Platinum Edition Using Windows NT Server 4

Chapter 56 Creating Web Pages with FrontPage

Some of the main topics in this chapter are

Components and resource requirements
Installing FrontPage 97 and creating an initial Web site
Exploring and customizing your new Web site
Administering and maintaining your Web site

FrontPage 97 is essentially a suite of programs that provides the Web site administrator and authors all the tools necessary to create and manage Web sites for private or commercial purposes. It consists of four main components: FrontPage 97 Explorer, FrontPage 97 Editor, FrontPage 97 Server, and FrontPage 97 Server extensions.

Getting Started with FrontPage 97

The easiest way to get started with FrontPage 97 is to use one of the wizards or templates to create a base Web site and then customize the site to suit your purposes. First, however, review the resources and installation procedure required for FrontPage 97, as described in this section.

Resource Requirements

For FrontPage 97 to properly operate and provide reasonable performance, a minimum hardware and software configuration is required. Fortunately, the list of required minimum components is very small and is limited to random access memory (RAM), hard disk space, operating system versions, and communications protocols. Recommended configurations that exceed the minimum configurations are also indicated where appropriate. The minimum (and recommended) configurations are as follows:

8M RAM (16M recommended) if using FrontPage 97 with Windows 95
16M RAM (24M recommended) if using FrontPage 97 with Windows NT
12M free disk space (includes Personal Web Server and the server extensions)
Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows NT (version 3.51 or later)
Winsock-compliant version 1.1 (32-bit) Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) stack

NOTE: Although only 12M of disk space is required for FrontPage 97 and the Personal Web Server, you need much more additional disk space for the content of the Web sites that you'll create.

Installing FrontPage

To install FrontPage, run the installation utility program SETUP.EXE, which starts the InstallShield Wizard to guide you through the setup process. FrontPage 97 first asks you to specify a destination directory. The default is FrontPage on the disk on which Windows is installed. You can accept this default or specify another location. FrontPage 97 then asks you for a directory in which to store the Web Server files and the Web site content you'll create. The default directory is FrontPage 97 Webs. You're then asked to select either Standard installation or Custom installation.

Standard installation installs the client software along with the Personal Web Server and any necessary server extensions. The installation software detects when you're running a Web server other than the Personal Web Server and attempts to install extensions for that server. If a server is detected, it's listed along with the extensions available for it.

You're then asked to specify a folder or group for the FrontPage 97 icons. The default is Microsoft FrontPage 97. At this point, FrontPage 97 displays a screen summarizing the installation parameters that you've selected, along with a confirmation button. As soon as you click Next, the installation proceeds automatically.

Custom installation enables you to install the following software:

Client software This is the FrontPage 97 Explorer and Editor.
Personal Web Server FrontPage must use a Web server to function. If you already have a Web server on your system, FrontPage 97 will probably be able to work with it. If this is the case, you need to install the correct server extensions to enable FrontPage 97 to function correctly.
Server extensions If possible, the FrontPage 97 installation program detects what server extensions are needed and installs them. If you want to have this done automatically, it's important to have the server installed and running before installing FrontPage 97.

See Chapter 52, "Setting Up Internet Information Server," to learn how to install IIS before installing the FrontPage server extensions.

The Root Web

The root Web is the FrontPage 97 Web site that's always provided by the server. To access this Web site, supply the name of the server without any Web name specified. You can modify this Web site, but be aware that if you update the server, it can be overwritten. All FrontPage 97 Web sites are considered children of the root Web site and can inherit permissions from it. If you have no need to provide different security schemes, you should set the desired security on the root Web site and have all Web sites inherit that setup.

The types of permissions that can be set are the users and computers that have Administer, Author, and Browse permissions. If all your Web sites can have the same security scheme, then it would be easier for you to manage the security by setting it in one place and having all Web sites inherit their security from it. Otherwise, you need to set each Web site's security individually.

SHTML Engine

The Smart HTML (SHTML) engine (or SmartHTML engine) is the component of FrontPage 97 that makes the WebBots work. On Windows NT 3.51 and Windows NT 4.0, the SmartHTML engine resides in the _vti_bin directory of each Web site.

