Frontpage is Dead - Conversion to Expression (Web) Almost Impossible

[SB]

Microsoft in its wisdom abandoned Frontpage in 2007 along with all of
its users. The replacement Expression (Web) is fraught with bugs, and
has yet to become stable. It has not yet been fully developed. It also
presents a STEEP learning curve (actually many) for those who want to
convert exisitng Frontpage webs to Expression. Many elect not to do
so.

MS has shot itslef in the foot by abandoning three important groups of
users - who are all paying customers for the product.

These are: 1/ small business owners who have easily built their own
web site in Frontpage, 2/ web designers for those small business
owners, and 3/ those who have created large hobby websites.

For them to convert to Expression will not be easy - using FP
Extensions are out, as are many other FP features. Web designers in
Expression will need to learn a plethora of new technologies CCS,
HTML, XTML, etc., etc.

Additionally all Expression pages will need to end in .html rather
than the FP standard of .htm This will mean that ALL linls to previous
FP pages will fail not only from other websites but also w.r.t.
indexing for searches by Google etc. Effectively current FP web sites
will disappear from view until re-indexed.

All this as well as coping with the idiosyncracies of Expression
itself which is itself not a fully developed product.



This web page explains more:

http://www.prorganize.com/help/pages/frontpage-conversion-help.html

Enjoy!!

 

[SB]

Microsoft in its wisdom abandoned Frontpage in 2007 along with all of
its users. The replacement Expression (Web) is fraught with bugs, and
has yet to become stable. It has not yet been fully developed. It also
presents a STEEP learning curve (actually many) for those who want to
convert exisitng Frontpage webs to Expression. Many elect not to do
so.

MS has shot itslef in the foot by abandoning three important groups of
users - who are all paying customers for the product.

These are: 1/ small business owners who have easily built their own
web site in Frontpage, 2/ web designers for those small business
owners, and 3/ those who have created large hobby websites.

For them to convert to Expression will not be easy - using FP
Extensions are out, as are many other FP features. Web designers in
Expression will need to learn a plethora of new technologies CCS,
HTML, XTML, etc., etc.

Additionally all Expression pages will need to end in .html rather
than the FP standard of .htm This will mean that ALL linls to previous
FP pages will fail not only from other websites but also w.r.t.
indexing for searches by Google etc. Effectively current FP web sites
will disappear from view until re-indexed.

All this as well as coping with the idiosyncracies of Expression
itself which is itself not a fully developed product.

This web page explains more:

http://www.prorganize.com/help/pages/frontpage-conversion-help.html

Enjoy!!

Forget Expression (Web) etc. until the bugs have been ironed out of
it: See:

http://www.prorganize.com/reviews/pages/Microsoft-Express-Web-Blend.html

SB

 

[Tom Willett]

If you want to rant, rant to Microsoft. This is a peer-to-peer newsgroup.
You simply haven't figured out how to use software properly, so you blame MS
for your own shortfalls.

: Microsoft in its wisdom abandoned Frontpage in 2007 along with all of
: its users. The replacement Expression (Web) is fraught with bugs, and
: has yet to become stable. It has not yet been fully developed. It also
: presents a STEEP learning curve (actually many) for those who want to
: convert exisitng Frontpage webs to Expression. Many elect not to do
: so.
:
: MS has shot itslef in the foot by abandoning three important groups of
: users - who are all paying customers for the product.
:
: These are: 1/ small business owners who have easily built their own
: web site in Frontpage, 2/ web designers for those small business
: owners, and 3/ those who have created large hobby websites.
:
: For them to convert to Expression will not be easy - using FP
: Extensions are out, as are many other FP features. Web designers in
: Expression will need to learn a plethora of new technologies CCS,
: HTML, XTML, etc., etc.
:
: Additionally all Expression pages will need to end in .html rather
: than the FP standard of .htm This will mean that ALL linls to previous
: FP pages will fail not only from other websites but also w.r.t.
: indexing for searches by Google etc. Effectively current FP web sites
: will disappear from view until re-indexed.
:
: All this as well as coping with the idiosyncracies of Expression
: itself which is itself not a fully developed product.
:
:
:
: This web page explains more:
:
: http://www.prorganize.com/help/pages/frontpage-conversion-help.html
:
: Enjoy!!

