Right don’t laugh but I’m new to this monster ASP thing but I’m willing to learn configuring the forum and looking at the script as got me thinking about converting my site to ASP but I just don’t know where to start.

What I would like is start at the basics can somebody show me how to do a home page with an include header and footer tried this on my NTLWORD site but it did not work do I need to have a database or can it be done without one. Sorry to ask so much but this is very interesting I think I’m hooked      

it wont work on NTL as NTL doesnt support ASP

you need a host who supports ASP

to do a include you can put <!--#include file=" file name here "-->

which will work on any server that supports SSI (Server Side Include)

and in ASP you can use <% server.execute(" file name here ") %>

theres another for the ASP but i cant remember it

for a free ASP host theres Brinkster.com or you could pay for a decent ASP host (as brinkster isnt really that good, with it being free and all)

i personally started using ASP JUST to include links but soon found the other features usefull!

numanme, if your site is currently all static pages, then there is not much that you need to convert to ASP.  You can use INCLUDE files for your header, footer, and whatever else you want to have in the same place on every page.

and I would suggest you do what Scotty_32 says about getting an asp enabled site, or you won't get anywhere with ASP.

Dont use <!---#include file="filename.inc"--->

if you do that you will have to have that file in the same directory as every page you want that header to be used for.

use <!---#include virtual="path to file"---> and that will allow you to have one file, in one place, and access it from any directory in your site.

Here is something I put together about ASP that hopefully might help you learn a little.

You and others can have access to a database hosted on the Web from any location that has a browser with an Internet connection.

The Web database concept makes sense if you and your people want to do work in various locations in or outside the office and still be "plugged" in.

For example you could have employees enter timesheets or have sales reps log their contacts.  Or perhaps you'd like customers to be able to check the status of their orders online without having to call the company.

If you want a Web database, typically what would happen is that a database such as Access or MySQL (basically just consisting of tables) would be put on the Web.

Then "dynamic" Web pages (actually ASP pages which include VBScript, HTML, and/or JavaScript) would be created acting like the old desktop database's queries, forms, and reports to access the database - all hosted on a Web Server.

Dynamic Web pages are similar in many ways to regular HTML pages.  But they are "live" because the user can read from and write to information in the database.  An example where you can login and add, edit, or view fictional customers and invoices is at http://www.bullschmidt.com/login.asp - http://www.bullschmidt.com/login.asp

Not all Web hosts will handle dynamic Web pages but many do.  The Web hosts that can handle ASP pages usually have a Windows 2000 operating system running an IIS Web server.

Here are a few good ASP sites:
o ASP101 (See the Samples Section) - http://www.asp101.com - http://www.asp101.com
o 4GuysFromRolla - http://www.4guysfromrolla.com - http://www.4guysfromrolla.com
o Microsoft VBScript Language Reference - http://msdn.microsoft.com/scripting/default.htm?/scripting/VBscript/doc/vbscripttoc.htm - http://msdn.microsoft.com/scripting/default.htm?/scripting/VBScript/doc/vbscripttoc.htm

And the following newsgroup is good:
microsoft.public.inetserver.asp.general

Or for a "quick and dirty" generic ASP solution to putting database tables on the Web that just requires setting up a configuration page for each table or query and uploading the database to the Web as long as you have an autonumber field in each table (and as a more advanced issue you'll probably sometime in the future want to create login capabilities), perhaps try something like this:
GenericDB by Eli Robillard
http://www.genericdb.com - http://www.genericdb.com