FTP File Transfer Protocol

Now that you've created your web page you need to upload it to your web space so that others can find and view it. Firstly you need to ensure your domain is linked to your hosting space. If you purchased the hosting and domain from the same provider they may then already be linked or you may have to follow their instructions. If you purchased them seperately then you will have to tie them together by logging into the domain control panel and changing the nameserver details as instructed by your hosting provider.

Once that's done you may need to wait a day or two (although it can sometimes be very quick as well) before you can connect via ftp.

FTP is file transfer protocol and is the method by which your computer is connected to the hosting computer to allow you to upload your web pages. Although you can actually achieve this through your browser it is far better and usually more secure to use a special ftp piece of software. There are a number of free versions, for example 'FileZilla' or 'Free ACEftp' and you can download any of them to your computer.

When you start it up you'll find that it will ask you to create a profile for your web site which will typically involve the FTP address - for example it may just be ftp.fish-basket.co.uk in our example, or may be something more complicated - check with your host company.
It will also require your ftp username and password. You may also be asked for the initial folder where you've stored the web site on your computer.

Once you've filled in all those details you can double click the entry and hopefully you should then find that you are connected with your hosting space. Usually your computer will show on the left of the screen and the host will be on the right. You can then transfer the web pages and images acroos from left to right, however it's important to ensure that you are placing them in the right folder on the right. Although you may well be automatically already in the right folder it all depends on the host and sometimes you will need to double click on a folder or two. You are looking for the public_html folder or some hosts may rename it as web or www folder.

Once you've uploaded it then you can type in your domain name address and hopefully your first site will be there!

You can check that it is valid HTML5 by going to the W3C validator at http://validator.w3.org/

Well that's all the basics about web design to get you up and running. We've included a few more advanced tips on the next page but if you are totally stuck we can also do it for you - if you want a web design quote just click on the link above!