 

[Craig Schiller]

It's swell that those who are more adept at coding have no trouble with
Expression Web, but for the more casual user, it is a major step
backward from FrontPage. The poster has valid points.

 

[Helpful person]

It's swell that those who are more adept at coding have no trouble with
Expression Web, but for the more casual user, it is a major step
backward from FrontPage. The poster has valid points.






- Show quoted text -

And Frontpage is bug free? I've never seen a program with so many
problems, bugs and "features" that only work for IE.

www.richardfisher.com

 

[CJB]

As one of those with a large hobby site I just do not have the
inclination (or timne left in life) to rewrite it all. And there is no
easy conversion process and when I read the article I was horrified
that the conversion prcess was so complicated (with bugs all the way).
Seems to me Microsoft in its arrogance has completely ignored those
who only want to do web design and havn't the inclination to get
involved with deep coding. BIG backward step - for me too - I'm
afraid. CJB

 

[Patricia Geary]

Microsoft in its wisdom abandoned Frontpage in 2007 along with all of
its users. The replacement Expression (Web) is fraught with bugs, and
has yet to become stable. It has not yet been fully developed. It also
presents a STEEP learning curve (actually many) for those who want to
convert exisitng Frontpage webs to Expression. Many elect not to do
so.

==============
As someone who works on an almost daily basis with folks who are moving from
FP to EW, I could not disagree with this poster more. No one has to
discontinue using FP if they choose not too. Having used both programs and
continue to use both programs, I would say FP had many more bugs and
idiosyncrasies than EW does in all versions. The last FP 2003 was the best
of the lot but certainly not perfect. Yes, to use EW to its full potential
does require you to learn at least basics of css and html BUT the same can
be said of FP. And with any software program, be it FP, EW, Dreamweaver,
WOrd, etc, etc, you have to learn how to use the program.
==============

Additionally all Expression pages will need to end in .html rather
than the FP standard of .htm This will mean that ALL linls to previous
FP pages will fail not only from other websites but also w.r.t.
indexing for searches by Google etc. Effectively current FP web sites
will disappear from view until re-indexed.

=============
The above is just plain NOT TRUE. You have a choice of the default extension
you wish to use when you set the program up. Choose HTM or HTML. Your links
will continue to work just as they did before. So if all your pages end in
htm continue to use it.
==============

All this as well as coping with the idiosyncracies of Expression
itself which is itself not a fully developed product.

============
And FP is???
============

This web page explains more:
http://www.prorganize.com/help/pages/frontpage-conversion-help.html

=============
If you are a web developer and charging others for your service, then I sure
hope you have taken the time to learn CSS and HTML or you are doing those
clients a disservice.

Points of disagreement on the above link -

Sharepoint Designer 2007 is FREE and can be used by anyone who wants to make
the jump from FP to EW. Many of the tutorials written for EW will work just
fine for SPD.

QUOTE: FrontPage worked well for most users without them having to know
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) formatting and without having to know HTML.

ME: For many possibly, for many no their pages renedered Ok in earlier
versions of IE but not everyone uses IE and the pages easily break in
another browser or in the newer versions of IE.

If you have purchased EW 3 you will received a free upgrade of EW 4 once it
is released as MS specifies on its website.

Preparation:

QUOTE: Do not start your conversion with an Expression Web version less than
3 - unless of course you have started with Expression Web 2 - there are too
many changes in version 3, and too many weaknesses and bugs in the earlier
versions of Expression Web / Expression Studio.

ME: Any version of EW will work for migrating a site from FP to EW. In fact,
right now version one or two is better in some ways as it allows you to
create a customized toolbar that can be used for cleaning your site. Do NOT
uninstall fp first because some of the cleanup is easier to do within fp
than ew.

QUOTE: If you have Expression Web 2 / Expression Studio 2 or earlier,
uninstall it. These versions will interfere with Expression Web 3 /
Expression Studio 3.

ME: I have had all 3 versions of EW along with Fp 2003 installed on my
laptop from the beginning and all live happily together. It is NOT necessary
to uninstall any of the programs before installing the new version.

