Comment tags question

[WebMonkey]

I'm trying to make the total file size of my homepage smaller. I have A LOT of comments in the code. From what I understand, comments aren't necessary in any way, but here are a few comments that are in my code that look like they MIGHT be important:

<!--webbot bot="Include" U-Include="_includes/head.htm" TAG="BODY" startspan -->
<!--mstheme-->
<!--webbot bot="Navigation" S-Type="banner" S-Orientation="horizontal" S-Rendering="graphics" startspan -->
<!--webbot bot="Navigation" S-Orientation="vertical" S-Rendering="graphics" S-Type="top" B-Include-Home="TRUE" B-Include-Up="FALSE" startspan -->
<!--webbot bot="Include" i-checksum="53798" endspan -->


Are these comments something that I can delete? They kind of look like they're there for a reason.

And while I'm here, is there ANY comment code that would NOT be ok to delete?

Thank You, and I LOVE this forum!!
You guys have helped me out a lot. Thanks!:3:

[french dread]

I am not sure but it could be some code for statistics or banners. I would not delete it but perhaps a specialist will answer?

[WebMonkey]

Ok, thanks. I wouldn't really worry about this <!-- comment stuff -->, but I have 273 words in the code of my page that are just comments. That's A LOT of extra garbage that I'd like to get rid of if I can.

Hopefully someone will have the answer... This comment stuff is a mystery to me.

[Daminc]

I've always believed that comment tags are useful when you navigate your coding to re-edit.

I don't believe there would be any problems if you delete the code, just remember to keep the details somewhere in case you need them in the future.

Comment tags are for the programmer and doesn't make any difference to the site itself.

[landmark]

This looks like code generated by FrontPage that is there for a purpose!!! Do not delete unless you know why it's there - that's my advice.

[Aesopian]

If you're using Frontpage, it makes and uses of those webbots commands to do includes, auto-generated navigation and shared borders.

Are you using FP?

[WebMonkey]

Ya, the website was made in Frontpage. So would I mess things up if I deleted these comments?

[Daminc]

I've never used FrontPage (I use DreamWeaver) so I'd listen to landmarks advice.

(nb How does FrontPage use comment tags different from DreamWeaver :confused: )

[stevew]

The comments tags are a giveaway that the site was created in FP, and must remain if your are to continue to maintain the site with FP.

However, if you use another package -- or manually edit the HTML yourself -- you can safely strip out the FP comments : they're simply rules which FP uses to control the use of templates, themes, etc.

Not only does this make the file size smaller, but it allows you to see what's going on with the code much more easily. I do it routinely if I take over an FP site. (And don't mention web pages created with Publisher or Word --- often about 30% code, 70% MS crap -- hardly SE friendly)

Just be sure that the tags you strip out are FP tags, not include file instructions, etc, which can look like comment tags.

(nb How does FrontPage use comment tags different from DreamWeaver) DreamWeaver has its own set of instructions to control templates, etc that work in the same way.
IMHO, DW is superior to FP (it doesn't ignore Netscape for a start), but although they are both clever packages, and reduce maintenance time, it's far better to hand code and use include files for common elements.

[WebMonkey]

Thanks a lot for the help!