Creating a Website: 2

So there are two key aspects of creating a website, which I touched on in the previous page. The first is the technical bit, that is, knowing where you are going to put your website, and how to get it there.

Most ISP's (Internet Service Providers) already provide a small amount of free web space to their subscribers, as part of the package. For personal web sites, this will probably be more than enough for what you need. What you have to do is find out from the ISP what the correct address of your web space will be, and the address of the FTP server for this web space. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol - yes, that's why people always call it FTP. It means, the magic by which the files in which your web pages are stored, are transferred (I sometimes think of it as 'beamed up') from your computer to the host computer of your ISP.

The address of your web space will be something like this example from Freeserve:
http://www.godspell.fsnet.co.uk
(This was my web space's address, before I got my own domain name.)
And the FTP server address, something like:
ftp://uploads.webspace.freeserve.net
In order to use this, you also need to know your login name and password, but you probably know these already, because you need them to connect to the Internet in the first place. If you've forgotten them, because your computer stores the password and logs in automatically, find a way of remembering them! because you will need them when you configure your FTP program.

Yes, that's the next bit. You will need some kind of FTP software to do the 'beaming up'. A number of good ones are available, and I've found the easiest way to get hold of them is to look out for them on the cover CDs of some of the available Internet magazines. These often include trial versions that you can use for a while, and see if you like, before you have to pay for them. One of the best known is CuteFTP, but you can also find completely free ones like Smart FTP. Of course, if you use Linux, they are all free. My favourite one, the one I use all the time, is kbear.

Once you've obtained and installed the software, the only tricky bit (and it sometimes can be tricky!) is configuring it. This involves running the program, and entering all those details you found out before about your webspace address, FTP address, user name and password. Don't forget to use the online help if you get stuck: most of these goodies - even the ones you pay for - don't have manuals. Then you just connect to the Internet, and set the thing going, which is usually as simple as using a file manager on your own computer: you open a window that contains your files, another for your webspace on the ISP server, and drag-and-drop files from here to there. Once this has safely been done, (and it should report to you when it has been) you can open a web browser, type in the URL of your web pages, and have the satisfaction of seeing your own first offering on that huge project that is the World Wide Web.

Then, after the technical stuff ...