QUOTE: The installation of Expression Studio 3 / Expression Web 3 allows you
to simply enter the purchased license key to make an expired trial version
accessible Don't!

ME: This has worked fine for many people me included.

============
Next section:

QUOTE: Create a new web site in Expression Web 3 for the rebuild of your
FrontPage web. We suggest you start with one of the included site templates
that come with Expression Web 3.

ME: If someone decides to start with one of the default templates, then the
best advice I offer is to reorganize the site to start with. For whatever
reason each page is in its own folder and all the pages have the name of
default.htm. This artice was recently revised as to my suggestions on how to
use the default templates
http://www.expression-web-tutorials.com/create-website-using-site-templates.html

QUOTE: Do not change your home page to the new default.html (mark it as
'don't publish' until you are fully ready with all old and new pages linked
correctly. )

ME: What is wrong with simply renaming you default.html page to whatever
your current home page is named index.html in my case. If done within ew,
the links to all the files will be updated.

===========

For anyone migrating from Frontpage to EW, you can follow this artice
http://tinyurl.com/29ya68c which was taken from the EBook and site that Tina
Clarke and I maintain for those interested in Migrating to EW
http://www.frontpage-to-expression.com/

While the EBook is NOT free, much of the info on the site is along with a
set of site templates that can be used with all versions of EW.

You might also read this
http://by-expression.com/blogs/by-expression/archive/2009/02/13/frontpage-migrators.aspx

End of my soapbox.

Pat

 

[Tina Clarke]

Most of your conversion advice is bad advice

For instance ew 2 is much better for transition for certain aspects.

There is absolutely no need to import anything though

I do agree to always backup your site yes in the program you started with
.....

its best to make three

one to keep
one to work with
one to experiment on

you just open the backed up one you are going to work with .. the working
web in expression web.. if you import you can lose things.

never use meta refresh .. the search engines dont like it .. use a 301
redirect which can be done in your host control panel if you don't know how
write the .htacces file

if you have managed 50 sites how come you don't know this basic web designer
fact?

I do agree having fp is better as it makes a lot less steps on removal of
some bots.

Just because it was 'easy' to use frontpage does mean its good for your
users or good for your business... the point of having a site is that its
found by targeted users, to that end you need to know a little bit of
everything taking the time to produce something that will do that and
learning whats needed for the process makes sense

- I've been through them all except fp97 ... I started with frontpage
express ... the worst to learn was fp98... in fact of them all frontpage
express was the easiest to learn .. because it didn't have much and if I
wanted something to happen I had to go find out how .. it forced me to learn
more .. unfortuntely i then was bought fp98 .. and fell into the bot trap
till early fp02 .. when I found out about includes.... after that I dropped
the bots one by one.. with the advent of fp03 ... there was no need to use
any of the bots ... dwt replaced themes (actually there was a addin for fp02
which did nearly the same thing) includes have always been there and work
with or without fpse (frontpage server extenstions) so once you know about
them there is no excuse to use shared borders and nav bots which are really
bad for the user of your site if you have one over ten pages.... the rest
all have really simple replacements... with ew 1....if you set it up
correctly it will TELL you when you have a error..... plus it has a much
better css editor which is easy to use (i use the css properties which tells
me the code).. and so on with ew 2 and 3 which have other enhancements ..
most of which I don't use apart from super preview.

I wish i was a newbie with expression web ... its ten times easier than fpe
or any of the versions ... though fp 03 almost gets there (i used to use
topstyle lite (got the pro version) for a better css editor though i learnt
in fp.. which took me three years to finally 'get' it ... with fp03 and
split view it speeded up the process because one can see both code and
design at the same time so you can't help learning the relationships between
the design and the coding.

This misconception about only being able to make .html pages.. really why
don't you ask for help?
All you have to do is change a setting and you can have .htm pages back
again.

This specfic page is what you need
http://any-expression.com/expression-web/tutorials/authoring-tab.htm

Read my free setting up ebook for whatever version you are using

Setting up Expression Web Ebook ( Fr*ee )
http://any-expression.com/expression-web/ebooks/setting-up-expression-web-ebook.htm

there is one for dwt as well

as for wanting to learn how to migrate .... this article might give you some
insights...

http://www.experts-exchange.com/art...grating-from-FrontPage-to-Expression-Web.html
(note the formatting is not mine the ee editor made changes)

No one said you had to stop using fp ... find a host that will support them
(there are plenty about) and do what you want to do. .. Expression Web might
have problems but then so does any sw... to my mind its more about learning
about web design than learning a program....

