Frontpage is Dead - Conversion to Expression (Web) Almost Impossible
SB
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
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
You simply haven't figured out how to use software properly, so you blame MS
for your own shortfalls.
"SB" <s_bye...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4311b9eb-baf0-4f05...@e2g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
: Microsoft in its wisdom abandoned Frontpage in 2007 along with all of
Craig Schiller
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.
>
>
>
> Tom Willett wrote:
> >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.
>
>
> - 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.
CJB
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
news:4311b9eb-baf0-4f05...@e2g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
> 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???
=========================
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
--
Pat Geary MVP Expression Web
http://www.expresstion-web-tutorials.com/
http://www.expression-web-tips.com/
Tina Clarke
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/articles/Web_Development/Software/Expression_Web/Migrating-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
CJB
wrote:
>
> Read my free setting up ebook for whatever version you are using
>
>
> there is one for dwt as well
>
> as for wanting to learn how to migrate .... this article might give you some
> insights...
>
> (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
>
> : 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
> > :
>
> - 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
"Patricia Geary" <patg...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:EC9C00D4-AA5A-4123...@microsoft.com...
Rob Giordano [MS MVP]
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Giordano
Microsoft MVP Expression Web
"CJB" <chris...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:39cab1bf-0e75-4d69...@j33g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
Rob Giordano [MS MVP]
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Giordano
Microsoft MVP Expression Web
"CJB" <chris...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:6f37b9d7-2bd3-422d...@37g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
LD5SZRA
produces no revenue to make its stockholders rich. From June this
year, even this newsgroup may not exist if there is any truth in
this report:
Or this report:
<http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.mspx>
On the positive side, the competitors will have the opportunity to
produce products that people like you would like to buy. IE8 won't
be available to XP users so Mozilla and other browsers will have
this wonderful opportunity to recover lost ground especially if
they implement latest CSS and HTML 5.
Microsoft has closed down many products as this list suggests:
1) Newsgroups shutting down;
2) IE8 not available to XP users (Mozilla and other browsers will
continue on XP systems)
3) Outlook Express not being developed
4) Hotmail can't be read in Outlook unless you also install a
Connector (new version just released on 20/04/2010)
5) If you criticize Microsoft products on forums, expect your
messages to be deleted;
6) MVP status being scaled down (hooray - who is going to miss
this? Not me for sure but Pig-Bear will)
7) Future products will only available online not on CD or DVDs
8) Microsoft Works version 10 not available on XP or Vista
9) Microsoft Office Accounting disbanded - the last version was
2009;
10) Frontpage brand disappeared.
The list goes on and on!
--
THE INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY
KIND. LD5SZRA DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESSED OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL LD5SZRA
OR ITS ASSOCIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER
INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF
BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF LD5SZRA OR ITS
ASSOCIATES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL
DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.
Copyright LD5SZRA 2010.
LD5SZRA
2) IE9 (not IE8) not available to XP users (Mozilla and other
browsers will continue on XP systems)
Patricia Geary
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
<cschi...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>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.
--
Jeff Zeitlin
jzeitl...@spamcop.net
Patricia Geary
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
I've not used EW, but I have replaced FP with the free SharePoint Designer. Pretty
seamless transition in my case.
Mike
CJB
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
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/articles/Web_Development/Software/Expression_Web/Migrating-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
wrote:
> > 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
>
> 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
>
> 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
> 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.
>
>
> 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....
>
>
> 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 & llhttp://any-expression.com/expression-web/ebooks/
Thank you for your advice. Silly question - what's a dwt file?
Chris B.
Hot-text
"CJB" <chris...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:2800e369-6cc9-480f...@a21g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
CJB
Tina Clarke
Thank you for your advice. Silly question - what's a dwt file?
Chris B.
sorry Chris....
its a dynamic web template .... its sort of a theme on steriods;)
let us know how you get on.. and shout up if you get stuck at any point ...
