How to Build/Create a Website. SCOPE OF ARTICLE:
This article explains the potential avenues available to create your website.
WHO SHOULD READ THIS:
Anyone who does not currently have a website and is interested in finding out their options in obtaining a website
ARTICLE: There are a number of factors to consider when creating your website. Your budget, your interest in getting to know how webpages work, your timeframe and many other personal factors.
Here at Ovica, we provide the platform for your website, you just need to build it.
These following options range from cheapest to most expensive.
1.Building a website from scratch using a text editor – Cost-FREE
What you need: A Text editor- to write and debug the scripts. If you run windows at home, you would have the program "notepad" preinstalled.
A FTP(File Transfer Protocol) program,-to transfer the files(webpages) from your computer to your area of our server.
You need to know about Hypertext Markup Language(HTML). HTML is the basic language of webpages. It allows you to create images, link to pages, write text, and a number of different things.
If you would like to learn the language, there are a number of great resources to get you started.
http://www.htmlgoodies.com/nontechintro
http://www.w3.org
Like any computer language, HTML is not easy to learn, and please don’t expect to create professional websites in 24hrs.
This avenue is recommended for people who have the time and interest to understand how webpages work.
2. WYSIWYG(What you see is what you get)Text Editor Program.
If you are NOT interested in learning HTML, lucky for you there are a number of programs that allow you to get a website online without any programming knowledge. These differ from Simple text editing programs as they let you make a website to your specifications, through a visual interface. Macromedia Dreamweaver is the industry heavyweight when it comes to webdesign and development. But be warned, it costs. There are also a number of web editors similar to Dreamweaver out there, ranging in cost and features. But again, you usually get what you pay for in both features and functionality.
This is recommended for those that have an interest in affordably setting up their website, but do not have time to learn HTML.
3. Have a Web Designer/Developer Design your Web Site
This is the most expensive option available, but can yield the best results. Pricing varies from hundreds of dollars to 10-100s of dollars, depending on quality and features.
Ovica partners with a number of high quality website designers. If you are interested in our services, samples of work and a custom quote, please email us at sales@ovica.com. Prices usually start around $500 for a basic website, and $1000 for a complete business website.
In summary, as you can see, you have a number of different options when choosing how to get your website online, each with differing pros and cons.
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How to Upload your Website Files SCOPE OF ARTICLE:
This article explains how you upload your website so it is viewable on the internet.
WHO SHOULD READ THIS:
This is relevant to anyone who requires information on setting up their website to be live on the internet.
ARTICLE:
The following article assumes that you have created your website files and are ready for them to go live on the internet.
To setup your website so it is viewable at http://www.yourdomain.com (where yourdomain.com represents your actual domain), you need to move your website files(webpages) to your own space on the Ovica servers so that they become viewable on the internet.
Your initial page must be named 'index.html'. Ensure that this firstpage of your web site is named correctly or else your web site will not appear. Any other page linked to the 'index' page can be named by you freely.
Our web servers are configured so that your homepage can be viewed with or without 'www' at http://www.yourdomain.com/ OR
http://yourdomain.com.
There are a number of options for uploading your website files:
Uploading with an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Program.
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The FTP (File Transfer Protocol) file transfer system is versatile as well as extremely useful. You can rename your files, upload, download, and manage most aspects of your account via FTP. If you are using a Web authoring software package that handles the uploading of files to the server, such as Navigator Gold or Macromedia Dreamweaver, then the correct configuration may be somewhat different. The following instructions assume that you are dialed up to your Internet Service Provider as you normally are when browsing the web.
To upload your HTML documents follow these steps:
1. Acquiring FTP Software
We recommend the use of WS-FTP LE 32 Bit which can be acquired at www.ipswitch.com or www.tucows.com, Or smartftp, which can be acquired from smartftp.com
2. Connecting and logging in via FTP
Different graphical FTP programs will vary somewhat in their
interfaces and menu layouts, but are generally similar enough that
the following instructions will apply. Every FTP client will have a
place (a dialog box which automatically appears, or a menu selection
which brings up such a box) where you enter information regardingwhich server on the Internet you want to hook up to. You may have to
hit a button labeled 'Connect' in order to get this box to come up.
