Startup

Before creating your pages, you have to create your Local FrontPage Web on your hard drive. These are the 4 basic methods that I know of, you should be able to use at least one of them.

Root Web	.	If you installed the Personal Web Server, when you start FrontPage, there should be a <Root Web> (local) already defined. If you Open this Web, it creates your pages in the directory(s) for your Personal Web Server (d:\WEBSHARE\WWWROOT\). If you desire, in the FrontPage Explorer, you can create a New Folder (sub-directory) to create your files in. Note: The default page that GeoCities loads is index.html, so create a page with this name as your GeoCities home page.
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Local Personal Web	.	If you installed the Personal Web Server, you can create separate Sub-Webs in your Personal Root Web.
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Local Disk Web	.	If you didn't get the Personal Web Server installed or working, or if you decide not to use the Personal Web Server. You can create a local Disk Web. This actually has the advantage, that when you Preview Pages, FrontPage Server Extensions will not be available, just like at GeoCities. The one drawback is that when you Preview Pages, Hover Buttons and other Java Applets won't work in MS Internet Explorer (they will work at GeoCities).
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Direct Edit	.	If all else fails, FrontPage installs itself as the Default HTML File Editor. You can create an empty index.html using NotePad. Then in Windows Explorer, click your right mouse button, and select Edit File from the pop-up menu. The drawback of doing this, is that you can't use the FrontPage Explorer, which has functions for working on multiple pages at once.
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FrontPage Explorer Web Settings

Creating a local Personal Web

This section describes how to create a Personal Web, this actually ends up being a subdirectory under your Personal Web Server Web (d:\WEBSHARE\WWWROOT\yourweb). You can use the Personal Web Server when you are connected to the Internet, and also when you aren't. But if you disconnect from the Internet while you have FrontPage open, you will have to Close FrontPage and your Browser, then Open FrontPage again.

From the Windows Start Menu choose the Programs sub-menu, and open Microsoft Front Page.

The first time you start FrontPage, it searches for current webs, let it complete this step. If FrontPage asks to convert your Local Personal Web, let it do the conversion.

The idea of this step is to get to the 'New FrontPage Web' dialog, to create a new FrontPage Web.

If FrontPage comes up with the 'Getting Started' dialog

	.	Push (select) the 'Create a New FrontPage Web' radio button.
	.	Press OK.
	.	The 'New FrontPage Web' dialog should pop up.

Otherwise, keep canceling out of things, until you have the 'FrontPage Explorer' open (probably with no web displayed).

	.	Drop down the FrontPage Explorer 'File' menu.
	.	Select the 'New' sub menu.
	.	Choose the 'FrontPage Web' option.
	.	The 'New FrontPage Web' dialog will pop up.

Filling in the 'New FrontPage Web' dialog to create your FrontPage Web.

Push the 'One Page Web' radio button.

In the 'Choose a title for your FrontPage web' field, type in your short geoaddress (eg: hood1234), or whatever name you want.

Push the 'Change' button, and the 'Change Location' Dialog will pop up:

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	.	In the 'Please specify the location of the new FrontPage web' field, type in yourweb/hood1234 , replacing yourweb with your Personal Web Server Hostname, and hood1234 with whatever name you like. If you don't know the Hostname of your Personal Web Server, it should be on the drop down list, just select it and then add the /hood1234 to it.
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	.	Push OK, and the dialog will close
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Back in the 'New FrontPage Web' dialog, push OK.

Then you will get a progress dialog, 'Creating Web hood1234', wait for frontPage to finish. The FrontPage Explorer will then open with your new Local Personal Web.

Rename the 'index.htm' file to 'index.html'

	.	In the FrontPage Explorer, drop down the 'View' menu
	.	Select the 'Folders' sub-menu (the main view will change)
	.	Select the 'index.htm' file in the main view (click on the filename).
	.	Drop down the 'Edit' menu
	.	Select the 'Rename' sub- menu (the file 'index.htm' name in the main view will be enabled for editing)
	.	Type in the new 'index.html' name for the file.

Open index.html (you can double click on it), and start creating your home page in the FrontPage Editor.

If you have have existing files at GeoCities, you can import them into your local FrontPage Web, by using the FrontPage Import wizard. Or, you can do what I usually do, which is close the FrontPage Explorer, copy the files into the directory, then open the FrontPage Explorer (this way relative page referances are not changed by FrontPage).

Creating a local Disk Web

This section describes how to create a web for editing your pages on your hard drive without being connected to the internet, and when you don't have the Personal Web Server.

Create a directory on your hard drive for your GeoCities Web Sites called 'D:\GeoCities' (you can use any name, but these instructions use this name).