FrontPage anyone ?

[htmlkaren]

I usually use Dreamweaver MX, but I used FrontPage 2000 about 3 years ago and it's a software that has really changed a lot.

I'm thinking of getting the upgrade... maybe... but does anyone know if my version has all the form capabilities as the latter versions have ? Or the SSIncludes ? Both of these things use "webbots" and I am looking for any info I can find in my FrontPage 2000 Bible.

Karen

[lanesharon]

Not sure if you are asking if Front Page 2000 has the capabilites or if the new version does. I have 2000 and I can tell you that it does not allow for SSI's. I use 2000 to give me a rough draft, then I go into WordPad to finish up with my CSS, JS, and SSI's. I think 2000 is too unstable to even try to incorporate these.

Take Care, Sharon

[allendick]

Not sure what exactly you are asking, but I am using FP2003. Since 2000, there have been many changes, so books about that version may be obsolete.

As for the abilities, there are many that are not obvious unless you look. For example there is, and always has been a script editor, although I never use it.

As for SSIs, I use the FP includes and, although I had some problems with includes over 50KB several years back when I switched to P-Z, they went away and the whole thing is painless. The FP includes are accomplished on the server.

I looked at php when the P-Z servers were having the problem, but php includes have their downsides: they require a lot of pre-planning and care in making changes. The thing I like about the FP includes, and all things FP, is that if I decide to rearrange the site, I can drag 'n' drop files all over the place and change directory names or locations, and everything keeps working!

When I then publish, the remote site gets rearranged the same way without a complete transfer, and links stay working, no matter what butchery I've been doing. Most of the time, I just publish a few files, and it is a one or two click task.

Anyhow, I see things that people do using FP that amaze me, and I have no clue what features they are using. At one time, I wrote sites using Unix editors or Notepad, but when wsiwyg came along, I switched. the early years were pretty buggy, but I think FP is now ready for prime time and is adaptable to pretty much any kind of site.

allen

[allendick]

One of my readers pointed TYPO3 out to me. Seems at first glance to be a free alternative to FP and other such software.

Anyone have any experience with it? I haven't had a chance to really look it over.

http://typo3.org/new_to_typo3.0.html

"http://typo3.org/doc.0.html?&tx_extrepmgm_pi1[extUid]=491&tx_extrepmgm_pi1[tocEl]=1324&cHash=9725eb2e5a"

(Had to put that one in quotes so the bb wouldn't munge it up).

http://demo.typo3.com/

allen

[richof]

If you are looking at new software, I would like to recommend Net Objects Fusion. It is currently in version 7.5. I have been with it since version 3.0. It has the advantage of being a true site design program as opposed to a page design program. It provides a WYSIWYG interface and has a very short learning curve to be productive, yet is very powerful. Take a look at:

http://netobjects.com

There is a free trial available.