Updating your website (Part 1)
Given that this is my first real “informational” post I thought I would touch on an area that concerns most business owners who have their own websites or are thinking about having one built: Updating your website
When it comes to changing your own site there are 2 methods which are widely used. Before I elaborate on these methods however let me explain a little bit about the technology background. You’re probably rolling your eyes right now thinking “Oh no, here we go”, but trust me this will make things a lot clearer as we go on.
Okay, so here goes. I’m going to break these into a few bite sized concepts as I generally find that I absorb things better in that format.
Concept 1: Websites are just a collection of files and folders on a computer somewhere. Normally your website files (at least the main pages of the site) will have extensions like .htm or .html.
Concept 2: The collection of files and folders which make up a website are normally stored on a server as opposed to a personal computer. Typically the server that hosts your website files will be based in a data center run by a company that specialises in the area of hosting servers and keeping them connected to the Internet. Such a company is called a “Web hosting company”, “Web hosting provider” or simply a “Web host”. If you know what you’re doing you could do this yourself, but for most business websites it’s a good idea to let the professionals handle it, especially considering that the costs for doing this are usually not significant.
Concept 3: When someone goes to browse your website a system called the “Domain name system” or DNS is used to help the visitor find your web site’s files on the web hosting provider’s server(s). This is why the web address used on your website is referred to as a “Domain name”. Domain names make it simple for people to use the web by providing nice human readable names like www.petwalking.com instead of a network address such as 203.10.0.1. In terms of the things that you need to get your site up and running a Domain name is the 2nd essential component. It won’t cost much and you can often purchase one through your web hosting provider.
Alright, now that we’ve covered those we can get back to the two methods that are commonly used to update websites.
Method 1: Modify the pages of your site on a personal computer and then upload the changes to the site
Method 2: Use a Content Management System for editing your site files directly on the server
For now we are going to focus on method 1 because it is probably the most commonly used method when it comes to sites used by small/medium businesses (at least in Australia).
There are a few tools (software programs) that you’ll need in the process of editing and uploading your site files. These include:
1.) An editor - this could be as simple as a text editor or a full blown web page editor (also commonly referred to as a WYSIWYG editor - pronounced “whizzy-wig” - WYSIWYG stands for What you see is what you get). I’ll include a list of these at the end of this post. You’ll use the editor to make changes to your site’s HTML files.
2.) An FTP program - for putting files that you’ve changed on your web hosting provider’s server(s).
Once you have these tools you are almost set to go. I say almost because you may need to ask your web hosting provider (or web developer if you have one) for some information, for example the FTP access details for your site so you can upload the files. But assuming you have this information at your finger tips you’re set to go.
That about wraps up part 1 of this discussion. In part 2 we will look at how you would actually make changes to pages of your site using the program I recommend my clients use to change websites I create for them, Macromedia Contribute. Before signing off though I’ll list some of the more common editing and FTP tools that can be used for updating your website. Please remember there are many applications out there that could be used for this, even some great free ones. I’m going to focus here though on the some of the well known ones that you’re likely to come across.
EDITORS
Microsoft FrontPage - a web page editing tool from Microsoft that is bundled with some versions of Microsoft Office. It is a WYSIWYG editor and comes with templates for creating web pages (useful if you’re going to try and create your own website).
Adobe/Macromedia Contribute - this WYSIWYG editor is part of a professional web development suite produced by Macromedia. It is specifically designed for people who are not web developers to use to update their websites, particularly when the website(s) that they want to update have been created by a web developer using Macromedia Dreamweaver. This is what I would recommend to my clients, it costs about AUS$200 and makes the whole process quite simple. It comes with a built in FTP client.
Evrsoft First Page - this is a free open source product that has become quite popular over the last few years. I haven’t used it extensively myself but I have heard that it’s quite good and the producers website appears to be quite professional. To use this product you may need to know a bit about HTML. www.evrsoft.com
FTP PROGRAMS
SmartFTP - A free File transfer client for Windows. Currently at version 2 this is good option if you are looking for a standalone FTP client. www.smartftp.com
FTP Voyager - Another popular FTP program, this one is rated well by the people at Download.com. It provides a Windows Explorer style interface which should make it easy to use even if you are not familiar with the FTP process (I say should because I haven’t tried it personally). The software is free to try but will cost US$39.90 US to license.
Windows Explorer - Here’s another option. Assuming you are already using Windows, just use Windows Explorer as your FTP program. It’s quite easy to use and saves you having to buy or install another program.
Add comment February 22nd, 2007
