1. Why have you disabled access to the platform?

We disabled editing/publishing access to the FrontPage servers to help safeguard from a recently published security vulnerability that could potentially have put customers’ FrontPage data at risk.

2. Why are you decommissioning the service?

Microsoft ceased providing support for FrontPage back in 2006. To fully support FrontPage we need to install special ‘FrontPage server extensions’ software provided by Microsoft. No new server extensions have been made by Microsoft since 2002 and these older server extensions are now becoming increasingly difficult to support alongside modern web server technology. We now feel that we have reached the point whereby we’re unable to continue supporting FrontPage at the same time as ensuring our servers are patched and kept up to date against all the latest security threats.

3. How can I get access to my webspace so that I can move my files?

Due to way FrontPage works you will probably already have a locally stored copy of your website that you can upload to another hosting platform. If however you do need access to our servers to download a copy of your website then you can request this by raising a ticket to our support centre here.

4. How do I go about moving my website to the Homepages/CGI servers?

It’s fairly easy to upload a copy of your website to our Homepages or CGI servers, all that’s required is that you change some of your FrontPage settings. If you’re thinking of keeping your website with Plusnet then we recommend that you use our Homepages servers instead of the CGI platform which will be undergoing some changes over the next month or two, this may mean you have to move your website again. There’s a basic tutorial over on our Community Support Library explaining how to upload your website to the Homepages server using FrontPage 2003.

Please note that any aspect of your website that relies on FrontPage extensions will not work on the Homepages or CGI platform and may result in errors when browsing to some of the pages on your website. Neither does the Homepages platform support CGI, Perl or PHP scripting.

5. How do I know if I’m using FrontPage extensions?

You can see a list of website components that require FrontPage extensions here. If your website is using any of these components then there’s a good possibility that they won’t work on our Homepages servers. If you need to retain this functionality and are not prepared to change the design of your website then you may need to consider moving your website to a third party hosting provider that still supports FrontPage.

6. I’m having problems publishing my site to the CGI/Homepages servers.

Some older versions of FrontPage have problems with FTP uploads if certain types of Firewall or Network Address Translation (NAT) are in use. In these instances something called ‘passive FTP’ is often required. If you are using FrontPage 2002 or earlier then passive FTP might not be supported and you may need to use a separate FTP program like Filezilla or the FireFTP Firefox extension.

7. I’ve uploaded my website to the Homepages/CGI servers but it doesn’t display properly!

If any aspect of your website relies on FrontPage extensions then it is unlikely to render how you’re used to once it’s on the Homepages server. You will need to make alterations to your code in order to overcome these compatibilities.

8. What about FrontPage’s successor?

Microsoft has replaced FrontPage with newer software which includes ‘Microsoft Expression Web’. This program does not use FrontPage server extensions and should work fine on our Homepages servers, if you are thinking of moving to ‘Microsoft Expression Web’ then you may need to redesign certain areas of your website. More information about the differences between the two programs can be found here.

9. What will happen to my website when you decommission the service?

Your website will no longer be viewable when browsing to fp.<username>.plus.com (or the equivilent address if you are a Force 9 or Free Online customers). Instead an HTTP error 404 will be displayed.

10. What will happen to my old fp.username.plus.com address?

It will be switched off, however you can request that we repoint the fp.username.plus.com address to the Homepages servers (normally accessible from http://www.username.plus.com). If you would like to reques this then please raise a ticket on your account by following the instructions here.

11. I have another question/problem?

If you still have unanswered questions or are having any problems that you need help with then please visit our Community Site forum where we’ll be happy to help the best we can.

This entry was posted by Bob Pullen on Friday, September 11th, 2009 at 3:23 pm and is tagged with . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.