Publishing Your Website

Building your site on your own computer might be fun, but the true test will be getting it online.

This section will give an overview of two popular methods of getting your site online: free services such as Tripod and via an FTP Program.

Using a Free Service

There are many services online that will allow you to post a site on the World Wide Web for "free" (although there is no charge to you, these services normally insert banner ads onto your page). Popular examples include Tripod and Geocities. For a more complete listing, see this directory listing on Yahoo!. Registration for these services is free and only requires you to have an email address. Once you've registered, there is normally an area where you can upload your pages. Once your pages are uploaded, all you need to do is type your web site's URL into the browser and go.

The example below shows how to sign up for free at Tripod (www.tripod.com). The principles should be the same for any service.

Step One:
Goto www.tripod.com and press the 'Join Tripod' button. You'll have to fill out a membership form, which is free and only requires you to have an email address. Notice that your member name becomes part of your website address, so here our account becomes http://loudoffice_class.tripod.com/

Step Two:
Click on the FileManager Icon.

Step Three:
On the right-hand side, you'll see a pull-down menu title 'upload via'. Pull this down and select 'single files (8)'.

Step Four:
Four each file you wish to upload, click the 'Browse' button (make sure you are in a blank square).

Step Five:
Select the name of the file you wish to upload, press the 'Open' button.

When you've selected every file you wish to upload, press the 'Upload' button. If you need to upload more than eight, simply submit the first eight and then come back.

When the files have been uploaded, you'll see the following:

Conclusion:
After all that is done, you'll see the files you've uploaded are now in your FileManager. They are now visible via the World Wide Web.

The Finished Piece:
The URL of your website is http://yourmembername.tripod.com/. Here, the class member name is loudoffice_class (the password is 'html'). Notice that this 'free' site has tripod's banners all over them.

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