XP FP2003 -> Vista Expressions

[novus]

I currently have a lrge and complex website on XPFP 2003 on a local computer
which I publish to an ISP. When I can afford it, I plan to migrate to Vista
Expressions on new hardware ( about 3 to 6 months from now). I would like to
have done what work I can in advance to spped the transition. I also don't
want to make too much double work for myself with the additions to the
FP2003 website.

My main areas of concern about which I would appreciate advice are:

* My website is heavily driven by an Access database which Expressions does
not recommend. Can I still use Access to manage the database or do I need
different software?

* I make very heavy use of include pages (often nested). I believe
Expressions does not support them as such. Any advice or further information
on this matter would be appreciated.

* I use DWTemplates but still use one simple FP theme. Should I try to
eliminate this theme before conversion.

thanks, novus

 

[Mark Fitzpatrick]

Access is not recommended as a backend database for reasons that go beyond
Expression Web. The main part is Access degrades in performance the more
connections that are opened against it, especially when those connections
are performing Update/Delete tasks. ASP.Net is able to do connection pooling
so as to avoid opening too many, but eventually it will degrade as Access
was never designed for a high-hitting web environment. The rough estimate is
only about 10 or 12 connections will see an Access db start to fall apart.

Expression is moving away from the ASP and FP bot model into the ASP.Net
model. ASP.Net has different mechanisms such as Master Pages, which are nice
because the HTML doesn't need to be replicated in each subsequent page, only
the areas that are defined by content controls. ASP.Net also has user
controls, which can be defined by you, and these can be nested within
eachother in a fashion very similar to include pages.

EW and SharePoint Designer both work very well with existing FP webs, but
like all upgrades, keep a complete backup around. You may want to read up on
a few of the ASP.Net methods for doing overal page layout as that will give
you the best understanding of why EW does what it does. Then make a copy of
your site and try setting up some of those changes with the trial copy of EW
in order to see if it's a futile effort or a worthwhile experiment.
Unfortunately, it's not a cut and dry type of recommendation since every
site is designed completely differently and some ways just work better for
some sites than others.

 

[novus]

Thank you for that information Mark. I will be making the transition even if
I have to build the site again from scratch because I am already pushing FP
past its limit.

In trems of a database can I use Access to manage the data but then save it
into the website in a different recommended format or should I be looking at
a different database package altogether. If so what is a recommended one to
use with Expression Web.

novus

 

[Thomas A. Rowe]

An Access database can handle more then 255 connections at a time.

--
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Thomas A. Rowe
Microsoft MVP - FrontPage

http://www.Ecom-Data.com
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