Copy one of the demo files from the php examples directory to virt1 to test phtml. Do not use frontpage 97 extensions. They do not work, at least under Linux. Do not use frontpage 98 extensions before version 3.0.2.1330. Do not be confused, version numbers are somewhat inheterogenous.
Older versions have a nasty bug that requires httpd.conf to be writable by the gid of the webserver.
This should make you scream if you are at all concerned about security. Versions since 3.0.2.1330 are more usable. But even for medium-sized webs and fast machines, the client sometimes recieves a timeout message, though the calculation will be finished correctly. Inform frontpage users to be patient and not to hit Recalculate Links several times. Please note that at the time of writing both SSL and frontpage work, but not at the same time, that means you can neither publish your web using ssl nor make use of the webbots through https.