Chapter 26

Web Maintenance and Administration

CONTENTS

A server administrator can get pretty busy keeping track of where pages are located. Sometimes you have to make changes to the web. You might need to relocate, rename, or remove webs. New administrators, authors, and end users must be added or removed, and passwords must be changed. These tasks all require administrator authorization.

Using the FrontPage Personal Web Server

FrontPage 97 is furnished with two different Web servers. The FrontPage Personal Web Server is installed if you choose the typical installation. The following tasks are applicable when using the FrontPage Personal Web Server.

Changing the Default Home Page Name

By default, FrontPage uses a home page (or welcome page) name of index.htm with the FrontPage Personal Web Server. Your remote server might require that you use a home page with a different filename, such as index.html or welcome.htm. You can configure FrontPage to use a different home page name.

If you installed FrontPage using the default installation, you can find the configuration file in which you change your default home page name in the following directory: 


C:\FrontPage Webs\server\conf\srm.cnf

Within this file is a section where you specify your directory index. To specify a directory index file other than index.htm, remove the pound sign before the line that reads DirectoryIndex index.htm, and revise the filename to reflect the home page designation that you want to use. It should look similar to the last line shown here: 


# DirectoryIndex: Name of the file to use as a pre-written HTML

# directory index. This document, if present, will be opened when the

# server receives a request containing a URL for the directory, instead

# of generating a directory index.

#

DirectoryIndex index.html

Administering Your FrontPage Personal Web Server Webs

If you're using FrontPage to develop webs for your corporate intranet, you might use multiple Web administrators and authors to develop your Web sites. When you use the FrontPage Personal Web Server, you configure access for them through commands in the FrontPage Explorer.

Configuring Users

FrontPage allows you to assign access permissions in three categories-Web administrators, Web authors, and end users. You can assign each Web site on your server its own access permissions, allowing you to assign Web development and administration to a different team for each web. You add end user permissions if you have restricted webs on your server.

Administrators are allowed to perform the following tasks in FrontPage:

Authors are allowed to perform the following tasks in FrontPage:

By default, all end users have access to a Web site, but sometimes you might want to restrict access to only certain individuals. For example, you might want to create a web to which only company employees have access. Another example might be a technical support site that requires a monthly subscription fee. On a personal level, you might want to allow access to only friends and family members.

You must have administrator status to authorize another end user, author, or administrator. To add users to your web, follow these steps:

  1. From the FrontPage Explorer, choose Tools | Permissions. The Permissions dialog box appears, open to the Settings tab, as shown in Figure 26.1.
    Figure 26.1 : Use the Settings tab in the Permissions dialog box to assign unique permissions for a child web.

  2. Select one of the following options for your web permissions:
  3. Click Apply.
  4. Click the Users tab, shown in Figure 26.2. From the Users tab, you can add, modify, or remove users as follows:
    Figure 26.2 : The Users tab in the Permissions dialog box allows you to configure users for a web.

  5. Select the user's level of access as follows:
  6. Click OK to return to the Users tab in the Permissions dialog box.
  7. Select the type of web that you are configuring:
  8. Click OK. The user is added to your web.

Restricting IP Addresses

With the FrontPage Personal Web Server, you can also specify access to your web by IP address. This allows an individual or a group of people sharing IP addresses to gain access to your web at different levels. This option is not available if you are using the Microsoft Personal Web Server.

  1. From the FrontPage Explorer, choose Tools | Permissions. The Permissions dialog box appears, open to the Settings tab, as shown in Figure 26.1.
  2. Choose one of the following options for your web permissions:
  3. Click Apply.
  4. Click the Computers tab, shown in Figure 26.5. Add, modify, or remove an IP address as follows:
    Figure 26.6 : Use the Add Computer dialog box to add an IP mask setting to your web.

