Problem with corrupting FP extensions on host server

[SherryC]

I hope someone can follow this. I took over a site that had been done using
a FrontPage template. The previous webmaster did live changes and had no
files on her hard drive. I had always used Dreamweaver (simple website--no
CSS) and didn't know what FP was. I downloaded all the files using ws_FTP,
made changes in DW3 and uploaded the changed pages to the website. Had
problems and things changed, realized that the site used CSS, decided to
switch to FP so as not to end up shooting myself.

Installed FP2003 on my Windows XP Pro. Connecting to the remote site thru
FrontPage showed a bunch of conflicts. I guess FP changed pages on the
remote site because the site lost its navigation, etc. I assume from reading
other posts that this happened because I had downloaded the files to my local
site without reverse-publishing from remote site to local site thru FP (and
then did changes thru DW).

Hosting company restored the FP extensions which they said I had corrupted
and then the site was down completely. Host says this is normal and that
after extensions are reinstalled, I have to restore the site from backup.
Restored the site from backup and FP extensions on their server were
corrupted again. I'm assuming it's because my backup, which I did using
their backup tool on their server, was made after I made changes using DW.
We've been thru this vicious circle 3 times.

Now I've uninstalled DW3, I've uninstalled FP, I've backed up all local site
folders and files to a CD and deleted all those files from my hard drive.
I'm getting ready to re-install FP2003, and this is my question. Are my
above assumptions correct? If so, should I restore backup to the website
using the old backup from the day that the hosting company backed up the site
and switched it to their other server (because website owner was changing,
they switched site to their new Plesk Panel/server)? That backup would be
from before I ever touched a page. Should their FP extensions work then
(they do support FP2003)? If so, what is the easiest way for me to start
re-making changes at that point? Publish everything from remote back to my
local site or open the remote site without even having a local site folder or
anything and make live changes as my predecessor did? Is there any setting
in FP that I need to make sure is off or on?

Thanks in advance for any help I can get,

SherryC

 

[Sparky Polastri]

When you "uploaded the changed pages to the website. ", did you use FTP?

FTP can and will break FP extensions if you use it to write to a web site.
Contact your host to re-install the extensions then NEVER upload to a FP
site using FTP.

Or, just have them switch it to a FTP based site and take out the FP
components.

DW can use "WebDav" to upload as well, but it still will probably break the
FP components.

Choose an app and stick with it. Nothing else to do.

 

[SherryC]

Yes, I did use FTP the first time because I was using Dreamweaver then and
had no intention of using FrontPage (didn't know it was an FP template with
CSS and that I would have problems if I didn't stick to FP). But after that
first time, I only FTP'd AFTER the FP extensions went down and that's because
I needed to make changes and couldn't use FP (no files on my local site and
couldn't connect without the extensions working.) The hosting site restores
the FP extensions for me, but then they say I must restore the site from my
backup using their restore tool, but the problem is that as soon as I do
that, the FP extensions go out again. So that is why I'm wondering if it's
because the backup I'm restoring from was a backup I created after I had been
making changes with DW and FTPing them to the site, and if I need to go back
to the old backup -- from before I touched any of the files. I'm not sure
what all these backups include and my hosting techies seem clueless about FP
stuff. I guess that's my question. Do I need to restore from that old backup
to make things working correctly again? Once I can get the site working and
the FP extensions to work so that I can make changes thru FP, I will only be
using FP.
Thanks,