Using a Manual Method to Create Web Templates

This section describes the steps needed to create web templates with FrontPage. This procedure will create a web template called Sample:

  1. Create a web using FrontPage on your local web server, or copy a web from a remote server to a local web server.

  2. Create a new folder called Sample.tem in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft FrontPage\Webs folder.

  3. Locate the Test folder containing the web content in C:\FrontPage Webs\Content. For example, if your web is called Test, then the web content is located in C:\FrontPage Webs\Content\Test.

  4. Copy the web’s images folder (if any) into Sample.tem. For example, if the web is called Test, copy C:\FrontPage Webs\Content\Test\Images into Sample.tem. If you are using the Windows Explorer, be sure to hold down the CTRL key when doing the copy, or else the folder will be moved, not copied.

  5. Copy the web’s pages from the main web directory C:\FrontPage Webs\Content\Test into Sample.tem. Do not copy access control files, such as #haccess.ctl.

  6. Using NotePad, create a file called Sample.inf, in the Sample.tem folder.

  7. Create an info section in Sample.inf with appropriate title and description keys. For example, set the title to “Sample Web” and the description to “Create a sample web from a template.”. Add any tasks or web meta-info variables in their appropriate sections.

If you have any content in the web directory _private, repeat the above steps, copying the pages to the same subfolder (_private) in the web template.

If your web includes any content in the pre-defined subfolders (images or _private), you will need to create a FileList section in the Sample.inf file as described above, to ensure those files get uploaded properly by FrontPage.

FrontPage will not create new web sub-folders when loading web templates. To create deep webs from existing content, use the Import Web Wizard, or simply drag a folder from the Windows Explorer or desktop onto the appropriate folder in the FrontPage folder view.