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 FrontPage98 Web Hosting


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Congratulations, your account has been created on our FrontPage 98 Server.

You now have the ideal way to get your professional-quality Internet site up and running fast. Microsoft FrontPage 98® offers all the best new web technologies, plus powerful tools for all your web creation and management tasks.

Please view the "FrontPage Web hosting" website for the latest FrontPage Hosting information.

Commonly Asked Questions

Q: When I switch my existing BEST account to the FrontPage 98 server, will BEST move my files from the old account to the new FrontPage account?
A: No. You will have to make a backup of your web files from the old machine and publish them onto the new FrontPage account.

Q: When I switch my existing BEST account to the FrontPage98 server, will anything in my settings change?
A:
Yes, your shell, mail, & ftp server will change to fpage?.ba.best.com where '?' reflects the exact machine number you are on (i.e. ? = 2 for 'fpage2.ba.best.com', and ? = 3 for 'fpage3.ba.best.com). This changes where your email program receives incoming mail and where your files are stored on the Internet.

Q: I have a copy of FrontPage 97. Does BEST support it?
A: YES, The FrontPage 98 extensions are backwards compatible with FrontPage 97. This means that you can use FrontPage 97 to manage your web site, but you will be unavailable to take advantage of the new FrontPage 98 features.

Q: Once I have switched to a FrontPage 98 account, how do I publish my web site?
A: You actually have a few options. You can either publish your web site with the FrontPage Explorer Publish Function, the FrontPage Web Publishing Wizard, or by any common FTP client, such as  WS-FTP or Cute FTP.  If you decide to publish your site with any program other than 'FrontPage Explorer', you should be forewarned that any FrontPage specific component including forms will not function properly.

Q: How can I test that the FrontPage Server Extensions are properly installed for my account?
A: The easiest way to do this is by logging directly into your account with the FrontPage Explorer by performing the following steps.
1. Open the FrontPage Explorer program
2. Single click on the 'File/Open FrontPage Web' pull down menu
3. Single click on the 'More Webs' button in the box that popped up previously
4. Type in "http://www.yourdomain.com/" where 'yourdomain' is your actual domain name in the 'Select a Web server or disk location' field
5. Single click on the 'List Webs' button
6. In the 'FrontPage Webs Found at location' box, double click on the '<Root Web>' entry
7. Type in your normal username and password when prompted
8. If you see a normal listing in the FrontPage Explorer program, and if you did not receive any errors during this process, your FrontPage Server Extensions are most likely installed properly

Q: I am trying to publish my site with FrontPage98, but the 'Web Publishing Wizard' dialog boxes keep coming up prompting me for an FTP site and path?
A: This can be caused either by the FrontPage Server Extensions not properly being installed, or by reaching a built in timeout in FrontPage98 that has been reported to happen with abnormally slow modem and internet connections. If you have determined that the problem is not due to the FrontPage Server Extensions being improperly installed, all that can really be done is to test your internet connection and try to speed it up as much as possible to overcome this built in timeout. Unfortunately, there is no known workaround at this time due to the problem being hardcoded into the FrontPage Explorer executable itself.

Q: I have published my site, but the default page that was created with the account keeps coming up when I browse to my domain?
A: This page is displayed because the web server cannot find another page to index in the 'public_html' directory of your account. If you uploaded your site as a subweb (i.e. http://www.yourdomain.com/subweb), FrontPage will create a subdirectory in your public_html directory and upload the web there instead of replacing this document with your new index file. To replace this document, either upload a new 'default.htm' file to the <Root Web> (i.e. your 'public_html' directory) to replace this file, or create a new document in the <Root Web> and name it either 'index.htm', or 'index.html'.

Q: I am having a problem with FrontPage created forms or components, and the error message seems to indicate that a '.dll' file is missing?
A: This is simply a result of not uploading the site through the 'FrontPage Explorer's Publish Function'. A good example of this is can be seen by submitting a form, that results in an error page which contains either 'shtml.dll', 'author.dll', or 'admin.dll' in either the URL, in the error message, or both. On Windows based systems the FrontPage Extension executables end in '.dll', but under Unix, they end in '.exe'. Usually, when a site is published via the FrontPage Explorer, special translations take place to convert filenames, upload specialized files, etc. which is crucial for FrontPage related components to work.

