When you convert a document to a Web page, you can choose whether the page should be created immediately (in the foreground) or added to a queue (created in the background).

What happens when I choose for a page to be created in the foreground or in the background?

Why would I choose for a page to be created in the foreground or in the background?

Create a page in the foreground or in the background

What happens when I choose for a page to be created in the foreground or in the background?

When you create a Web page by using the Document Conversion feature of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, the request to convert the document and create a Web page is sent to a queue that is handled by a document converter that is responsible for converting documents of a particular type.

If you choose to let the page be created in the background, the document is converted when the converter reaches that point in the queue. This may happen quickly, or it may take a while, depending on the volume of documents that are in the queue and the document conversion settings that are used on your site collection. When you choose to create the page in the background, you are redirected to the document library that contains the document that you are converting.

If you choose for the page to be created in the foreground, the request is moved to the beginning of the queue and is processed by the first available conversion launcher (usually within seconds). While the conversion is underway, you are redirected to a long-running operations page until the conversion is complete, at which point you are shown the resulting Web page.

Why would I choose for a page to be created in the foreground or in the background?

Whether you choose to create a page in the foreground or in the background should depend in large part on your page creation and editing process.

If different people are responsible for creating the document and for editing and approving the page

If the people who create the source document and the people who edit and approve the page are different people, you should consider background page creation, because the people who create the document may not need to work with the resulting Web page. Hence, there is no reason for the document creator to wait for the conversion process to finish. By returning to the document library, the document creator is often ready to start the process again with a new document.

By queuing the document conversion request, you ensure that pages that were created by document conversion are prepared for editing and approval in the same order that they were submitted to the queue.

If you choose to create the page in the background, you can also specify that certain people receive e-mail messages from the system when the conversion process is complete. This can help you to coordinate the page's publication.

If one person is responsible for creating the document and for editing and approving the page

If the same person creates the document and edits and approves the Web page, choosing foreground page creation makes sense, because the document creator probably needs to work with the resulting Web page as soon as the conversion process is complete. Moreover, by waiting for the conversion process and then proceeding to page editing and approval, continuity of task is preserved: The page creator can make sure that the page is ready before moving on to the next Web page.

Create a page in the foreground or in the background

The choice to create a page in the foreground or in the background is presented when you create a Web page from an existing document by using the Document Conversion feature of Office SharePoint Server 2007. You make this choice on the Create Page From Document Web page by using one of the following two procedures.

Create a page in the foreground

1. On the Create Page From Document Web page, in the Processing section, click Create this page for me now, and take me to the page when it is created.
2. Click Create to start the conversion process. You see a long-running operations page until the processing is complete, at which point you see the new page.

    Note    If you navigate away from the long-running operations page, you are not automatically shown the new page when it is ready.

Create a page in the background

1. On the Create Page From Document Web page, in the Processing section, click Create this page for me in the background, and take me back to the document library.
2. If you want the system to send e-mail when the page is created, select the Send e-mail to the following users when the page is created check box, and then enter the appropriate users in the Users box. You can browse for users by clicking the Browse button. You can validate the names in the Users box by clicking Check Names.

    Note    Outgoing e-mail must be enabled in Central Administration for this option to be available.

3. Click Create to send the page to the document conversion queue. You return to the document library that contains the original document.