Internet Web Help

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.

Now that you have selected a domain name, registered it and signed it up with a web host, you may be asking ‘what’s next?’ The following step will be that your web host will have to provide you with details on how to get your site up and running online. This information includes passwords to get into your account, paths towards directories where your files need to be uploaded, and most vitally, what your domain name servers are.Domain name servers (DNS) offer the link between your domain name (mywebsite.com) and your Internet Protocol (IP) address. As we have seen, the IP address is a series of numbers as follows: 123.456.78.9; and, every web server has a unique IP address which, in the event of dedicated servers hosting a single domain, is the same as the domain name. A site which is hosted on a dedicated server will respond to either 123.456.78.9 or mywebsite.com by serving the webpage you request.The majority of websites, nevertheless, are hosted on shared servers. This means that one server is a home to many different websites, each having the same IP address. So if you type in a shared IP address you’ll get an error page or will be redirected to the web hosting company’s web site. So DNS is indeed necessary for websites on shared servers. The only way to request these websites is through the domain names – they cannot be requested through the IP address.DNS ConfigurationWhen you first buy a domain name, it will get registered on the DNS of the registrar. And until you plan for a web host, the registrar company will habitually redirect requests for your domain name to either an error page or an ‘Under Construction’ page. Remember that there isn’t any time limit between buying the domain name and finding a host. Some people buy their domain names without any intention of building a website with them. Many people, however, do buy their domain name with the intention of working with it. For this to be possible, you will need to open an account with a web host and prepare to transfer your site to their server. Part of the process of preparing your site for publication on the World Wide Web is to bring to the attention of your domain name registrar of the DNS of your new server.DNS configurations look approximately like this: Primary Name Server: NSA.NEWDAYDNS.COM (204.50.14.2)Secondary Name Server: NSB.NEWDAYDNS.COM (204.50.22.2)You will find this information from your hosting company either in the informational package that they email to you, or on their website. If you have trouble finding the DNS it will be best to contact your web host and request it. Once you obtain the DNS information you must enter it into your account on the registrar’s website. If you have bought your domain name from the hosting company, they will usually make the proper changes for you when your account gets set up.When your DNS is registered or modified (when you change web hosts) it will take up to 24 hours for your site to be up and running on the World Wide Web. This is due to the fact that domain names are registered in a distributed data base that is maintained on thousands of computers all over the world, and, as each computer has a small part of the database in cache, if they receive a request for an unknown domain, that request will have to be forwarded to another computer until they can find the information.Article Source: http://www.webdesignarticles.net.