web form compatability

[cowpuncher007]

My website/store was built by professionals, but I'm having fun doing some
"add-on pages" in Pub/03. My links, newsletter, & gallery pages work fine in
IE, Firefox & Safari. I'm trying to add a web form as a second page on my
newsletter. It displays & functions in IE, displays but is not functional in
FF, & won't display at all in Safari. Should I just use another program for
this, (& if so suggestions would be appreciated), or am I doing something
wrong? Site is meanmaxine.com, & if you want to see the test form, go to "to
remove your name, click here" link on the newsletter page.

 

[Rob Giordano \(Crash\)]

I think you're asking for problems publishing from Publisher to a website
that was designed/created in something else that appears to be a real web
editor (which Publisher is not).

Your email address in that form is incorrect.
You have to Publish via http:// method for forms to work, and your host has
to allow the FP form process to work.

Again, I don't recommend over publishing from Publisher to what I assume you
paid for website. Your designer has a backup I hope?

 

[cowpuncher007]

I've had no problems with the pages I've added with Publisher, but would you
tell me what the problems might be? Yes, we have back-ups .

 

[Rob Giordano \(Crash\)]

One thing would be if you want your original web designer to make changes,
the Publisher generated "html" is non standard stuff and impossible to work
with.
If you're just publishing your stuff to a subweb and leaving the original
site alone you would be ok as long as you stay within the subweb with
yours.
Also, be aware that if you publish via FTP it will break the FPSE and your
forms will never work.



--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Giordano
Microsoft MVP Expression

 

[cowpuncher007]

Sorry. I guess I didn't explain things well enough. I don't & wouldn't do
anything with the main site. As I said, I'm just having some fun doing some
"extra" pages. What about compatibility though? I f I publish my form via
http & enable the Frontpage extensions, should it be compatible with the
various browsers? If not, what program might you suggest for an amateur?

 

[Rob Giordano \(Crash\)]

The forms should work if you publish via http:// method (not ftp) and if the
host has the form handler allowed and configured correctly.
As mentioned before your email response addr in the form is not correct so
it won't work as it is, just in case you have tried.
And, if you form and other stuff you are doing are indeed in a subweb (not
just a sub folder) the fpse has to be enabled on the subweb as well.



--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Giordano
Microsoft MVP Expression

 

[cowpuncher007]

Thanks again. I see what you mean about the email address. I'll work on this
some more tonight & see what happens.

 

[DavidF]

Rob,

I sure am not an expert with working with FPSE, but I upload the majority of
my Publisher site with FTP. However, I created one subfolder on my host
where I have uploaded a Publisher built form for testing purposes, after
enabling FPSE on my host. This page was created with a different Publisher
file. Since then I have modified my main site and many subfolders via FTP
uploading, and also updated the test folder containing the form using HTTP
uploading. You can use both FTP uploading to some subfolders and HTTP
uploading to other subfolders without corrupting the FPSE. You just can't
switch from HTTP to FTP and then back and expect the FPSE to work correctly,
from what I understand. I am not advocating this to anybody...just saying
that it can be done.

What is the difference between a subweb and a subfolder?

DavidF

 

[DavidF]

I will acknowledge that I am not an expert when it comes to forms or FPSE,
but I do have a couple suggestions, if you don't mind.

It sounds like you are saying that you have been using FTP to upload your
Publisher web files to your subfolder on your host, and it hasn't hurt the
main site. If you want to just continue to use FTP uploading then consider
using a simple javascript form instead of the Publisher form. It will be a
lot faster and easier than getting your Pub form to work. Here is one
example....just copy and paste the following into a code fragment box,
change the email address, do a web page preview and try it.

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

<FORM action=mailto:yourname@yourdomain.com 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>

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

The form is more basic than the one you are using, but you can put a text
box above the form and ask people to tell you what group they are in, in the
comments section, if that information is that important. The main point is
by using a javascript based form you can avoid the hassle and time involved
in using the Pub built form and FPSE, and lessen the risk that you might
somehow mess up the main site by trying to use HTTP uploading instead of
FTP.

If the form is too basic for you, there are lots of other javascript forms
scripts available on the Web...just google for them. Also take the time to
go to your webhost and find out what forms program do they support. Mine
even gives me instructions and the code that I need to insert via a code
fragment box in a Pub page. You can use a different server side program with
the Publisher form objects. There are lots of alternatives to FPSE forms,
and personally I think most people would be wise to start moving to
something different and away from FPSE...for lots of reasons.

In your case, a simple javascript form may be enough...just some things to
think about.

DavidF

 

[Rob Giordano \(Crash\)]

You "can" use both if you know what NOT to touch...so it's just easier to
say don't touch that or you'll break it!

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Giordano
Microsoft MVP Expression

 

[cowpuncher007]

Again, thanks everyone for your concern, but rest assured that I am not
messing around anywhere near my "main" site As, at least, David F knows, (he
has helped me a lot in the past), I'm working on this as much for my own
experience as I am for any project that has to get done. I'm going to start
from scratch. Instead of trying to add a second page to my newsletter, I'm
going to make a seperate folder of forms, try uploading via http (again), &
just point my link there. It seems that, to this point, no matter how I
upload, the "submit" button, instead of going to my email, which is on the
same domain as the form, still says WEBBOT-SELF. I'll read some more.

 

[Rob Giordano \(Crash\)]

both fields are named Text_1 , the input fields should have unique legal
names.

there's more but I gotta run...get rid of the 3 radio buttons for now and
try again.



--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Giordano
Microsoft MVP Expression

 

[cowpuncher007]

Thanks, I'll do those things & get back.

both fields are named Text_1 , the input fields should have unique legal
names.

there's more but I gotta run...get rid of the 3 radio buttons for now and
try again.

 

[cowpuncher007]

I took out the option buttons as suggested & put my form (using http) on the
server. It functions perfectly in IE, but not in FF or Safari. The form
shows, & the submit button works, (it goes to the confirmation page & sends
me an email), but the text boxes aren't usable. Can this be fixed?

The address is meanmaxine.com/newsletter/forms/form_1.htm

 

[Rob Giordano \(Crash\)]

folder is just a folder
subweb is an entity unto itself (a child web)

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Giordano
Microsoft MVP Expression

 

[Rob Giordano \(Crash\)]

Yah I see that.
It's such a simple form, I'd just redo it...you're more than halfway there.


--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Giordano
Microsoft MVP Expression

 

[cowpuncher007]

It was great to get it to work, at least in IE. I'm still unclear about the
cross-browser compatibility, but I'll start over & see how it goes. Also,
where do I edit the confirmation page? I can't seem to find it.

 

[DavidF]

The current form is converted to an image in the FF version of the code, and
that is why you can't enter anything in the text fields. I am not sure what
you did design wise to do that. If you are using Pub 2003, then be sure to
go to Tools > Options > Web tab and uncheck "Rely on VML..." and "Allow
PNG..." before you produce your html files. If you inserted the form
controls in a text box and added fill, try not adding the fill. Try
inserting the form controls into the page, and not into a text box.
Basically deconstruct the page/form, or in rebuilding it, test in FF after
each design step and find out where the form is converted to an image, and
you will probably find the problem with the form not working correctly.

DavidF

 

[DavidF]

Ok. I am just trying to get and use the correct terminology. Thanks.

DavidF

 

[Rob Giordano \(Crash\)]

oh and subwebs are just a microsoft thing and not the same as a subdomain.


--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Giordano
Microsoft MVP Expression