Dreamweaver 8 FrontPage Extension Support?

Question

Hi All,
I have posted this question in the Exchange Forum but I have
not received a response so I am expanding the question to the
General Forum in the hope that one/some of you have seen this
problem.
I have a client that requires me to work with a FrontPage
enabled server and to use FrontPage extensions. As some of you may
know there is an Extension, published by Adobe, that enables DW and
DWMX 2004 to work with FrontPage Extensions. These extensions
create an additional drop down menu item option in the 'Remote
Info' Category of the Site Definition Wizard.
However, the latest extension (for DW MX 2004) does not work
in DW8; the extra FrontPage extension option fails to appear in the
Site Definition wizard's Remote Info Access category.
Does anyone know how to enable DW8 to work with FrontPage
extensions and FrontPage enabled servers? Should the MX 2004
extension work in DW8? Should I be using a different exchange
download or can the MX 2004 extension be modified locally to allow
access to the FrontPage Extensions?
Any help, as always, is much appreciated.
Thanks.
Nick Barling
www.barkingweb.com

Answer 1

Before doing anything else, take a couple of weeks to
gothrough the DW
tutorials, and also to study HTML and CSS. The more you know
about those,
the easier your transition will be. DW expects alot more from
you than FP
did, and as a result, you may find it much more frustrating
to have the raw
reality of web development staring you in the face rather
than the wizards
of FP.
> Is there a way to convert a Frontpage site into a
> Dreamweaver site
1. I'd define a Dreamweaver site that points to a location on
your hard
drive for the local site's root, and to the current FP site
on the web as
the remote site
2. I'd use Dreamweaver (if your host supports FTP
connections) to download
the remote site to the root of the site you just defined on
the hard drive.
This will pick up all the pages *after* webbot action so that
shared borders
and all are already present in the page HTML. This will also
pick up all of
the server scripting. Note - in the event that you are not
able to connect
using FTP since some FP hosts block that protocol, you will
have to use a
third party 'site copier' like Black Widow, QuadSucker, or
WebCopier, (or
even the DW extension called SiteAssist from WebAssist) to
connect and
download using http protocols. Doing it this way will *not*
retrieve any of
your server-script code, if any (unless you have used the
WebAssist
extension).
3. I'd create a DW template for the pages, that captures the
"shared
border"
effect you had in FP.
4. I'd copy and paste content from each FP pages to a new
template child
page and then save the new child page with an easily
identifiable
nomenclature that is distinct from what was used on the FP
site (since you
are saving the new child pages into the same local site as
the FP pages).
5. When the basic site is completed, I'd upload the new DW
pages to some
staging area/webspace, and by using the browser, I'd verify
that the site
(as it now exists remotely) is complete.
6. Then I'd create a *new* DW site in a new location on the
hard drive, and
connect to and download all the files from the staging site.
7. You can now delete the original FP site from your local
system if you
want.
You now have a complete site (minus any of the FP extension
server-side
code) that has no FP footprint.
If you have used any FP server extension functions on the
original FP site
(form processing, guestbooks, tables of contents, etc.), you
will have to
recreate those functions in DW using 3rd party scripts, or
scripts that you
write yourself.
If this site will continue to be 'touched' by FP, don't even
think of using
DW on it.
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Adobe Community Expert
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
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==================
"robtattam" <[email protected]> wrote in
message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi, I am a newbie to using Dreamweaver.
> I am having a problem importing a site that has been
running in frontpage
> into
> dreamweaver.
> I run through the wizard but when I have finished the
wizard and it closes
> the
> program down, I re-open but yet my website is not in the
files section to
> the
> right of the screen.
> I have tried creating the folder and then drag and drop
into it, it seems
> to
> see the files, however does not recognise the documents.
> I am using the 31day free trial. Would this make a
difference??
> If anyone could help me to imoprt my frontpage site into
dreamweaver then
> you'll have a friend for life!!!!
> Please help a highly frustrated newbie??!!!
>
> Many thanks in advance
> Rob
>