I think Pat covered other points I don't have time for right now...

You don't really have to learn much to use ew..

Tina
-
http://www.expression-web.net - Expression Blog
http://any-expression.com/ - Expression Web Help
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/any-expression/ - Expression Web Ezine

: Microsoft in its wisdom abandoned Frontpage in 2007 along with all of

 

[CJB]

Most of your conversion advice is bad advice

For instance ew 2 is much better for transition for certain aspects.

There is absolutely no need to import anything though

I do agree to always backup your site yes in the program you started with
....

its best to make three

one to keep
one to work with
one to experiment on

you just open the backed up one you are going to work with .. the working
web in expression web.. if you import you can lose things.

never use meta refresh .. the search engines dont like it .. use a 301
redirect which can be done in your host control panel if you don't know how
write the .htacces file

if you have managed 50 sites how come you don't know this basic web designer
fact?

I do agree having fp is better as it makes a lot less steps on removal of
some bots.

Just because it was 'easy' to use frontpage does mean its good for your
users or good for your business... the point of having a site is that its
found by targeted users, to that end you need to know a little bit of
everything  taking the time to produce something that will do that and
learning whats needed for the process makes sense

- I've been through them all except fp97 ... I started with frontpage
express ... the worst to learn was fp98... in fact of them all frontpage
express was the easiest to learn .. because it didn't have much and if I
wanted something to happen I had to go find out how .. it forced me to learn
more .. unfortuntely i then was bought fp98 .. and fell into the bot trap
till early fp02 .. when I found out about includes.... after that I dropped
the bots one by one.. with the advent of fp03 ... there was no need to use
any of the bots ... dwt replaced themes (actually there was a addin for fp02
which did nearly the same thing) includes have always been there and work
with or without fpse (frontpage server extenstions) so once you know about
them there is no excuse to use shared borders and nav bots which are really
bad for the user of your site if you have one over ten pages.... the rest
all have really simple replacements... with ew 1....if you set it up
correctly it will TELL you when you have a error..... plus it has a much
better css editor which is easy to use (i use the css properties which tells
me the code).. and so on with ew 2 and 3 which have other enhancements ..
most of which I don't use apart from super preview.

I wish i was a newbie with expression web ... its ten times easier than fpe
or any of the versions ... though fp 03 almost gets there (i used to use
topstyle lite (got the pro version) for a better css editor though i learnt
in fp.. which took me three years to finally 'get' it ... with fp03 and
split view it speeded up the process because one can see both code and
design at the same time so you can't help learning the relationships between
the design and the coding.

This misconception about only being able to make .html pages.. really why
don't you ask for help?
All you have to do is change a setting and you can have .htm pages back
again.

This specfic page is what you needhttp://any-expression.com/expression-web/tutorials/authoring-tab.htm

Read my free setting up ebook for whatever version you are using

Setting up Expression Web Ebook ( Fr*ee )http://any-expression.com/expression-web/ebooks/setting-up-expression...

there is one for dwt as well

as for wanting to learn how to migrate .... this article might give you some
insights...

http://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/Web_Development/Software/Exp...
(note the formatting is not mine the ee editor made changes)

No one said you had to stop using fp ... find a host that will support them
(there are plenty about) and do what you want to do. .. Expression Web might
have problems but then so does any sw... to my mind its more about learning
about web design than learning a program....

I think Pat covered other points I don't have time for right now...

You don't really have to learn much to use ew..

Tina
-http://www.expression-web.net- Expression Bloghttp://any-expression.com/- Expression Web Helphttp://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/any-expression/- Expression Web Ezine

: Microsoft in its wisdom abandoned Frontpage in 2007 along with all of




- Show quoted text -

Sharepoint Designer 2007 might well be free - but it is a massive
download of 290Mb+ - and comes with SPs and other addons. However it
seems to be a stop gap before EW came along. 2007 is already 'old.' So
why are MS giving it away. And where is the support for it?

