Server Home Page rename Process

B

Bob

I need someone intimately familiar with the FP publishing process to
help me out here...

Question: when you publish to a web server with the extensions
installed, how does the "rename the home page to what the server
wants" process work ? That is, if I create a site with the home
page name of "default.htm", but the server wants to use "index.html":

a. what tells the publishing process that the required name is
"index.html" ?

b. where is this information (required name) stored/ how is it
maintained ?

c. does a process on the server do the rename or does the client
do it as part of the publishing routine ? (i.e. does the client
ask the server what name to use and then rename the page as it
is copied ? - or does the server "extension" on the server rename
the file after it is copied to the server ?

I am trying to work out an issue with a renaming problem that
the server folks suggest is oriented to the client... I think it is
related to their server. But, I need some more information first to
troubleshoot.

Thanks,
Bob
 
T

Thomas A. Rowe

When you publish to a server that has the FP extensions, the extensions will use the first default
document name (home page) in the default document list for the specific web site or if global set,
for the web server.

The extensions on the server do the rename and the updating of links when you see the message where
FP indicates that it is processing the updates.

To have the default document name changed, the web host just need to move the default document name
that you want to be the first one in the list, unless they use a global setting, which would affect
all sites hosted on the server.

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
WEBMASTER Resources(tm)

FrontPage Resources, WebCircle, MS KB Quick Links, etc.
==============================================
 
B

Bob

When you publish to a server that has the FP extensions, the extensions will use the first default
document name (home page) in the default document list for the specific web site or if global set,
for the web server.

The extensions on the server do the rename and the updating of links when you see the message where
FP indicates that it is processing the updates.

To have the default document name changed, the web host just need to move the default document name
that you want to be the first one in the list, unless they use a global setting, which would affect
all sites hosted on the server.
Click to expand...

Thanks. All makes sense. One more question: Is FP designed to rename
the default page *only* when it has the actual name "default.htm" on
the client at publish time ?

The situation I've run into is a server that will always rename client
"default.htm" to server "default.php". However, if I use index.html as
my client name, then it will not rename the page. ( The server accepts
both default.php and index.html as default page names for user-browser
access i.e. they are both in the list of acceptable default page
names and if I FTP a site there, I can use either).

Thanks,
 
T

Thomas A. Rowe

Bob,

Not sure I understand "Is FP designed...." but FP will rename the default document to what is
required on the remote server if a document of the required name is not in your local web when you
publish.

If the site has the FP extensions, you should not use FTP as it bypasses the extensions, and then FP
has no idea that you have made any content changes to the web, which may lead to other problems.

If you are using FP to manage your site and not using JavaScript or JavaScript DHTML menus, then it
really shouldn't matter what the default document name is, as FP would normally adjust all
hyperlinks if it renames the default document.

Search engine and user rarely will type http://www.domainname.com/defaultdocumentname instead would
just type http://www.domainname.com

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
WEBMASTER Resources(tm)

FrontPage Resources, WebCircle, MS KB Quick Links, etc.
==============================================
 
B

Bob

Bob,

Not sure I understand "Is FP designed...." but FP will rename the default document to what is
required on the remote server if a document of the required name is not in your local web when you
publish.
Click to expand...

OK... you gave me enough information to figure it out.

Front Page is naming the default page "Default.htm". When I publish,
the server sees that this page is not in the acceptable list of pages
and changes it to the first default name it has: "default.php".

When testing, I changed the name back (on the server) to
"default.htm". What was confusing is that that name still worked
as a default without the host name. The issue was actually the
capital "D" in "Default.htm". FP uses it on the client, the server
is *nix, it's case sensitive. So, even through "default.htm" is OK,
"Default.htm" isn't, and it gets renamed. When I "fixed" it several
times as part of this testing, I missed this capitalization issue and
as a result, it didn't seem to be operating according to the rules
you gave me for the publishing/rename. Now I see that it's operating
as expected.
If the site has the FP extensions, you should not use FTP as it bypasses the extensions, and then FP
has no idea that you have made any content changes to the web, which may lead to other problems.
Click to expand...

Understood. These are disposable webs I'm using for testing just to
figure out the larger issue.
If you are using FP to manage your site and not using JavaScript or JavaScript DHTML menus, then it
really shouldn't matter what the default document name is, as FP would normally adjust all
hyperlinks if it renames the default document.
Click to expand...

Let's just say it caused some interesting issues :)

Thanks,
 
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