Time out errors are one of the most common problems with using Microsoft FrontPage. Unfortunately, there can be many different causes for this problem and many different solutions.

If your web site has any broken links, it can cause time out errors during the publishing process. To fix broken links on the server, you will need to open your web site directly on the server and recalculate links. This is done as follows:

• On the Tools menu, click Recalculate Hyperlinks.
• Click Yes to confirm.

This will take anywhere from a few seconds to 10 minutes depending on the size of your website. It is all done on the server, so it has nothing to so with the speed of your Internet connection. While it's working you will see the compass icon on the taskbar moving and changing to a globe. You will not be able to author until it finishes.

Recalculating hyperlinks can repair many minor problems with the webbots and permissions on your Microsoft® FrontPage® website. We recommend that you do it monthly and after every major revision to your website.

Recalculate hyperlinks periodically when you want to update the hyperlink display in the current web, for example to update recent changes made to the web by others in a multi-author environment. Recalculating hyperlinks also updates other data in FrontPage, such as deleting unused themes and updating FrontPage-based component information on the server.

Broken Web Bots

Some times after publishing your site, certain FrontPage features (forms, counters, navigation bars, etc.) will fail to work and can cause the server to time out during the publishing process. These features are called FrontPage web bots. To fix a broken web bot, open your web directly on the server as follows:

• From the menu in FrontPage Explorer, select File->Open Front Page Web...
• Click on the "More Webs..." button
• Enter your domain name as the "Web server or disk location" and click on the "List Webs" button
• Double click on the web you are working on (Normally, your default web is called "".)
• You may be prompted for your user id and password at this point. Enter the same user id and password you use when publishing your site.
• You can now edit your site just as you do when it is on your local hard drive.

Open the page with the broken web bot(s). If you are not sure which web bot has failed (whether they be forms, counters, etc.) and is causing the time out error, you may need to do this for every page that has a web bot. Remove the components from your web page directly on the server and re-add them just as if you were working on a web that was on your local hard drive.

Important: While it is possible to edit your whole site directly on the server, we highly recommend that you always keep a copy of your site on your local hard drive. FrontPage web sites frequently get corrupted. For this reason, we highly advise that you always edit your site on your local hard drive and publish a copy of your site to the server. The only exception to this rule is when you need to fix a broken web bot as explained above.

ISP Problems

Some ISP's may incorrectly detect your connection as "inactive" when you are publishing a large FrontPage site. This is because some ISP's monitor activity such a web browsing or FTP access in order to determine that your connection is still active and they may be terminating your connection in the middle of the publishing process. If you think this may be the problem, try opening a browser and browse the web during the publishing process or contact your ISP for assistance. AOL (America Online) has also reported that there may be problems publishing FrontPage sites via their service. If you are using AOL and are having this problem, try using a different ISP.

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