Getting Your Registered Domain Online (Part Three)

Once you open an account with a web host and set the DNS you can begin to upload your web pages. The easiest way to achieve this is by using FTP (File Transfer Protocol) software but some other options are also available.

FTP is an Internet Protocol (like HTTP) that enables data files to be transferred from one computer to the next. Your web host will provide you with some information about how to connect to your site by using FTP. Usually you use FTP software like WS_FTP or FileZilla in order to connect to the FTP server on your website. The address of the FTP server is generally ftp.mywebsite.com (where mywebsite.com is the domain name).

Your host will also tell you about the place where the files should be uploaded. Your account might probably have two main folders in the root directory – public_html and www. Your web pages must be uploaded to the public_html folder. The www folder is a mirror folder which will allow people to find your site by using either www.mysite.com or mysite.com.

You might need to adjust a few settings in your FTP software to upload files properly. For instance, if you are using a firewall on your computer you should place the transfer system to passive. If you are making use of a proxy you’ll have to adjust the proxy settings.

You can send or receive files in either binary or ASCII mode. If they are transferred using the wrong mode they could end up with errors when the transfer is completed. Your FTP software could try to determine which mode to use by examining the contents of the files, or you could have to specify the transfer mode by hand. Files that should be sent in ASCII mode comprise HTML (and variations such as HTM, SHTML, DHTML, etc.) TXT, CGI, C, ASP, JS etc. Essentially, any file that can be viewed in a text editor should be transferred in ASCII mode. On the other hand, binary mode is used to transfer all other content – graphics, compiled programs, as well as media files.

Make a connection to your web server using FTP software. Browse to the folder where you want to upload your files to (usually by clicking on the folder icons), then find the local files that you would like to upload. Whole directories or individual files can also be uploaded.

You can give a name to most of the pages of your website, but there is one crucial file in each directory – index.html or a variant (index.htm, index.shtml etc). This implies that your home page will have to make use of this name. You can view the homepage by typing http://mywebsite.com or http://mywebsite.com/index.htm. In the first case, if there is no file under the name index.htm the contents of your root directory will be shown. Without the presence of an index file in each directory, anyone who browses that directory will be able to see all the files there. This involves a huge security risk as well as the exposure of private information to the view of the public.

FTP is one of the most common methods to upload files to your website but isn’t at all the only way. Some packages for web authoring contain built in transfer methods in order to upload your entire site or individual pages automatically. Microsoft FrontPage is a good example of this type of transfer method. In order to make the most of it, you’ll need to have FrontPage extensions installed on your website. You can ask for this option from your web host. Other packages for authoring contain built-in FTP software so that you can construct your site and upload with one familiar crossing point.

It is also possible for you to build sites online. A few web hosts will give you access to software which is browser controlled that will allow you to lay out web pages. Once you have finished the page will be automatically saved to the right location on your server. This kind of web builder can usually be obtained through your hosting account’s control panel.

Article Source: http://www.webdesignarticles.net.

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