HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
Appendix E
Publishing Web Pages
to a Web Server
Publishing your Web site means transferring your files to a Web server (Web host) that
will make your pages available 24/7 on the Web. Publishing involves two basic steps:
choosing a Web host and uploading your Web site files (usually via FTP) to that host.
Choosing a Web Host
There are many options available for Web hosting, as detailed in the “Finding a Web
Hosting Site” section of the Special Feature on “Attracting Visitors to Your Web Site.”
Common options are to use the ISP that you use to connect to the Internet or to use a
Web hosting service.
Your Internet service provider (ISP)
may provide space for its clients to host a
Web site. If it does, y
ou should contact the network system administrator or technical
support staff at your ISP to determine if their Web server supports FTP, and to obtain
necessary permissions to access the Web server. There are other options for hosting Web
sites as well. You can search for free Web hosts using any browser and search engine.
Whatever Web host you choose, you must secure a username and password in order to
gain access to the host.
Uploading Files to the Host
Once you have chosen a Web host, you'll need a program to transfer your files to the Web
server. The most common file transfer program is called FTP.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
is an Internet standard that allows computers to exchange files with other computers
on the Internet. FTP was developed to promote file sharing across a variety of
computers reliably and efficiently. FTP programs that run on personal computers are
sometimes called FTP clients.
There are many FTP programs available for free on the Internet. Search for FTP
using any search engine, and you will find a variety of programs. Read the documentation
to ensure that the program works with your computer and operating system. Then down-
load and install the FTP program of your choice.
