Switching from ColdFusion to FP

[Jules]

We have a currently semi-developed site, done in ColdFusion. The web creator
is no longer with the company and no one here knows anything about CF nor
does our IT company helping out with upgrades and service.

I suggested we re-vamp our site and use FP since we do not sell anything and
mainly have an info only site.

Now for the question...

What should I look for when converting the old site to a new one? We do have
some data driven info that agents log in to receive, weekly sales reports,
manage their clients, etc...

I have used FP in the past to create graphic heavy sites, but nothing with
log in and report uploads (all in .pdf format).

I hope that I have not complicated this question and explained it enough for
some basic help.

 

[Kevin Spencer]

Hi Jules,

There is a big difference between Cold Fusion and FrontPage. In fact, you're
talking about the difference between a programming technology and a web
development toolkit. Cold Fusion is a web programming technology, like ASP
or PHP. FrontPage is a development toolkit for creating and managing web
sites and web pages. It has support for ASP, ASP.net, and Windows SharePoint
Services. That said, it sounds like you have some fairly sophisticated web
programming in Cold Fusion on your web site.

Now, you could use FrontPage to manage your web site, and to edit any static
HTML pages, but I would guess that replacing the Cold Fusion stuff with
something like ASP would still require a professional programmer. FrontPage
can automatically create some very basic ASP, ASP.Net, and SharePoint
WebParts, but again, it sounds like you need custom programming.

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
..Net Developer
Ambiguity has a certain quality to it.

 

[Jules]

Kevin,

If you have a moment, will you please e-mail me so I can ask you a more
specific question off the board? Or look at our existing site? www.e-hfg.com

Jules
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Kevin Spencer]

Hi Jules,

Afraid I can't. You'll have to post here. You'll get more responses anyway.
But I don't take private email requests as a rule.

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
..Net Developer
Ambiguity has a certain quality to it.

 

[Jules]

Sorry... did not realize. Can you or did you at least look at the site?

The only reason we have CF site is b/c the person prior to me only learned
CF in school and did not want to create it in anything else.

Jules

 

[Kevin Spencer]

Hi Jules,

I looked at the site, but there isn't much to see. There are only 2 pages
visible to the public at present. The pages which would require programming
also require a login. And if I did manage to get into the site with a login
I would only see the client-side HTML generated by the Cold Fusion
programming, not the programming or back-end itself.

However, the reason I stated that you would need custom programming came
from your initial description of the functionality of the web site:

....

That is a very brief and sketchy description of the business requirements
that need programming to implement on your site. It doesn' t matter whether
you use Cold Fusion, ASP, PHP, or CGI to do it. Any web programming
technology will do. What matters is that only a programmer could do it.

Note that I am not talking about what software you use to do your
programming in. FrontPage is good. Dreamweaver is good. Server-side
scripting can even be done using NotePad. But you have to be able to design
and write software.

Now, using ASP or ASP.Net would be available if your site is hosted on a
Windows server. On a Unix server, you would probably have to use one of the
other choices.

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
..Net Developer
Ambiguity has a certain quality to it.