And now many are faced with converting FP sites to SD sites to EW
sites? Or is it possible to go straight from FP to EW?

But with these alternative editors (and including Dreamweaver) I fail
to see how even the simplest functionalities such as keeping track of
links works. With FP you could change the name or folder of a file and
the changes would ripple through the whole site. I do not see that
functionality with these other apps. It appears that the automoation
that made FP easy to use has been replaced by hand editing and
rebuilding on a massive scale.

CJB

 

[Hot-text]

I'm with you Pat your info right on! ; )

==============
As someone who works on an almost daily basis with folks who are moving
from FP to EW, I could not disagree with this poster more. No one has to
discontinue using FP if they choose not too. Having used both programs and
continue to use both programs, I would say FP had many more bugs and
idiosyncrasies than EW does in all versions. The last FP 2003 was the best
of the lot but certainly not perfect. Yes, to use EW to its full potential
does require you to learn at least basics of css and html BUT the same can
be said of FP. And with any software program, be it FP, EW, Dreamweaver,
WOrd, etc, etc, you have to learn how to use the program.
==============
=============
The above is just plain NOT TRUE. You have a choice of the default
extension you wish to use when you set the program up. Choose HTM or HTML.
Your links will continue to work just as they did before. So if all your
pages end in htm continue to use it.
==============
============
And FP is???
============
=============
If you are a web developer and charging others for your service, then I
sure hope you have taken the time to learn CSS and HTML or you are doing
those clients a disservice.

Points of disagreement on the above link -

Sharepoint Designer 2007 is FREE and can be used by anyone who wants to
make the jump from FP to EW. Many of the tutorials written for EW will
work just fine for SPD.

QUOTE: FrontPage worked well for most users without them having to know
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) formatting and without having to know HTML.

ME: For many possibly, for many no their pages renedered Ok in earlier
versions of IE but not everyone uses IE and the pages easily break in
another browser or in the newer versions of IE.

If you have purchased EW 3 you will received a free upgrade of EW 4 once
it is released as MS specifies on its website.

Preparation:

QUOTE: Do not start your conversion with an Expression Web version less
than 3 - unless of course you have started with Expression Web 2 - there
are too many changes in version 3, and too many weaknesses and bugs in the
earlier versions of Expression Web / Expression Studio.

ME: Any version of EW will work for migrating a site from FP to EW. In
fact, right now version one or two is better in some ways as it allows you
to create a customized toolbar that can be used for cleaning your site. Do
NOT uninstall fp first because some of the cleanup is easier to do within
fp than ew.

QUOTE: If you have Expression Web 2 / Expression Studio 2 or earlier,
uninstall it. These versions will interfere with Expression Web 3 /
Expression Studio 3.

ME: I have had all 3 versions of EW along with Fp 2003 installed on my
laptop from the beginning and all live happily together. It is NOT
necessary to uninstall any of the programs before installing the new
version.

QUOTE: The installation of Expression Studio 3 / Expression Web 3 allows
you to simply enter the purchased license key to make an expired trial
version accessible Don't!

ME: This has worked fine for many people me included.

============
Next section:

QUOTE: Create a new web site in Expression Web 3 for the rebuild of your
FrontPage web. We suggest you start with one of the included site
templates that come with Expression Web 3.

ME: If someone decides to start with one of the default templates, then
the best advice I offer is to reorganize the site to start with. For
whatever reason each page is in its own folder and all the pages have the
name of default.htm. This artice was recently revised as to my suggestions
on how to use the default templates
http://www.expression-web-tutorials.com/create-website-using-site-templates.html

QUOTE: Do not change your home page to the new default.html (mark it as
'don't publish' until you are fully ready with all old and new pages
linked correctly. )

ME: What is wrong with simply renaming you default.html page to whatever
your current home page is named index.html in my case. If done within ew,
the links to all the files will be updated.

===========

For anyone migrating from Frontpage to EW, you can follow this artice
http://tinyurl.com/29ya68c which was taken from the EBook and site that
Tina Clarke and I maintain for those interested in Migrating to EW
http://www.frontpage-to-expression.com/

While the EBook is NOT free, much of the info on the site is along with a
set of site templates that can be used with all versions of EW.

