I currently am very comfortable with frontpage. We want to create a site that will allow readers to search a data base based on maybe 3-6 different criteria (give or take).

My preference would be to create the site myself, hiring someone more technical than me for writing the code for the data base & search. Is there a way to do that and tie it in with frontpage?

If not, what would be the best way to do this? Is dreamweaver something that would work better?

What would I look for in a programmer? What languages are necessary? Would I be able to maintain the database myself without knowing code?

Thanks!

Your choice of language will be determined more by your host and what they support rather than the programmer. Database maintenance could/should be something that can be written as an admin control panel, depending of course on what you needed to do as maintenance.
What to look for in a programmer? being one myself so therefore never hired one, It's a odd question to answer so I won't.

Personally speaking trying to integrate DB functions into a site designed in frontpage is the worst thing possible, with all the garbage code it churns out it takes longer to pick through it than it does to start from scratch and write clean code. DW isn't always much better depending on how it is set up.
The simplest way to achieve integration into another design (IMO) would be to have the code written as modules and reusable functions which you call onto the page wherever you need the data output.

You don't need to choose your programmer based on what your host supports. You can always switch hosts (unless of course you're tied into a contract)

If you're looking for a programmer, ask to see examples of their previous work and see if it's up to your standard. Also see how much they charge. Find a few and do some comparisons maybe.

Might be an idea to check out http://www.rentacoder.com/

Thanks Minaki for the info.

Thanks chrishirst. you mentioned: "Database maintenance could/should be something that can be written as an admin control panel, depending of course on what you needed to do as maintenance." I am unfamiliar with the term admin control panel." Could you explain that? As for the maintenance, we would continually need to add, delete and alter records.

The main reason I wish to integrate the database/search into frontpage is that I know how to use frontpage. Although I used to teach mainframe computer languages years ago, I do not want to have to learn a computer language. I also don't want to have to pay someone to create and maintain the web pages. I'm more of a graphic artist/marketing/writing person. I like to be able to create, alter and add to my websites as the businesses change. That's why I'm hoping it's possible for me to use frontpage or another user friendly program and just hire someone to do the code related to the database and search. Given all that, do you have any other thoughts?

Thanks!

Minaki,
Granted switching hosts is always an option, However providing the host can provide server-side scripting and/or database facilities there should be no need to, and you would choose the language and programmer based on that.

gran,
An admin control panel would be a section of the site (say sitename.com/admin/ ) that would be password protected and give the administrator access to the functions that were required. These would be written by your programmer to allow you to do the everyday tasks without needing to get directly into the database.
Basically what you are looking at is a limited (to your needs) CMS (Content Management System). Any decent programmer should be capable of creating one and providing you with the code sections that you would include in your pages. The Google site search box (bottom of this page) is one example. You download a code snippet from Google and place it on your site.
The same can be done with your system, The programmer builds the backend code and provides you with page snippets such as an input and criteria selection form and a page that displays the output. You then integrate these into your site using includes

Granted switching hosts is always an option, However providing the host can provide server-side scripting and/or database facilities there should be no need to, and you would choose the language and programmer based on that.

Not if you had a prefered technology. If I was in that position and I found my host only supported PHP, I'd ditch it and switch to a host that supports ASP.NET. At work our current web server runs Linux/PHP. They didn't hire me cos I can work with PHP... I use ASP.NET.

Agreed. I prefer to use ASP, never seem to get the time to learn .net, and PHP though I do use it, is really written by a committee and shows it in some of the function naming. Add to that you can never be sure until you start which version the host is running and unless you've been caught out before it's not always the first question you ask.
And there are often good reasons why they can't or won't change hosts/servers. dedicated servers, SSL Certs, existing technology etc.

The customer is always right

chrishirst - thanks for the clear explanation. One question. How is it put in? Is it a function on the top bar, is it html I would have to add...?

No idea how to insert includes with the FP WYSIWYG. Used it once for about 1/2 a day, got hacked off with it rewriting my code, never tried it since

But using includes in code is simple enough. Or of course you could copy and paste if its only a few pages.