Is Microsoft FrontPage still supported?
Microsoft completely discontinued their FrontPage Web design software in 2006 (see the “What happened to FrontPage?” section of this page).
That means that Microsoft no longer creates new versions of FrontPage for you to use on your own computer, and they don’t create new versions of the “server extensions” for Web hosting companies.
Will Tiger Technologies continue to support FrontPage?
To fully support special FrontPage script features (including hit counters, guestbooks, feedback forms, and search boxes), Web hosting companies have to use special “FrontPage server extensions” software provided by Microsoft. However, Microsoft has not made any new versions of the “server extensions” since 2002, and they will not make any new versions in the future.
Because the old “server extensions” are incompatible with upgrades we need to make to our Web servers, we no longer support custom FrontPage server extensions for new sites. New sites will be able to use only the basic non-script features of FrontPage 2003.
If your site already has FrontPage Server Extensions activated, we’ll support that until September 1, 2012. The basic text and images on a FrontPage site will still work after that, but any special parts that requires FrontPage Server Extensions will stop working unless you make the changes below.
What if I only use basic features of FrontPage 2003?
FrontPage 2003 can still be used for basic page design and publishing tasks, even though some special FrontPage features aren't directly supported:
- FrontPage 2003 allows publishing using FrontPage’s FTP publishing method to ftp.tigertech.net.
- You can replace custom FrontPage hit counters with the custom hit counter we provide.
- You can replace custom FrontPage feedback forms with the FormMail system we provide.
- FrontPage guestbook pages and search boxes will not work and should be removed.
If you’re unable to switch your hit counters or feedback forms by September 2012, we can help you with this or do it for you at no charge. (This is an exception to our usual policy of not changing the content of customer sites, because it’s caused by a change on our end.)
Unfortunately, if you’re using FrontPage 2002 (or an earlier version) on your computer, publishing using FTP probably won’t work. That’s because it doesn’t include the “passive FTP” feature that’s needed if your connection is on a DSL or cable modem. You will need to switch to something else.
What program should I switch to?
If you’re looking for a simple way to create Web pages, you may want to consider the free WordPress publishing system.
What about newer Microsoft Web design programs?
Microsoft has replaced FrontPage with other programs, including “Microsoft Expression Web”. That program (which does not use the FrontPage server extensions) works fine on our servers: it can upload your Web site files to our servers using FTP for standard Web design tasks, although it doesn’t offer the same support for certain FrontPage features such as counters. Keep in mind that if you switch to that program, you may have to redesign some portions of your site.
Microsoft also offers SharePoint Designer 2007 as a free download, which offers a similar interface to FrontPage. However, our testing has shown that this program can unexpectedly delete files from your Web site, so we strongly discourage you from using it.