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Your web pages are
all done, they're
gorgeous, and you're ready to share them with the rest
of the world. How do you put them online? You upload them
to the server using a
File Transfer Protocol.
That's not as mysterious, or as
complicated as it sounds. FTP is computerese for the
method computers use to exchange or copy files to each
other. The chart below shows several different ways for
you to upload your web pages, where to find or download
the necessary software, and links to setup or
instruction pages for each.
Perhaps the easiest to use
is the FreePages Online File Manager and Editor. This is the
only option for WebTV users.
Drag and Drop is easy, if the right software is available. The server
must be running a program that will allow it (RootsWeb does). On a PC
or
clone, Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher supports it. On a Macintosh with
OS9 or higher,
the Network Browser supports it. The transfer rate is somewhat slower
than a
stand-alone FTP utility,
but if you're used to the drag and drop feature of
Windows, you may like this familiar way of copying files.
Publishing Wizards are included with some web creation
software, and you may already have one of these
on your computer. While you can upload with these wizards, many will
not delete, move or rename files or folders.
Stand alone FTP utilities are the most versatile. They
can delete or rename files; create, rename, or delete folders; and
upload the entire contents of a folder with one command.
If your website has a great many pages, you will probably
find it easier to use a stand alone FTP utility.
The RootsWeb counter code is a URL within an
<img> tag. When you revise your page, Composer will
"help" you out by saving a copy of the current
counter image to replace the host image from RootsWeb
(the one that shows the changing count). Thus, every time
you revise your page in Composer, you have to replace the
code for the counter. To prevent this from happening,
when you first insert the counter code in the HTML for
your page, double click on the image for the counter, or
open the "image properties" dialogue. The top
box shows the image location. Under this is a box that
says: "Leave image at the original location".
CHECK THIS BOX. Now you can save your page, and the
counter code will not be modified by Composer.
Some FTP utilities (including the Freepages File Manager) have an
option to
convert all file
names to lower case when transferring. If you or your software
has
named files in a combination of upper and lower case, be
sure to turn this option off before beginning your upload.
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