Ok. You've signed up for the hosting package of your choice. You've gotten your URL. You know all the codes and passwords needed to fully administer your web site. So now what?

Now you need a few things to get your web site up and running.

Note: If you are using FrontPage, your main page must be named "index.htm".

You may be referencing the wrong directory in your links. That means that while you think that photo of Jake is at photos/jake.gif, you might have actually uploaded it to the same place you store your documents. That means you would want to call to jake.gif in your HTML code. Check the case. Are you sure you spelled that photo Jake.gif or is it jake.gif? The case and spelling of your links has to be exactly the same as the case and spelling of what you uploaded.

Don't disappoint Jake. He wants to be on your web site. Check your links.

1. Did you tell your HTML code to look for your broken link or photo exactly where you put it?

2. Did you spell everything in your HTML exactly the way you spelled it when you uploaded it?

Keeping these two things in mind will save you a lot of grief in the world of HTML coding.

Note: If you are a Microsoft FrontPage user, just use the "Publish" feature in FrontPage. If you're not using FrontPage, use the following instructions.

When you launch the program, you will be given a window. In this window, you will be asked for a few pieces of information.

1. In the Profile Name field, type the name of your web site. It can be whatever you want.

2. In the Host Name/Address field, type ftp.yourdomain.com.

3. In the Host Type field, select Automatic Detect.

4. In the User ID field, type your user ID.

5. In the Password field, type your password. (And check the save password box to the right of the field).

6. Press Apply to save your changes.

Once you enter this information, it is saved as the Profile Name.

It's not rocket science, but FTPing does take practice.

Once WS-FTP is set up and you've entered the program you can send your web pages to the server. When you open WS-FTP, the program shows you two small windows. The window on the left is your local drive. The window on the right is the Hostess server.

To upload a file, simply choose the file you wish to upload in the left window by clicking on it once. Then, in the right window, choose the location on the Hostess server you want the file to appear. With the file on the left highlighted, and the correct location on the Hostess server in the right window, press the right-pointing arrow between the two windows.

That action will send the file from your directory on the left to the server on the right. Your file is now uploaded and can be accessed by anyone on the Internet. Be sure to immediately test your work by opening your browser and viewing the document you just uploaded. Test that you are able to get to the page the way you intended, and make sure that all the links on the page work.

For Mac users:

The program Fetch works in much the same way as WS-FTP, with the exception that Fetch only shows you one window with the remote files. Fetch, however, gives Mac users the chance to drag and drop files from their desktop to the server. As with WS-FTP, be sure you have the correct location on your server before you drop a new file into it.

1. Rename your web page so it has a file extension of .html-ssi
2. Add the following to your web page's HTML text:

   You are visitor number <!--#totcnt--> since <!--#lastzero-->

   The counter will then look like this:

   You are visitor number since

Now, how can you make this simple line of text look more exciting? Take a look at some of the following examples:

You are visitor number since

You are visitor number since

You can even just use the number without the date:

In the first example, we've simply made the entire counter bold. In the second, we've made only the number bold, italic, and given it a bright red font color. The third counter is an example of a counter in a table with a colored background and colored font. The fourth example uses just the <!--#totcnt--> code alone in a single-celled table. We've also added a font color in bold and a background color. Use your imagination! All you need to do is customize your counter using your existing HTML look and feel.

If you're a Hostess customer, we provide you with the code for sending information from forms. For Microsoft FrontPage users, make sure to use their forms processing feature. Like everything in FrontPage, it should be a snap. For the rest of you out there, however, keep reading to find out how to add forms processing to your website.

The following files named form.html and mailto.cfm contain the two basic building blocks for adding forms processing to your web site. Form.html is the code for the actual form itself. Mailto.cfm is the code for two very important parts: the e-mail message which is sent to you and the page that person will receive telling them their message has been sent.

To prevent errors, we suggest naming all files in lowercase. Spaces and special control characters are generally not a good idea. The underscore character ("_") is acceptable. You should not use special characters (e.g. ! @ # $ % ^ & * : ') in file names. We suggest that you keep the length of file names to a minimum. The tilde (~) cannot be used in directory or file names.

Cornelius likes Cold Fusion.

"Cold Fusion Professional 3 gives you the power to quickly and easily create dynamic-page Web applications. If you're new to Web application development, Cold Fusion's easy-to-learn server-side markup language and extensive documentation get you started quickly. If you're an experienced developer, Cold Fusion's advanced functions and sophisticated application framework give you unparalleled productivity."

Or in the words of Bill Ho from C/NET:

"If your ultimate goal is to create Web applications rather than mere Web pages, you need to give Cold Fusion a home in your toolbox."

"Active Server Pages is an open, compile-free application environment in which you can combine HTML, scripts, and reusable ActiveX server components to create dynamic and powerful Web-based business solutions. Active Server Pages enables server side scripting for IIS with native support for both VBScript and Jscript.

ASP runs as a service of the Web server and is optimized for multiple threads and multiple users. This means that it's fast, and it's easy to implement. If you use ASP, you can separate the design of your Web page from the nitty-gritty details of programming access to databases and applications. This frees up the programmer to do what she does best--code like crazy--and, conversely, frees the designer to worry about just the design rather than the database."

In other words, ASP is another option for our customers to link their web sites into the power of databases.

Our List server provides the following mailing list functions:

• User subscribe and unsubscribe requests are handled automatically by the list server.
• Mailing lists can be unmoderated (any message sent to the list is immediately posted to all users on the list) or moderated (all messages are viewed by a human moderator before being posted to the list).
• Mailing lists can be public or private. A private list will not accept a Subscribe command.
• Messages to the mailing list can be accumulated and regularly posted as a digest. (A digest contains a group of messages sent to the list.) Mailing lists that receive a large volume of messages can give subscribers the option of periodically receiving a digest rather than being interrupted every few minutes with a new message sent to a list.
• You can enter an identifying text string to appear on the Subject line of all messages (or a digest) posted to the mailing list.
• You can enter header or trailer text (with information such as the subscribe and unsubscribe instructions) to appear with all messages (or a digest) posted to the mailing list.
• Supports the standard mailing list commands, including: Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Help, List.

A list server is available for all of our customers. Subscribers to our Standard package are charged a one-time $14.95 setup fee. Subscribers to our Advanced and Merchant accounts receive one list server free, with any additional lists for a one-time $14.95 setup fee.

1. Keep your pages small.

   That's overall. Completely. Small graphics, small amount of text, just plain small. The smaller the pages, the faster they are to load (and for your audience to see).

2. Specify the height and width of all images.

   Many HTML editors do that for you automatically, but many Web authors forget this simple step. You'll be amazed at how much faster your pages load with this simple step.

3. Keep the special effects to a minimum.

   You may love the spinning globe and the folding mail envelope equally, but having both of them on one page may be too much of a good thing.

4. Check your work on a different computer than your own.

   See your site as your audience sees it. Once you start working on the site, you'll probably have most of the material in your computer's cache, which allows your computer to call up images and text faster than if you had never visited the site. If you go to another computer and access your site from a machine that's never called it up, you'll get a truer picture of your audience's experience visiting your site.

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