When you have found this box in your particular client, there are
three crucial pieces of information needed to log you in to your
account as the account owner. They are:
Host Name = your domain name or ip address
Username = username given in your welcome email
Password = password given in welcome email
Directory = public_html(this may or may not be necessary)
Other settings to watch out for
'Anonymous Login' checkbox - Some FTP programs have a checkbox labeled 'Anonymous Login', or something similar. You want to be sure that this box is unchecked. Having this box inadvertently checked will cause your client to log in as an anonymous user instead of the account owner, even if you have entered your userid and password in
the appropriate places.
Initial Directories - Sometimes having values in boxes which specify Initial Directories can cause your connection attempt to fail. It is best to leave these boxes blank, or delete any default values which
you may find there.
When uploading, please make sure your initial directory is public_html.
Host Type - Generally 'Auto-detect' is a safe value to have as the
Host Type, but if it doesn't work use UNIX.
With these settings in place, click the Ok or Connect button to
connect to your web server.
3. Root www level
Once you are logged in to the FTP server you will be placed at the root or www level . There will usually be a list of folders. Click or Double Click on the one called public_html. Any files put into this directory from your local computer will be accessable from the internet. For example, if you put a moved a page called contact.html into the public_html folder, this page would be accessable from http://www.yourdomain.com/contact.html (where yourdomain.com is your actual domain name). it is very important that you put you files inside this folder. If you do not, your website not be viewable on the internet.
4. Moving files back and forth
The next step is to locate your files on your home computer and transfer them to the remote server so they are accessable on the internet. Select the files you wish to upload in the local machine list boxes on the left portion of your screen. Next, click the Copy, Transfer or arrow button to upload your files.
If you edit/make changes to a page, upload it to the remote server and overwrite the old file so that the updated page will appear on the web. If changes cannot be seen after you have uploaded new content to your website, please try clearing your browser cache.
If this appears slightly confusing, don't worry. Here is a brief explanation in plain english. What you are doing is transferring your website files from your computer to the Ovica servers, so they are viewable on the internet. That is essentially what FTP is, a file transfer protocol.
Your website files must be stored in the public_html folder or below(you will see this folder when you connect to the Ovica servers using the FTP program). Any files(webpages) you want viewable on the internet need to move from your computer to this folder. So, for example. You have a webpage file, contact.html on your home computer. Using an FTP program, you move the contact.html file into the public_html folder. Now your webpage will be viewable at http://www.yourwebsite.com/contact.html.
Uploading your files from within the control panel
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You also have the option of uploading your files with your own FTP manager built into the control panel.
1. Login to your control panel.
2. Click on File Manager on the second row of options.
You will be greeted with a list of all the directories. The one that interests us most is the public_html folder.
3. Click on the folder icon to the left of the public_html folder. (Do not click on the actual public_html text).
4. Now you will see a black arrow and a “upload file(s)” text link. Click on the black arrow, and you will see 12 text boxes. Each of these can allow you to upload a website file.
5. Simply click the browse button, find the file on your home computer, click upload, and the files will upload. Simple as that.
Note: This program only allows you to upload 12 files at a time(one for each box).
Setting Up Email Accounts IMPORTANT NOTE: You cannot send or receive email from your email accounts until your domain has propagated(takes approximately 1-3 days after nameserver transfer-
There are two steps in the process of setting up email accounts.
1. Setting up the email account on the server through your control center. View Video Tutorial
2. Setting up email in Outlook or Outlook Express. View Video Tutorial
If you require web-based email access only, you only need to complete number 1.
We also provide the process in step-by-step form here
(1). Setting up the email account on the server through your control center.
a.. Access your control panel for your domain name - http://yourdomain.com.au/cpanel
b. Select Mail
c. Choose "Add / Remove Accounts" -
d. Then choose "Add Account" down the bottom of the page -
e. Then add your email username and password then press "Create" -
Your email account has now been created on the server. Now you can setup and configure your Outlook Express as follows -
(2)
a. Access your Outlook and click on "Tools". It is one of the icons at the top of the page
b. Then click on "Accounts" -
c. Then click on Add "Mail" -
d. Then add your name -
This is the email address that will go in the "from" field in outgoing messages
e. Then add your email address – That you created in your control panel
f. Then add in your mail servers –
Both Incoming and Outgoing will always be
mail.yourdomain.com (replace the "yourdomain.com", with your actual domain name).
g. Then add your username and password.
Remember, your username is your full email address, and your password is the password you created when you setup the email account.
h. Then click finish.
Your email is now setup. Send some test emails to some other email accounts of yours. Also test that you can receive emails to your new email account.
