Web Publishing Basics

Once you've got the hang of building web pages and uploading them by FTP (which isn't actually that hard), the sky's the limit. It's just down to your own imagination, creativity and dedication.

Before you start
First, you'll need to be familiar with HTML - the language used to build web pages. There are a number of resources available on the internet, and a quick search on some search engines will reveal lots of links to online HTML guides. But if you don't want to learn HTML - or you don't have the time - you can go a long way using software that does most of it for you!

Please remember, our help desk can't help you with designing and building web pages. We do, however, have trained technical staff who are available at an hourly rate - please call us for details if you need to hire a programmer.

And finally, you'll need an FTP program. There are a large number available, and you'll quickly be able to choose one that suits you. There are lots of well known programs (both for Windows and Mac) in the 'FTP Applications' section of tucows.com and downloads.com.

Building your site
Build and test your pages on your computer before uploading them to our server. If you need to use scripts in your web site (and you're using a PC) you can install Microsoft's PWS (Personal Web Server) on your computer. PWS lets you try out your ASP scripts before you upload them. (But don't forget to install the latest security updates too!) Once you're happy with your web pages, it's time to let the world see your masterpiece.

It's a good idea to call the front page of your site any of these:
  ·  default.htm
  ·  default.html
  ·  index.htm
  ·  index.html
You'll see why in a moment...

Make sure that when you build your web site, it doesn't refer explicitly to files on your computer, otherwise the site won't work when you upload it to our web server! For example, if you make a link that points to a file on your hard disk (e.g. c:\websites\mysite\index.htm), people who visit your site won't have the same file in the same place on their own hard disks, so the link will fail to work.

Uploading your site
Connect your computer to the internet in the normal way, and start your FTP program. Next, set up an FTP connection to your allocated web server, using that site's FTP server address (usually ftp.justspace.co.uk) and the site's Control Panel user name and password. Now tell your FTP program to make that connection!

On the web server, you'll see a directory called 'www'. You must put your web site's pages, images, and script files inside the 'www' directory! There's also a 'private' directory which can be used for storing data files, etc outside the web site. Nothing in the 'private' directory can be directly accessed from the web site itself (but instead you can access those files using scripts, such as ASP or Perl scripts).

Now you can upload your web pages, along with any image files you're using. Remember to upload the files into the 'www' directory, and not into the first directory you see when you make your FTP connection, otherwise your site won't be seen by the world!

Using your FTP program, you'll find that you can make your own sub-directories in your web sites (such as 'images' or 'downloads'). Some people create one called 'images' to keep all the image files separate from the HTML files. Another use is to separate the HTML files for different subjects or topics - this can make your site a lot easier to edit and update.

Finally, we strongly advise you to keep backup copies of your web site files! Although JustSpace does make daily backups of the web servers, we can't provide you with copies of individual web sites or files. Our backups are there in case anything happens to an entire server, and not to protect your individual files.