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BOOT CAMP 019
CREATING YOUR
OWN WEBSITE PART 3
If you've been following this short DIY guide you should now
have a working web site, safely filed away on your PC's hard disc drive. Now we
come to the tricky part, getting your site up and running on the Internet. It's
tricky, not because it's difficult, but there are just so many different ways
of doing it.
The fist step is to find someone to host your site. You can
either pay for it --the best option if you're using it to sell something or
promote a service -- or you can take up one of the many offers of free space
that are available. Free space usually comes with strings attached, but that
needn't be a problem, in fact it can work to your advantage if your site is devoted
to helping others or is of a charitable nature. Shared single-subject sites are
a useful resource and often a lot easier for visitors to find. To see if there
are any appropriate servers, access one of the main search engines (Yahoo, Alta
Vista, Lycos, Infoseek etc.), enter 'free web space' plus suitable key words
('Scouting', 'disability', 'childcare', etc.) into the search field and see
what comes up.
If you're a subscriber to one of the larger Internet Service
providers (CompuServe, AOL, UK Online etc.), then you will already have an
allocation of free space. Use it if you've got it, but read the small print;
you might find there are restrictions on what you can and cannot publish.
They're usually reluctant to let you use it for commercial purposes, or
anything they deem socially or politically unacceptable. The other problem with
free space is the ISP can pull the plug at any time, and they're not obliged to
warn you, or tell you why. The same applies to servers who provide free space
in return for allowing them to put advertising on your pages. You will have
little or no control over advertising content -- you could end up with an ad
for a burger restaurant on your web site for vegetarian recipes -- moreover you
have no say in how long they will host your site. If that's not a problem you
should certainly check out the free service offered by the US server Geocities,
by visiting their web site at: http://www.geocities.com
Don't be put off by the fact that a host server is overseas.
This is an irrelevance on the Internet and it may well be that your visitors
will get faster access if the company is well connected to the network.
However, for the purposes of this exercise we'll assume that
you're going to use your allocation of free space, provided by your ISP. The
precise method of uploading a web site onto a host server varies enormously so
you will have to do a little research. Access your ISP's free web site
tutorial, which will outline the exact procedures. It should also tell you how
the all-important URL (uniform resource locator) or addresses for your site is
allocated. In some cases you may need to changes file names on your web site in
order to conform to their system. They may also advise you to add extra
hypertext links or HTML code, but this is a very simple procedure, involving
typing a line or two of text and symbols onto your pages.
CompuServe is fairly typical. You need the original software
CD-ROM, which contains a suite of programs, including a useful web
site-authoring program, called Home Page Wizard, and the Home Publishing
Wizard. Open the Publishing Wizard and follow the instructions. It basically
involves entering a few personal details, then you identify your web-site
files, press the OK button and it is automatically uploaded onto the server.
Remember that your web site must contain all necessary files, including text,
images and anything else that visitors may want to access.
After your site has been uploaded make a careful note of the
URL and log off. Log on again then try accessing your site. When the page
appears re-check all of the links. If there are any mistakes return to the
original files on your PC, make the appropriate changes and go through the
upload procedure again. This will overwrite the existing site. You can use this
method to update the site as often as necessary.
Now the site is operational it is time to publicise it by
making sure that as many search engines as possible list it, or can find it.
Once again there are lots of different methods. You can do it manually, by
accessing each search engine in turn and looking for their Submit Form link,
however since there are literally hundreds of search engines, this could take a
while. The alternative is to use a program to do it for you. Web site
registration utilities like SoftSpider and Add Web 2.01 are available in
shareware form. Usually the shareware version will only register your site with
a limited number of search engines, but they tend to be the most popular ones.
If you want to register with more you will have to pay. Nevertheless, they are
all very simple to use. Just enter the details of your site, the URL, a short
description of what it contains and some keywords.
You can also register your site with multiple search engines
on-line. The best known submission sites are Add Me -- they'll send your
details to 34 search engines for free -- and Submit-it, who currently deal with
over 400 search sites. Links to an from other related sites are a very useful
way of attracting visitors, so contact those sites and offer to put a link on
your site in exchange for them carrying yours.
And that is everything you need to know to create a Web site
and publish it on to the Internet. Needless to say you can make it a great deal
more complicated, and there are countless embellishments you can incorporate
into your site. There are literally hundreds of books and Internet sites
offering further guidance, and hopefully you'll receive plenty of feedback from
your visitors. However, the point to bear in mind is that the basic principles
are easily mastered, if you've managed to get to grips with a word processor,
you can do it!
USEFUL CONTACTS
www.adme.com
http://www.cyberspacehq.com
http://softspider.com
http://www.geocities.com
http://www.submit-it.com
JARGON FILTER
HOST
An Internet company providing storage space for web sites on
their server computer
HTML
HyperText Mark-up Language -- hidden text-based codes and
commands on a web page, that helps your browser to move around documents and
access other sites
SEARCH ENGINE
Internet sites that seek out information, by topic, keyword
or name
URL
Uniform Resource Locator – a
standard Internet address e.g.: http://www.rickmaybury.com
TOP TIIP
If your Windows 95 PC is starting to get a bit sluggish and
files seem to take longer to open, you may be able to pep up its performance
with a few simple changes. Open the Control Panel and click on the System icon.
Select the Performance tab and click on the File System button. On the Hard
disc tab you will see a box marked Typical Role of this machine. Change the
selection to Network Server. While you're there, make sure the slider marked
Read Ahead Optimisation is fully turned up. Click on Apply and re-start your
PC.
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