How to add another Domain(Website) to your Account All Ovica accounts include the ability to host multiple websites under the one account.
Any new websites your want to add become subdirectories under your main account. So, for example, you signed up with the domain website1.com. Now, say you want to add website2.com to your account. You simply login to website1.com/cpanel, click on the “addon domain” function, and click the following:.
New Domain Name: Add your new domain name (e.g website2.com)
Username/directory/subdomain Name: Use any name you wish. Basically, the name you choose is the directory where website2.coms files will be stored. So maybe choose, site2. Therefore your website2.com files will be located at site2.website1.com.
Password: For convenience, we recommend using the same password as your cpanel password.
Remember, even though website2.com is located as a subdirectory of website1.com, it is still accessable on the internet at website2.com .
There is a video tutorial on the process http://www.ovica.com/tutorials/addondomains.htm
As you can imagine, website2.com does not have its own control panel, and can be administered from website1.com’s cpanel. You can do everything you need to do from within this control panel. You can also create email accounts for website2, view website stats + much more.
A few Notes:
1. Any domain you add to your account must be registered with a domain registrar.
2. Like your original account, you need to wait a few days for domain propagation before you can view it on the internet.
3. You must change the nameserver details for this domain to point to Ovica.
How to get your Website Listed on the Search Engines. How do I get my website in the search engines.
There are literally thousands of search engines, indexes and directories on the internet. However, only a small number of those provide any real traffic(visitors), to your website.
One of the features we offer at Ovica is a free search engine submission service that will submit your website to 25 of the top search engines. This service includes submission to Google, Yahoo and MSN, among others.
The process of submitting your website is quick and simple, and can be accessed at http://www.ovica.com/submit/.
A couple of important notes:
1. It is important to understand that your website will not be automatically listed in the search engines straight away. This program simply adds your website to their respective indexes, and it may take a few weeks or months for your website to show up on these search engines. You can speed up the process by participating in link exchanges with other similar sites. If another site is already included in the search engines, and they link to you, your site may be added to the search engines earlier than through this submission service.
2. Make sure you have your website live on the internet, and your domain has propagated before you submit your site. Your domain will be ignored without a fully functional website with content.
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Marketing/Promoting your WebSite. Marketing and Promoting your website is an integral part of any successful web hosting venture. At Ovica, our underlying philosophy is to create an environment where you succeed online. Which is why we have assembled a powerful set of website marketing and promotional tools to make the most out of your online experience.
Overture is the leader in pay for performance search. If you are looking to find your way to the top of such search engines such as yahoo and msn, this overture search credit will be a powerful tool to drive visitors and sales to your website.
For a strictly limited time, we are offering $100 advertising credit for new advertisers, with an initial Overture advertising signup of $50. This means that you will have $150 to spend on your web marketing campaign for an initial outlay of only $50. Full details are provided in your welcome email.
Search Engine Submission
You want to promote your website, but you don’t want to spend countless hours manually submitting your website to the search engines. Our intuitive software allows you to quickly and easily submit your website to over 25 of the webs most powerful search engines, including google, yahoo and msn. It is a powerful means of delivering traffic to your website. To submit your website, follow the link to http://www.ovica.com/submit.
Email marketing and Management Tools
Each Ovica Solution is also an award winning email marketing package. Firstly, you have the ability to create your own personal email accounts in real time. These are real email accounts, such as sales@yourwebsite, or j.smith@yourwebsite.com. You can create custom promotional emails, such as 2004sales@yourwebsite.com, and forward them to your own email address. Or why not create personal autoresponder messages when your are unable to attend to email.
Plus, you can setup your own personal mail servers and use microsoft outlook for sending and receiving email.
These tools form a powerful set of email tools really that allow you to promote your online presence.
Statistical Software
When you have an website, one of the fundamental requirements is a statistical program for monitoring your websites performance. At Ovica, we provide you with a powerful statistical program build right into your control panel. You can easily find out the number of visitors to your website, what pages they have visited, times and duration of visit, and even what country they came from . Plus, you can determine what websites are referring visitors to your website, to complement your existing marketing campaign.This powerful solution comes free with Every Ovica Account.
Links Directory Creation Software
One of the cornerstones of a popular website is its high position in the search engines. There is no more powerful way of setting your site higher in the search engines than setting up a link exchange program. We provide you with powerful software to create your own link exchange program, and swap links with other relevant sites.
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