Structure Your Links
As a beginner, it is probably best to leave all files, HTML and graphics, in one directory. That way, when you link to and from your files with <a href="filename.html"></a> you do not need to have the full path.
For example, say you have two pages:
http://www.yourwebsite.com/~YOURNAME/index.html
http://www.yourwebsite.com/~YOURNAME/links.html
If you want to place a link from the index.html page to the links.html page, all you need to put is <a href="links.html">My Links Page</a>. If you are editing your links.html page, and want to link it to the index.html, all you need to type is <a href="index.html">My Home Page</a>.
Now if you want to get a little more advanced and your host supports directories, things get a little more challenging. Let's say you have a pet and you want it to have a web page at http://www.yourwebsite.com/~YOURNAME/mypet/. So you decide to create a directory on your hard drive as c:\homepage\mypet. Then you (or your pet) writes a home page called index.html and saves it to c:\homepage\mypet\index.html. You log onto your ftp server, and make a directory called mypet. You upload your pet's index.html file into that directory.
Now your File Structure looks like this:
http://www.yourwebsite.com/~YOURNAME/index.html
http://www.yourwebsite.com/~YOURNAME/links.html
http://www.yourwebsite.com/~YOURNAME/mypet/index.html
On YOUR index.html page, you want a link to your pet's index.html page in the mypet directory. The most common way to do this is type out the full URL (uniform resource locator) as
<a href="http://www.yourwebsite.com/~YOURNAME/mypet/">Visit My Pet's Page!</a>
OR
<a href="http://www.yourwebsite.com/~YOURNAME/mypet/index.html">Visit My Pet's Page!</a>
But because your index.html is in the directory http://www.yourwebsite.com/~YOURNAME/ you can do it an easier way. Remember how when you linked to links.html from index.html without using the full URL? Well that is because they are in the same directory. Since your pet's home page is only one directory further down, all you need to type for the link is:
<a href="mypet/index.html">Visit My Pet's Page!</a>
OR
<a href="mypet/">Visit My Pet's Page!</a>
Now you have a link to your pet's page... but say you want (or your pet wants) to link to your index.html in /~YOURNAME/. Because the directory is up one directory in the file structure, you can use two periods (..) and then a slash (/) to move back. So you are editing your pet's index.html page in the directory mypet and want to link to your page... here is how you can do it:
<a href="../index.html">Visit My Owner's Page!</a>
OR
<a href="../">Visit My Owner's Page!</a>
Copyright Laws
All copyright laws still apply on the Internet as they do in other media. But it is often confusing about what is legal to do and what isn't. All original web pages on the web are copyrighted by their authors unless noted otherwise. Pages that do not have a Copyright © notice can still be protected under copyright laws, and almost always are. All images (including backgrounds, icons, etc.) are copyrighted. In order to use them you must have permission from the author. Links to pages are not copyrighted, so you may link to copyrighted pages, but you may not use them as though they were yours. (to get the © symbol in your page, use the html code © .)
Legal stuff you can do:
- Write Original Pages, make Original Graphics, and claim copyright on them.
- Link to another web page that does not belong to you, as long as you do not claim it is yours.
- Use graphics files that are noted as "free", such as graphics from a "free backgrounds" page or "free icons" page.
- Use someone else's graphics with their permission.
- Express your opinions on someone else's web page on your page, as long as no material from their page is used in your page. (You must realize that if you do this to them, and they don't like it, they can do the same to you.)
Illegal stuff you can't do:
- Take someone else's web page and/or graphics, unmodified, and use it on your server.
- Take someone else's web page and/or graphics, modify it, and claim ownership upon it.
- Take someone else's graphics files, such as backgrounds, pictures, etc., and use them in your web pages.
- Post or use any copyrighted material without permission of the copyright holder, whether it be text, books, magazine articles or pictures, music, whatever. If you didn't create it, and it's not in the public domain, chances are you can't use it.
Using FTP to upload
Some web hosts no longer require you to use FTP to publish your files. Instead, they have an upload via web browser function. While upload via web browser is useful to send perhaps one or two files, it can be tedious to send multiple files. Nearly all web hosts support FTP, and I will explain it in detail here. It is also a good technique to use if you plan to design web sites for other people or have lots of files to upload.
While all FTP software looks a little different, they all have the same goal. The goal of an FTP program is to move files from a local host (in this case, your computer) to a remote host (in this case, your web page host's computer), and vice versa.