You might also read this
http://by-expression.com/blogs/by-expression/archive/2009/02/13/frontpage-migrators.aspx

End of my soapbox.

Pat

 

[Rob Giordano [MS MVP]]

Nothing is keeping you from continuing to use FP



--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Giordano
Microsoft MVP Expression Web

 

[Rob Giordano [MS MVP]]

they both track link changes

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Giordano
Microsoft MVP Expression Web

 

[Patricia Geary]

But with these alternative editors (and including Dreamweaver) I fail
to see how even the simplest functionalities such as keeping track of
links works. With FP you could change the name or folder of a file and
the changes would ripple through the whole site. I do not see that
functionality with these other apps. It appears that the automoation
that made FP easy to use has been replaced by hand editing and
rebuilding on a massive scale.

==============

As long as you have actually created a website and have maintain site using
metadata files turned on which it is by default on a website, FP, EW, and
SPD do the exact same thing. Rename a file from within the program and the
links are adjusted, Move a file to another folder and the links ae
adjusted.. This happens as long as you use relative file links. If you are
using the full url to link to a site and then change a file name, then no
the links are not adjusted. But this was also true in FP.

Not sure where you are getting your info but it is WRONG.

pst

 

[Jeff Zeitlin]

It's swell that those who are more adept at coding have no trouble with
Expression Web, but for the more casual user, it is a major step
backward from FrontPage. The poster has valid points.

Another point that the OP missed, which also adversely impacts
conversion from FrontPage to Expression Web, is that even design-time
FrontPage Components that do NOT require the server extensions (for
example, the third-party MenuPlus Navigation Bar generator and Table of
Contents Generator) are not supported, and useful alternatives are not
provided.

On top of that, Expression Web does not appear, even at version 3, to
support the Navigation View (nor, therefore, any components/macros/etc.)
that could rely on it for generating navigation) that FrontPage did,
which made generating site navigation so easy.

I have found Expression Web so deficient that I made a significant
effort and managed to "hack" an installation of FrontPage 2003 onto my
Windows 7/64 computer (not much of a hack; just needed to figure out how
to NOT use the supplied SETUP.EXE - info available on request), just so
that I could continue to maintain a website - done in FrontPage - that
currently has over 1000 pages and has been operating for fifteen years.
Over that time, through the use of templates and knowledge of HTML and
CSS, I have "beaten FrontPage into submission" and get generally clean
code, generally conformant to relevant standards.

 

[Patricia Geary]

And now many are faced with converting FP sites to SD sites to EW
sites? Or is it possible to go straight from FP to EW?
============
FP, SPD, and EW are TOOLS to design and edit sites. Depending on which
features you have chosen to use, your site could be edited with any editor
or even notepad if you so choose. I use all versions of ew, spd, and fp to
help others. Which tool I use depends on what the individual I am helping is
using.

So you are not converting a site to a fp site or an ew site or an spd site,
you should be converting, migrating or whatever you site to a standards
compliant site so that as the Internet progresses and browsers progress,
those who might want to view your site can do so with their choice of
browser no matter what it is.

SPD is more like EW 1. Learn to use the features in it and then move on to
EW if you so choose. Or continue to use FP as you currently do.

Only you can make the decision. There are many who will remain with FP and
if it suits there needs, OK. There are also many of us out there who will
continue to help those who need it and want it. Most of us are NOT employed
by MS. We do it because we enjoy it.

pat

 

[MikeR]

Forget Expression (Web) etc. until the bugs have been ironed out of
it: See:

http://www.prorganize.com/reviews/pages/Microsoft-Express-Web-Blend.html

SB

I've not used EW, but I have replaced FP with the free SharePoint Designer. Pretty
seamless transition in my case.
Mike

 

[CJB]

I've not used EW, but I have replaced FP with the free SharePoint Designer. Pretty
seamless transition in my case.
Mike

Thanks - that's encouraging. I have just downloaded SPD - soent all
afternoon in Pret on The Cloud (for free!!). Have to try importing my
FP site into it. But I'm wondering how to retain the FP theme? It uses
style sheets, and a bunch of graphics (for the background and bullet
points). And I'm wondering how the page and graphics links will remain
connected. But I don't have shared boarders thankfully. CJB.

