Manila and FrontPage
There is a discussion going on about how FrontPage and Manila (or Radio) interoperate. The simple answer is that FrontPage is a visual tool for designing webpage templates while Manila is a browser-based system for managing a website (or weblog). They do different but complimentary things. - Here is a more detailed answer:
Manila is a full featured content management system. It separates the content of your website from your site's template (the graphics, layout, and look-and-feel). It stores all of your content and templates in a database, and automatically combines them into a webpage whenever anyone visits that page on your site (a kind of just-in-time publishing model). This is an important to understand. This means
1) if you want to create a new page all you need to do is click a button and the layout of the page is built-automatically. All you need to do is add the content.
2) if you want to change a single item in the tempalate on a site with hundreds of pages, all you need to do is change the template in one place. The content management system will take care of the rest.
3) if you want to edit the content of a single page, you don't have to call a designer (for fear of upsetting the design of the page). All you would need to do is click the Edit this Page button on the page you want to edit and start typing in the editing window. It's that simple.
Now, how does FrontPage fit in? Well, you need a way to create the templates you are going to use in Radio. You have three options: 1) you can code the HTML by hand, 2) you could call a designer ($$), or 3) you could use a visual tool like FrontPage to design your templates. Once you have the template design you want, all you need to do is cut and paste it into the appropriate template editing box on Manila (in the "prefs>advanced" section of the editors only menu). It's that simple.
The power of this combination becomes very important when weblogging. Weblogs are time-organized. That means that all of your most recent content is put at the top of the page, grouped by day, and then placed in the archive (the calendar on your weblog). If you had to do that by hand, everytime you posted new content, it would be a nightmare. [John Robb's Radio Weblog] I would have thought this was obvious but I guess it isn't!
3:47:19 PM 
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