  5. Select the level of access for the IP mask as follows:
  6. Click OK to return to the Computers tab in the Permissions dialog box.
  7. Select the type of web that you are configuring:
  8. Click OK. The user is added to your web.

Changing Passwords

If you are an administrator or author of the current Web site, you can change your own password. In order to change the password for a user, you must know his or her current password.

To change the password for a web user, follow these steps:

  1. From the FrontPage Explorer, choose Tools | Change Password. This option is disabled if you are using the Microsoft Personal Web Server. The Change Password for (name) dialog box, shown in Figure 26.8, appears.
    Figure 26.8 : Change the password for a user in your web in the Change Password dialog box.

  2. Enter the old password in the Old Password field.
  3. Enter the new password in the New Password field and confirm it again in the Confirm Password field. Spaces are not allowed.
  4. Click OK. The password is updated for the user.

Using the Microsoft Personal Web Server

The Microsoft Personal Web Server is furnished with the FrontPage Bonus Pack. This is an optional server that you can use under Windows 95. You must use the Microsoft Personal Web Server when you use the Database Connector Wizard, discussed in Chapter 16, "Database Connectivity."

NOTE
The Microsoft Personal Web Server is compatible with Windows 95 only. Do not install this server if you are developing your Webs with Windows NT Workstation or NT Server.

The Microsoft Personal Web Server is administered through a combination of dialog boxes and HTML pages that are viewed through any browser software.

You configure the Microsoft Personal Web Server through the Personal Web Server Properties dialog box. From the Windows 95 Start menu, choose Settings and then Control Panel. From the Control Panel group, click Personal Web Server. The Personal Web Server Properties dialog box appears. What follows is a brief overview of the screens that you need to complete to administer your Microsoft Personal Web Server.

Setting General Web Properties

When you first open the Personal Web Server Properties dialog box, it is opened to the General tab, shown in Figure 26.9. This dialog box displays the Internet address of the Microsoft Personal Web Server. Use this URL when you connect to the Web server from the FrontPage Explorer.
Figure 26.9 : Use the General tab in the Personal Web Server Properties dialog box to access and configure the Microsoft Personal Web Server.

Beneath the Web server address is the URL of your default home page. To view the home page in your browser, select the Display Home Page button. A very sparse home page appears in your browser. Of course, with FrontPage, you can improve upon it greatly.

The General tab also contains a section in which you can find more details about the Microsoft Personal Web Server. To do this, click the More Details button. This takes you to the /docs/default.htm page in your server, which links you to the following pages:

Getting Started with Personal Web Server
Personal Web Server Administration
FTP Server Administration

Starting and Stopping the Microsoft Personal Web Server

You start and stop the Microsoft Personal Web Server from the Startup tab of the Personal Web Server Properties dialog box using the following steps. The Startup tab is shown in Figure 26.10.

Figure 26.10 : Use the Startup tab in the Personal Web Server Properties dialog box to start and stop the Microsoft Personal Web Server.

  1. If the Microsoft Personal Web Server is not running, start it by choosing Start. If the Personal Web Server is running and you want to disable it, choose the Stop button.
  2. If you want the Personal Web Server to start automatically each time you start Windows 95, check the "Run the Web server automatically at startup" checkbox. If you would rather start the server manually, uncheck this option.
  3. If you want to show the Personal Web Server icon on your Windows 95 taskbar, check the "Show the Web server icon on the taskbar" checkbox. From the icon on the taskbar, you can perform the following:
  4. Select another tab in the Personal Web Server Properties dialog box, or choose OK to apply your settings.

Administering the Microsoft Personal Web Server

You use the Administration tab of the Personal Web Server Properties dialog box, shown in Figure 26.11, to administer your Microsoft Personal Web Server.

Figure 26.11 : You use the Administration tab of the Personal Web Server Properties dialog box to gain access to administrator tasks.

