MUST BE EXACT. This is case-sensitive.
(with your domain name in the space, of course) then it means your domain name must be added to our referrer field. This is a security feature to help prevent people from increasing your count. If you get this instead of a count, e-mail frontpage@Internetter.com and ask to be added to the counter list.
The FrontPage extensions are have security features which prohibit the use of custom cgi scripts. You can still use Java applets.
You cannot use custom cgi because you cannot make the scripts executable. Microsoft may say you can use custom cgi, but this is only true if the System Administrator goes in and "tweaks" everyone's account individually. This is not feasible and is not supported at this time.
NOTE: If you have the Secure Socket Layer add-on, then you can run some cgi on that. However, FrontPage does not support Server Side Includes, so there are still restrictions.
If you have private information on your website that you want to make available only to a select few, you can create a sub-web for this purpose. Put all your private info in a sub-web, that is, a FrontPage that is uploaded to something other than <Root Web>. Then you can select the Tools-->Permissions and restrict access to that sub-web.
With a FrontPage account, there are a few things you cannot do:
To delete files, or sub-webs, connect directly to your site, using the File-->Open FrontPage Web command. Once you are connected, any changes you make happen on the server. If you delete a file or folder, there is no "undelete" to get it back!