I do this a lot, but not with Themes. Basically:
1. Create a new FrontPage Web site with whatever starting
pages you want. Don't, however, use any FrontPage
components.
2. Close the site in FrontPage, then create a new
Visual Studio project, using the site's http://
address. If Visual Studio asks whether to open the
site with a file share or FrontPage, choose
FrontPage.
3. Delete the WebForm.aspx file that Visual Studio
creates by default.
4. In Solution Explorer, right-click the project
(not the solution) and choose properties.
5. Under Common Properties, click Web Settings. Then
select FrontPage and Link Repair. Click OK.
6. Choose Show All Files from the Project menu.
7. For each file that you want to work with in Visual
Studio, right-click it in Solution Explorer and
choose Include in Project.
From here you switch back and forth between FrontPage and
Visual Studio fairly easily. Just remember these points:
o Visual Studio won't be aware of any FrontPage features
you use. It knows nothing, for example, about Themes,
Dynamic Web Templates, and Navigation View. So, after
creating a new page in Visual Studio, you would have to
switch to FrontPage and manually apply any FrontPage
features you want.
o FrontPage isn't aware of the relationships among
files that Video Studio requires. So, for example,
if you rename an .aspx page in FrontPage, FrontPage
won't also rename the .aspx.vb and .aspx.res files
for you. It also won't update the codebehind and
inherits settings in the @Page directive, or the
class name in the .aspx.vb file.
o If you add files in FrontPage, they won't appear in
Visual Studio until you select the project in
Solution Explorer and choose Refresh from the View
menu.
Because I don't use Themes in this scenario, I can't
offer any specific advice in that area. FWIW:
o I always use linked style sheets rather than Themes.
o I use Web User Controls (.ascx files) rather than
Include Page, Page Banner, or SSI-include.
o I always use appSettings rather than Substitution
components or Application variables set in global.asax.
Jim Buyens
Microsoft FrontPage MVP
http://www.interlacken.com
Author of:
*----------------------------------------------------
|\---------------------------------------------------
|| Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Inside Out
|| Microsoft FrontPage Version 2002 Inside Out
|| Web Database Development Step by Step .NET Edition
|| Troubleshooting Microsoft FrontPage 2002
|| Faster Smarter Beginning Programming
|| (All from Microsoft Press)
|/---------------------------------------------------
*----------------------------------------------------
