employee computing services

Web Publishing Instructions

You will need an FTP client to publish your Web pages. If you do not have an FTP client installed on your computer, visit the SmartFTP download page to obtain a free educational version of the software (this will not expire in 30 days).

The complete URL for the server is ftp://web.fccj.edu. The directory your files should be stored in is /drv2/home/staff/YourUserID/public_html. All files, text and graphics, placed in this directory will be viewable to the public. Your Web page address is:http://web.fccj.edu/~YourUserID/

Information you will need:

You will need your user ID, your password, Host Name, Initial Remote Host Directory, and Initial Local Directory.
Your UserID/password for the Web page hosting service is the same UserID/password your PROFS login.
If you have forgotten your user ID it is generally in the form of your first initial followed by a maximum of seven letters of your last name. Example: John Doe would have a UserID of jdoe.*
Host Name is web.fccj.edu
Initial Remote Host Directory is /drv2/home/staff/YourUserID/public_html
Initial Local Directory is where, on your local computer, you will usually keep your Web files prior to uploading.

Steps

Establish your Internet connection to your local ISP or use your office computer or any Open Lab computer.
Start the FTP program (from the Start menu or from a shortcut icon you have set-up on your desktop).
You will need to set-up the program the first time you use it. This is where you will utilize the information you gathered above. If you are using SmartFTP, please refer to the tutorials provided on the Web site. After you have set-up your FTP client and published your files, go to next step.
Now you may go to Internet Explorer, Netscape or whatever browser you are using and type in your URL to see your pages. (Your URL address is http://web.fccj.org/~YourUserID/) This is the address you give to the public to access your Web site.)
The next time you have files you need to publish, start the FTP program, find your profile, and click OK.
When you are connected you will need to click on the yellow folder public_html to get into your public directory. Any files you upload outside of that folder will not be accessible from your URL public address.
In addition to copying files to the server, you may also copy files from the server to your local directory. You may also use the options on either the local or the remote side to make new directories, rename files, and delete files. These features as well as most of the features on this screen work just like your Windows Explorer screen. If you are not familiar with files and directory structures, you should enroll in a class or find someone to help you learn how to work with files.
A few hints to remember about files you create to publish on the Web:

The first page your users see is usually called the home page or splash page. This page must be named in all lowercase letters as index.html or index.htm in order for it to automatically come up when your user enters your URL address. If you name this page some other name, you will need to have your user physically type the file name as part of the URL address.
All files that you upload to the Web can be almost any number of characters long but cannot contain any spaces. Suggested: 14.4 (14 characters to the left of the dot and four to the right of the dot)
Graphic or image files referenced in your Web pages must also be uploaded to your Web server when you upload the html file. If you forget, your page will show a missing file marker.
Most graphic or image files are .gif or .jpg files. If you are not familiar with where to obtain or how to create these types of file, you should enroll in a class or find someone to help you.
All file names are case sensitive. If you name a file Lookinggood.html that is the way it must be referenced, with the capital L. If you name a file CaseStudy.html, then you must reference it with the capital C and capital S. A good rule of thumb: make your files names all lowercase.