Preventing Frontpage extensions from being searched

Frontpage extensions being indexed in search bots

[Marn]

Every now and then I see frontpage extensions indexed in a form generated in Frontpage.

Occasionally, I see in the search results.
such as: _cnf or _vti_bin files end up indexed when you do a search within a website, I have even seen: database.txt showing up in the search results with sensitive information.

How can one prevent this, besides NOT using frontpage which to me, is very, time consuming in stamping out its bugs.

**I know, don't use frontpage, but I'd like to pass this info on to those who ask me about it from time to time.

[tedster]

As you already know, Front Page is not exactly the tool of choice for creating pages that do well in the search engines.

My guess is that the SEs sometimes WILL display FP extensions in your page, and there's little or nothing you can do to prevent it. But I've never wrestled with the issue for real -- I just de-FrontPage the client sites I take on, and I do it as fast as I can.

As far as keeping a sensitive .txt database from being indexed, definitely put a robots.txt file up to keep the spiders away.

[Marn]

Tedster,
Thanks for the quick reply: I am really glad to have discovered this group while searching in google for finding out what the ubiquitous spider slurp is that I see in the logs.

I, too, do not like Frontpage, but I give people who insist on using many tips to fix the many problems the product has.

The robots.txt file is definitely a good idea.