Moving a FrontPage site

[Isidore]

I'm about to move my FrontPage site to a new host. The old host
(Earthlink - AVOID THEM) has been completely unresponsive in
maintaining my FP extensions and has refused to take responsibility
for their breakdown.

They also refused to do a backup for me. One of the symptoms of the
breakdown is that I can't publish my site either to my local computer
or to another host. (I also can't recalculate links or start a
discussion group, but that's another story). Consequently, the only
way I could back up the latest version of the site was via FTP. I
know this is a no-no, but since I've lost almost all of my FP
functionality anyway, that's the only thing I could do.

My plan is to rebuild the site locally to the best of my ability and
then upload it to the new host. One option I'm considering is to
remove all FrontPage components and then, when I'm sure everything is
clean, start reintroducing them.

Quetion 1: If I upload a site via FTP, can I turn it back into a
FrontPage site at a later date? Or must I recreate the whole site
locally in FP first?

Question 2: During Earthlink's attempt to reinstall the extensions,
all of my subwebs were turned into regular folders. Anyone have a
suggestion on how to remedy that?

I'm so frustrated with the problems this breakdown has caused that I'm
prepared to give on on FP altogether. I won't, because I'm used to
the site management interface, but this has been a horrific
experience.

I welcome any words of advice from anyone who has experienced a
similar nightmare.

I'm currently using FP2003, though the site was built with earlier
veisons.

Thanks in advance,
Isidore

 

[MD Websunlimited]

Does Earthlink provide WPP service with FPSE? The last time I checked they did not.

 

[Isidore]

Not quite sure what you're referring to. When I signed up with
Earthlink hosting (which is VERY expensive), I thought all that was
needed to use FP was that they offer extensions. Have the rules
changed?

If you could guide me to some easy reading on the subject I'd be most
appreciative.

Thanks,
Isidore

 

[MD Websunlimited]

WPP -- Web Presence Provider (Earthlink)

All that is required is the FPSE but do they provide it?

 

[Guest]

One suggestion I have to avoid such troubles is to ALWAYS build your site locally and then publish to your host. That way you will always have a backup on your local machine.

There is no reason you can't download the entire site via FTP.

 

[Craig Schiller]

Isidore -

Sorry you're having problems. I just wanted to add another perspective. I
have a website with Earthlink, and I have found their website support to
be outstanding: they are courteous and knowledgeable, and in the one
instance when no one got back to me within the time frame promised, they
were extremely apologetic. Certainly an oddity these days, given the
general wretchedness of tech support. Oh, and they're based in the United
States. If you want a REAL nightmare, try Yahoo!

In any case, whatever problems you're having with Earthlink should
certainly not prevent you from publishing to your own local computer. What
happens when you try?

Craig

 

[Craig Schiller]

Yes.

WPP -- Web Presence Provider (Earthlink)

All that is required is the FPSE but do they provide it?

 

[Isidore]

I'm certainly glad for you that you have such a positive impression of
Earthlink's hosting services. I did too, for many years. And yes,
they are courteous and extremely apologetic. But they have a lot to
apologize for, and it's maddening to get apology after apology when
you're looking for answers. BTW, the senior tech people I've been
connected to - at least the ones who have been willing to enter into a
dialogue with me - have been in India and the Phillipines. But enough
venting.

When I try to publish to my local computer, FP huffs and puffs for
about a quarter of an hour (on a broadband connection), then throws up
a time-out message. Same thing happens when I try to recalculate
links. When I try to install an FP component, I get error messages
telling me to contact my host and see if they have the FP extensions
properly installed. All this after an extensions reinstall I had to
beg for. The only thing I seem able to do is make simple html edits.

I'm not here to bad-mouth Earthlink. I've been a customer of their's
in one way or another for about 8 years. I'm here to see if I can get
an answer to my problem they won't provide and avoid rebuilding my
site elsewhere, or minimize the amount of labor I'll need to expend to
do so.

Thanks,
Isidore

 

[Isidore]

One suggestion I have to avoid such troubles is to ALWAYS build your site locally and then publish to your host. That way you will always have a backup on your local machine.

There is no reason you can't download the entire site via FTP.

You're right. No more editing on the host for me and backing up
periodically.

I've backed up via FTP successfully (barley-corns cross-fingers), but
I've heard so many cautionary tales about how FP won't mix with FTP
that I thought it would be prudent to see if I could get advice on
what to do when you're compelled to make that marriage.

Thanks again,
Isidore

 

[Craig Schiller]

Well, mileage may certainly different, and I'm sorry to hear you're having so
much trouble with Earthlink. Let's try to sort out some of your problems a bit,
then.

First of all, when you publish to your local hard drive, where are you
publishing FROM? Your on-line site? Your local web? If the latter, of course,
broadband has nothing to do with it.

Second, where do you have a GOOD, working version of your website? Only online,
only on your computer, or in both places?

Third, how are you trying to recalculate links? On your online website,
locally, or both? Is the same thing happening on both versions?

Fourth, when you try to install an FP component, which component are you trying
to install? At what point do you get the error message? Describe the process
you're trying.

The answers to these questions may give us a start on a way to help you.

Craig

 

[Isidore]

Well, mileage may certainly different, and I'm sorry to hear you're having so
much trouble with Earthlink. Let's try to sort out some of your problems a bit,
then.

First of all, when you publish to your local hard drive, where are you
publishing FROM? Your on-line site? Your local web? If the latter, of course,
broadband has nothing to do with it.

From the online site to a locl folder.

Second, where do you have a GOOD, working version of your website? Only online,
only on your computer, or in both places?

The online version is supposed to be the good one. I have exactly the
same site on my computer, but I downloaded it via FTP and am told that
kills FP functionality.

Third, how are you trying to recalculate links? On your online website,
locally, or both? Is the same thing happening on both versions?

Online. I get a timeout after 15 minutes and an error message
instructing to tell my host to reinstall FP extensions. I didn't know
that recalculatnig links was appropriate locally (is it?). I ran it
and saw a persistant hourglass that lasted until I moved my mouse.
There was no "finished" message. Same thing happened with the subweb
that contains the broken discussion group. I tried bringing the
frames page up in FP, and got a message in the index frame that reads,
"Could not open page(my local path)/articles/articles_tocf.htm.

Fourth, when you try to install an FP component, which component are you trying
to install? At what point do you get the error message? Describe the process
you're trying.

I'm trying to install a new Discussion Web to give my subscribers
something to use while I deal with the broken one. At this point, I'd
like to find a way to make an archive of the old discussion web and
find a fuller-featured 3rd party bulletin board package. The
FrontPage discussion group I'm trying to install would be a temporary
fix.

The answers to these questions may give us a start on a way to help you.

Thanks for your interest.