ah! i always hand-code my connection, so i didn't know about this feature - thanks!
almost there. i've set up the site, and creating a new connection, but the connection string i'm using doesn't seem to work.
i just copied/pasted the connection string i use in my hand-coded pages: "PROVIDER=SQLOLEDB;DATA SOURCE=winsqlus04.1and1.com;UID=dboxxx;PWD=xxx;DATABASE=dbxxx"
when i hit "test", i get an "access denied ... file may not exist ..." error.
googling around, it looks like connection strings often include database path information (server.mappath). i've never need to spec the path with 1and1 (my host), though.
any thoughts? thanks again.