http publishing problem - David???

[rjreilly]

I've exhausted my research here and working with my windows hosting provider.

I have developed a Publisher 2007 web site, not very large, with a form on
the contact page so i understand i need to publish via http to a windows
server with the appropriate FPSE.

Difficulty is when publishing to web, I am able to create the network
connection but there is no authentication (username password
dialogue/exchange) and i can not see the contents of my domain in the
publisher/explorer dialogue window. all i can do is try to publish without
authentication which causes a networking error.

any ideas? does the hosting server or the publisher client inutiate the
username/passwors authentication when trying to publish via http?

aplus.net 2nd level support guys assure me it is a Publisher problem and
tell me to contact microsoft. I think it is a server issue. I chose a plus
because they had the #1 spot on winbdows exchange so I thought it would be a
no brainer to get this published with aplus.

any ideas or shall I excercise my 30 day money back guarantee and transfer
my domain to another hosting provider. I don not want to redevelop this site
as a plus tech suggested, I have enough time invested already.

BTW aplus was able to assist gettingsite published via ftp but forms is not
working. I don't think they believed me http publishing was necessary to
intefrate with server-side software.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!!

David?

 

[rjreilly]

Thank you, David!

Will absorb all this and advise.;

domain is duedilly.biz
OS is Vista ultimate and i do have IE7

 

[rjreilly]

because i seem to be holding all the wrong cards. Is anyone willing to
publidh this site for me if i can repair the FPSE?

would be greatly appreciated and if you live within reasonable distance from
NYC i will buy you a beer.

 

[DavidF]

It may not be your host, but anytime someone tells an expert that they are
using Publisher to produce their website, you are likely to get flamed or
disrespected. What most of them don't realize is that you publish a
Publisher site just like a FrontPage site, using the FPSE.

You provided a lot of information, but not the most important. What is the
URL of your website? Are you using Vista or XP, and IE6 or IE7? If you are
using Vista then you may or may not be able to figure this out. Have you
tested it to see if the FPSE are working? It sounds like you have read this
article, but go back again, and it explains how to test the FPSE: Publisher
web publication forms 101:
http://msmvps.com/blogs/dbartosik/archive/2006/01/07/80564.aspx

And, now that you have uploaded with FTP, it is likely that the FPSE are
corrupted and will need to be reinstalled. If you log into the control panel
on the host, there is probably a way to disable or uninstall them, and then
turn them back on or reinstall them...when you are ready. Also go into the
Aplus support section and see if you can find directions for uploading
FrontPage websites. The directions should be roughly the same. If you talk
to them again, you might ask them how to "map the drive". Also perhaps look
for specific changes in the uploading procedure with Vista and IE7.

If you are using Vista and IE7, HTTP uploading has become more difficult. I
believe that you will need to "map a drive" and upload through My Computer
or Windows Explorer. Read the directions for FTP uploading on this page for
Vista vs. XP, and I think that is basically what you will need to do for
HTTP uploading, but using http address. I haven't installed Vista so can't
give you a definitive way of doing it.

Reference: Prepare, publish, and maintain your Publisher Web site:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/publisher/HA100947601033.aspx
Look under the directions for Publish a Web site by using FTP, and click the
+ sign by how, and read the difference between Vista and XP. I think you
will need to adapt this approach with HTTP....don't use an ftp address.

Please also take the time at the bottom of the page to say that the
information is not helpful, and tell MSFT that the instructions for HTTP
uploading with Vista needs to be improved...that they are inadequate. Remind
them that FPSE are required, and that they should include that information,
and that HTTP uploading is required for the forms to work. If enough people
complain, perhaps we will get better directions.

Hope this leads to a solution for you, and that you post back for the
benefit of all. Thanks.

DavidF

 

[rjreilly]

I provided the feedback to microsoft as suggested. I also called them for
support but they wanted to start the 90 day clock on my office 2007 suppoort
contract.. I inquired that if they could not fix the problem i didn't want to
start the clock. I explained i had exhausted all effort researching here and
in microsoft knowledge base. The manager said once the clock starts no
turing it back regardless of their ability to correct the problem.

I will be sending microsoft investor reltions a letter

 

[DavidF]

Thanks for posting back. I regret that you did not get a more satisfactory
response from MSFT. I am also sorry that I haven't been able to offer more
help, but not having Vista installed I can't workout the procedures for you.
Using forms in a Publisher web publication has been one of the most common
frustrations among users since I first started lurking around here, and now
with the problems added by Vista, I wish there was an easy answer.

