What are FrontPage Extensions?

FrontPage offers an easy way to author, edit and manage your web pages. This program is truly amazing, even when creating web pages offline. However, to enjoy the true benefits, you will need a server that has FrontPage server extensions installed.

FrontPages extensions are comprised of CGI programming, providing the server-side implementation required to use the features of Microsoft FrontPage. They essentially instruct the server software on how to react to commands of the FrontPage client and users that visit the site it constructed.

How FrontPage Extensions Work

FrontPage extensions rely on three web-based technologies: CGI (Common Gateway Interface), ISAPI (Internet Server Application Program Interface) and HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). Both CGI and ISAPI serve the same purpose which is enabling dynamic interaction between website visitors and the web server while HTTP simply makes the request. With the aid of these technologies, FrontPage extensions provide two important services:

- Allow the Microsoft FrontPage client to interact with the server, enabling direct uploads and downloads of content without the use of FTP.

- Allow the server to provide specific features from the FrontPage client to the visitor’s browser without any additional programming on the part of the webmaster.

Many web designers use the FrontPage client to edit files and view data on the site. The server extensions let you download information about the site including details on its configuration, files, folders, hyperlinks and more. The viewable reports available in FrontPage present you with server information without actually downloading any files to your hard drive. In other words, FrontPage extensions support the feature that has made FrontPage a dynamic program to begin with - the ability to directly access the web server.

What You Can Do With Them

The major benefit of FrontPage is that it allows you to create dynamic content with little to no programming experience. With FrontPage extensions you can create a number of interactive features such as web forms, hit counters, drop-down menus, photo galleries and more. In order to create such functions with a script like PHP, Python or ASP, you need to have some familiarity with the language. Whereas mistakes with these languages could negatively impact the design of your web page, FrontPage reduces errors significantly as the raw code is hidden for your protection. This factor alone makes FrontPage one of the most comprehensive and effective web designing tools available.

Throughout the years, interactive functions, such as web forms, have been fairly easy to create. However, making them actually do something useful has always required a bit of skill. FrontPage extensions allow you to create such items with ease, specifying exactly where the text is to be entered in the form. This could be something as simple as providing two lines for the visitor to enter their username and password - simple, yet effective. Although FrontPage extensions perform best on Microsoft Windows servers, recent upgrades have enabled it to support other platforms as well.

FrontPage extensions are absolute jewels to the amateur webmaster. This feature isn’t hard to find as many web hosting companies now offer it with their plans. If you’re intimated at the thought of designing a website, FrontPage will give you the confidence and skill to overcome it. .

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