WebBots are one of the more powerful features of FrontPage97. They are active components that work in conjunction with the server to add interactive content to your Web pages. Normally such interactive content would require scripting on the Web page, an executable that would run on the server, and connectivity software (such as a Common Gateway Interface program) to connect the two. WebBots enable authors to create rich interactive content without the need for sophisticated programming techniques.

When the Editor saves a page to the server, the server extensions scan the incoming page to determine if there are any WebBot items on the page. If there are, the server parses the page and saves a copy with the SmartHTML components replaced by the HTML generated by the WebBot.

If you look at the raw HTML in a page that contains WebBots, you'll notice <!--VERMEER tags, which denote the WebBot component parameters.

FrontPage 97 enables two types of WebBots: static and dynamic. A static WebBot doesn't change when the page is fetched by a browser. A dynamic WebBot is one that must change each time the page is fetched--an access counter is a good example. Enabling two types of components does not force the server to parse each WebBot every time the page is browsed; thus, there are significant processing time savings. The dynamic WebBot components are primarily used for database updates and queries.

The Directory Structure

When you install FrontPage 97, you set the directory for it to install under. During the install process, it creates several directories under the install directory for its own purposes. The \FRONTPAGE97 directory structure is as follows:

\BIN This directory stores the executables for the FrontPage 97 client.
\BOTCACHE This is a working area for the WebBots.
\ISAPI This directory contains DLLs for the Internet Server Application Program Interface (ISAPI).
\PAGES This directory stores the page-based wizards and templates.
\WEBS This directory stores the Web-based wizards and templates.
\DATA This directory stores the FrontPage 97 tutorial.
\CLIPART This directory stores the various lines and bullets used when building a Web site with a wizard.
\_VTI_BIN This directory stores a copy of the three executables (SHTML, AUTHOR, and ADMIN) for each Web site.
\IMAGES This directory contains the graphic undercon.gif used in a new Web site built from scratch.
\SAMPLES This directory is initially empty.
\SERVSUPP This directory contains miscellaneous DLLs and configuration files.
\TEMP This is a temporary directory for FrontPage 97.

The \FRONTPAGE WEBS directory structure is as follows:

\SERVER This directory contains the Personal Web Server executables.
\CONTENT This directory contains a subdirectory for each Web site you create.

Taking Advantage of Hidden Directories

Hidden directories are those directories in the FrontPage 97 Content hierarchy that begin with an underscore (_). These directories are normally used for common header files and color definition pages. These pages are invisible to the search WebBots in the sense that they're not included in the search lists or in generated tables of content. These directories are also used by the Discussion Web Wizard. If you desire WebBots to search the discussion content, it's necessary to rename the directories or to set the option on the Advanced tab in the Web Settings dialog box. This also enables users to directly browse these files.

FrontPage 97 Wizards

FrontPage 97 includes several wizards to automate the construction of the most common types of Web sites. Although these Web sites are probably not exactly what you want to create, in all likelihood, one of the wizards can provide the basis for the type of Web site you want. It's then a relatively easy task to use the FrontPage 97 Editor to customize the resulting Web site to your needs. The wizards are as follows:

Normal Web Wizard Creates a Web site with a single blank page
Corporate Presence Wizard Creates a framework for a small company Web site
Customer Support Web Wizard Creates a Web site to provide customer support services intended especially for software companies
Discussion Web Wizard Creates a discussion Web site
Empty Web Wizard Creates an empty Web site--most useful for creating an empty space that can be used to import a Web site from another server
Import Web Wizard Takes you through the steps necessary to import an existing Web site into FrontPage 97 from the local disk or an attached disk
Learning FrontPage Wizard A tutorial to use in getting started with FrontPage 97
Personal Web Wizard Creates a simple personal Web site
Project Web Wizard Creates a Web site to manage a project containing the members, status, schedule, archive, and discussion areas

FrontPage 97 Server Extensions

FrontPage 97 server extensions consist of executables that run on the same computer as the server. The server extensions are necessary to support the WebBots and the security and access permissions implemented by the FrontPage97 Explorer. If you're not the administrator of your network, you probably need to contact the administrator to inquire about installing the appropriate server extensions. The Microsoft Web site lists several ISPs that already support the FrontPage 97 server extensions, along with information on how to become a registered FrontPage Web Presence Provider (WPP) at http://microsoft.saltmine.com/frontpage/wpp/list/.