  1. From the Administration tab, click the Administration button. Your browser opens and displays the Internet Services Administrator Web-based Server Administration page, shown in Figure 26.12. Select the server that you want to administer as follows:
    Figure 26.12 : The Internet Services Administrator Web-based Server Administration page allows you to configure your servers and its users.

Starting and Stopping Your Servers

You use the Services tab in the Personal Web Server Properties dialog box, shown in Figure 26.13, to start and stop the HTTP (World Wide Web) and FTP servers. The display at the bottom of the page tells you the current status of each server. You can tell whether the server is stopped or running and whether the server is started manually or automatically. The Services tab offers the following options:

Figure 26.13 : Use the Services tab in the Personal Web Server Properties dialog box to start, stop, or configure your WWW or FTP server.

Administering the WWW Server

When you choose to administer your HTTP (or World Wide Web) server, the Administrator-WWW page shown in Figure 26.14 opens in your browser. This page contains three tabs: Service, Directories, and Logging.

Figure 26.14 : The Service tab on the Administrator---WWW page.

The Service tab allows you to configure the following items:

Connection Timeout
Maximum Connections
Password Authentication
Comment

The WWW Administrator-Directory page, the top of which is shown in Figure 26.15, lists all directories on your server. You can edit, add, or delete directories from this page:

Figure 26.15 : The upper portion of the WWW Administrator---Directory page contains a list of all the directories on your server. You can edit, delete, or add directories on this page.

Figure 26.16 shows the lower portion of the WWW Administrator-Directory page. In this section of the page, you find an option to rename the default home page. The default home page is (appropriately) named Default.htm. Enter another name in the Default Document field if you require it.

Figure 26.16 : The lower portion of the WWW Administrator---Directory page.

You also have the following options in this portion of the page:

Enable Default Document
Directory Browsing Allowed

The Logging tab, shown in Figure 26.17, allows you to enable and disable logging and specify how often you want a log file to be generated. To specify the settings for your logging file, follow these steps:

Figure 26.17 : The Logging tab of the Administrator---WWW page.

  1. To enable logging, check the "Enable logging" checkbox. It is checked by default. If you disable the checkbox, no logging file is generated.
  2. To automatically open a new log at a specified interval, check the "Automatically open new log" checkbox. Then, select how you want a new log file to be generated. The options are Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or when the file size reaches a specified number of megabytes.
  3. In the "Log file directory" field, enter the directory in which you want to store your log file, or click the Browse button to locate a directory on your local or network hard drive.

Administering the FTP Server

The FTP server included in the Microsoft Personal Web Server allows you to include files for download in your Web site. You can specify a maximum number of people that are allowed to connect to your download area at a given time, generate activity logs, and configure messages and directories for your FTP server. When you choose to configure your FTP server, the Internet Services Administrator-FTP page appears in your browser. This page contains four tabs: Service, Messages, Directories, and Logging. The Service tab is shown in Figure 26.18.

Figure 26.18 : The Service tab of the Internet Services Administrator---FTP page.

The Service tab allows you to configure the following items:

Connection Timeout
Maximum Connections
Allow Anonymous Connections
Allow Only Anonymous Connections
Comment
Show Current Sessions. If you select this link, the Current FTP Sessions page, shown in Figure 26.19, appears. It displays the users that are currently connected to your FTP site and allows you to disconnect the users and close the FTP service.
Figure 26.19 : The Current FTP Sessions page displays the users that are connected to your FTP service.

The FTP Administrator-Messages page, shown in Figure 26.20, allows you to configure default messages for your FTP server. You can configure a welcome message, an exit message, and a maximum connections message.

Figure 26.21 : The FTP Administrator---Directory page contains a list of all the directories on your FTP server.

The FTP Administrator-Directory page, shown in Figure 26.21, lists the directories on your FTP server. You can edit, add, or delete directories from this page:

Figure 26.20 : Configure FTP messages in the FTP Administrator---Messages page.

