Frontpage used to be an HTML editor that is very popular. Users need to ensure that their hosting accounts support Frontpage. If Frontpage is supported, they can upload their web pages directly on to the servers. However, Microsoft has decided to discontinue the development of this product. As a result, many webmasters are forced to look at different alternatives. Content management system (CMS) options. The first alternative is to look at content management systems (CMS). There are many different types of CMS available. Some require you to pay a one time fee, some are subscription based, and some are free. A commercial CMS can cost thousands of dollars and may be more appropriate for a large corporation. Such systems are meant to power huge sites (e.g. international sites). For smaller businesses, subscription based CMS may be a good alternative. By paying a small monthly fee, you get to enjoy similar features as the large corporations. The affordable pricing is viable due to a different business model known as Software As A Service (Saas). In other words, the platform is actually shared by many users. When there is an upgrade, everyone gets to enjoy the upgrade. The only downside is that you can't customize the system for your own needs as the system is shared among many users. Then you have free options. These are open source software (e.g. Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal) that you can use for free. A good open source CMS has an active community of developers that is constantly improving the system. Many of these scripts have taken years to mature, and a few (like Wordpress) has been become very popular among individuals and business owners. The benefit for using an open source software is that you get to do what you want with the software without having to pay a single cent. You can customize the software, install third party plugins, change the designs, etc. However, the downside is that since it's free software, you cannot rush the upgrades. The community will release upgrades in its own time. The trend is clear - many desktop HTML editors are phasing out, giving way to more powerful and robust online editors. Almost all the open source CMS that you come across would have an online editor. You can easily create and edit the web pages from your web browser, without having to use additional software such as FTP. When choosing hosting, you have two alternatives - to use Linux hosting or Windows hosting. Since most of the open source software are developed based on the Linux platform, it's highly recommended that you sign up for Linux hosting if you want to use free software. There are two types of control panels for Linux servers that you will come across - Plesk and Cpanel. Choose Cpanel as it has more features and is more user friendly. You can create email accounts, databases, install scripts, etc. from the control panel. Forget about Frontpage hosting, as that has gone the way of the dinosaur. Use online editors - they are free, easy to install, and easy to use. Since Microsoft discontinued frontpage and no longer support this product, many web hosting are removing frontpage extension support for their web hosting package. Look for more windows hosting and compare windows ASP hosting at our Top hosting review site.
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