How to Get FrontPage to Publish a Website

Using Microsoft's FrontPage web design software, you can publish your website either using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Using HTTP is the simplest and most convenient method of publishing your website, but publishing using FTP can be a useful strategy in some circumstances. If you want to use HTTP, FrontPage extensions must be installed on the website host server. If you can't or don't wish to use FrontPage extensions on the host server, you must publish your website by FTP.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Publish Your Website in FrontPage Using HTTP

1. Log into your website host server. Ensure that FrontPage extensions are installed and enabled.

2. Click "Publish Web..." in the FrontPage "File" menu. Type the URL of your web domain in the box marked "Enter publish destination." Click "OK."

3. Click the "Options" button in the lower left-hand corner of the "Publish Web" box. Select the "Publish" tab. Under "Publish," select whether FrontPage should publish all the pages in your website or only pages that have changed since your last publish. Under "Changes," select how FrontPage should determine whether a web page has changed. Click "OK."

4. Click "Publish." Click the hyperlink provided by FrontPage to see how your website looks on the server.

Publish Your Website in FrontPage Using FTP

5. Select "File," and click "Publish Web..." Under "Enter publish destination," type the name of your website host's FTP server. Click "OK."

6. Click "Options" in the "Publish Web" dialog box. Select the "Publish" tab. Under "Publish," choose whether FrontPage should publish all the pages in your website or only the pages that have changed. Under "Changes," choose how FrontPage should determine whether or not a web page has changed. Select "OK."

7. Click "Publish." Navigate to the URL of your website to view the published pages.

Tips & Warnings

• If you publish by FTP after installing FrontPage extensions on the website host server, the extensions will be automatically uninstalled. You must reinstall them to publish again by HTTP. You can also use FrontPage to publish a website on your local computer. In the "Enter publish destination" dialog box, enter the path of the publish destination on your hard drive instead of the URL of your website or the host's FTP server. If publication with FrontPage repeatedly fails and you can't solve the problem, look for help in Microsoft's help files or publish the website using a basic, free FTP program. Microsoft no longer sells FrontPage software, so many web hosts are phasing out FrontPage extensions.

References

• FrontPage 2003 Help and How-to
• FTP or HTTP?

Resources

• FileZilla free FTP software program