PREVIEWING YOUR WORK:
 At any time during this process, you can preview what you have done so far by opening your HTML document with your browser. You do not have to be connected to the internet to do this. You must have all the files for the page (HTML, image, etc.) saved in the same directory, such as on the same floppy disk or a folder on your hard drive.
If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer:
  1. open Internet Explorer
  2. in the upper tool bar click on FILE.......OPEN
  3. in the pop-up box click on BROWSE, then where it says LOOK IN, select the drive where you have saved your page's files (such as floppy A). When the list of files appears, double-click on the HTML file you want to preview.
  4. in the pop-up box click OK and your page will open.


If you are using Netscape Navigator:
  1. open Netscape
  2. in the upper tool bar click on FILE.......OPEN FILE
  3. in the pop-up box click on BROWSE, then where it says LOOK IN, select the drive where you have saved your page's files (such as floppy A). When the list of files appears, double-click on the HTML file you want to preview and your page will open.

You will notice that your page looks a bit different in each of the browsers, so it is good to try it out in both before publishing as your visitors could be using either one.


PUBLISHING YOUR PAGE:
 You will need a hosting service for your site. This will be a server where your page's files will be stored so that your visitors can access them. You may or may not have to pay for this service. Commercial sites almost always have to pay, however there are several free options for personal page sites:
  • Your own internet service provider (ISP) may offer you a limited amount of free space so that is a good place to start. America Online provides its members with 14 MB of free space (2 MB for each of seven screen names).
  • Several companies offers free space for personal pages in exchange for an ad banner or pop-up which they will place on your site. You can check them out:
    Geo Cities      Tripod      Angelfire


Where ever you choose, you will need to carefully read their rules and abide by them. You will also need an FTP (file transfer protocol) program to use in uploading the files to this server. Don't panic! This will not be a problem. America Online has already included this in their service and Netscape Navigator as well as Internet Explorer have one built in that will work with Geo Cities and Tripod.


I will walk you through the publishing process for the America Online and the Geo Cities servers. You will find that Tripod and Angelfire are similar to Geo Cities.
publishing on AOL      publishing on Geo Cities



PUBLISHING YOUR PAGE ON AOL:
 America Online used to call their FTP area "My Place" but that has now changed. Now they are promoting their AOL "Hometown" for your personal pages. This is fine, if you want their Hometown banner to take up the top part of your page's screen. If not, then I suggest you use the free space without subscribing to AOL Hometown. Be aware that once you have signed up for Hometown there does not seem to be a way to get rid of it. AOL allows members 2 megabytes of space for each screen name (total of 14 MB in all). You must be an AOL subscriber to access this service. Each screen name's space would be treated as separate web sites, but you can link them all together as if they were one. Just remember that when linking a page that is on one screen name with a page on another screen name, you would need to use the entire URL in the ANCHOR tag.

So now you are going to upload the files for your web site to AOL. Uploading means putting a copy of a file that's on your computer onto the computers, called "servers," at AOL. Assuming you chose NOT to use AOL Hometown, follow these easy steps:
  1. Go to Keyword: FTP.
  2. Click on the multi-colored button on the right that says Go To FTP.
  3. In the pop-up, scroll down the list and chose "members.aol.com". Either double click this choice or hit "connect" button. A "connected to members.aol.com" window will pop up. Hit OK button.
  4. A window showing all of the directories and files in your FTP space appears. There is already a READ ME file there with directions, or just continue with my instructions.
  5. Click UPLOAD.
  6. In the Remote FileName field, enter a name for the file. If you are creating HTML files or uploading multimedia files for a Web site, you must retain the exact name of your HTML documents. For example, if you upload an image that will appear on a home page ("bird.gif"), you must place "bird.gif" in the Remote Name field without the quotation marks.
  7. Identify the type of file you're uploading--either binary or ASCII. Your HTML files are ASCII, all the others are binary.
  8. Click CONTINUE.
  9. In the Upload File window, click Select FILE, browse your directories and select the file you want to upload. The name of the file appears in the box. (notice that you might have to click on the FILE TYPE area and select "ALL FILES" in order to find your image files)
  10. In the UPLOAD FILE window, click SEND FILE. The file uploads to your FTPspace.

