Microsoft Fails To
Comply With Standards!
Microsoft
FrontPage has been around since 1996. It's first release promised
"What You See Is What You Get" or WYSIWYG. Since it's debut,
many novice and amateur page creators have been using this program, but
many are unaware of it's faults and limitations listed in this article.
As usual, Microsoft did not follow the HTML standards offered by W3C Web
Consortium who are the ruling standard for the WWW of today. FrontPage
uses proprietary code and will rewrite and true code to make it's
"features" work. These features or "web bots" are
unstable and break easily.
For instance, ever try to get that guest
book or form to work? Notice how easily it breaks when you move outside
the" field" or dotted lines? Now it does not send you an email
with results.
How about those Extensions that promise
easy login and uploading of your site? How many times has that login
failed or crashed the editor? Shared borders are "Fake Frames"
that create the worst flowchart of organization one could get? Very
unstable.
Or how about child webs within the parent
web site? Oops, you deleted an entire site by accident? Join the club of
many who suffer these limitations.
Happens to the best of us...
Time and again after I upload the completed site for the client, I watch
them breaking forms, frames, root files like the index.html, index.htm or
default.htm files, and they come back to me claiming their site doesn't
work and that I have to fix it for them. FrontPage leaves the user
completely clueless that it was they themselves who broke the site because
of their ignorance of FrontPages limitations.
- LIST OF PROBLEMS:
Broken
Forms:
Many users try to create or edit a form. What they
don't realize is that in order for the form to work, they have to stay
within the Web Bots field.. notice the little black dotted lines
around the form? If you don't see them, your form is broke
and will not work.
- Non HTML
Compliant Components: When using components like the hover
button, hit counter, banner ad manager, marquee, page transitions and
other dated tricks, you must take care when using. They too break
easy with no fix and they don't even work on other browsers
outside of MS Internet Explorer. If you break the bot, you have to
start all over again.
- Upload/Download
Issues: When uploading your site you will suffer from
server timeouts, thus making you upload the site again and again
overwriting files you've already uploaded. This causes more time to be
wasted and is very inefficient. You CANNOT download your
site from FrontPage unless is one file at a time.
- Server
Extensions: It has been noted that your local ISP and/or
Web Host may offer FrontPage functionality, but the truth is many of
them deplore using it. Simply because it is easy for the customer to
break the extensions and makes the Host Admin have to re-install the
extension software frequently... not to mention the security
flaws and issues this creates for the ISP and user.
- Garbage
Files: Look closely at your directory the next time you
login through FrontPage to your site. Notice the extra folders called
VTI_CNF_? I dare you to remove them! If you do, then you've
broken your site again. No one truly knows what these folders
are and what it's files do OR if they are really needed, but to you
the average person, you may haplessly remove this innocent looking
folder and it's contents and taking away the functionality of your
site.
- Relative
Link?: Be careful when you upload a page or image.
FrontPage will literally link a web page from the server to your
desktop. When you go to view the page, the link is broken
or the image is not there.
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No More FrontPage
Support:
In light of this, P.L.
Ruth will no longer take on clients or support clients who insist on using
FrontPage for their web site. Microsoft has had 6 years to
fix or improve the above list and has failed to address it. In the
meantime, novice users are led to believe they can build a web site and
become a webmaster (see
article) using FrontPage. This causes
misunderstanding and mistrust between the site builder and the client.
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Fact is, just because you can arrange a
few pictures with text and make a link or two on your domain, does not
grant you the title of WebMaster, Web Designer or Web Developer
(see
definitions).
Final Thoughts
FrontPage can be used for simple editing. It has a ceiling to it's
abilities and is meant for small edits and updates. Many will suggest you
learn an HMTL Editor that follows the standards such as Macromedia
Dreamweaver and Allaire's
Homesite. They are easy to use even for newbies or old die-hard
FrontPage users.
You will also benefit greatly from
learning to use an FTP program such
as WS_FTP, CuteFTP and a myriad of others. They are more powerful, easier
to control and you see the transfers actually happening.
The Truth Is
Out There: Don't believe me? Go to Yahoo and type "frontpage
flaws". Here, I'll do it for you,
click
here.
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