FP03 won't import pre existing web site

[olyrose]

I have a website created by hand in html. I just installed FP2003 and would
like to import my website so I can manage it in FrontPage - it's getting too
big to do it manually anymore. All the instructions I can find say to use
the File menu - Import - Add New Folder command but when I go to File -
Import, there's no button for Add New Folder. There's a radio button for
Import from File System but when I try that, and navigate it to the folder
that contains the website pages, I get an error message 'Unable to Import
Website from File xxx. Please verify location.' I don't want to start over
from scratch, and I dont' want to download it from the server as I'm on a
dial up. I want FP to do what it's supposed to be able to do but it's
missing a button! I've tried Repair, and I've tried Uninstall and Reinstall.
What's wrong here? Both the MS website, and FP Help files say it should
work this way, and also the book on FrontPage2003 that I got. Why is this
button missing and what can I do about it?

 

[Rob Giordano \(Crash\)]

IF your web server has FP extensions installed you would Publish from the
server to your hardrive.
File | Publish Site
http://www.whatever.com then File | Publish Site to wherever on your
hardrive you store your webs.

Import doesn't bring everything down to your hardrive.


|I have a website created by hand in html. I just installed FP2003 and
would
| like to import my website so I can manage it in FrontPage - it's getting
too
| big to do it manually anymore. All the instructions I can find say to use
| the File menu - Import - Add New Folder command but when I go to File -
| Import, there's no button for Add New Folder. There's a radio button for
| Import from File System but when I try that, and navigate it to the folder
| that contains the website pages, I get an error message 'Unable to Import
| Website from File xxx. Please verify location.' I don't want to start
over
| from scratch, and I dont' want to download it from the server as I'm on a
| dial up. I want FP to do what it's supposed to be able to do but it's
| missing a button! I've tried Repair, and I've tried Uninstall and
Reinstall.
| What's wrong here? Both the MS website, and FP Help files say it should
| work this way, and also the book on FrontPage2003 that I got. Why is this
| button missing and what can I do about it?

 

[olyrose]

As stated, I'm on a dialup therefore I do not want to download from the
server, especially when all the files are right there on the hard drive.
downloading the whole site would take forever and a day.

How can I make Import work the way it's supposed to work?? what's missing?

 

[Ronx]

In FP2003, when I have a website open and choose File->Import... I get a
dialogue box with 3 groups of buttons: 2 groups on the right, and one group
at the bottom.
The groups on the right are labelled:
Add File ...
Add Folder ...
From Site ..

Modify ...
Remove

You need Add Folder ...

However, in general
never, ever, use Import to get a complete website into FrontPage.
Depending on which Import method you use it may only get those files that
can be browsed to from the Home Page of the site, and may leave behind any
images or files linked to by JavaScript, or databases, shared borders,
included files (both SSI and FrontPage). It will also miss any server side
coding. All the Import methods (Add File, Add Folder, From Site) will
always lose any Navigation settings, if importing from a FrontPage site.
The Import function was designed for individual files such as images, and
that do not use server side scripting.

The best way to get your web into FP is to open the web in FrontPage and
Publish it to where you want it -or just open the web in FrontPage and
leave it where it is.
File->Open Site (or Web if earlier than FP2003)
then browse to the folder holding your existing web.
FrontPage will convert the folder to a FrontPage web.

 

[olyrose]

Thanks for the reply Ronx. Open Site doesn't seem to work on something
that's not already a FP website. When I try Open Site, nothing ever comes
up, FP is waiting for me to point it at something it recognizes as being a FP
website and a folder full of html files doesn't seem to qualify. Now Open
File will, but does that mean I have to open each and every page in FP, and
save as a FP page, to import my website and have FP recognize it as a
website? will it then be able to go through and automatically change
hyperlinks and images everywhere they appear, and generally treat this
collection of html files as a contiguous website? that's what I need it to do
for me, I need site management far more than I need a wysiwyg html editor.

 

[Ronx]

Open FrontPage
File->Open Site
Browse to the folder that your web files are in (select the folder,do not
try to select the files), and click Open
FP will show a dialogue that offers to add information to the folder and
convert it to a web site - click OK.
NOTE that this dialogue has a check box that can be used to hide the
dialogue in future, this may already have been ticked.
The folder will open as a website.

When it opens in FrontPage you will see folders named _private and images,
in addition to your own folders and files.