Who still has a FrontPage site
FrontPage was the tool many small businesses, churches, clubs, professional offices and local organizations used to build their first website in the late 1990s and 2000s. Some of those sites were never rebuilt. They still appear in search results and still bring in calls and emails, which is why the owners are reluctant to touch them.
What goes wrong when nobody is looking after it
- The tool is gone. Microsoft discontinued FrontPage in 2006. The software is not available to buy, and it does not run well on current Windows.
- Server Extensions dependency. Forms, counters and some navigation stopped working when the host removed FrontPage Server Extensions, which current hosts rarely support.
- The source lives on one computer. The original files and the FrontPage metadata folders are on a PC that has since been retired.
- The pages are table-based and not mobile friendly. Search engines and visitors on phones penalize them.
- Forms and email links leak or break. Contact forms that relied on server components no longer deliver, so inquiries vanish without notice.
- Hosting is lapsing. The domain and hosting accounts were opened by a former staff member or relative, with an email address nobody checks.
Support and takeover options
FrontPage sites are Tier B, taken on by arrangement. We begin with a read-only Takeover Assessment: confirm who holds the domain, DNS and hosting, take a complete copy of the live site, list every page, form and file and check whether forms are really delivering.
Options after that:
- Preserve. Host a safe copy on a supported server with working forms, keeping the site as it is. Ongoing Support is arranged case by case.
- Rebuild like-for-like. Recreate the site on a current platform with the same pages, wording and addresses, a clean mobile layout and redirects. Fixes and Upgrades.
- Modernize. Rework structure and content to suit what the business does now. Modernization and AI.
If the site is down because the hosting lapsed or a server change broke it, Emergency Recovery is the first call. It covers outages from errors, crashes and neglect.
Keeping what works
Old sites often have pages that rank well and bring in business. Before rebuilding, we check which pages receive visits and links and make sure those are preserved: same address or a permanent redirect, same main wording and the same contact path. We would rather keep an old page that works than redesign it for its own sake.
Forms and email
Missing form submissions are the most expensive hidden failure on old sites. We test every form and email link on a copy and report which ones deliver. If a form has been broken for years, we say so plainly and fix it as part of the move.
How we work
Tier B and C stacks are by arrangement with a stack specialist. We scope each in writing and tell you plainly when we are not the right fit. Every engagement starts read-only. Write access is set out in a signed agreement first, and a person reviews every change before it reaches a live system. Work is AI-assisted and human-reviewed, and we explain how at the start.
Related stacks
See Flash and Shockwave content, Classic ASP and PHP, WordPress and Laravel.
Request a quote for your FrontPage site and tell us the address, who holds the domain and whether you have the original files.