The server extensions provide three main functions:

Functionality required to support the FrontPage 97 environment, including storing documents, maintaining the To Do List, and determining the relationships among the files that make up the Web site
APIs that are necessary for such functions as permissions, image maps, and configuration

Functionality required by the interactive WebBots (such as search bots and discussion group bots)

Server extensions generally communicate with the server through some type of Common Gateway Interface (CGI). UNIX servers generally run the extensions in a forked process, which will not share the same address space, whereas Windows-based servers run the extensions in the context of a dynamic link library (DLL), which will be in the server's address space. For permission and configuration information, the server extensions must initiate the communication protocol.

Due to these and other differences in the way servers are implemented, FrontPage97 must be tailored to support each server's needs. The differences are isolated in the drivers within the server extensions. This enables 80 to 90 percent of the Server Extensions program to remain identical between servers. Because of this, a single edition of the Server Extensions often contains drivers for more than one vendor's server on that platform.

Security Issues

FrontPage 97 includes a new security model that provides greater control for the FrontPage administrator. Privileges can now be assigned to either groups or users remotely through HTTP, and FrontPage administrators no longer have to be NT administrators to assign or change privileges.

As an extra security measure, FrontPage 97 supports the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol, which enables you to remotely author and administer your Web site in a secure environment. It also enables you to create hyperlinks to secure Web pages.

See "Securing Internet TCP/IP Services," p. 993

FrontPage 97 provides for Web site security in three main areas:

Access control FrontPage 97 uses permissions to control access in the User, Author, and Administrator domains. These permissions are added and modified through the Permissions dialog box, which is displayed by choosing Tools Permissions from the menu. Users must be granted the necessary permissions before they can browse the Web site. Authors must be granted the correct permissions before they can make changes to individual files. Administrators must possess the required permissions before they can grant permissions to others. Additionally, access control is built directly into the server itself; control is not passed through to the system. Usernames (logon IDs), passwords, and IP addresses are also utilized to help control access.
Proxies Often, to support the security requirements of Web sites, it's necessary to use FrontPage 97 to copy a Web site to a server that's outside the firewall. FrontPage 97 will handle this on either side of the firewall. It enables you to specify a proxy server and list the servers that should be accessed directly without going through the firewall. FrontPage 97 enables the user to specify a username and password combination to use for authentication at the proxy. After the FrontPage 97 client has the needed security information, the user need not be aware that a proxy is in use. Proxies are set up through the Options dialog box, accessed by choosing Tools, Options.
Encryption FrontPage 97 now supports secure sockets. SSL is a low-level protocol that provides secure communications between the server and the browser. SSL uses authentication and encryption technology developed by RSA Data Security, Inc. In general, SSL (U.S. Government approved) uses a 40-bit key size for the RC4 stream encryption algorithm. For domestic purposes, the full encryption algorithm could be implemented, providing for a 128-bit key size. The encryption established between the browser and a server remains valid over multiple connections.

See "Using Proxy Server," for more information on proxies, p. 1081

Although FrontPage 97 uses these features to provide a means to secure your Web site, Web administrators need to be aware of the following security issues:

WebBot security issues Although WebBots automate many of the more mundane tasks of managing a Web site, they do open up possible security risks. The save results WebBot used by most forms enables the user to save the results to a file specified by the file path. If the server is run as the root, and the CGI scripts run as the root, then authors can set a form so the results can be written to any file on the server's file system. It might not be possible to overcome these security issues on some servers. The network administrator needs to be aware of these problems when deciding whether or not to allow interactive WebBots to be used.
Securing by using the Windows NT File System (NTFS) When FrontPage 97 is running on NTFS, it's possible to use the security inherent in NTFS to implement page-level security. This can be accomplished by setting the permissions on the individual directories within the Web site file structure. Setting security this way enables making use of the protections implemented by Windows NT. This is a powerful argument for using NTFS on a server system.
Securing by using the File Allocation Table (FAT) File System Unlike NTFS, there's no file-level security under FAT. The only way to implement page-level security on FAT-based Web sites is to create different Web sites for each area in which different permissions are needed. It's then possible to set different access permissions on each Web site by using the Permissions dialog box. (This is only possible if the Web sites don't inherit permissions from the root Web site.) Because Web sites can have links between themselves, these child Web sites can be linked together to form a larger Web site.

