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Topic: Creating a website |
Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 8 Apr 2007 9:04 am |
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I've owned a site for a while, but have never been able to use it - I've tried uploading songs, but once they are there I can't figure out how to make links to them work, much less set up a site. I have some freebie program called "webeasy", but it doesn't get into how to use sound or video files, nor how to have more than one page - it might, but it goes into html stuff that I know exactly zero about. Every other resource I've found digs right into html and sometimes compares it to other programming languages, which does me no good at all.
Is there a site OR software out there that's is completely drag-and-drop, or uses plain English explanations - or am I trying to do something only a programmer should fool with? ftp-this and html-that is completely lost on me.
Thanks for any suggestions (other than "take a class", which I have no time for)
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 8 Apr 2007 9:59 am
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If you want to learn on your own there are plenty of tutorials about managing a website, creating links to files, writing proper html code, search engine optimization and a myriad of other details that are important to professional webmasters like me. As for drag and drop website creators I would point you to visit my CoffeeCup website software page and read the details about the "VisualSite Designer," then download a copy to play with. It will remain fully functional for 30 days.
Regarding uploading files and linking to them, this involves developing a basic understanding about what your website URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is (e.g. your-website-nameDOTcom), what folder you have uploaded the files to, what the exact spelling and letter-case is of those filenames (should be all lowercase for compatibility with Apache web servers). You would then follow the server path to those files, which you have uploaded via an FTP program, or via an upload utility in the website's control panel, and create hyperlinks to the exact file path and name/extension, based on your website's URL.
The directory where your publicly viewable html files reside may be named public_html, or data, or html, or some custom name. Check with your web hosting company for this information.
Example: in your FTP software's "connect to" field type: your-website-name.com
and set the startup directory to: /public_html or just <b>/</b> , enter and save your login username and password.
Example of a URL to a sub-directory and file:
| Code: |
| http://www.example.com/foldername/filename.ext |
If the file you want to link to is an mp3 audio file, the extension (.ext) is .mp3. If it is a .jpg photo, it would be filename.jpg. The path will always begin with your URL, then any folders off the root directory, then the filename. It is SOP to create separate sub-directories for images, audio files, video files, scripts, cgi executables, or other included items that are accessory files. Your main html files are the only ones that normally go into the public web root directory.
No matter what tool you decide to use for creating a website you absolutely must know the URL to your website, your login credentials and the name of the public viewable directory to which you will upload the html files. This information is available from your web hosting company. Once you input the login details into the FTP software (included in all CoffeeCup web applications) and save it, you can upload/download files anytime, or create new sub-directories (a.k.a. folders).
If you need professional coaching on website matters like these contact me by email.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Joe Harwell
From:
"I've never been bad." ........ Many, LA
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Posted 8 Apr 2007 10:01 am html editors
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Hey Jim-
Try "free html editor" in a search.
Here's a few links:
http://www.coffeecup.com/free-editor/
http://www.arachnoid.com/arachnophilia/
http://www.pagebreeze.com/
Lots of good tutorials on the web you've probably found.
Will trade html lessons for pedal lessons<GR>!
_________________
Joe in LA
"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak & the strong; because, someday in life you will have been all of these". |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 8 Apr 2007 8:31 pm
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I understand the URL and case-sensitive stuff, but most of the rest is a foreign language. I'm getting the impression this is something far more labor-intensive than I thought, and it was a dumb idea to think I could set this up to basically host some music files, pictures and links. From Wiz's post I can tell I'm out of my league. I just wish I hadn't been paying to hold the site name for months.
I'd give it a shot with the visual editor - but I neglected to mention that even though I mentioned a PC-based program I messed with, that was after hours on a work PC - I use a Mac. There seem to be rather limited Mac resources - another thing I tried was Iweb and got something that actually looked half-decent, but first it wanted to upload stuff to a .mac account (which I don't have) - then I used the "save to folder" option - but there's no instructions as to what stuff goes where on the actual website, so when I uploaded it to match the folder structure it was saved in it ended up with a lot of non-visible graphics and non-working links. Tried moving files to different directories, but I was throwing darts in the dark - finally just duplicated the missing graphics by copying them to EVERY directory...and that didn't work either. Made the mistake of looking at the actual html code - that was a useless effort.
I guess what I need is a Mac-based program that's visually-structured...but that also knows how to upload things to the right place if I give it the website URL. Does anything like that even exist? I'd even settle for a PC-based program and borrow my son's laptop. I don't seem to have much of a problem creating a site with a visual-type program, but when it comes to the uploading part I'm completely lost - I need a program that's "smart" in that area.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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Bill Moore
From:
Manchester, Michigan
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 9 Apr 2007 11:57 am
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Bill - What is that? I looked at the page but it didn't seem to have anything to do with website creation - stuff about phone numbers? I'm confused...again...
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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Bill Moore
From:
Manchester, Michigan
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Posted 9 Apr 2007 1:11 pm
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| Sorry Jim, I just saw that link at my service and thought it would help. I don't use a Mac, I've always used a PC, and FTP programs to upload files. It looks like you need to start very simply, one file, get the correct url, make sure it works. Then try another. As far as web page creation, find a very simple page and look ar the page source. It's really not that hard to make simple pages. Good luck. |
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Al Marcus
From:
Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)
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Posted 9 Apr 2007 7:58 pm
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Jim-My good Friend Bill Moore ought to know about these things. He sure has worked a lot on my website and I appreciate it. He has offered to upload song files on my website. I sure dont know how to do it...al.