Simple, huh? Do this for each of the files for your site. In the case of our example, you would need to upload the following files:
  • index.html
  • sky.jpg
  • bird.gif
  • sflogo.gif
AOL designates the URL of your page as
http://members.aol.com/tweeter/index.html
notice that there are 4 parts to the URL:
  • first is http://     that is the way most URLs begin
  • then members.aol.com/     the name of the server where your files are stored
  • then tweeter     your own screen name would appear here
  • and last index.html     the name of the file of your opening page

There are other functions in the "My Place" area (deleting files, changing names of files, etc.) Instructions can be found in the read-me file that is there.


PUBLISHING YOUR PAGE ON GEO CITIES:
 Geo Cities offers 11 MB of free space in exchange for ad banners or pop-ups placed on your page (more about the ads later). The first step is to sign up.

REGISTERING WITH GEO CITIES (now Yahoo/Geo Cities):
  1. Go to the Geo Cities web site and click on the link that says "Build Your Web Site".
  2. If you already have a Yahoo ID and password, enter it here. If not then you may sign up. They will ask you to choose an ID and Password (all case sensitive).
  3. You will be asked to fill out a form, then click on the submit button at the bottom of the page. Now you will be asked to choose a Topic for your site and enter the confirmation code that appears into the box beside it. Now click the submit button. Now you will be given your official site URL. Be sure and write it down. Your GeoCities registration confirmation and password will also be sent to you in email (usually within minutes of registering).
  4. Click on BUILD YOUR SITE NOW.
  5. The next screen will give you the choice to opt for the "chicken way" and build your site using their Page Wizard or their Page Builder. You will resist the urge to take the easy way out, and opt for the "Advanced Tools"
  6. Click on File Manager. Almost there... now click on "Open the file manager" .
  7. That will take you to your personal file space. You have 15 MB available to use. Click on UPLOAD FILES button to open your EAST UPLOAD utility. This is that built in FTP I mentioned earlier.
  8. You might want to take advantage of checking the box "convert all file names to lower case". It is a good idea to make all your file names all lower case letters. That way you will not have a problem with the fact that they are case sensitive and must be the same in the HTML document as in the file name. Because sometimes the computer wants to make the first letter of your file name a capital even though you typed a lower case letter, this feature will insure that the file names are changed back to all lower case as you upload them.
  9. Press the "BROWSE" button to search for the file you want to upload. Click on the file you want and then click on "open". You will now should have a path and file name in the file window. You may list as many as 5 files at a time, then click on the "Upload Files" button. As you upload your files they will appear listed on your file manager page. In the case of our example, you would need to upload the following files:
    • index.html
    • sky.jpg
    • bird.gif
    • sflogo.gif
  10. There are other functions of the file manager you can explore later.
  11. Geo Cities designates the URL of your page as
    http://www.geocities.com/tweeter
    notice that there are 3 parts to the URL and each part is separated with a slash:
    • first is http://     that is the way most URLs begin
    • then www.geocities.com/     the name of the server where your files are stored
    • then tweeter     your chosen ID
  12. By default this URL will automatically open the file you have named "index.htm" or "index.html" or be sure and name your opening page's file "index".
  13. You may also opt for using FTP with one of the add on FTP Utility programs like CUTE or WS_FTP. Click on the link to FTP PROCEDURES or go to instructions on my tutorial.


    KEEP BACK-UP FILES:
     Now that your page is published and your files are stored on the server, you will want to be sure and keep back-up copies of those files. They can be used to reload your page in case something goes wrong at your server and you will need them to work on additions to your site.


    PROMOTING YOUR PAGE:
     You can now be very proud of the page you have created all on your own. You will want to now write the pages for the rest of your web site. Then you will ready to show your family and friends.....and the whole world your site. You can:
    1. send the URL to your friends and family, inviting them to come view your site
    2. list with the search engines
    3. go leave a message with your URL (sort of a calling card) in the guest books of other pages
    4. offer to link other pages in exchange for a link to your page



    Are you ready to learn to add the "bells and whistles" now?

    Well pack your bags.... you are now headed to "HTML COLLEGE" where you can learn even more! Try adding some of the extras to your site such as using special fonts, adding sound, and using "lists" and "tables" to better align things on your page. Then go on to the advanced extras such as using JAVA scripts, image maps, and CGI on your page.

    click to continue
    or go to:
    [ HOME , lesson 1 , lesson 2 , lesson 3
    extras , advanced extras , colors , graduation ]



    visit Ladybug's Garden, my personal pages