I've just installed wp over and over and over again .... to get it right in
moving my blog on the new host ..... each time i find something i did wrong
lol ... would be fun if i had'nt had to move computers too and to deal with
a bunch of offline things..... the second stage will be harder ... i swore i
wont make a theme till i can actually do it and know how to validate it so
will be immersed in morten's ew and wp tutorials at some point after other
projects are finished..... - the point being - enjoy the journey ;)
CJB
wrote:
Ok - thanks everyone for your help and interest.
I have now copied my FP web and then opened it into SPD. I see how
this works - up to a point. However I need to preserve the FP Theme(s)
and the style sheet files don't seem to work - in particular w.r.t
horizontal lines and bullet points and fonts. Luckily I don't use
shared borders!! How can I convert a FP Theme into SPD. This might
seem lazy but I have hundreds of pages to convert. And with FP you can
apply a Theme to the whole web site in one go - easy.
Thanks - Chris B.
Tina Clarke
I have now copied my FP web and then opened it into SPD. I see how
this works - up to a point. However I need to preserve the FP Theme(s)
and the style sheet files don't seem to work - in particular w.r.t
horizontal lines and bullet points and fonts. Luckily I don't use
shared borders!! How can I convert a FP Theme into SPD. This might
seem lazy but I have hundreds of pages to convert. And with FP you can
apply a Theme to the whole web site in one go - easy.
Thanks - Chris B.
Is this a custom theme?
whats your site link?
You just make a page with the elements of what you want..... if its a
generic theme ... .why not design something unique to you?
just look for the background graphic and any other images you want .. they
will be there in the folder list in the themes
When you say 'copy' your fp web .... hope you mean you published your site
to a new web on your hd? ...do it any other way and you are bound to lose
something....
a fp theme is so badly coded .... you really dont want to use any coding
from it ....
if you want to play about with a dwt ... these free Site Templates will let
you do that with spd ... which dont have the generic dwts that expression
web has as far as i can remember...
http://www.frontpage-to-expression.com/site-templates/
with a dwt you can apply the template to the whole site in one go - and have
a lot more control over it than a theme ... with a dwts editable and non
editable regions...
see my free dwt ebook to help you get started
http://any-expression.com/expression-web/free-dwt/
and follow the setting up ebook also free for expression 1 .. that way you
will be set up and it will cause you less problems.
Tina
F ree Expression Web Toolbar - Expression Web and Web Design Resources
http://frontpage-to-expression.com/expression-web-community-toolbar.html
Just posted new links to the toolbar - Make YOUR suggestions
Will work in FireFox IE and Safari
CJB
losing the FP one (tropo), but the tall ship / sailing one I'd like
to keep.
The other issue with the FP pages are that they are full of <div></
div> and <p text="xxxx"> kind of tags - most of which are redundant.
The only way of getting rid of these is to use use Edit # Find /
Replace - but there are so many varieties of redundant tags. FP is/was
too good at producing bloated HTML!!!
Examples of the themes are at:
http://chrisbrady.itgo.com/tallship/wantosail.htm (keep sound down)
Thank you -
Chris B.
CJB
Dreamweaver ... ?
1. copy FP web from HD to HD and *import* into SSD or EW or
Dreamweaver
2. copy FP web from HD to HD and *open* into SSD or EW or Dreamweaver
3. publish FP web from HD to HD and *import* into SSD or EW or
Dreamweaver
4. publish FP web from HD to HD and *open* into SSD or EW or
Dreamweaver
5. ...ditto all ... but import FP web from server ... etc.
I have over 100 pages - all with one of two FP themes - but do not use
FP extensions - but there's loads of Javascript. I need an easy way
convert all of these.
Please what is the best way? Thanks - Chris B.
Stefan B Rusynko
(Just Open the FP Site in SPD or EW - Do not Import it!)
