Cleaning Up FrontPage’s HTML Output
For years I’d been annoyed by the way FrontPage wrapped every page in a thick layer of proprietary tags. Those tags bloated the <head> section and confused search engines, which made me skeptical of using the program for anything serious. That attitude changed when I joined a group of seasoned SEO specialists who all swore by FrontPage. Their secret? A few simple settings that keep the extra code at bay for good.
The first step is to locate the configuration file that FrontPage uses to decide how it formats the HTML it writes. On systems running FrontPage 97 or 98, you’ll find a file named frontpg.ini in the root of your C: drive. Open it with a plain‑text editor and look for a line that reads “Version 3.0.” Right beneath that line, add the following:
HTMLREFORMAT=0
Save the file and close the editor. Now, when you edit a page in FrontPage, any stray tags that normally appear in the <head> section will no longer be injected. The program will honour the HTMLREFORMAT=0 flag and preserve whatever clean HTML you’ve written.
For users of FrontPage 2000, 2002, or the Windows XP version, the setting lives in the user interface rather than the ini file. Open a page in FrontPage, click Tools, then Page Options. Under the HTML Source section, you’ll see a choice labeled When saving file(s):. Select Preserve existing HTML. That option tells FrontPage not to touch the code you’ve already written. Once you make that selection, you can delete any unwanted tags or scripts, and they won’t return on the next save.
Some users prefer to push the change further by editing the Windows registry. A small registry file ships with the FrontPage 2000 installation and will set the ReformatHtml value to 0 automatically. The file can be downloaded from the Microsoft website; open it in Notepad to confirm it’s legitimate before you run it. If you prefer to modify the registry by hand, add the following key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\All Ports]"ReformatHtml"="0"
Once the registry value is set, the change takes effect for all users on the machine, regardless of the program’s version. This trick is handy when you’re administering a shared environment and want to enforce a clean HTML policy for everyone.
In practice, the result is a leaner <head> section that contains only the tags you add manually: <title>, <meta>, and any necessary stylesheets or scripts. Search engines no longer have to parse FrontPage’s boilerplate, and page load times improve because the server sends less data. The extra code that once clung to every page is gone, and you can focus on content rather than markup maintenance.
Adding Meta Tags and Other Features with FrontPage Add‑ins
Once you’ve cleared the clutter, you may find that you need to insert meta tags on a regular basis. Doing that manually in source view can be tedious, especially when you’re juggling dozens of pages. FrontPage’s add‑in library offers a solution: the META Tag Maker 2002. This small program lets you define, edit, and apply meta tags from a single dialog box. You never need to dive back into the source editor again.
Downloading and installing the add‑in is straightforward. Microsoft hosts a collection of free add‑ins on its frontpage download page; simply browse the list and choose the ones that fit your workflow. After installation, the META Tag Maker appears in the Tools menu. When you open a page, click Tools > Meta Tag Maker, fill in the fields for description, keywords, and other directives, and click Apply. The add‑in injects the tags directly into the page’s head, keeping everything tidy.
FrontPage’s add‑in ecosystem goes beyond meta tags. Popular choices include:
- Multimedia/Special FX – embed audio, video, or Flash elements with a few clicks.
- Clear Teal Template – a ready‑made, 16‑page template that speeds site creation.
- J‑Bots Plus 2002 – a scripting tool that generates JavaScript snippets without writing code. Just fill out a dialog and let the add‑in handle the rest.
These add‑ins work by inserting clean, standards‑compliant code that FrontPage can store as part of the page’s design. They also keep the code separate from your own custom markup, so you maintain full control over the final output. When you switch to a different FrontPage installation or migrate to another server, the add‑in’s data travels with the page files, ensuring consistency.
Using add‑ins frees you from repetitive tasks. You can set up a set of meta tags that apply to all pages in a particular directory, then apply them en masse. You can add a header image or a navigation bar once, then reuse it across the entire site. The result is a higher level of abstraction that lets you focus on strategy and content, not the minutiae of HTML.
Leveraging Server‑Side Includes for Dynamic Content
One of FrontPage’s strengths lies in its support for server‑side includes (SSI). SSIs allow you to embed commands inside an HTML file that the web server interprets at request time. The server pulls in the result of the command and merges it into the final page that the browser receives.
Because SSIs execute on the server, they don’t expose the raw code to the user. They also produce a clean URL that search engines can index without confusion. Common use cases include email subscription forms, latest news feeds, and dynamic navigation bars that reflect the current page hierarchy.
FrontPage offers a visual interface for inserting SSI directives. Open the page you want to modify, then go to Tools > FrontPage Server Extensions. In the dialog, you can choose from a list of available SSI commands, such as
<!--#include file="header.html" -->or<!--#echo var="DATE_LOCAL" -->. Once you’ve inserted the directive, save the page and upload it to a server that has SSI enabled.FrontPage’s built‑in server extensions are especially useful when working with large websites that share common elements. Instead of duplicating a header or footer on every page, you store the element in a separate file and include it with an SSI. If you need to update the header, edit the single source file; every page that includes it updates automatically.
Beyond static content, SSIs can also call external scripts, such as CGI programs or PHP files, and display their output. That means you can embed a simple contact form that posts to a server‑side script without leaving the clean HTML environment that FrontPage provides. The key is to keep the SSI syntax concise and limit the number of included files to avoid performance issues.
When you combine SSIs with the clean code approach outlined earlier, you end up with a dynamic site that remains search‑engine friendly. The server handles the heavy lifting, while your HTML stays lean, well‑structured, and easy to audit.
Managing Multiple Sites and CSS with FrontPage
Many webmasters run several sites from the same FrontPage installation. The program offers a range of tools to simplify that workflow. Shared borders, reusable templates, and the ability to cut and paste blocks of markup between projects make managing dozens of sites far less painful.
For instance, you can define a set of CSS rules once and apply them across multiple sites. Open the Page Options dialog, then click Stylesheets to link a shared CSS file. Because the file resides on the server, any changes you make are reflected immediately on all sites that reference it. You can also create local styles that only apply to a particular site, giving you the flexibility to brand each one uniquely.
FrontPage’s visual editor also supports DHTML, so you can add interactive elements like image rollovers or slide shows without writing JavaScript by hand. The editor generates clean DHTML code that modern browsers understand. When you need to tweak the interaction, you can switch to source view or use the add‑ins we discussed earlier to add event handlers.
Dave Barry, a webmaster who maintains 40–50 sites for SmartCertify, uses these features daily. He shares assets - like logos, navigation bars, and style sheets - across projects, then edits only the parts that differ. The result is a dramatic reduction in duplicated effort. He can drag a file from one site to another, and the link updates automatically. When a new page template is approved, he can apply it site‑wide with a single action.
Because FrontPage keeps the generated code clean, search engines can crawl each site efficiently. The shared assets don’t introduce duplicate content problems, and the consistent use of CSS ensures that page rendering is fast and predictable. When you’re handling multiple sites, this combination of simplicity, shared resources, and clean markup is a powerful advantage.
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