Porting Publisher-built Site to Other

[LarryP]

I'm a rank amateur who has been fiddling around with a "family website" for
about a year now, just for fun. I've learned how to do some things with
Publisher, but am starting to bump into the "works in IE but not in Firefox
(or Chrome, or Mozilla, or whatever)" problem.

My question is, if I were to invest in a different, more
multi-browser-friendly website builder software, is it possible to "port"
everything I've done so far in Publisher over to the new platform? And if
so, would moving it over to the new software automatically fix the code that
was causing the problems? I'd hate to think I have to start over from Square
One.

Of course I realize the answer to my question would probably depend on WHAT
new software I went to, so if anyone can provide suggestions in that regard,
please do. As I said, I'm a supreme beginner and probably won't ever do more
than dabble, so I don't want to buy some 4-figure software package, but I've
become interested enough that I might consider dropping a couple hundred to
reduce my frustrations with what Publisher can and can't do.

 

[Don Schmidt]

I use Publisher 2000 and its sites seem to be pretty good as being
compatible with browsers.

If you are using a later version of Publisher (let us know version) what is
a fix what seems to make your site compatible with most browsers.

Within your publisher file open it and gather the entire page with your
mouse and ungroup all text and image boxes.

If this is leaving you a bit of unknowing what to do, hang on, others will
be along shortly and can help you.

 

[DavidF]

Publisher html code is proprietary, and you will not be able to import it
successfully, or should I say, satisfactorily into any other program. It
will be better to start over.

MSFT offers Expression Web for building standards compliant webs. It will
require you to learn some html and CSS coding. You might want to read some
of the posts in the newsgroup or forum for more information. You can
download a trial version to test. You might also check out SharePoint...it
is now free.

If your needs are simple then you could also look to your webhost. Chances
are they also provide simple web building software that might be cross
browser compatible. You could also consider blogging software...lots of
choices out there. The best choice depends on your goals and the scope of
what you want to accomplish. It is also possible that what you are wanting
to do is simply not possible or practical regardless of what software you
want to use. Sometimes there is no html equivalent for some print
formatting...

If you want to provide a link to your site and tell us specifically what is
not working in all browsers, chances are we could tell you how to fix it, or
perhaps someone will be able to make a better, more specific recommendation
as to what software to use.

DavidF

 

[Rob Giordano [MS MVP]]

As DavidF says...no you can't, Publisher's code is not compatible with
anything else.

Expression Web cost $99.00 - you only need to buy the upgrade. There's a
timed trial version on MS website.
Sharepoint Designer is Free from Microsoft.
Dreamweaver is $$$

All have a learning curve.

 

[David Bartosik]

Actually SharePoint Designer takes Publisher (filtered) web pages pretty
well. The results may differ depending on the complexity of the layout done
in Publisher but it's a good next step in trying something new. Be sure to
not use the default html code instead use the Save As, Filtered HTML when
saving the Publisher web to web pages.
--
David Bartosik
Office Publisher MVP
(2001 - 2006)

 

[DavidF]

Interesting. Thanks for posting that information. As Sharepoint is now a
free download this might be worth experimenting with for those people
wanting to move away from Publisher. Also, Publisher 2007 only produces
filtered html now. MSFT removed the option of producing 'rich' code.

DavidF

 

[Rob Giordano [MS MVP]]

I haven't tried it in SP, but have in FP, EW, DW and others and it would be
a daunting task to edit.

Where you been anyways?...been a long time!


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