Web Styleguide

Using FrontPage to Edit Web Sites

To edit a site at the top level of the server, like www.smu.edu/mySite:

  1. Open FrontPage.

  2. Select Open Web from the File menu. If you don't immediately see Open Web, you may need to click on the double down arrow at the bottom of the File menu.

  3. On the left hand side of the Open Web dialog, click on My Network Places or Web Folders (you will only have one or the other).

  4. Type the full URL for your web site in the input box near the bottom center of the Open Web dialog. (It's the box to the left of the Open button.) If you don't know your site's full URL, go to the site in a web browser. The full URL will appear in the box labeled Address. The full URL includes http:// . Example: http://www.smu.edu/students/

  5. Click the Open button.

  6. Please see the bottom of this page for important notes.

To edit a site that's more than one level from the top of the server, like www.smu.edu/someotherSite/mySite:

  1. Open FrontPage.

  2. Select Open Web from the File menu. If you don't immediately see Open Web, you may need to click on the double down arrow at the bottom of the File menu.

  3. On the left hand side of the Open Web dialog, click on My Network Places or Web Folders (you will only have one or the other).

  4. On the top right hand side of the Open Web dialog, click on the new folder icon ( ). A new dialog box will appear.

    5. If the title is "Add Network Place Wizard":

    1. Select Create a shortcut to an existing Network Place and press Next.
    2. In the Location box, type the full URL of the web site. For example, http://www.smu.edu/otherSiteName/yourSiteName.
    3. Click once in the Shortcut name box. Change the name if you want.
    4. Click Finish. (If you are prompted for your username and password, go ahead and enter them.)
    5. Click Cancel.
    6. From now on, you will open your web site using the instructions at the very top of this page. One difference: in step 4, instead of typing the full URL to your site, click once on the shortcut you just created and then hit Open.

    If the title is "Add Web Folder":

    1. In the box named Type the location to add, type the full URL to your web site. For example, http://www.smu.edu/otherSiteName/yourSiteName.
    2. Click Next.
    3. Click Finish.
    4. From now on, you will open your web site using the instructions at the very top of this page. One difference: in step 4, instead of typing the full URL to your site, click once on the shortcut you just created and then hit Open.

    If FrontPage prompts you for a username and password, use SMU\username where username is your eight-digit SMU account ID. You must use your SMU account password.

  5. Your web will open in FrontPage. A list of files and folders will appear on the left. If you double-click on a file, it will appear on the right.

Very Important Notes:

NEVER USE FTP! NEVER USE THE PUBLISH WEB FEATURE!

With FrontPage, you are no longer editing your site on your hard drive and uploading it. You are now editing files straight off the web server. If you use FTP or Publish Web, you may ruin your web site and/or break all your links.

Because you are now editing straight off the server, there is no need to maintain a copy of your web site on your hard drive. Unless you are saving a copy for archival purposes, we strongly recommend deleting all copies of your web site off your hard drive.