- all of your options that say import will NOT get the entire site
--
_____________________________________________
SBR @ ENJOY (-: [ Microsoft MVP - FrontPage ]
"Warning - Using the F1 Key will not break anything!" (-;
_____________________________________________
"CJB" <chris...@gmail.com> wrote in message news:e047a2e2-14c8-4032...@37g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
Ronx
Make a backup of the website - there should always be an up to date backup.
Open the website in SD or EW.
Do NOT import - except when using the EW Import Wizard and you have the login credentials for the site. Importing without the credentials will leave bits of the website behind - often the important bits.
Do NOT copy. A FrontPage website contains _vti* folders, and the contents of these files are unique for each website, even if one website is an "exact" copy of another.
For Dreamweaver - never used Dreamweaver, probably never will, but Dreamweaver does not use the _vti* folders.
--
Ron Symonds
Microsoft MVP (Expression Web)
http://www.rxs-enterprises.org/fp/wf-menu.aspx
CJB presented the following explanation :
Ronx
Stefan B Rusynko expressed precisely :
ANONYMOUS
You could try Expression Engine Core and it is free to download and use
it. The link is here:
<https://secure.expressionengine.com/download.php?ACT=agreement&id=34>
Although it is not as easy as FrontPage 2003, it by far a better product
to start using HTML/XML/XHTML and CSS and to learn properly the
intricacies of this new technology!
The main website is here:
<http://expressionengine.com/>
The communities forum is here:
<http://expressionengine.com/forums/>
The user guide is here:
<http://expressionengine.com/docs/>
hth
Tina Clarke
that way you KNOW you have everything any other way .. you can lose
something ... even if you think you havent. Its also the easiest method you
can make a web before hand (empty is best) and name it or just do it on the
fly.
as for cleaning ... find and replace isnt the only method there are quite a
few others.
Have a read of this
http://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/Web_Development/Software/Expression_Web/Migrating-from-FrontPage-to-Expression-Web.html
Should get you started.
Migrating is not just a matter of having a new design you also have to clean
the old code and remove the old template/theme
since you want to remove the themes (but on one keep the graphics) ...
first backup three times
on your working web
do global removal for a few things
use fp to remove the theme
if you need the navigation you need to keep a note of it
if you have a doctype replace with the new one if you don't use the <html>
as as the hook to remove and replace with doctype and <html>
then open you folder list
look through the files by eye .. anything you want to remove?
any graphics hanging around in the root? - if so move them to your images
folder
look through the images (I think my article says how) to remove unlinked
images
then start with the first page in folder list ... open it and select all use
formatting - remove formatting use clean styles from the apply styles task
pane/panel
In Code View right click and choose 'Reformat HTML' you will be amazed at
how many errors this will correct. Used in conjunction with 'Optimize HTML'
which is right next to it on the dialog box and if your using a XHTML
doctype the 'Apply XML formatting rules' selection on the same dialog box,
will drastically reduce your error report and save you a LOT of time.
also use queries
http://any-expression.com/expression-web/tutorials/expression-web-querys.htm
only THEN ... look through the code to see what was missed and use find and
replace
if removing tables use table to text as well....
once you are sure that all the crap is gone
then apply your new template .. by making it a dwt dont forget to put
ediables around your description and keyword metas so that you had before
(dont worry if you dont) will be retained.... use page properties to insert
them or add to them or change them .. this is on the right click in design
view..
now i've to a bit mixed up if you have expression web or sharepoint designer
or are still with fp or what version you have.. quite a bit of that you can
do in fp03 ...
having expression web or spd07 tell you that there are errors though is only
in those .... enough to upgrade just for that...
there are lot more tweaks you can do too.
as far as dreamweaver is concerned I don't have a clue ..I prefer to use a
product that can do the same job but is much much cheaper;) .. both have
flaws but as with anything its the nut behind the wheel doing the driving;)
Tina
Migrating from FrontPage to Expression Web Ebook v2.0
New version includes help for EW 3.0
Find out how to transition from fp to ew with ease
http://www.frontpage-to-expression.com/ebook.html
"CJB" <chris...@gmail.com> wrote in message
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