[World Leader Pretend]

Ok, I recently took it upon myself to make a website in iWeb and host it with my real hosting service (in my case, Dreamhost)

After seeing that there wasn't a lot of info out there on the topic, I've decided to make a fairly detailed write-up of how to accomplish this feat.

Hosting an iWeb page not using .Mac

To start off you will need a few things:

1: A web host. This is a server that will store and load your page onto the internet. There are many different companies out there to choose from. I used Dreamhost, but there may be better options that suite your needs better. Make sure that when you buy your hosting service, you don't over-spend on disk space. Unless you are uploading massive amounts of data, the average size of an iWeb page is between 5 and 50 MBs.

2: A domain name. This is your personalized address to your site. You can get these most of the time through your web hosting company (this makes things quicker, and simpler) or you could buy a domain name from someone like GoDaddy and change the nameservers to match what your host site gives you. Example: I purchased a domain name from GoDaddy and hosting from Dreamhost. Before I could use my domain name on my hosting space, I had to go on the GoDaddy page, click manage domains> change nameservers> and change the default ones to the Dreamhost nameservers.

3: FTP client. Sometimes your hosting service will give you access to their free online FTP transfer service, but I think that you will be much better off using a local FTP Client. I use Cyberduck (free!) to manage my domains, and it works well.


Process:

Create a webpage using iWeb. It isn't hard to figure out how, simple drag and drop WYSIWYG style. No learning HTML, nothing more complex than making a word document. We will pretend that you have made one site and it is ready, you will always be able to edit and re-upload later.

Now here comes the tricky part. In iWeb click on File>Publish to a local folder Select a folder or create a new one under ser>sites. Click on publish and watch it do its thing.

Now open up Cyberduck and click on connect. This will cause a window to open and ask you for server info (if you are doing this for the first time) Put down the address -- server.dreamhost.com -- and type your user name and password into the correct spots. Make sure that the port is set to 21 (or whatever your hosting service tells you to set it at) and click connect.


It shouldn't take too long and you will now see a few folders in the main screen area.

---- logs
---- maildir
---- example123.com


The example123.com represents your domain, and if it doesn't show up it probably means that it is still pending approval online. Assuming it does show up you will now need to open the Finder, and navigate to where you have stored your published site. Hopefully you see a HTML file named "index.html" and a folder with you site name. Highlight both of these files and drag them onto the example123.com folder in Cyberduck.

Make sure that you put them in specifically that folder, not just the main area. A new 'transfers' box should open up with info on your pages upload time. The average speed for me is around 40kbs per second over a wireless connection. It's pretty slow sometimes. Don't worry if the upload stops completely, it will restart again in a bit. Don't try to force it to restart if it stops temporarily.

After this your page should be loaded successfully on the web. Open a browser and check it out! If you get a weird page that lists the / directory and has your pages as links, then you didn't put your index in the right place. It took me a few tries to get it right. (you have to get it right in Cyberduck)


Updating:

To update your site simply modify it in iWeb, publish it to the same folder, and put it in the same place in Cyberduck. When you do this, another box will pop off of the transfer dialog box and list all the duplicate files. After it is done just hit overwrite, that is what I do.

Your webpage should be updated and current!



If you have anything to add or can expand on this write-up, please post responses!

-World Leader Pretend

[World Leader Pretend]

Ok, I added some pics

[sirnick4]

I would love if this could be made into a Sticky

I know I am one of many who would love to have this information at my fingertips, without having to search the forums.

[alcimedes]

We'll see what kind of views it generates and go from there. You can always bookmark a thread.

[colivigan]

Nice write-up, but it's not really that difficult a problem, is it? Publish to a folder, then FTP the folder to your web server, right? Maybe I'm missing some subtle complexities here, but I don't think it merits a sticky in the Genius Bar. Maybe more appropriate for a Tips and Tricks forum.

[World Leader Pretend]

Well, it was pretty hard for me to get everything right. Name-servers and dragging index.html files can be pretty hard if you are new to the stuff. I just found myself wishing for a good write-up on the topic, and finding none I decided to wing it. Now I am helping out people who may be interested in doing the same thing and wish to have some guidance.

I agree that a Forum Tips section would be better suited for this task. We'll see what pans out. The important thing is that the info is here.

[alcimedes]

You can go digg it now if you'd like.

Another method that may be simpler for some people is to continue to use the iWeb hosting but forward a domain name to the iWeb address AND use domain masking to keep the domain name in the address bar. Take a look at www.deerfootlane.com
You have to set this up with your domain registrar and in our case, Godaddy.com this is a simple as clicking 2 buttons.

[turtle]

I need to figure out how to have the .Mac features on my iWeb site without having .Mac. I set up an account to test it out, but this just doesn't seem worth the price.

I have a yahoo.com domain name with forwarding and masking set up. I host my own web pages, so I would love to get the counter, password, slideshow, etc. working like they do with .Mac.

Any ideas?

[World Leader Pretend]

Well, according to the iWeb help manual, those features are lost when using a non-dotMac account.

Oh, and don't use a hit counter on your site, those things look tacky

Try what the guy above suggested ^^

[turtle]

Well, the counter actually was needed for statistical reasons, that's why I set up the 60 day trial on .Mac.

I am not concerned about domain forwarding and such, that isn't the issue, I would just like to be able to have the cool slide shows and such without paying either $100 or $200 for .Mac. (I would likely get the family pack if I were to get it at all.)

[World Leader Pretend]

I know what you mean. I personally find iWeb a bit lacking, it's just so easy to make web sites in though.

I would search around google. Here is my site I made: Link How do you like it?


I also use my web host's stats page for the hit counts.

Good Luck!

[World Leader Pretend]

Bump before this gets lost in the depths of da interweb!

