Access to
your Site Administrator: http://MegaSytes.com/cpanel
Clicking on the above URL will require the
Site Administrator username, the domain and password. This
information should have been supplied to you when you
registered for your domain with MegaSytes.com. |
| Note: You may wish to bookmark these links
before replacing the contents of this page
|
A confirmation email with the details of your
site along with your username and password has been sent to the
email address you registered with MegaSytes.com. You can access
email accounts, site statistics, install OsCommerce and PostNuke,
and more via your Site Administrator and build your own E-Commerce
site.
You may also wish to use other publishing
tools to create your website, and in that case you will want to
use a FTP client to transfer your web pages onto your web site.
Here is a simple and quick guide to getting your website up and
running in no time!
- Create Content
- Publish your
content
- Publicize your site
There are a variety of ways to create
content. The easiest way is to use a Web content publishing tool
such as Macromedia
Dreamweaver, Macromedia
Fireworks or a variety of other free publishing tools that you
can find on the internet. Other tools that are helpful include
graphical editing tools such as Paintshop Pro and even more
dynamic content generators like Macromedia's Flash. You may
also wish to edit your contents yourself by using a text editor
and learning HTML. Additional tips, tricks and frequently asked
questions are located in the FAQ section on the MegaSytes.com
site. Here are some pointers to learning HTML
Once you've finished your page/site,
you'll need to upload it to your web server. FTP (File Transfer
Protocol) allows a person to transfer files between two computers,
generally connected via the Internet. You can either FTP your
files via the command line (i.e. DOS), or you can find yourself an
FTP client which executes all the commands in a drag-and-drop
interface. We would highly recommend the latter to beginners and
experts alike. FTP clients make the publishing process
simple.
FTP Basics To FTP, you will
need to know the host location, as well as your username and
password. All your web site contents are stored in
public_html.
Using an FTP Client Most FTP
clients have the same basic layout, functionality, and price.
Choosing one is simply a matter of personal preference. Some of
the more popular clients for Windows-based computers include WS_FTP, CuteFTP, and BulletProof FTP and for Macintosh
computers include Fetch,
and Interarchy. All
clients come with documentation, and it shouldn't take you long to
figure out how to get started. But here are a few basics:
- There will be some kind of "Site
Manager" feature which will store all your FTP locations and
their corresponding login information. Once you enter this info,
the client will automatically log you in.
- There will be three screens. One
representing your local machine, one representing the remote
host, and one which shows the files that are queued for
transfer. You will need to navigate to the correct folders on
both your local machine and the host machine.
- You will then highlight the files
you wish to upload on your local machine, and there should be a
button at the top that queues the files for upload. The upload
might execute immediately, or you might have to hit a "Go"
button first.
- That's it! Your files are uploaded!
You should now be able to go to your URL and view the
page.
Search Engines and Internet
Catalogs Probably the most common way to publicize your
site and generate traffic is to submit it to search engines (i.e.
Google) and internet catalogs (i.e. Yahoo!). Most of these sites
have a form you can fill out to submit your site. To save yourself
some time, you can try a service that submits your site to
multiple search engines and internet catalogs by filling out just
one form. There are many of these services out there, such as www.submit-it.com. By adding meta tags to your
site, you can increase the relevancy of your pages in people's
searches. Meta tags will be discussed a bit later.
Reciprocal Links If your page
has a theme, seek out pages with similar themes and ask the
webmaster to post a link to your site. In exchange, you promise to
add a link to their site on yours. This is a great way to get the
word out about your site for free.
Newsgroups Look for
newsgroups where you think people who would be interested in your
site might frequent. Post a message announcing your site and its
features. Don't do this too often as it is sometimes considered
Spamming (unsolicited advertising).
Web Rings If there are other
pages that are similar to yours, there might be a web ring out
there dedicated to your kind of site. Do an internet search for
"web ring" and include a keyword related to your site. If you join
a web ring, you will need to add a web ring graphic and links to
your page.
Advertising If you really
want to give your site some exposure, you can create a banner ad
and find a company that will get your banner put up on numerous
pages. The cost generally depends on the amount of impressions
(how many times it is seen) or click-throughs (how many times it
is actually clicked on).
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