The Logging tab, shown in Figure 26.22, allows you to enable and disable logging and specify how often you want a log file to be generated. To specify the settings for your logging file, follow these steps:

Figure 26.22 : The Logging tab of the FTP Administration page.

  1. To enable logging, check the Enable Logging checkbox. It is checked by default. If you disable the checkbox, no logging file is generated.
  2. To automatically open a new log at a specified interval, check the Automatically open new log checkbox. Then, select how you want a new log file to be generated. The options are Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or when the file size reaches a specified number of megabytes.
  3. In the Log File Directory field, enter the directory in which you want to store your log file, or click the Browse button to locate a directory on your local or network hard drive.

Configuring Your Users

When you choose Local User Administration from the Internet Services Administrator Web-Based Server Administration page, the Internet Local User Administrator page opens. This page consists of three tabs: Users (shown in Figure 26.23), Groups, and User/Group.

Figure 26.23 : The Users tab of the Internet Local User Administrator page.

In the Users tab, you edit, add, and remove users from your server:

The Groups tab takes you to the Add New Group to Web Server Database page shown in Figure 26.25. Enter a group name in the Group Name field and click Add.

Figure 26.25 : Add user group names on this page.


NOTE
You can also configure groups and assign users to them by choosing Tools | Permissions from the FrontPage Explorer and selecting the Groups tab in the Permissions dialog box. This tab is not available when you use the FrontPage Personal Web Server.

The User/Group tab allows you to assign users to any groups you have configured in your web. This tab takes you to the page shown in Figure 26.26. Highlight a user from the user list, select the group you want to add the user to, and click the Add User to Group button.

Figure 26.26 : You assign users to groups in the User/Group tab.

General Tasks

You can use the tasks that follow with either version of the Personal Web Server. These tasks include displaying documents in hidden directories, recalculating web status, and copying webs.

Displaying Documents in Hidden Directories

When you create discussion groups, the articles that visitors submit to discussions are stored in Web pages that are contained in a hidden directory in your web. By default, FrontPage is configured so that it does not display these hidden directories in the FrontPage Explorer's Folder View. You can choose to view these hidden directories by following these steps:

  1. From the FrontPage Explorer, choose Tools | Web Settings. The FrontPage Web Settings dialog box appears.
  2. Choose the Advanced tab, shown in Figure 26.27.
    Figure 26.27 : Use the Show Documents in Hidden Directories option in the Advanced tab to view your discussion article directories.

  3. Check the box beside Show documents in hidden directories.
  4. Click OK to apply the settings to your Web site and exit, or click Apply if you want to change additional Web settings.
  5. FrontPage asks whether you want to refresh the web after the changes are made:

Recalculating Your Web Status

You use the Advanced tab in the FrontPage Web Settings dialog box to recalculate your web status when Include bot page dependencies are out of date or when your web's text index is out of date. To perform these tasks, follow these steps:

  1. From the FrontPage Explorer, choose Tools | Web Settings. The Web Settings dialog box appears.
  2. Choose the Advanced tab, shown in Figure 26.27.
  3. In the Recalculate Status section, you see two checkboxes enabled when your web needs to be recalculated:
  4. To apply the settings that you selected in the Advanced tab, click Apply if you want to set additional web settings, or click OK to exit the Web Settings dialog box.

Copying and Publishing Webs

You use the Publish FrontPage Web command when you copy or publish your FrontPage Web to another location. You can use the command to copy or publish Webs to and from a number of different servers or file systems, such as the following:

NOTE
If your ISP doesn't have the FrontPage Server Extensions installed on your remote server, consider using the FrontPage Publishing Wizard, discussed in Chapter 28, "Testing and Publishing Your Web." It's much easier than using an FTP program to accomplish the same task.

To copy or publish a web from the FrontPage Explorer, follow these steps:

  1. From the FrontPage Explorer, choose File | Open FrontPage Web or choose the Open button on the FrontPage Explorer toolbar. The Open FrontPage Web dialog box shown in Figure 26.28 appears.
    Figure 26.28 : Use the Open FrontPage Web dialog box to open the web that you want to copy.