I still think that if you follow the procedure for using FTP uploading as
per the article: Prepare, publish, and maintain your Publisher Web site, but
use the HTTP address instead, that you will be able to figure it out. I
don't think you will be able to publish directly from Publisher, but once
you have the HTTP connection mapped out to your server, you will be able to
Publish to the Web, direct your output to your hard drive, and then use
Windows Explorer to drag and drop the index.htm file and the index_files
folder into the "web host server drive". But don't forget that since you did
use FTP uploading, you will probably have to uninstall and reinstall the
FPSE before you will get any HTTP uploading protocol to work.

I did go to Aplus support section and spent a while looking at and reading
the knowledge base under support. There is a lot of information about how to
upload using FrontPage that you might reference. There was also information
about using "formail" that is provided by Aplus. With some work you should
be able to either integrate formail with the Publisher form objects and thus
bypass the need for HTTP uploading and just use FTP, or just insert html
code that works with formail via the insert html code fragment tool in
Publisher, and by pass the Publisher form tool altogether. Formail is a very
common forms program, and if the instructions on how to use it at Aplus
aren't enough, you should be able to Google for better instructions.

Personally, I think if I were in your shoes, I would concentrate on learning
how to integrate Formail into your page. FPSE are notoriously fickle, and
using a third part FTP program such as the freebie FileZilla is faster and
easier anyway.

And in the short term, perhaps you might just use a javascript based form
that you insert as a code fragment. Here is one that will give you the
basics, and that you could modify to add the additional fields you want.
Just copy and paste the following snippet into a code fragment box and
change the email address:

-----------

<FORM action="mailto:[email protected]" method="post"
enctype="text/plain">
<TABLE BORDER="0" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="4" WIDTH="90%">
<TR>
<TD width="30%"><DIV align="right">
<B>Name:</B>
</DIV>
</TD>
<TD width="70%">
<INPUT type="text" name="name" size="20">
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><DIV align="right"><B>Email:</B></DIV>
</TD>
<TD>
<INPUT type="text" name="email" size="20">
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><DIV align="right">
<B>Comment:</B>
</DIV>
</TD>
<TD><TEXTAREA name="comment" cols="30" wrap="virtual" rows="4">
</TEXTAREA>
</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>&nbsp;</TD>
<TD>
<INPUT type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit">
<INPUT type="reset" name="reset" value="Reset">
</TD></TR>
</TABLE>
</FORM>

-------------

There are other javascript based form scripts out there, and you might
google for those.

Once again, I am sorry I can't be of more help. It is a frustrating
situation.

DavidF

 

[rjreilly]

Thanks, David.

I will wrestle with all this and advise.

I dis try to map the http network location folloeing the ftp procedure. in
short when you provide the location ftp:// profides an additional dialogue
bos to include username and password. when ysing http:// it seems to skip
this step. go figure.

Thanks for the code. Again, i will advise.

do you have any contacts inside MSFT i can pursue?

 

[DavidF]

Thanks for posting back. The more we hear about this issue, the sooner we
will have a workable solution.

I must admit to a limited knowledge about mapping a network drive, but from
what I have read, sometimes the username and password are part of the path
that is mapped. That would mean that you would not get the additional
dialogue requesting the username and password when you try to log on. With
this said, did your effort to map the network drive using the http:// path
actually log you on to your host server? Were you able to see the files and
folders on your webhost? If not, did you uninstall and reinstall the FPSE
before you tried to log on this way? When you use ftp uploading, that
does/can corrupt the FPSE. Also, I think I remember from reading some of the
support documents on Aplus that you need to upload your Publisher html files
to a "html folder" on your site. Do you see that folder and if so when you
click on it, does it contain your index.htm file and the index_files folder
from Pub?

I guess what I am asking is what do you see or what happens after you try to
log on using the mapped path to your server? Assuming that you saved that
mapped drive, what happens when you open Windows Explorer (you can use the
windows key plus the E key as a shortcut) and then in the left pane click on
the mapped drive. Do you log on and then see the files and folders in the
right pane? Any details will help.

No, I don't have a name at MSFT for you, but I am pursuing that avenue as
best I can. Stay tuned and thanks again for your help.

DavidF