Q: I am having a problem with FrontPage created forms or components, and the error message seems to indicate that a file named '_derived/nortbots.htm' is missing?
A:
In some situations, the FrontPage 98 Editor inserts a special HTML 4.0 compliant element named 'onSubmit' inside the '<form>' container tag. This special element causes non HTML 4.0 compliant browsers such as Netscape 4.0x to in effect break resulting in the "404 File Not Found" error massage. To fix this problem, you should delete the 'onSubmit' element inside the '<form>' container tag of the problematic page. This can be accomplished by opening up the page in the FrontPage 98 Editor and then switching to the html view by clicking on the "HTML" tab in the located in bottom left hand corner of the editor. Once in this view, search for the onSubmit="location.href='_derived/nortbots.htm';return false;" element inside the <form> container and remove it. After you have made the necessary change, save the page and then republish it to your site.

Q: Is there anything I can do to troubleshoot problematic pages that contain special FrontPage components or forms?
A: Absolutely, If you would like to try and troubleshoot the problem yourself, the best way is to log directly into your site at 'http://www.yourdomain.com/' with the 'FrontPage Explorer' and verify that none of the problematic pages were last modified by 'unknown'. The 'unknown' user results from the file being uploaded by some method other than the 'FrontPage Explorer' and is an indication that the special translation process never happened. In some cases, you might be able to remedy simpler problems either by recalculating the webs hyperlink index database from the 'Tools/Recalculate Hyperlinks' command, or by opening up the page in the FrontPage Editor by double clicking on the page and then just resaving it. If you find that the above methods don't help, you should just try completely re-uploading the web containing the problematic page via the standard 'FrontPage Explorer' program.

Q: I am having a problem with FrontPage created forms, and the error message seems to indicate that a file is missing?
A: This is simply a result of not uploading the site through the 'FrontPage Explorer's Publish Function'. A good example of this is can be seen by submitting a form, that results in an error page which contains either 'shtml.dll', 'author.dll', or 'admin.dll' in either the URL, in the error message, or both. On Windows based systems the FrontPage Extension executables end in '.dll', but under Unix, they end in '.exe'. Usually, when a site is published via the FrontPage Explorer, special translations take place to convert filenames, upload specialized files, etc. which is crucial for FrontPage related components to work.

Q: Is there anything I can do to troubleshoot problems with FrontPage components or forms?
A: Absolutely, If you would like to try and troubleshoot the problem yourself, the best way is to log directly into your site at 'http://www.yourdomain.com/' with the 'FrontPage Explorer' and verify that none of the problematic pages were last modified by 'nobody'. The 'nobody' user results from the file being uploaded by some method other than the 'FrontPage Explorer' and is an indication that the special translation process never happened. In some cases, you might be able to remedy the problem simply by opening up the page in the FrontPage Editor by double clicking on the page and then just resaving it. But in most cases you will just have to completely re-upload the page via the standard 'FrontPage Explorer' program.   

Q: I am trying to use the SSI Counter from http://www.best.com/faq/faq0015.html on my page, but it doesn't appear to be working?
A: The SSI counter does not work because it is actually a feature built into our proprietary web server, and is not part of the standard SSI library for NCSA based web servers. Since the FrontPage machine is running on Apache, which is closely based on NCSA, this particular SSI will not work. In order to place a counter on your web page, it is recommended to use either the built in Counter WebBot from FrontPage 98, or obtain a third party counter package such as the  "Cory Counter", or "WebCounter".

Q: I am trying to password protect a directory like http://www.best.com/faq/faq0031.html describes, but it doesn't appear to working?
A:  This particular FAQ only describes the process of implementing this feature on our own proprietary web server. Since the FrontPage server is running an Apache based web server, the process is slightly different. A good document describing how to implement this feature on Apache web servers can be found at http://www.apacheweek.com/features/userauth.

Q: What about questions regarding how to set up Bot components, or other forms-related questions? CGI support?
A: CGI's that work in a UNIX environment will work on the FrontPage server. If your CGI doesn't work, please see the FAQ entitled "Top 14 Reasons Why your CGI Script Isn't Working page". BEST Technical Support does not support CGI scripting, and can only point you back to the FAQ page. As for Bot components, the BEST FrontPage server is 100% compatible with the FrontPage 98 server extensions for Unix Apache based platforms. All other questions regarding FrontPage components should be directed to Microsoft's technical support.

Q: What are all the _vti_* folders/directories and files in my public_html directory??
A: These files are actually part of the FrontPage98 Server Extensions for your account. These are required to be there in order for FrontPage to work. If for some reason any of these files/directories are deleted or corrupted, you must email the FrontPage Administrator at fpadmin@best.net to reinstall the server extensions for your account.

