Will Installing Frontpage Extension Ruin Dream Weaver Based Site

[TonnyD]

My uncle had a website built by this lady who used dreamweaver and
most of the pages are .php. They want me to edit the content in the
pages. The problem is that the site has not had frontpage extension
installed so i cannot connect to the remote web site unless its threw
FTP. When i connect threw FTP the file format is alot different and
does not make since to me. There is no index page and so on. I was
able to import the web site threw the import option but as you know
that does not do a great job. Basicly i need to find a way to upload
every thing. I was thinking the best way was to install frontpage
extention then connect to the server that way. If I do install
frontpage extension will this have any negative effect on the web site
already created? Should I be worried that it could keep certain things
for operating properly. This is the web site http://www.elearning.b2bmediaco.com/

 

[Mark Fitzpatrick]

It should not make any difference. There is an index page in there
(index.php). The directory structure may be different because you may FTP to
a level above the actual web site. The web site and FTP sites don't have to
exactly match directories. For example, you could login with FTP and see
directories such as data,www, and logs. The www would match to the web site
most likely, the data would be for databases used by the site, and the logs
would be the logfiles for the site. This is just an example.

Before you install the FP Server Extensions, make sure you download a
complete copy of the site. You can never be too careful and things can mess
up through no fault of the application (ie: odd settings on a web site can
effect how additional programs will behave and can mess things up like
applying the FP Server Extensions though this is pretty rare).

Keep in mind, once the FP Server Extensions are installed you cannot publish
via FTP as that will corrupt the FP Server Extensions.

Also, before you turn the extensions on you may want to see how FP handles
the php pages. It may not be the greatest experience for you, especially if
there is a lot of dynamic content in the PHP pages.

 

[TonnyD]

That is very useful information. I did see a folder called "www" but
frontpage wont let me publish that file from the remote server to my
computer. I was able to open it with Core FTP and look inside and I
did see the web pages. How can i get frontpage to let me import that
file so I can edit the pages within?

 

[Ronx]

FYI - when you do get the site downloaded to your PC FrontPage will not
allow index.php (or any page with a .php extension) to be used as the
Home Page, unless you are using Windows XP Pro, Windows 2000 Pro, or a
server Operating System, and have installed IIS with the FrontPage
extensions, and then added index.php to the web servers list of default
page names.

In my opinion, FrontPage is not a good editor for PHP sites when the
site is disc based.

I suggest you use FTP to download the website.

 

[TonnyD]

That is what i was thinking. If I use FTP Core to download the site I
am able to see what is in the www folder but frontpage wont let me
download it or explore it. If I use FTP Core to download would it be
fine to still use frontpage to do all the editing, then use FTP Core
to upload it back?

 

[Ronx]

Make sure you have a backup for the downloaded site before you start
editing. Then use File->Open Site (or Open Web) to open the site in
FrontPage, allow it to be converted to a FrontPage web.
Use FTP Core to upload the edited site
Be prepared to use the backup.

 

[TonnyD]

Alright I will. One more thing. When I open some of the php files
frontpage gives me a script error even though the page is running
fine. (this is before I do any thing) Is it ok to ignore that and edit
the content and republish threw FTP core. What im asking is, does
frontpage alter the script for itself or any thing like that or is it
just unable to comprehend it and i can just ignore it since im not
changing the script.

 

[Ronx]

As I said before, FrontPage is not the best editor for editing PHP
files. It has a reputation for changing the code in PHP pages, which is
why I emphasise "make a backup" before doing anything.
FrontPage does not comprehend or support PHP.