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This area is designed with the hope that we can help you create your personal websites and learn HTML basics. If you have questions about the information on these pages, please contact us.    We hope we can at least point you in the right direction and provide you with the information you need to have a successful web site!

Requirements:

• A web site hosted with Parcom Internet Services, Inc.  Although thousands of visitors refer to this article who do not host with us!   We certainly hope you decide in the future to join our family though!

• A domain name with any registrar or non-domain account with Parcom (Parcom offers quality domain registration services starting from only $15/year)

• A domain using the proper Parcom Name Servers as Assigned to each Parcom client (typically 2)

• Web publishing software or file upload utility (FTP software for example)

• Internet Access Account with an ISP (Internet Service Provider)

• Plenty of patience

Optional:

• Books and Software recommended by Parcom staff

LET'S START WITH THE BASICS ON HOW TO BUILD A WEBSITE

What is HTML?

HTML stands for "Hyper-Text Markup Language." HTML is the coding language which is used to create most documents on the web. You can create HTML documents with any text editor (such as SimpleText, TeachText, or even Notepad).

HTML documents are a series of text based tags. These tags cause a web browser (such as Netscape, or Internet Explorer) to display text or images or allow the person viewing the page to input information. If you use the "view source" option in your web browser, you'll see what we're talking about.

Creating Your Web Documents

You can create HTML documents using any text editor or word processor. There are even programs now that will write the code for you, such as Adobe GoLive, Macromedia Dreamweaver, and Microsoft FrontPage. Whatever you do use to create your HTML documents - make sure they're saved in a plaintext format. If they aren't, they won't be readable in a web browser.

We won't go into pages and pages of detail about the process of writing HTML code. There are lots of books out there which do a much better job than we could hope to within this site. We strongly suggest spending some time at the local  bookstore of your choice and purchasing a book that suits your needs and learning speed.

Uploading Your Pages and Graphics (Publishing your web site)

Once you've created your HTML documents and graphics, you'll need to upload them to our server. You can do this using FTP, a protocol designed specifically for transferring files. (In fact, FTP stands for "File Transfer Protocol.")

Your FTP client (program) will ask you for three vital pieces of information. The first is the "host name" or "server name." The host/server name for your website is your specific domain. The program you're using will also ask for your username (which is everything before the "at" symbol in your email address) and your account password.

Typically this is all you need:

• UserID - format is always:  yourname

• Password - the password you selected

• Server or Domain Name - This is ALWAYS your domain or assigned domain, not parcom.net.

The userID and password are what you selected when you initially signed up with Parcom.   Again, note that when logging on to the web site does not require the full e-mail address as the userID unlike our mail system.    The server/domain section is simply your full name you are using or assigned to use.

Normally, users can use either WS_FTP (Windows) or Fetch (Macintosh) to upload the web documents. (Other programs are somewhat similar to these.)  Make sure you read all documentation on how to use the product too.

The easiest way to work with your pages is to utilize Microsoft FrontPage.  Parcom fully supports the use of this product and if you wish to find out more about it please refer to http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage.   Parcom is an authorized Microsoft FrontPage web presence provider, so using this product will allow you to use some of features not found with using other products or utilities.   Using both ftp and FrontPage can also give you multiple/backup means of accessing your site too.

Does it Work?

Now that you've uploaded your page, what happens when you try to view it in your web browser? If it isn't working, check these things first.

Do you have a valid home page? Refer to: Valid Home Pages

Did you make sure your domain is pointing to the Parcom network?  If not, refer to your account information e-mail that was sent to you and follow the directions on "moving your domain".   Moving or pointing your domain is the first thing you need to assure is completed before any publishing can take place.  If Parcom registered your domain, this is taken care of for you.

My graphics does not show up.  Why?

Did they get uploaded correctly? When you upload graphics, they need to be uploaded as "binary" or "raw data" files. (See the section on uploading files to our server for detailed information.) Also check to make sure that the exact filename (including case) is listed in your HTML file.

Does the graphic show up as "missing," or "broken?" If you use your FTP program to download the it to your computer, can you still open the graphic with the program you used to create it?

If your page still isn't working the way you want, don't despair. Most local bookstores carry a large selection of books covering everything from general HTML issues to specialized topics such as using Photoshop to create optimized graphics for
your website.

Why use Parcom for hosting?

We take care of customers like family!   We have a wealth of talented customers who also are willing to assist you through our community forums.   Our reputation for high quality service is key to our success.   Parcom survives on 99% referrals.  In other words, 99% of our new customers are from other customers!    1% come to us through search engines and other methods.   So, in short, you will be in good company hosting among tens of thousands of other satisfied customers.

For more reasons visit: Why Use Parcom?

Further Assistance:

Professional assistance can be obtained from reputable web designers as well.  Parcom has many web designers we can recommend.  You can also visit our community forum where many have advertised their services.  

Although Parcom can do some basic assistance with clients and their sites, Parcom prefers to leave the building and consultation of developing web sites to the experts.  If time is important and you do have a budget for web development, then please do consider some of the fantastic designers available both within your city or throughout the world.

Outside articles:

NCSA Beginner's Guide to HTML
http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimer.html

Web Site Development Information
http://goodpractices.com

Links to graphics
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Graphics/Web/Free/

Links to HTML web site tutorials
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Data_Formats/Markup_Languages/HTML/Tutorials/

There are many sites out on the internet.  Some of our clients have provided recommended links within our community forum, so please feel free to visit those links or query your favorite search engine on web publishing.

keywords: how to build a website, how to publish a web site, frontpage, www, publish, ftp, html, code, how to build a web site

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