• The following procedures were tested with FrontPage 2003 which is purchased separately from the Office 2003 software suite. You can determine your version by opening FrontPage and clicking on Help > About Microsoft Office FrontPage.

1. Open FrontPage by double-clicking on the FrontPage icon located on your desktop or in your start menu (Start > Programs > Microsoft Office > Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003).
   
   
2. Click on File > Import...
   
   
3. The import menu has a number of features to choose from. This tutorial will be focusing on simple HTTP transfer. Click the HTTP option and then type your URL in the space provided and click Next >.
   

• Although we are focusing on HTTP transfer, here is a brief description of the alternative methods:
  • FrontPage Server Extensions or SharePoint Services: The FrontPage Server Extensions and SharePoint Services are server-based applications that extend the functionality available to FrontPage websites. They make publishing and updating your web site easier and allow you to use a variety of forms, hit counters, guestbooks, and more. If you are using FrontPage to build or maintain your web site, be sure that your web hosting provider offers FrontPage Extensions.
  • WebDAV: stands for "Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning" and is a set of extensions to the HTTP protocol which allows users to collaboratively edit and manage files on remote web servers.
  • FTP: stand for "File Transfer Protocol" and has been the standard method of transfering files to/from servers. When all else fails, FTP is a good choice to fall back on.
  • File System: the option related to the files located on your local computer and does not involve transfering files over the Internet.
  • HTTP: this option opens the default page for a web site using the standard HTTP protocol and spiders through the links the images downloading the files and images to a local destination.
    
    OPTIONS:
    • Include subsites: include all web sites found below the root directory.
    • Use Passive FTP: Passive FTP, versus Active FTP (the more common) is when the client initiates both FTP data connections to the server. Some web administrators perfer this method and you should check with your web hosting provider if you have problems.
    • Encrypted Connection required (SSL): Use this option if your web host is using Secure Sockets Layer (a protocol that transmits your communications over the Internet in an encrypted form)

4. Specify where you would like to create a local copy of your web site. You may use the browse button to navigate to your folder of choice. Click Next > when finished.
   
   
5. At this stage, FrontPage creates your local folder and prepared to download your web site. By default, it will download each page and all linking pages. You have to the option to limit the downloads, however, by choosing three options:
   • Import the home page plus linked pages ___ levels deep. Use this option if you don't want to download your entire site but only a few levels (levels being defined by how far they are removed from the home page - does it take one click or several click to get to the page).
   • Import a maximum of ___ KB. Use this option if you want to limit the size of files to download.
   • Import only HTML and image files: dynamic web sites can have many different types of files. If you don't want to download non-HTML files, then choose this option. If unsure, leave it unchecked.
     
     
6. FrontPage congratulates you and prompts you to begin the download. Depending upon the size of your site and your connection speed it could take some time.
   
   
   You may see a Import Web Site Progress dialog box popup as FrontPage downloads your site. This is an indicator that the download is working.
   
   
7. After the download has finished the importation process is complete. Now you can commence to make changes or simply close FrontPage to end your session.
   

This tutorial covers just one of the many great tools FrontPage has to offer to make your web development easy. Our team have used numerous programs and they prefer the new FrontPage 2003 version over all the competition. For more information, check out Microsoft's web site:

Microsoft Office Frontpage 2003