 

[Ronx]

Make a backup or two of the website - just in
case of accidents.
Open the site in SPD

SPD will not support VML graphics (text boxes,
wordart, shapeart etc) in any way, but there
should be no problems with anything else
FrontPage handles.
--
Ron Symonds
Microsoft MVP (Expression Web)
http://www.rxs-enterprises.org/fp/wf-menu.aspx


CJB used his keyboard to write :

 

[Tina Clarke]

Thanks - that's encouraging. I have just downloaded SPD - soent all
afternoon in Pret on The Cloud (for free!!). Have to try importing my
FP site into it. But I'm wondering how to retain the FP theme? It uses
style sheets, and a bunch of graphics (for the background and bullet
points). And I'm wondering how the page and graphics links will remain
connected. But I don't have shared boarders thankfully. CJB.

Don't import

open fp
backup your site
http://accessfp.net/backupfp.htm

then open expression web or sharepoint designer 2007 and browse to the
location of your web .... select it and open it ..

it really is that simple... that way you have all you should have no half
measure like with inporting which can and will miss things.

make sure you set up sharepoint designer 2007 or expression web .. with sp07
choose the ew 1 ebook
Setting up Expression Web Ebook ( Free )
http://any-expression.com/expression-web/ebooks/setting-up-expression-web-ebook.htm

if you want some free well coded validating templates to play with (spd 07
does not have any - and the ew one's leave something to be desired) then pop
along to http://www.frontpage-to-expression.com/site-templates/ where there
are 17 different layouts which will can be made available from within the
prog itself.. they are dwts with basic pages and there are tutorials to help
even if you dont use them its good to practice with.

This tutorial will help you with further aspects.
http://www.experts-exchange.com/art...grating-from-FrontPage-to-Expression-Web.html

If you want to keep your theme then you will have to save the style sheet
and the graphics and put it together as a template to be turned into a
dwt....

Free Expression Web Dynamic Web Templates Ebook
http://any-expression.com/expression-web/ebooks/expression-web-dwt-ebook.htm

actually sounds like a good idea for a tutorial ... but not sure I want to
encourage people to use a look everyone has ... perhaps it could be based on
custom designed theme!.. have to think about that one

anyways .. thats your best way forward.. .shout if you need any help

Tina
Expression Web Tips Ebooks
Launch price $7 - 26 EW Tips each. Bundle $13 vol l & ll
http://any-expression.com/expression-web/ebooks/

 

[CJB]

Don't import

open fp
backup your sitehttp://accessfp.net/backupfp.htm

then open expression web or sharepoint designer 2007 and browse to the
location of  your web .... select it and open it ..

it really is that simple... that way you have all you should have no half
measure like with inporting which can and will miss things.

make sure you set up sharepoint designer 2007 or expression web .. with sp07
choose the ew 1 ebook
Setting up Expression Web Ebook ( Free )http://any-expression.com/expression-web/ebooks/setting-up-expression...

if you want some free well coded validating templates to play with (spd 07
does not have any - and the ew one's leave something to be desired) then pop
along tohttp://www.frontpage-to-expression.com/site-templates/where there
are 17 different layouts which will can be made available from within the
prog itself.. they are dwts with basic pages and there are tutorials to help
even if you dont use them its good to practice with.

This tutorial will help you with further aspects.http://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/Web_Development/Software/Exp...

If you want to keep your theme then you will have to save the style sheet
and the graphics and put it together as a template to be turned into a
dwt....

Free Expression Web Dynamic Web Templates Ebookhttp://any-expression.com/expression-web/ebooks/expression-web-dwt-eb...

actually sounds like a good idea for a tutorial ... but not sure I want to
encourage people to use a look everyone has ... perhaps it could be basedon
custom designed theme!.. have to think about that one

anyways .. thats your best way forward.. .shout if you need any help

Tina
Expression Web Tips Ebooks
Launch price $7 - 26 EW Tips each. Bundle $13 vol l & llhttp://any-expression.com/expression-web/ebooks/

Thank you for your advice. Silly question - what's a dwt file?

Chris B.