Technical Support Control Panel


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General Questions:
What is FrontPage and why do you support it?
What are FrontPage extensions?
How do I get them installed on my site?
Why do I need them?
How do I publish my site?
Which password do I use for FrontPage?
Can I use FTP and FrontPage together?


Is there anything special that I need to do for SSL?
What support do you offer for FrontPage?
Where do I find additional information on FrontPage?

Common errors:
My WebBots are not working.
I cannot log into my site using FrontPage.  

 What is FrontPage and why do you support it?  
FrontPage is a web authoring tool that allows you to write and design your web site on your own computer and publish the final product to a distant server, such as ours.  Once your site is on our server you can republish changes or you can open the site directly on our server for minor changes and updates.   We support FrontPage because it offers both new and experienced webmasters a versatile platform that is designed to integrate with our Windows NT servers.

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What are FrontPage extensions?
According to Microsoft, "FrontPage server extensions are a set of server-side applications that:

  • Let multiple users simultaneously collaborate on the same Web site and Web Server (Multi-user Authoring).
  • Let users write directly to the Web server using a PC or laptop computer from anywhere in the world via the Internet (Remote Authoring).
  • Let users include forms on their Web site and specify how the results of those forms are handled.
  • Let users include discussion Webs on their Web site.
  • Provide full text search capability on a Web site.
  • Let users include hit counters on their Web site.

This "pre-packaged" functionality lets users incorporate these advanced features without having to write the complex server-side programs typically required. FrontPage is the only Web creation and management tool that offers all of these features."

Why do I need them?
Even if you don’t use WebBots, you will need to publish.  Without FrontPage extensions, you wouldn’t be able to even log onto your site through FrontPage.

How do I get them installed on my site?  
They are automatically installed on every web site that we set up.  If for some reason they were deleted, you can send a message to support@coastline.com and we will reinstall them for you.

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How do I publish my site?
The best source we’ve ever found for that information is actually on Microsoft’s site.  It is the white paper and although it can be technical, the step-by-step instructions at the bottom of the page are excellent.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/languages/fp/2000/fppublsh.asp

Which password do I use for FrontPage?
Use your FTP password you received when you first signed up.  Although your client password is the same for all of your sites, each site has a unique password.  If you need it resent to you, contact support@coastline.com.

Can I use FTP and FrontPage together?
Theoretically you can but in practice you shouldn’t.  When you create new folders in FrontPage it automatically creates the necessary server extensions in the folder.  When you FTP a folder into your root, it will not have extensions and therefore will not function.  

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Is there anything special that I need to do for SSL?
That depends.  If you are using our ASPMail form or a similar form designed using ASP, then you don’t need to do anything special.   If you are using WebBots for your form, please let us know so we can make the necessary changes to your site.

What support do you offer for FrontPage?
We support the functionality of the site – installing extensions, applying appropriate permissions to database folders. 

Where do I find additional information on FrontPage?
The Microsoft site has a large section on FrontPage – tutorials, downloads and white papers (technical briefs).

General information and downloads:

http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/welcome/frontpage.asp

Once you get your feet wet, this page is excellent for in-depth knowledge of FrontPage.

http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/fordevelopers.htm

Common errors:  

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My WebBots are not working.
The FrontPage extensions have probably not been updated.  Open your site on our server.  Make a small change.  Save.  If you want to undo the change, do so and then save again.  Open the site in a browser.

I cannot log into my site using FrontPage.
The answer to this depends on where you are having difficulties.

First of all, can you see your site through the browser?  If the answer is no, then you have other problems than FrontPage.  You should first go to Network Solution’s WhoIs and make sure your site is on our server and that it doesn’t need to be paid for (they expire after one year.)

Then, try to open the site.  From FrontPage, if you click on “Open Web” and type in http://www.yourdomain.com, FrontPage will try to access the site on our server.  If you never get any further, then you might be going through a Proxy Server or Firewall.  Contact your ISP to make sure you can get through and that their cache has been cleared.  (This is especially important if you recently moved the site to our server.)  

If you have a firewall or have firewall software installed on your computer, then you may need to adjust your settings to accommodate publishing on Port 80.

If you are not going through a Proxy Server or if you continue to have difficulties, contact us and we can reinstall your extensions.  Sometimes they do become corrupt and need to be repaired.

If you get to the password box and it gives you an error here, make sure that you are using the correct username and the FTP password, not your client password.  They can be different.  If you have problems here, it’s usually because your username or password is incorrect.  You can try three times before the server locks you out for a half hour.  It is a security feature to prevent hackers.  If you have forgotten the password, contact us and we can send you a replacement e-mail.

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