I use FrontPage 2003 to add  new web  part zones. Simply adding web part  zones should not effect the ghosting  of the site. Yes, you can add a web part zone  to the left navigation area, you need to add a cell in the area then place a web part zone in the cell, works like a charm.

I might be wrong, simply adding web  part zones and saving the page  will make the site  un-ghosted.

This way definitely unghosts the page  unless I am missing something.
I have tried this before and it unghosts the page. I went into
frontpage 2003 and added the webpart zone  in a table and saved it in
Frontpage (Anytime you save in frontpage the page becomes ghosted).
But please let me know if I missed a step or misunderstood the
instructions.

This is what I did, I opened the default.aspx file in FP2003. Added a web  part zone  and copied the Web part  Zone entry. I did not save the file ( page  is still ghosted).

Then I went to the default.aspx page again from site  Definition NOT FP2003 and added this new web part zone tag. Now I can see the new web part zone.

You will have to edit the site  definition files in order to do this (and
avoid ghosting). Depending on how many screens the new zone  needs to
appear on, this can become a pretty big task.

You will have to edit just default.aspx file of the site  definition. For example \60\TEMPLATE\1033\STS. You don't have to touch ONET.XML file for that or any other file. Of course you can create  your own site definition. Add your new web  part zone  in default.aspx file. Example:

<tr ID="BottomRow" class="ms-tzbottom">
<td valign="top" ID="BottomCell" width="100%" colspan="2">
<WebPartPages:WebPartZone id="g_835E117060AD4CB69A04EA23E5E8B357" runat="server" title="Zone 5">
</WebPartPages:WebPartZone>
</td>
</tr>

As others have indicated, if your goal is to keep the page  ghosted,
you will have to modify the site  definition, but you may wish to be
cautious in doing so. Keep in mind that doing this for default.aspx,
as an example, will extend the change to all sites using the site
definition of default.aspx. Granted that in this case the change,
adding a web  part zone, does not visaully impact the site.

Also I think it is generally acknowledged that it is inadvisable to
change the default site definition. So if you are not working from a
custom site definition that is another thing to consider.

If the change is minor and localized, and as there are no real
alternatives, you may want to simply accept the un-ghosting of the page.

<![CDATA[Did someone just recommend that vano76 unghost these
pages? Noooooooo.]]></ahhh>
<![CDATA[G-g-g-ghosting is g-g-g-good; unghosting  is
bad.]]></yeah>

Vano76, edit the default.aspx page  and add  a WebPartZone server control
something like this:

<WebPartPages:WebPartZone runat="server" FrameType="TitleBarOnly"
ID="QuickLaunch" Title="loc:QuickLaunch" />

It will be invisible on the pages that don't need.

Even if you make no changes, just clicking on the Save toolbar button
unghosts the page. Do not edit production Web Part pages using Frontpage
or any other Web Dav editor. SharePoint will unghost the page  when you
save it. It does not have what I call a "smart save option". Even
changes within containers like link bars and Web Zones will cause the
page to be needlessly unghosted.

Consider implementing the DisableWebDesignFeatures attribute on the
Project tag in ONET.XML. Since it is a hotspot in the ONET there really
isn't any viable reason not to implement it. Below is an example of the
Project tag for my TODD custom site  definition with the changes that I
highly recommend:

<Project

AlternateCSS="/_layouts/[%=System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.Current
UICulture.LCID%]/Custom/TODD/OWS.css"

CustomJSUrl="/_layouts/[%=System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentU
ICulture.LCID%]/Custom/TODD/ows.js"
DisableWebDesignFeatures="wdfbackup; wdfrestore; wdfpackageimport;
wdfpackageexport; wdfthemepage; wdfnavigationbars; wdfnavigationview;
wdfpublishview; wdfpublishselectedfile; wdfopensite"
Title="TODD Web Site"
ListDir="Lists"
xmlns:ows="Microsoft SharePoint"
>

DisableWebDesignFeatures is number three on my list of mandatory changes
to the STS ONET just behind AlternateCSS and CustomJSUrl. With
DisableWebDesignFeatures in place, Frontpage 2003 cannot do anything
with your SharePoint Webs. To protect your future, implement these
changes in your production site definitions today.

Anytime you use FrontPage to save an instance page  in SharePoint, you
unghost the page. Period.

OK, you can edit link bars without unghosting  the page but that
effectively unghosts the link bar (there isn't a ghost hunter for link
bars).