Importing a Web Site

You can import Web pages and other elements of your Web site into the FrontPage 97 Explorer. You can also import elements by using the FrontPage 97 Editor, but if you're organizing your site from components already created in Office, the FrontPage 97 Explorer is the best way to import files.

When you start FrontPage 97, you see the Explorer module, and you're prompted to open or create a Web site. Even if you already have Web pages, you'll want to create (or open) a Web site. The site is the form that FrontPage 97 uses to organize all the related files you want to publish to your intranet or to the Web. If you already have a Web site, and you're adding files to it, click the Open Existing FrontPage 97 Web button, and click OK in the Getting Started with Microsoft FrontPage 97 dialog box. If you're starting from scratch, choose the Blank FrontPage 97 Web dialog box.

If you've already created FrontPage 97 Webs, the most recent appears as a button option in the Getting Started with Microsoft FrontPage 97 dialog box. You can select that button to quickly reopen the last Web you worked on.

NOTE: The two other options in the Create a New FrontPage 97 Web area of the Getting Started with Microsoft FrontPage 97 dialog box enable you to create a Web from a template or import a Web. If you're combining Office 97 files with this quick FrontPage 97 tutorial, you won't need those options. Creating FrontPage 97 Web sites from templates is explored in detail in Que's FrontPage 97 6-in-1 book.

If you elect to create a new Web, you're prompted for a server and the Name of New FrontPage 97 Web. The server is the server to which you're publishing your Web site. If you've installed the Personal Web Server and not given it a name, you can enter default in the Web Server or File Location area of the Normal Web Template dialog box. The Name you enter must not have any spaces, and you should avoid symbols, as well. When you've named your Web site and identified your server, choose OK.

After you name your Web site, or elect to open an existing site, you're prompted for a passcode to access your server. If you're using a Web site, the network or ISP administrator needs to provide you with a passcode to access the Web server. If you're using the Personal Web Server, use the password you defined when you installed FrontPage 97.

NOTE: If you've forgotten your FrontPage 97 Server password, you can reinstall FrontPage 97 and assign a new password.

Publishing Your Web Site to a Web Server

Even before you edit files in the FrontPage 97 Editor, you can publish your Web site to a different Web server by using the FrontPage 97 Explorer. If you've wrestled with the Connection Wizards in Office 97 applications, or with the upload instructions you get from an ISP, you'll really appreciate the seamless publishing process from FrontPage 97 to a FrontPage 97-enabled Web server.

If you've created your Web site with the Personal Web Server, you can publish it to an intranet server or a site on the Web with the FrontPage 97 Explorer with these steps:

1. Choose File, Publish FrontPage Web from the FrontPage 97 Explorer dialog box.

2. Click the More Webs button in the Publish dialog box.

NOTE: When you publish your site to a Web, you can select that destination from a list that appears in the Publish dialog box. If your target Web site isn't listed, you can click the More Webs button and define a new target for your site.

3. The Please Specify the Location drop-down box has your current Web server as the default. Enter the URL of the server to which you're publishing (copying) your Web site.

NOTE: The Secure Connection Required (SSL) check box is used when you're publishing your Web to a secure Web server. Your Web administrator will notify you if your server falls into that category. Secure Web servers provide protection against unauthorized viewing of data.

4. The site takes some time to copy to the destination server. When the files are successfully copied, choose OK, saying that your Web has been successfully copied.

The capability to copy Webs to Web servers is one of the great advantages of the FrontPage 97 Explorer.

Other FrontPage Management Tools

FrontPage 97 provides the administrator with a set of extremely powerful tools to change the configuration and options for the Web site. This section describes these tools and how to use them effectively to maintain the Web site.