  2. From the Web Server or File Location drop-down menu, choose the server, local directory, or network directory on which the web you want to copy resides. You can also enter the server or directory name in the entry field. To open a web on a remote FrontPage-enabled server that does not yet exist in the drop-down menu, enter a server name such as yourserver.com or http://yourserver.com.
  3. If you want to connect to the server using the Secure Sockets Layer, check the Connect Using SSL option. The server to which you are copying must support this feature in order for the option to work.
  4. Click the List Webs button. (This step is not required when you choose a server from the drop-down menu.)
  5. From the FrontPage Webs list, select the web you want to copy:
  6. Choose OK. The web opens in the FrontPage Explorer.
  7. Choose File | Publish FrontPage Web. The Publish FrontPage Web dialog box shown in Figure 26.29 appears.
    Figure 26.29 : Use the Publish FrontPage Web dialog box to select the destination for the web that you are copying.

  8. From the Destination Web Server or File Location drop-down menu, choose the server, local directory, or network directory to which you want to copy the web. You can also enter the server or directory in the entry field. To copy to a web on a remote FrontPage-enabled server that does not yet exist in the drop-down menu, enter a server name such as yourserver.com or http://yourserver.com.
  9. If you want to connect to the server using the Secure Sockets Layer, check the Connect Using SSL option. The server to which you are copying must support this feature in order for the option to work.
  10. In the Name of Destination FrontPage Web field, enter a name for the destination web:
  11. To copy the entire web, uncheck the Copy Changed Pages Only checkbox, which is checked by default. Leave the option checked if you want to copy the pages that have updated since the last time you published the web.
  12. Uncheck the Add to an Existing FrontPage Web checkbox, which is checked by default, if the web to which you are copying does not yet exist on the other server or file location. This creates a new web on the other server or in the other directory. Leave this option checked if the web already exists and you are updating or adding to it.

NOTE
When you add a web to another web, the pages, files, and directories in the first web are copied to the second web. If the destination web has the same filenames as the web being copied to it, the files are overwritten by those being copied.

  1. Click OK to copy the Web site. FrontPage first compiles a list of the pages in your current web. Next, it begins to copy the files. A progress indicator appears in the FrontPage Explorer status bar as the files are copied. FrontPage informs you when your Web has been copied successfully.

Workshop Wrap-Up

FrontPage allows great flexibility, whether you're using it to develop your own personal Web site or using it in a corporate intranet environment. If you're working on your own Web site, you're already granted access permissions to perform administrative and authoring tasks. If you need to configure multiple administrators and authors, the capability is there for you to do so. You learned how to maintain and manage your Web sites and how to specify the name of your web's home pages. You also learned how to assign administrators, authors, and end users to your Web site.

Next Steps

In the next chapter, you'll learn more about the FrontPage Server Extensions and the files and directories that relate to them. You'll also learn what other server extensions are available.

In Chapter 28, "Testing and Publishing Your Web," you'll learn how to transfer your Web documents and files from your computer to your ISP.

Q&A

Q:Can multiple IP addresses be assigned to a single individual?
A:The IP address masks are not connected to an individual in the sense that it is associated with someone's name. Rather, it is associated with a computer. Anyone using that computer's IP address has access to the web as you specify. One individual can have more than one IP address.
Q:Is there any way to choose specific files to copy when using the Publish FrontPage Web command?
A:The closest option is to use the Copy Changed Pages Only option in the Publish FrontPage Web dialog box. You can open a page or several pages in the FrontPage Editor. With the pages still opened in the FrontPage Editor, open the destination web from the FrontPage Explorer. Use the File | Save command in the FrontPage Editor to save the pages to the destination web. Test your pages online afterward to ensure that any links on the pages transferred properly using this method.