To upload a file is to send ('copy') a file from your
computer (the local host) to your host's computer (the remote host). To download a file is to retrieve ('copy') a file from your host's computer to your computer.
(The terms of uploading and downloading apply to other forms of Internet communications, not just FTP. You download a file someone sends you via e-mail, and you upload a file when you attach one to an e-mail you send out, although we usually don't call it uploading, instead we call it "attaching.")
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol.
Before you can start FTP'ing, you need FTP software. I recommend Core FTP for Windows users. You can also use WS-FTP. For other FTP programs (and if you are using an operating system other than Windows) I suggest searching for an FTP program at by going to Google and typing "FTP Software". (WS-FTP is available in home and professional versions, with a free trial. You can get Core FTP for free the last time I checked.)
The examples below describe Core FTP procedures, although it will be very similar regardless of what FTP software you choose to use.
You'll need to gather a few pieces of information from your host before you can upload your HTML files and graphics to your web site.
You will need:
- username and password (usually the same as you would use to log on to the Internet if you are using an ISP for your web space, but it's a good idea to double-check-sometimes it is slightly different for FTP'ing.)
- remote host address/server name (usually ftp.your-host.com or www.your-host.com, but it can vary. Example: If you are using tripod.com for a host, you will probably use a remote host address of ftp.tripod.com.) You may need an IP Address that looks like 132.45.62.1
- the name of the directory where your files are to be placed (Many times this directory is the main directory, but sometimes it may be www or web or public_html. If your host does not specify, it is probably just the main directory. If no directory is specified, don't worry about this piece of information.)
In addition, you will need to know the location/name of the directory on your computer where you have placed your HTML files.
Once you have installed your FTP software, and you start it, you should be prompted with a server profile screen (in WS_FTP, it says session profile). It has areas ('fields') to type your remote host address/name, your username and password, and there is an area to enter your remote directory (In WS-FTP, it's in the Startup tab).
Type in your host's name and your username. You can include your password now, or leave it blank. Leaving it blank will require you to type it every time you connect with FTP, and will prevent someone else with access to the computer you use from changing your web site.
If your host's documentation specifies a remote directory ('path') enter the name in that box. Otherwise, leave that area blank.
Now, you can choose connect to log on. (If you are unable to connect after following these directions, I suggest that you read the FTP FAQ/help section of your host's web site, which may help you figure out the problem.)
If all your setting are correct, the files in the right-side window (in WS-FTP, in other programs it probably says remote host somewhere) are the files that are on your server (there may be no files in this directory, or a single temporary index.html, if you've never logged on before with FTP), and the left-side window (in WS-FTP, in other programs it probably says local host somewhere) shows files on your computer.
You may need to navigate in the local host window to get to the directory where you've placed your HTML files on your computer. You may see two periods ('..'). If you click that, it will take you one level back in your directory tree. (Example: If you are in /Docs and you've placed your HTML files in /WebPage, one click on '..' will take you from /Docs to /, and then you will see a directory called /WebPage [you may have to scroll down]. You can then click WebPage, and you'll be in the right directory.)
Once you have the correct directory loaded on the local host side, and the correct directory loaded on the remote host side, you can begin to upload (and download) files.
To upload a file from your computer to your host, select your file in the left side by clicking it once, and then press the arrow to the right towards the remote host side. This will copy that file from your computer to your host. (It will also replace an old file with the same name if you have one on your host. Example: You are uploading index.htm. You have an index.htm on the remote host side of your FTP program. Once you click the arrow towards remote host, you will lose the old file on your server.)
If you want to copy a file from your web host to your computer, select the file you want in the remote host side of the FTP program and click the arrow left towards the local host side.
Note: You may see a selection in your FTP software (WS-FTP included) for ASCII mode, binary mode, and auto mode. If auto is available, check it. Otherwise, select ASCII mode when you transfer HTML files, and binary mode when you transfer graphics and music files.
You should be on your way to FTP'ing successfully now. Most hosts will have instructions or a FAQ in their help section if you have further questions or are running into difficulties.
Special Thanks to...
- Dave Kristula at Dave's Web Site for all his information. You can visit his interactive tutorials by clicking on the link above.
- My college professor, Dr. Joe Jones, who inspired me to be a geek.
- All the HTML gurus out there who had tutorials that helped me out when I was just learning and kept up with the new standards so I could debug.
- All the future coders out there that are already way above me!
