DO-IT-YOURSELF WEB SITE UP AND RUNNING FOR LESS THAN $15 PER YEAR!
A step-by-step guide to registering your domain name, and creating and uploading a simple web site; creating your very first presence on the world-wide-web, ALL of this for less than $15 (total) per year!I will help MY clients do all this (and more) for free!
Written by Mark Theobald. Pleae call or e-Mail me if you find this guide useful!I. REGISTERING YOUR OWN DOMAIN NAME A. On the internet, Go to www.Register4Less.com. B. In the large white field, type in the Domain Name you want. C. Click on "Check It Now". D. When you find that the Domain Name you checked is available, make sure only the ".com" (or ".net", ".org", ".biz", or ".info" if desired) box is checked. E. Proceed to register the name. In the "Create New Account" fields: 1. Decide on a UserName and Password. WRITE THEM DOWN IN A SAFE PLACE! 2 Select "Use Simple Order Form" and click on "NEXT". 3. Select the number of years you wish to initially register for. 4. Fill in the rest of your Contact Information. 5. Select your Payment Method. 6. Check the box indicating you have read the Registration Agreement. 7. Click on "Submit Order". 8. Complete the rest of the Payment Procedures that follow. II. SETTING UP YOUR DOMAIN A. Back on one of the main Register4Less.com pages, Log-In to your account: 1. Enter your Domain Name (with extension), User Name, and Password. 2. Click on "Manage Domain". B. Using the "Services" Menu at left: 1. Select "Email Services", then "Free Catch-All Forwarding". 2. Enter your current e-Mail address that mail to your new domain should be delivered to. 3. Click on "Update Catch-all". 4. Using the "Services" menu again, select: "Hosting Services" then "Free Hosting/Forwarding Options". 5. Check the "Free 5MB Hosting" box. 6. Click on "Save Changes". YOU ARE NOW DONE REGISTERING YOUR NEW DOMAIN. IT IS YOURS TO KEEP FOR AS LONG AS YOU WANT! YOU CAN EXIT THE REGISTER4LESS.COM WEB SITE. III. MAINTAINING YOUR OWN WEB SITE A. Download and install a File Transfer program: 1. On the internet, go to www.SmartFTP.com and download the free FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program you will use to Upload and Download files To and From your new domain on the world-wide-web. 2. Run the SmartFTP Installation program and allow it to create a Desktop Icon. B. Prepare your home computer: 1. Open "Windows Explorer" or other "File Manager" program you like. 2. Create a New Folder just under the C:\ drive on your computer. a. Click on "Local" then Local Disk (C:). b. Right click in the Files field at right. c. Select "New", then "Folder". 3. Rename the New Folder to "MyDomainName.ext", substituting your actual Domain Name (eg. MarkTheobald.com). THIS NEW FOLDER IS WHERE YOU WILL KEEP AND TEST ALL THE LOCAL COPIES OF THE FILES THAT MAKE UP YOUR WEB SITE. 4. Right-click and hold on the Folder Icon and drag to your Desktop. 5. Select "Create Shortcut(s) Here" This will get you into the new directory quickly for maintenance. 6. Create a Shortcut to the NotePad editor on your DeskTop: a. Right-click on your desktop. b. Select "New", then "Shortcut". c. Enter "NotePad.exe" for the Location of the File. d. Enter "NotePad" for the Name of the Shortcut. e. Position your new Shortcut Icon near the bottom of your Desktop. C. Set up the SmartFTP program: 1. Double-click the SmartFTP program Icon to run SmartFTP. 2. In the Address field, enter "ftp.YourDomainName.ext" substituting your Domain Name and extension (eg. ftp.MarkTheobald.com). 3. In the Login field, enter "www.YourDomainName.ext". 4. In the Password field, enter your Password chosen in the Registration process. 5. Click on the "Connect" (left-most) Icon above, or select "Connect" from the "FTP" Menu. YOU SHOULD SEE A NEW BROWSER STYLE WINDOW OPEN UP, DISPLAYING THE CURRENT CONTENTS OF THE FOLDER BEING HOSTED BY REGISTER4LESS. 6. In the FTP Menu at top, select "Local Browser" to open up a second Browser window showing contents on your Local computer. 