October, 2003  -  Volume 1, Issue 3

Newsletter Delay

My apologies - the last newsletter was March 2003.  What?  Well, I've been very busy (no excuse, I know) - working on database technologies, taking classes in Flash MX, Cascading Style Sheets, and other computer software and technology courses, hoping to offer you the best of the best in the coming year.  Have you been around our sites lately?  Please visit http://themesets.net, http://frontpagetemplates.com, or one of our other sites.

Don't forget, we have FrontPage hosting on Windows servers at http://attwc.com - have a look at our rates!
 

Tips & Tricks - Publishing Down from the Host Server in FrontPage

Last issue, we showed you how to "log in live" to your online web with FrontPage. Many people maintain their webs live as a general rule, then periodically publish "down" to their hard drive to have a backup copy.  The advantages?  Working "live" on the server allows you to maintain a web from multiple computers (you may do some of your work from an office and some from home), as well as allowing multiple people to make changes from other computers.

Let's explain the concept first, because if you grasp the concept, you've got it made.  When you work on your web locally, on your own hard drive, you "publish" the web to the server, accomplished by File, Publish Web - then publishing to the address "http://.....".  It happens this publishes to the server for only two reasons:  1)  you have the local (hard drive) version open in FrontPage when you select Publish, and 2) you have designated an http: location, rather than a c:\ location. 

Now, when you have logged in live on the server (see Issue 2), and from THERE select File, Publish Web - it is going to publish the OPEN web - in this case, the web on the server - to wherever you specify.  Hit the browse button, and browse for the web on your hard drive, then publish (down).  One thing to keep in mind - with FP 2000 and FP2002, you will need to already have a web created (either the same web yet to be updated, or a new empty or one page web).  SO, if this is the first time you are publishing down, be sure to create a new web on your hard drive first.  FrontPage 2003 manages the publishing function entirely differently; we'll address that at a later date.

Watch your Step

If you log into your web both locally (on your hard drive) AND live (on the server), you need to be aware of which place you have logged into to prevent mistakes.  In the upper left of FrontPage, note that the open web location is located directly AFTER the Microsoft FrontPage version.  If it starts with a local drive (e.g., c:\ or d:\), then you have a local web open.  If it starts with http://, then you have your live server web open.

FrontPage 2000 & 2002 automatically opens the last open web you were working in, so if you were last working live and re-start FrontPage, it will attempt to log into your server.

To circumvent the issue, select File, Open Web from the FP menu - then select where you want to browse - My Computer or My Documents for local webs, or My Webs/My Network Places for live webs.

FrontPage 2003 - WOW!!!

FrontPage 2003 is scheduled to hit the stands on October 21, and are we ever excited about it.  At first glance, it not only looks foreign, it looks VERY "DreamWeaver-ish".  The first obvious comparative feature is the incorporation of "Split" screens, which provides a horizontal split showing the HTML code in the upper half and the "design view" in the lower half.  This is a major advantage to me, as often when I am trouble-shooting your code, I ask you to flip back and forth between "Normal" and "HTML" to read me things.  Now, it will be a piece of cake to find the HTML associated with any area of the page.

The second comparative feature is the newly named .dwt templates.  This does NOT stand for the other guy; rather, it is the extension for Dynamic Web Template.  There is a beauty beyond belief with Dynamic Web Templates - you make a change to the template itself and it propogates throughout the entire web to all pages that use the .dwt.  Consider it like an included content page in overdrive - it doesn't get much better than that!  Ahhh, but it does!  Another absolutely phenomenal aspect of .dwt's is that you can NOT mess up the layout of the design on the html page which has the .dwt applied to it.  Why?  Because the .dwt is constructed to have "editable regions" - the areas you CAN change - while isolating the remainder of the page design to keep things intact.  Gone are the days of accidentally dragging a table border.  This is high tech stuff!

The obvious question - "What do you mean 'areas I can not change'?  What if I WANT to change the template?"  The answer - PIECE OF CAKE!  While you can NOT edit a non-editable region on the actual html page, you CAN edit the .dwt itself, you can even save it under a new name to preserve the initial template (in case you goof, of course).

And finally, in praise of the VERY welcome .dwt's, you can use several of them in your web.  So, let's assume a one column, two column, and three column layout.  What do you have?  Three .dwt's, and you can switch from one to another.  If you have a page with a one-column .dwt applied, and decide to make it a 2-column page, simply apply the 2-column DWT.  A few minor tweaks (really minor), and you're done.

If you aren't excited enough, get prepared for the next newsletter, because I will divulge an even greater benefit of the new FrontPage 2003 Dynamic Web Templates that will knock your socks off, guaranteed!  Want a hint?

Sorry, you'll have to wait - this topic is just not quite ready to hit the streets!  Trust me, though, you will LOVE it!

And the Winners Are...

As promised, we randomly select two of our mailing listee's each newsletter to receive, free of charge, the template of their choice (excluding database products)!  Congratulations to bigtreearrowhead@msn.com and zrqian@hotmail.com - please contact us at your convenience and let us know which template you would like!

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