The Permissions dialog box enables you to set the permissions on the Web site based on the user's name or the user's Internet Protocol (IP) address. To open the Permissions dialog box, choose Tools, Permissions. Permissions may be created and modified based on a user's ID or a computer IP address. This enables the administrator to enable or disable specific users or specific computers. The tabs in the Permissions dialog box are as follows:

Settings This tab displays and modifies the permission settings for this Web site. If you choose the option to use unique permissions for this Web site, the other tabs enable Administer, Author, and Browse permissions by username and IP address. If the option is chosen to inherit permissions from the root Web site, these options will be disabled.
Users This tab enables Administer, Author, and Browse permissions to be set by username. To add a user, click the Add button. You will be prompted for the user's name and password, along with the permissions that you want to assign. To delete a permission, highlight the desired user, and click the Remove key. This tab also enables you to give browse permission to everyone.

CAUTION: The Delete key will not ask for a confirmation, so exercise caution when deleting a permission.
Computers This tab enables Administer, Author, and Browse permissions to be set by IP address. Its behavior is similar to the User tab.

The password enables access to the entire Web site. To change the password for the current user, choose Tools, Change Password. This opens the Change Password dialog box. You are required to enter the current password, along with the new password and a confirmation.

The FrontPage Web Settings dialog box enables you to edit Web site parameters and specify the type of image maps the Web site supports. It also provides a means to select the validation language for the form fields. To change the settings for the current Web site, choose Tools, Web Settings. This opens the FrontPage Web Settings dialog box. This dialog box has four tabs, which are as follows:

Parameters This tab enables you to add, edit, or delete defined parameters to use in your Web site in conjunction with the Substitution WebBot. To edit these parameters, select the desired parameter, and click Modify. Clicking Add or Modify opens the Parameter Modification dialog box. To delete a Parameter, select the desired parameter, and click the Remove button.

CAUTION: The Remove dialog box will not ask for a confirmation, so use caution while in this dialog box.

Configuration The Configuration tab displays the Web server, extension version, server version, IP address, and proxy server. It also enables you to view and edit the Web site name and Web site title.
Advanced The Advanced tab enables you to edit several Web site parameters, including image maps, validation scripts, options, and recalculate status, as follows:
- The Image Maps area of this tab is used to set the type of image map (client-side or specified server) you want to use for the current Web site.
- Validation Scripts are used to specify the language used to validate the form fields.
- Options configures the FrontPage 97 Explorer to show the documents in hidden directories.
- The Recalculate Status area shows the status of text indexes and WebBot date components.
Language The Language tab enables you to view and edit the Default Web Site Language and the Default HTML Encoding. The Default Web Site Language setting will decide the language used to send error messages from the Web server to the Web browser. If your Web pages are in a different language, you should change this so that the error messages will match the language of your content. The Default HTML Encoding setting will select the character set to be used for any new pages that will be created. You may change the encoding options on individual pages by selecting the desired encoding from the General tab of the Page Properties dialog box.

The Options dialog box enables you to set the general options for FrontPage 97. It also provides a method to set up associations with any editors you would like to use for the various types of documents on your Web site. To open the Options dialog box, choose Tools, Options. This dialog box has three tabs, which are explained as follows:

General This tab enables you to select general options for FrontPage 97. There is an option to display or not to display the opening dialog box, an option to warn when WebBot components (scheduled image and scheduled include) are out of date, and an option to warn when text search indices are out of date.
Proxies This tab enables Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) proxies to be set up.
Configure Editors This tab enables the editors for various types of files to be configured. To configure an editor, click Add to display the Add dialog box. In this dialog box, you specify the extension of the file, the editor name, and the command line for the editor. The Modify button enables you to change an editor, and the Remove button removes an editor from the list. When the editors are configured, they will appear in the pop-up menu under Open With, which is displayed when the user right-clicks a document.

Version Control

FrontPage 97 works in conjunction with Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, providing a reliable way to manage the process of Web page development by one or more persons. When Version 5.0 of SourceSafe is properly configured, the Check In and Check Out commands appear. Use the Check In command to commit the changes that have been made in a document to the Source Safe library. Use the Check Out command to reserve a document from Source Safe so that the user is able to safely make changes to it.

For more information, see the white paper titled "Microsoft Visual SourceSafe and FrontPage 97" on the Microsoft FrontPage 97 World Wide Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/ssafe/techinfo/frontpage.htm.