_________________
Michigan (MSGC)Christmas Dinner and Jam on my 80th Birthday.
My Email.. almarcus@cmedic.net
My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Eric Jaeger
From:
Oakland, California, USA
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Posted 9 Apr 2007 9:25 pm
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Jim, there are some superb web authoring tools for Mac out there, like Dreamweaver, but they cost money.
-eric |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 10 Apr 2007 3:54 pm
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I actually did a site in Iweb on the Mac that didn't look too bad for a first effort an dchecked out fine using Iweb's verification tools...but their default is uploading to a .mac account. I did find a freebie program that uploads Iweb sites to other servers - ran it, it seemed to operate just fine...but the website didn't work. It still has the picture my buddy put on it a year ago (www.nochops.com) instead of my stuff.
I'm basically clueless at this point.
| Quote: |
Jim;
You could farm this out to a professional Webmaster who can do what you want from a PC, via FTP . |
I appreciate the thought, but that's not in the budget - this is just for personal use. If I was selling something I'd use the webmistress who consults for us at the office...but it's not worth the $$$.
I've tried Mac and PC-based "do it yourself" software, along with programs that supposedly upload the stuff to the right places on the server - in both cases all the files got there, several directories were set up...but I still have a guy in a beach chair rather than a site. It's really strange.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2007 9:32 pm
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Update - I used this "Easy IWeb publisher" program 3 more times...deleted everything off the server each time and even created a simple one-page text "site" in IWeb.
None of them worked. If you own a Mac, DO NOT use this software - it's freeware, but will cost you a ridiculous amount of time.
Stuck at square one.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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Joe Harwell
From:
"I've never been bad." ........ Many, LA
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Posted 12 Apr 2007 5:37 am Default name of homepage for website
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| Jim Sliff wrote: |
I've tried Mac and PC-based "do it yourself" software, along with programs that supposedly upload the stuff to the right places on the server - in both cases all the files got there, several directories were set up...but I still have a guy in a beach chair rather than a site. It's really strange. |
Depending on the webserver, your homepage of your site usually must have a specific name such as:
default.htm or default.html
or
index.htm or index.html
and usually that page must be located in the "root" directory of your site and not within another directory.
Of course there are variations to this, but this is a very common, "basic" website structure.
Have you already checked this?
Your site navigation proceeds from the homepage.
All links must include correct path statements to either/or both/and other pages, graphics, sound files, or whatever object you are pointing toward.
With the home page properly named and with the proper path statements for your links, everything should work. But path statements can be tricky. Especially when you do your html editing locally on your computer and linking to your objects located on your hard drive, those "local" path statements can be transmitted to the webserver. But it sounds like you have software that transfers your content to the site making the proper paths in the links. Or at least it should. If you can open your pages on the website, check the link paths.
Just some more fodder to chew on-
_________________
Joe in LA
"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak & the strong; because, someday in life you will have been all of these". |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 12 Apr 2007 6:43 am
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Thanks Joe - yes, the index.html is in the root directory. I was told it needed to be there, and the software apprently dumped it into the right place. The other folders all appear as well, but all I can do (I think) is view the source code - and that does me no good. I can't even print it from the site, just look at it.
IT SEEMED to be simple: 1) create site in IWeb; 2) save it to a folder; 3) upload the folder using Easy IWeb Publisher. Those are all the steps give...but it's not showing up. As far as knowing what to look for inside the folders or how to tell if an html file is written correctly, I have no idea.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 16 Apr 2007 7:34 am
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Joe's taking a look at it, but it appears as if either iWeb or the iWeb uploading progran does something weird, as things aren't ending up where they should and the site still won't com up.
Any Mac users out there that have used iWeb for anything other than .mac sites?
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 16 Apr 2007 10:49 am
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Hey, Jim, take a look at my site:
http://www.markvanallen.com/
I use SiteSpinner software, and it's very good, easy to use, and gets as deep as you want.
It inlcudes the FTP software, so you just design your pages (pretty much drag and drop, but lots of great features like mouseover apps, etc.)
The you just enter your server address once, hit "publish", and it's up. Revising pages takes just minutes, and it works right, every time.
There is a link at the bottom of my homepage to the software site, and it's very inexpensive. |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 19 Apr 2007 7:24 am
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Thanks Mark - but as mentioned, I'm on a Mac and it's a windows-only program.
Still stuck - Joe got directories to show up, but the sit still won't run. One of the two programs has to be fouled, and my guess is it's Easy IWeb Publisher, not IWeb.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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Tony Palmer
From:
St Augustine,FL
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Posted 23 Apr 2007 6:02 pm
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Jim, I don't understand something...are you not interested in template based plug and play type websites from Network Solutions, GoDaddy, etc.?
I've used both of those for two different websites and there was no problem and no html or software needed.
www.risga.com |
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Joe Harwell
From:
"I've never been bad." ........ Many, LA
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Posted 24 Apr 2007 6:34 am www.nochops.com
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Alright, Jim. Check it now.
Your homepage will load. Brain lock.
My UNIX is really rusty. Sorry it took so long.
Not all links are functional, but you should be able to take of that with any simple html editor.
I would have fixed them but wasn't sure what you wanted where.
Let me know if you need any more help.
_________________
Joe in LA
"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak & the strong; because, someday in life you will have been all of these". |
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