[Brad]

Originally Posted by World Leader Pretend Bump before this gets lost in the depths of da interweb!

Um, why? The thread still exists and will be returned with a relevant search.

[turtle]

A number of .Mac members have written in, asking if it’s possible to publish their iWeb sites from more than one Mac. It is, and it takes just a few simple steps. There are three things you’ll need: iWeb 1.1 installed on every Mac from which you plan to publish, some type of external storage to which you always have access (a folder on your iDisk, for example), and a basic knowledge of how to navigate the Finder. When you create a website with iWeb, all your work is saved in a single file called domain.sites (it might appear simply as “domain” on your computer, but it’s the same file). By default, iWeb stores the file in the iWeb folder located inside the Application Support folder in your Library (Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/iWeb/domain.sites). All you need to do is quit iWeb (if it’s open), locate the domain.sites file, and move it to wherever you’re going to use it. Then double-click the file in its new location. iWeb will launch, and you’re done. From then on, iWeb will automatically save your work in the new location, and you’ll be able to publish your site from any Mac that has access to it. Who knows, it could be the start of your global web publishing empire.

This is more for my reference later than to bump the thread, plus, some people might not have known this little fact. It works great too, I use iWeb on my MB and my Mini from a network drive. They didn't go into detail of this, but once you double click on the "domain" file it open iWeb. What they only imply is that from then on when you open iWeb it will open that file again so you can't move it. Otherwise it'll try to start a new site for you.

[garydoyle1]

Can you elaborate a bit more on this? Step by step?

I'm a bit stupid with this stuff. Thanks.

[Brad]

Which parts were lacking in detail?

[garydoyle1]

I meant to reply to ratdog's message about 7-8 above.

Step-by-step instructions from him as to how to apply my own name to a website created in iweb. Thanks.

[macleod]

WLP you say to make sure not to overspend on space and I am sure that that is a great point but how can I find out how much space I will need? I am putting all my photos on this page so my family can browse and stay up to date on what I am up to when I am away. Sorry if this is a dumb question I just couldn't figure it out and I don't want to overspend. Thanks!

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by MACleod WLP you say to make sure not to overspend on space and I am sure that that is a great point but how can I find out how much space I will need? I am putting all my photos on this page so my family can browse and stay up to date on what I am up to when I am away. Sorry if this is a dumb question I just couldn't figure it out and I don't want to overspend. Thanks!

The first thing you have to ask yourself is how much space the stuff you already have to put up takes up on your hard drive. If you're putting up photos, look at how much space your current library takes up. Obviously you'll need more space than that if you're uploading everything. Just add more space for future photos.

[macleod]

So if I have 2 GB or photos that I want up there then I need more than that? I was hoping that it was compressed or something when you upload it! Thanks

[macleod]

Actually I have a domain name with free hosting through my college so is there any way I can buy a better domain and have it go to my existing one when people type that in? I know this can be done I just don't know how and if it is easy/cheap enough to do.

[World Leader Pretend]

Ok, you can check my site by clicking the link in my sig, and the whole site takes ~ 60MB to upload. The pictures only take up a small amount of space because I think iWeb compresses them into PNG pictures. I have 20 gigs of space with my hosting and I'll never fill that Before I added MP3s to my site the whole thing with pictures only took about 5mb-10mb to upload. I would say anywhere between 1 and 5 gigs would be plenty depending on how many pictures you have.

EDIT: Here's my picture page, and it takes about 5MB to upload: Pictures

[macleod]

Thanks but I feel like for what I am doing it is just too much to spend (70 dollars or more a year) when I can use my space provided by my college. If I buy a new domain can I have it automatically go to my domain given to me by my college? And if so, how? I know I asked this earlier but I think it was kind of unclear so I thought I would try again.

[World Leader Pretend]

Do you mean that you want to

A. Buy a new domain name

B. Use the hosting services provided by your college

C. Make the Domain name work with your college hosting service?

If so, it's pretty straight forward. You have to change the Nameservers.

For example: I bought a domain via GoDaddy, and the hosting service via Dreamhost. To get the domain name to work with the hosting, I had to change the nameservers the Domain was at to the nameservers the host provided.

Here's an email I got explaining this to me:

Originally Posted by For Example Only If you are transfering an existing domain registration to (Host) for hosting - or have not yet registered your domain and plan to do so with a registrar other than (Host) - remember to use the following domain name server information when submitting your registration/transfer: Primary name server: ns1.host.com Secondary name server: ns2.host.com Tertiary name server: ns3.host.com

You get these name servers from the host, so you will have to ask the tech guys on campus if it isn't easily available.

HTH.

[macleod]

I don't know if they would let me do that. I was talking about doing this:
1. Buying a domain like: abcd.com
2. Making it so when someone types in www.abcd.com it goes to my web address given to me by my college -->www.people.college.edu/~NAME59/
Kind of like how businesses sometimes buy sites with similar names to their website so if people mistype they are still taken to their website.

EDIT: the second link takes you to the university of phoenix...sorry that was just a made up web address

[World Leader Pretend]

Oh, I know what you mean. I think it's called "Domain Masking" or "Domain Forwarding" You can look around for instructions on how to do it, or look at how your domain provider goes about it. It should be fairly simple.

(BTW, why am I giving out advice? I've set up a grand total of 2 web sites and haven't had any formal classes... )

[sirnick4]

okay, so I went through the whole process but I'm having trouble with the server name..

My web host and domain name are both under GoDaddy.

What do I put in the server field when using CyberDuck?

I tried "server.godaddy.com" and it didn't work.

Could the problem also be that the domain name hasn't been approved yet?

[billybobsky]

GoDaddy doesn't serve webpages (afaik), you need to find another company to do that.

[Schnauzer]

Great info, THX