7. In the Local Browser window, navigate to the New Folder you created. 8. Left-click and drag the "index.html" file from the Host browser window (ftp.YourDomainName.ext) to the Local Browser window. You have just Downloaded your first file! D. Create Your Internet Content: 1. Left-click, hold and drag (Drag&Drop) the "index.html" file from the Local Browser window onto the NotePad Shortcut Icon created above. 2. Use NotePad to Edit this Main file of your new web site. 3. Press <Ctrl-S> to save the changes without closing the editor. 4. Double-click on the "index.html" file in the Local Browser window to see what your changes will look like before you Upload the file back to the Folder being hosted on the internet. 5. Do more editing as needed, press <Ctrl-S> to save, and click on the Refresh Icon in your Internet Browser to Reload the edited file. 6. When all looks good, Drag&Drop the edited file from the Local Browser window in SmartFTP to the Host browser window. You have just Uploaded your first file! 7. Open an Internet Explorer or Netscape window and enter your new Domain Name (eg. www.MarkTheobald.com) in the Address Field. Click on "GO" or press <Enter>. You are now seeing what is available to the entire world! IV. RECOMMENDED READING, DOWNLOADS, ETC... A. HTML FOR DUMMIES! (about $15 at any book store or online) B. www.w3schools.com for one of the best free tutorials available on the internet! C. Simply Google "HTML" and start reading all the other free tutorials! D. Do you need a great Free Photo Viewing & Editing program? Go to www.IrfanView.com! E. When you see someone elses' web site you like, Right-Click on any text in the page and select "View Source" to see the HTML code that created it. F: Protect your published e-Mail address from SPAMMERS by Encoding it! Download and save My ENCODEEM.EXE Program here. Click on this line for the DownLoad & Instruction page. Run the program, follow the prompts, then Cut&Paste the resulting file into your HTML file. Click on this line to see The 'C-Code' for the EncodeEM.Exe program. TO GET YOU STARTED, YOU CAN CUT&PASTE THE FOLLOWING INTO YOUR "INDEX.HTML" FILE:
<HTML><Head><Title>Welcome to MyDomainName.com - Put your web page TITLE here!</Title> <Meta Name="Description" Content="Put a description of your web site here!"> <Meta Name="Keywords" Content="Put keywords here with which you'd like your viewers to be able to find your web site"> </Head> <!-- Text between these symbols (at left and right) are comments and are not displayed --> <!-- Remember, image file names are CaSe sensitive and HTML Tags are not! --> <!-- The following formats the main page of your site --> <Body BgProperties=Fixed Background="MyBackgroundImage.jpg" BGColor="LightBlue" Text="DarkBlue" TopMargin="10" LeftMargin="10"> <!-- Everything between the <Center> Tags will be centered on the page --> <Center> <B>Just a bunch of BOLD text that makes up your site</B><Br><Br> <I>Another line (in Italics) separated by double-spacing due to 2 line breaks above.</I><Br><Br> <HR><Br> <!-- the HR Tag draws a Horizontal Rule across the page --> <Img Src="MyGloriousPhoto.jpg"><Br> A photo I want to show to the whole world!<Br><Br> <A HRef="AnotherPageOfMine.html"> Click Here To Go To My Other Page </A><Br><Br> <A HRef="http://www.AnotherWebSite.com" Target="_New"><Img Src="AnImageThatLinksToIt.jpg"></A><Br><Br> <A HRef="http://www.AnotherWebSite.com" Target="_New"> <B><I>TEXT THAT LINKS TO IT</I></B> </A><Br><Br> </Center> <!-- Note how many Tags are Opened <Center><B><I> and closed </I></B></Center>, and nested in (closed in reverse) order. --> </Body></HTML>
Here's what the code above will look like on your page...
Another line (in Italics) separated by double-spacing due to 2 line breaks above.
A photo I want to show to the whole world!
Click Here To Go To My Other Page
TEXT THAT LINKS TO IT