Now I've designed my webpages, how do I put my website on the web?
You need some webspace: you can get this from your Internet Service Provider (ISP), such as tesco.net or dial.pipex.com. Alternatively you can sign up for free webspace, e.g., at xoom.com or fortunecity.com.
To get your pages from your computer onto the web server you will need to transfer all your HTML files and any associated graphics or sound files onto the webserver. You do this with File Transfer Protocol or FTP.
You may have an FTP program on your computer among the software provided by your ISP. So first of all, ask your ISP the following questions, or find the answers in the documentation provided by them:
- Do they supply an FTP program? (Common ones are WS-FTP and Terrapin FTP on PC and Fetch on the Mac.)
- What is the address of the ftp server? (This may be the same as the webserver, but with ftp:// instead of http://, or may be slightly different, e.g., ftp.mywebserver.co.uk)
- What are my username/login name and password?
- What will be the URL of my website? (e.g., www.mywebserver.co.uk/myname/)
If you don't have an FTP program, download one from www.tucows.com or a similar site.
How to FTP
We are using the program WS-FTP as an example here:
1. First, open your FTP package, e.g., WS_FTP, by clicking:
2. Click Connect to bring up the Session Properties box. If you were the last person to use the machine, it will bring up your profile. If not, click on the arrow on the Profile Name box to see the list of profiles, and choose yours.
3. If you cant find your profile, or need to create a new one, perhaps for the first time, follow these steps:
4. A small box may pop up requesting your password again. Do not worry if this happens: it is part of security procedures. Simply fill in your password and click OK.
5. You will know when you are connected to the server when a green arrow appears on the right hand side of the WS_FTP program box.
6. Now you must make sure that you are in the correct folder. Look at the small right hand box, underneath the words Remote System. Usually (but not always), the name of your folder on the server (e.g. /myname) is in the box, to show you that you are in the right place, and can start transferring files. Go to Point 8.
7. If there is only a slash mark in the box (/), you may need to click on the ChgDir button (change directory). A box will pop up type your folder name into the box.
8. Now, look at the left hand side of the program box, Local System. You will need to find your saved files in order to move them to the server folder.
a) If your files are in the disk in the A:\ drive, scroll down until you find the [-a-] symbol, and double click it to open. Go to Point 9.
b) If your files are on the C:\ drive, double click the green arrow at the top of the left hand box until the smaller text box reads C:\
From there, find your folder (for example, if your folder is in C:\My Documents\Website, once you are in C:\, you must then double click on the My Documents folder, and then double click on the Website folder).
9. Once both the Local System and the Remote System boxes are correct, you are ready to start transferring files.
To transfer a file from the local system to the remote system, simply click on the file you want to move, so that it is highlighted.
Then press the arrow --> which faces towards the Remote System box. You have now moved the file onto the server.
10. Once you have moved the files, click Close to disconnect from the server.
11. Now enter the URL of your website (e.g., www.mywebserver.co.uk/myname/) to see what your pages look like online!
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