*NOTE:  Do Not Delete Any Of The Files Or Directories Listed Below From Your 'public_html' Directory!!!

Directory: Files:
/ .htaccess , _vti_inf.html , postinfo.html
/_private .htaccess
/_vti_bin .htaccess
/_vti_bin/_vti_adm .htaccess
/_vti_bin/_vti_aut .htaccess
/_vti_cnf .htaccess
/_vti_log .htaccess
/_vti_pvt .htaccess , access.cnf , botinfs.cnf , bots.cnf , deptodoc.btr , doctodep.btr , frontpg.lck , linkinfo.cnf , service.cnf , service.grp , service.lck , service.pwd , services.cnf , structure.cnf , svcacl.cnf , writeto.cnf
/_vti_txt .htaccess
/cgi-bin .htaccess
/images  

Publishing With The FrontPage Explorer

Please start your internet connection before performing the following steps.
If you experience any problems publishing, write email to support@best.com for further assistance.

     Entire Site Publishing
1. Open the FrontPage Explorer program
2. Single click on the 'File/Open FrontPage Web' pull down menu
3. Single click on the 'More Webs' button in the box that popped up previously
4. Type in "localhost" in the 'Select a Web server or disk location' field
5. Single click on the 'List Webs' button
6. In the 'FrontPage Webs Found at location' box, double click on the '<Root Web>' entry
7. Type in your normal username and password when and if prompted
8. Single click on the 'File/Publish FrontPage Web' pull down menu
9. Type in "http://www.yourdomain.com/" where 'yourdomain' is your actual domain name in the 'Destination Web Server or File Location' field  and single click on the 'OK' button
10. Uncheck the box next to 'Publish Changed Pages', and check the box next to 'Include Child Webs' and then single click on the 'OK' button
11. Type in your normal username and password when prompted
12. You should see the progress reported as the percentage done in the bottom right hand corner of the FrontPage Explorer program
13. Once complete, your entire site should be successfully published to your account on the FrontPage server
     General Everyday Publishing
1. Open the FrontPage Explorer program
2. Single click on the 'File/Open FrontPage Web' pull down menu
3. Single click on the 'More Webs' button in the box that popped up previously
4. Type in "localhost" in the 'Select a Web server or disk location' field
5. Single click on the 'List Webs' button
6. In the 'FrontPage Webs Found at location' box, double click on the FrontPage web that you wish to publish
7. Type in your normal username and password when and if prompted
8. Single click on the 'File/Publish FrontPage Web' pull down menu
9. For publishing directly to the '<Root Web', type in "http://www.yourdomain.com" where 'yourdomain' is your actual domain name in the 'Destination Web Server or File Location' field. This will make the published pages browsable at 'http://www.yourdomain.com/pagename.htm'.
10. For publishing to a named subweb, type in "http://www.yourdomain.com/subwebname/" where 'yourdomain' is your actual domain name, and "subwebname" is the name of the desired subweb in the 'Destination Web Server or File Location' field. This will make the pages browsable at 'http://www.yourdomain.com/subwebname/pagename.htm'.
11. Single click on the 'OK' button
12. Make sure that both checkboxes next to 'Publish Changed Pages', and 'Include Child Webs are unchecked and then single click on the 'OK' button
13. Type in your normal username and password when prompted
14. You should see the progress reported as the percentage done in the bottom right hand corner of the FrontPage Explorer program
15. Once complete, the FrontPage web that was selected should be successfully published to your account on the FrontPage server

Publishing With The Web Publishing Wizard

There is no information regarding the process of publishing your site with the 'Web Publishing Wizard' at this time. Please contact Microsoft for further information regarding the 'Web Publishing Wizard'. Please be advised that if you decide to publish a FrontPage authored site with any program other than the 'FrontPage Explorer' that FrontPage related components within the site including forms will not function properly.

Publishing With Common FTP Clients

To publish your Web using FTP, you should read the BEST FAQ 'Configuring FTP Programs'. There is also an 'Easy File Uploader' that we recommend to our Netscape users. Please be advised that if you decide to publish a FrontPage authored site with any program other than the 'FrontPage Explorer' that FrontPage related components within the site including forms will not function properly.

Email Specific Changes

Miscellaneous Changes


(c) Copyright 1996-98 Best Internet Communications
Best Internet Communications does not assume responsibility for the validity of the information contained within this document. While we try to keep all information we make available current, because of the nature of the Internet, sites change and information becomes old rapidly.

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