Thank you for responding to my questions. I searched the code in my 18 frontpage sites and I didn't use any of what I assume are 'bots': hit counter, forms, nav links. I do not plan to convert my existing sites to EW immediatley but rather plan to take course and learn to build new sites with EW. To be clear, it sounds like I can retain my frontpage sites on server with extensions turned on at example:
www.mydomain.com/frontpagesite1/
www.mydomain.com/frontpagesite2/    and then bulid and add expression sites to same root as in example below?

www.mydomain.com/expressionswidgetsite1/
www.mydomain.com/expressionsgizmosite2/      and these can be linked to and from each other and the frontpage sites.
                                                                              FP will continue to function properly as it has in the past and the new EW sites will function on this same server?

Also, can I use Expressions to edit existing frontpage pages (local or server side) and/or add pages to frontpage?  

cdwise:  I want to take your next online course to learn it. Do you know next date?  Do offer any fee based personal consulting on EW since I seem to have more questions than answers? At some point in time during this transition I know I would like to be able to talk directly to someone by phone to make sure I'm doing everything right. Thank you again for maintaing this great forum. Marc G 

Hi Marc, 

Not sure which course you are referring to but Cheryl has one  Introduction to Expression Web which is ongoing now but beginning the 3rd week. I'm not sure when the next course will be offered. You can read about them here http://starttoweb.com/classes/index.php

Tina Clarke and I are teaching a class now on Migrating from FrontPage to Expression Web which has just begun it's 3rd week. Again not sure when the next one will be offered. At the same time we are writing an eBook by the same name which will soon be available for sale. http://www.frontpage-to-expression.com/

I am assuming you will have fpse turned on for all of the sites? Yes they should all continue to function. To edit your fp sites from EW just open them in EW. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A GOOD BACKUP FIRST.

As long as you are not using any of the bots - nav bots, shared borders, themes, etc you should have no problems.

You should download and use Tina Clarkes free Setting up EW eBooks to get started ont he right foot. They can be found here

http://any-expression.com/expression-web/ebooks/setting-up-expression-web-ebook.htm

Tina and I will be happy to try and answer your questions as will others on this list. Cheryl has limited Internet access as she is in Houston.

pat

Marc, it has been a very long time since I have used shared borders on a website. I do however use frontpage includes or design time includes in Expression Web. I do know quite a few people who use shared borders on servers without fpse installed. They still seem to work ok. I would encourage you to learn how to use include pages in FP and EW if you are not already doing so. The are - to me - much easier to work with than shared borders and give you a greater control over your site. You can actually copy the information from your current shared borders and save them as include pages.

If your wish is to eventually convert all of your sites so they are standards compliant, then I encourage you to learn how to use includes. Sorry if I confused you.

 Hi
I understand your suggestions to use the include pages instead of shared borders. I was taught a long time ago to use the shared borders and before recently had no reason to look for alternate ways of doing things. Times have changed. I have begun to play with a dummy version of one of my sites to practice with. The includes do not seem difficult at all. My biggest problem that is overwhelming is just the high number of web pages that would need to be converted (almost 1000).Since my sites are divided into 16 individual sub sites I need to do includes for each site. Question; Is there a fast way to replace shared border pages with includes within each sub site rather than doing every single page individually ??  The task is huge if there is no shortcut. Thanks again for your help.
Marc

 Sorry I forgot this. Are DWT the same thing as an include page?

 No a DWT is not the same as an include but can replace shared border very well.

A DWT or Dynamic WebTemplate to use the full name is intended b be used for the parts of your website that will remain constant from page to page. If we used this site as an example  the DWT would consist of the masthead at the top of the page (including the login status menu at the top right in it), the main site menu (silver menu bar), and the footer. The right side or left side menus menu you see on some pages would be an include.

This site actually uses master pages which are an asp.net server side version of Dwts since it is all database driven.

Have you watched the basic website tutorial on this site. After I create the basic page design the last section shows how to turn it into a DWT and why some sections are locked and others editable on a page by page basis.

Cheryl D Wise
Houston: As long as my generator is running I have internet back! Report is power in my area "post Monday".