Is Frontpage suitable for large sites?
Charles M. Kozierok
Hi,
I am working on a web site I hope to implement early next year.
It will probably contain several hundred pages comprising several
megabytes of text--few images, lots of text. I want to use
FrontPage because of the WYSIWYG, and also because I like
the idea of being able to create pages that include another
pages--that way I can make changes to all my hundreds of pages
at once instead of having to change them all individually (I *can*
do that, right? :) ) I also like the searching capability and
the fact that it works on the PC as well as on UNIX with the
extensions installed.
Anyway, I have seen some people saying that FrontPage seems to
grind down when given a large web. I was wondering if anyone
could give me some perspective on this? Thanks!
cheers,
-*-
charles
P.S. Is there any news on a new version of FrontPage in the next
year or so?
Robert B.
Hi there, I think I can give you a little perspective on this. First of
all, I have designed hundreds of sites, many of which have hundreds of
pages, and few that have over 1,000. Frontpage has been a Godsend for me,
and frankly, this newsgroup is populated by some of the most informative
and helpful people around. Conversely, if you jump into, say,
authoring.html, you'll just find a group of argumentative and obnoxious
people -- most of whom design web sites based upon some strange form of
HTML religion. Frankly, I've looked at some of the sites of people there,
and they're just plain void of anything even remotely interesting.
As for me, I use the Internet and HTML and everything else as tools of my
trade -- and when my clients are happy I am happy. And I can say that not
one single client has every complained about Frontpage because (1) it
generates extraneous code, (2) it produces shoddy output, or (3) it is
simply a means of creating an even greater monopoly for Microsoft.
Instead, it gives me the flexibitlity and freedom to produce large,
organized sites in a fraction of the time.
So with that in mind, I think you should "take the plunge"; but, you should
also keep a few things in mind. (A) You need a wpp that supports the MS
Frontpage extensions (there are plenty); (B) You should learn about
Frontpage (through a comprehensive book) before you get started -- that way
you'll know about things like the Include Bot (which is what you were
referring to earlier); (C) Understand that while it's WYSIWYG, it does have
limitations, and you'll find that you still need to deal with little
workarounds sometimes to get exactly what you want on a VARIETY of
browsers; and (D) be prepared, because simply by utlilizing this program
you'll incur the wrath of a lot of very strange and occasionally pathetic
web designers who apparently project their hatref of Bill Gates on the
users of Frontpage!!! (But even that can be fun, because some of them are
such simpletons!)
One other thing: Make extensive use of subfolders. When I started out using
Frontpage I DIDN'T learn all about it. Now, however, I know from experience
that subfolders (especially on a large site) make things much easier. Also
-- and this doesn't have much to do with Frontpage -- come up with a sound
strategy for naming your pages in a uniform and images and comprehnsible
fashhion. Right now I am adding to a site that I've had since the
beginning -- it has 5,000 pages and since I didn't put a lot of effort into
naming pages, images, and other elements in a smart way, I'm dealing with a
vertiable nightmare!
So GOOD LUCK!!!
ROBERT.
Charles M. Kozierok wrote in article <5opqhl$bd6$1...@news.thecia.net>...
Jay Gorrell
In article <5opqhl$bd6$1...@news.thecia.net>, i...@shell.thecia.net (Charles M. Kozierok) wrote:
>I am working on a web site I hope to implement early next year.
>It will probably contain several hundred pages comprising several
>megabytes of text--few images, lots of text.
The FP page editor will NOT handle large HTML files. I cannot create pages
over 70Kb each (others claim they can get up to 300Kb). Still this is a
serious bug that MS will not fix.
>I want to use
>FrontPage because of the WYSIWYG, and also because I like
>the idea of being able to create pages that include another
>pages--that way I can make changes to all my hundreds of pages
>at once instead of having to change them all individually (I *can*
>do that, right? :) )
I would double check this to make SURE someone else has got it to work on a
site that large.
> I also like the searching capability and
>the fact that it works on the PC as well as on UNIX with the
>extensions installed.
If you are referring to the search web-bot, you might want to look into other
alternatives, it is fairly limited. I do like the global spell checking, link
checking and easy file transfers.
>Anyway, I have seen some people saying that FrontPage seems to
>grind down when given a large web. I was wondering if anyone
>could give me some perspective on this? Thanks!
I think it also slows when uploading larger HTML files.
Jay Gorrell
j-d...@ix.netcom.com