When comparing web hosting services, it is important to make sure that web
select supports the web development platform that you plan to use.
Microsoft's FrontPage is a very widely used web development application
that can produce sophisticated websites quickly and inexpensively. It
provides a wealth of functionality, particularly when the FrontPage
website is hosted on a suitable web server.
FrontPage requires that software components called "FrontPage Extensions" be
installed on the web server. FrontPage extensions have evolved over time
and differ for FrontPage 97, FrontPage 2000 and FrontPage 2002/2003. The
extensions can be deployed on both Unix and Windows platforms. Some of
FrontPage's features, however, can only be used if the FrontPage application
is hosted on a Windows server. The most important of these features is
the ability to easily integrate a Microsoft Access database into the FrontPage
web and thereby generate dynamic, data driven web pages. Another important feature is
the ability to produce detailed statistics on web usage.
FrontPage 2003 was released in October, 2003 and provides additional
functionality including the ability to integrate FrontPage webs with different
types of databases using XML. FrontPage 2003 also facilitates team
collaboration in web development and support. To make use of these new
FrontPage 2003 features, the Microsoft FrontPage 2003 application must be
installed on a Windows 2003 Server running Microsoft's SharePoint Services.
