Advantages for Using FrontPage... maybe this HTML editor has some hidden advantages

Ever since Ive been doing SEO work, Ive always griped and complained about FrontPage and all the extraneous code it puts in the section of the page, etc.

Then recently, I had the opportunity to visit with a group of advanced search engine optimizers, and I was shocked to find that many of them use FrontPage and love it.

FrontPage!!

The first thing I learned is that there are ways to keep out the extraneous code! With FrontPage, you can remove the code, but it keeps comes back again and again and again. But, there’s a way to get rid of it forever.

How to Get Rid of Extraneous Code and Headers

Dave Barry, Webmaster of SmartCertify Direct http://www.smartcertify.com, explains how:

FrontPage 97 or 98 users:

Click on Start, then Find, then Files or Folders. Search your hard drive generally your C drive for a file named frontpg.ini. Click on the file.

When it opens, look for a line that says, “Version 3.0.”

Add this line under Version 3.0:

HTMLREFORMAT=0

The next time you use FrontPage, remove the extraneous code and headers, and they won’t come back.

FrontPage 2000, 2002, or XP users:

Look at the menu bar at the top of the Open Web. Click on Tools, then Page Options.

You’ll see an option box. Under HTML Source, at the top of the page under General, you’ll have this choice:

When saving files:

Preserve existing HTML or Reformat using the rules below

If you choose Preserve existing HTML, and if you delete any extraneous code and headers, you won’t see the code or headers on your pages again.

To view an example screen shot showing the above, click here: http://www.academywebspecialists.com/newsletters/fp2.gif

Dave added:

“To disable the HTML changing of FrontPage 2000, a registry entry is also needed. This registry file http://www.academywebspecialists.com/newsletters/noreformat.zip will do it automatically. Just open the file with Notepad to verify its authenticity before using it.

“The attachment and registry entry must occur on the server.

“Or, if you want to edit the registry manually, here is the code:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftShared

ToolsWeb Server ExtensionsAll Ports]

"ReformatHtml"="0"

Add-In that Generates META Tags

FrontPage also has an Add-in that will delete META tags without going into the source view. It’s called META Tag Maker 2002, and it will create and manage META tags through one dialogue box, without having to go into source view.

http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/downloads/addin/searchdetail.aspaid=80

In fact, the FrontPage site has an amazing number of Add-ins for FrontPage that are free for the taking. http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/downloads/addin/def ault.asp

Some of the more popular Add-ins include:

Multimedia/Special FX, Windows Media Add-in, that will easily embed audio and visual into your Web pages;

Clear Teal Template, that is a 16-page easy-to-use Web template that lets you easily create a Web site;

Scripting/Database Tools, J-Bots Plus 2002 Trial. According to the FrontPage site, J-Bots components make FrontPage Web sites more customized by adding JavaScript-enabled features, but you don’t have to know how to write code or cut and paste. Simply fill in dialog boxes, click Generate, and the JavaScript is created for you.

Other Advantages for Using FrontPage

* Server side includes are easy with FrontPage. Before we go on, let me explain what “server side includes” are.

Server side includes SSI’s generate parts of Web pages dynamically on the “server side.” They allow you to add customization features to your Web pages, such as an e-mail form. Unlike other forms of dynamic content, or content that’s created on the fly, server side includes have a normal URL that’s easy for users to remember and doesn’t create problems for the engines.

In other words, SSI’s embed special commands into an HTML document that tells the server to perform specific actions when a user requests the page. The server then creates the Web page on the fly by merging files or inserting requested information.

How might you use SSI’s on your Web page Let’s say you want to add a form to your Web site for your users to complete to sign up for your newsletter. You could create the form using SSI’s.

For more information on creating SSI’s with FrontPage, visit: http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/using/default.htm and click on FrontPage Server Extensions.

* Dave Barry, who recently created two major sections of the Dell Web site using FrontPage, manages 40 to 50 Web sites at SmartCertify, and he easily moves back and forth between those sites using FP. With that many sites, there is a lot of duplicity, and he can effortlessly share objects with FP or edit multiple Web sites. With FrontPage, you can cut and paste between the sites, use shared borders, and easily drag and drop files, thus saving a lot of time versus handling each site separately.

If you’ve ever wanted to experiment with Cascading Style Sheets CSS, FrontPage also makes using them a breeze. You can even create DHTML using FrontPage.

Dave created a video on how to copy and paste, how to use Cascading Style Sheets, and how to use shared borders with Front Page:

http://www.smartcertify.com/seo/frontpage.asp

Author Note: When viewing these videos, make sure you have the latest version of Microsoft Windows Media Player. To download the latest version 7.1, click here http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspxscid=kb;en-us;Q299321. Also, I found that I was unable to view the videos if my firewall Zone Alarm was running.

* Another benefit to using FrontPage is being able to create virtual directories with ease. As you know, when you specify a home directory, all of the subdirectories beneath than home directory automatically become subdirectories of the Web site as well. However, you can also designate a folder located elsewhere on the system as a subdirectory of the site by creating a virtual directory out of it. A virtual directory is a directory or folder on a server that is not in the actual server directory structure.

Again, Dave created a video on how to create virtual directories using Front Page:

http://www.smartcertify.com/seo/iis.asp

* If you want to create a database, it’s no problem with FrontPage. It will virtually create a database for you and import data without any database knowledge at all. The program works with Access, SQL, Oracle, and ODBC, and you can set up an SEC-compliant database within 30 seconds and begin working with asp pages with no prior knowledge whatsoever.

Click here for Dave’s video on how to create a database using FrontPage:

http://www.smartcertify.com/seo/dwizard.asp

* To Lee Davies of #1 Internet Marketing http://www.1-internet-marketing.co.nz, the main advantage to FrontPage is that you can so easily manage all your html pages from the folders section.

For example, “If you were to rename an image, which is something that needs to be done when optimizing, it will rename the links to the images from every page,” he explains.

* What I kept hearing again and again as I interviewed users of FrontPage is that FrontPage saves you time in creating Web pages, because it’s so easy to use. Don Hammond with DonOMite http://www.donomit