Frontpage HTTP Support Dropped From Windows Hosting

[Dynaweb]

For those users still hanging on to Frontpage, the outlook is not looking good.  I really have pushed for this technology (Frontpage Server Extensions or FPSE for short) -- to keep it here at HostNed for as long as possible.  What a struggle it has been!  Microsoft stopped supporting it in 2004 and full-on dropped it in 2006, but since we were operating on Server 2003, we were able to keep it up and functioning for 7 years additional.  Now that we have been forced to upgrade to Server 2012 (by MS just like dropping of Win XP), FPSE just is not wanting to work compatibility-wise.  I know the techs have been trying diligently to fit the square peg into the round hole, but it is just not going to work for us.

I understand how frustrating it can be.  HostNed started with 100% Frontpage support back in 2000. Last year our Linux servers lost Frontpage support and many users were disappointed. Personally, I was a user of Frontpage until last year, so I am part of the club. It was a wonderful product for the end user, although from a back-end admin perspective it has been riddled with problems most of it's history. There are more points I could make about trusting Microsoft, but no need to get into that now.

So we are left here in our current situation.  As a solutions provider, HostNed wants to help you maintain the web the way you need it.  I will present to you three options for proceeding:


1) You can still use Frontpage (or Expression Web) to connect to your site using the FTP method (as opposed to the HTTP method).  Using this method still "works" but fancy functionality is lost -- shared borders, web forms (which I know you are currently reliant upon), and other things.  This is a good option for maintaining the current look site structure, but it can be tricky programming back in the shared borders and web forms using pure PHP as would be necessary.  Since you are not too entirely savvy with programming, you would need to hire us (or your favorite programmer) to assist you with that. For more information on connecting to your webspace using Frontpage FTP method, see here http://my.hostned.com/forum/frontpage/using-ftp-to-publish-with-frontpage/

2) You can use our Web Presence builder (Sitebuilder, click here for demo) that we offer.  This is a great option for less savvy users as it provides a very Frontpage-like web-based interface to build and maintain the website.  It is a professional level solution and costs a bit more for the licensing (currently $11/mo covers the entire package including hosting and domain name).  Mail forms are created with no technical knowledge necessary.  You may still want to hire us (or your favorite programmer) to transition a current website over to this platform, but from there maintaining it is pretty easy and required no special software -- everything is maintained on the back-end by us.

3) You can choose to use a popular CMS (content management system) like Wordpress.  Creating websites using Wordpress is the latest trend in webmastering.  It is not as simple a solution as option 2, but with a bit of learning it can be used to build powerful websites.  You may still want to hire us (or your favorite programmer) to transition a current website over to this platform as well.  Maintaining and making changes can be tricky, but for moderately savvy users it can work quite well.

For more info or specific questions, contact us.