Starting a Web Site

Introduction

Objective

This document is designed to assist people who are not familiar with what is involved in starting a web site from scratch. After reading this, you should understand what steps you need to take or areas to think about before commissioning a new web site.

Terms

In any document related to the Web or Computing, there are likely to be terms that need to be explained. They are explained here.

Client: Referrs here to the user component of software that uses the Client/Server computing model.
Client/Server: A computing model in which the task is performed by several software components that reside on (usually) different computers. The Client software is used by the user on his/her computer and communicates with the Server software on another computer (Two Tier). It is also common to have Three Tier, where the Server software contains Client software to communicate with another Server (often a database). In this way the program functionality is broken up roughly along the lines of providing presentation services in the Client, business rules and logic in the Server and storing information in the database.
Command Line: A terminal session with your operating system's Shell. On microsoft operating systems it is called a "DOS Prompt" or "Command Prompt". In Unix operating systems, it is called a "Shell" and there are several choices with different functionality.
Direct Credit: Making a payment by directing your financial institution to make a payment directly to System-Go's bank account.
Domain Name: A term used to describe the naming convention for computers on the Internet. eg. "www.systems-go.com.au".
A Domain Name is constructed of multiple parts, each separated by a "." (period). Using the example above and working from right to left, the right-most part ".au" is the country code. Each country has its own code, but the United States does not have to use its country code for historical reasons. The next part ".com" indicates an organisation type or user category, in this case "commercial" (some other types are; ".gov" government, ".edu" educational organisations). Again for historical reasons, these are called Top Level Domains (TLDs). The next part of the Domain Name "systems-go" is a name registered to a particular organisation or company, in this case to Systems-Go IT Solutions. The left-most part is the name of the computer or service, in this case "www". There can be other Subdomains between these last two parts.
FTP: File Transfer Protocol. When used as a verb, it implies using a FTP Client software to copy files from a local computer to a distant one that provides an FTP Server.
HTML: Hypertext Markup Language. A specification for describing the content and layout of a Web Page. The specification describes a language made up of plain text with Tags that provide identification of the document components and provide special procesing instructions. You can see the HTML that makes up a page by selecting "View-->Source" from your Browser menu.
HTML Tags: The Tags are the language elements of HTML and are represented by angle brackets surrounding the Tag name and options. Almost all Tag types have a start tag and an end Tag. eg. <p>This is the text between a paragraph start and end Tag.</p>.
HTTP: Hypertext Transport Protocol. The protocol used between a Web Browser and a Web Server to request and receive Web Pages.
MS: When used in conjunction with a product or software is an abbreviation for Microsoft.
Server: As the context requires, this term may be a synonym for a computer that provides network services to users, or it may refer to the software component on the computer that provides the service and requires a conforming Client software (also see Client/Server).
Subdomain: A term describing the part(s) of a Domain Name between the organisation name and the computer name. eg. "mail.mlb.systems-go.com.au" where ".mlb" is a Subdomain of "systems-go".
Web Page: The content of a single HTML file (with associated graphics files). Accessed using a URL (or URI) and displayed in one Web Browser window. An exception to this occurs when using Frames, where the content of each Frame will be a single HTML file.
Web Site: A computer, connected to the Internet and serving Web Pages using the HTTP protocol.
WYSIWYG: What You See Is What You Get. Referrs to being able to edit in a view that looks identical to the view seen in a Browser. Note that different browsers render Web Pages slightly differently, so you can never have true WYSIWYG in the Web world.

Scope

This document covers getting a basic web site up and running. It does not cover E-commerce.

Document Organisation

To assist with easy use of this document, it is arranged as a checklist of items to be completed, with each item being a link to the document section that describes that topic.

Checklist of Requirements

When you have ticked off all of these items, your web site will be up and running.

It is assumed that you have decided why you want a web site and that you don't already have one with another provider. These topics are covered separately in other documents.

Decide whether you want people to access your site as a Subdomain of your service provider or under your own Domain Name.
If you elected to use your own Domain Name, then you must have it registered. Systems-Go would be happy to do this on your behalf.
Decide whether you want to create your own Web Content.
Choose a service provider to host your web site. Naturally, we hope that you will choose Systems-Go.
Open a Web Hosting account.
Upload the Web Content.
Test your Web Site.
Manage the Web Site.

Subdomain or Your Own Domain

Overview

A Subdomain can be allocated by your web hosting provider. In the case of Systems-Go web hosting you would be allocated a Subdomain like "membername.systems-go.com.au" and the URL to type into your Web Browser would be "http://www.membername.systems-go.com.au". There is no extra cost over and above the Hosting Plan Cost for this option.

If you want the strong brand awareness and professional image that comes with having your own Domain Name, then you must have it registered. There are a lot of rules and regulations associated with the construction of a Domain Name and what organisational identifier(s) you can use. These rules and regulations are set by the various Internet Naming authorities. The cost of registering a Domain Name varies considerably depending upon the organisational type descriptor (".org", ".gov", .com"), what country it is registered in and the Registry or Registry Reseller at which it is registered.

You can start with your Subdomain, and then associate a registered Domain Name with it at a later time if you wish. Systems-Go will be pleased to asist you with your choice and to conduct the registration.

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Registering Your Own Domain

The Internet is a very egalitarian place. You cannot "own" a Domain Name, but rather pay for a "right of use" for a period of time. Because each Domain Name must be unique, and they are generally some sort of abbreviation of an entity name, there may be more than one organisation that can lay a legitimate claim to the right to use a specific Domain Name. While rules vary between different types of name, you could be at risk of being successfully challenged if you register a name and subsequently do not use it.

When you are proposing to register your own Domain Name, you will have to:-

Decide whether to register an Australian Domain Name (".com.au", ".net.au", ".org.au", ".asn.au" ".edu.au", ".gov.au") or a Top Level Domain Name (".com", ".biz", ".net", ".org", ".id", ".name", ".gov", ".edu").
Decide which organisational type is best suited, and allowable by the naming rules.
Decide on a couple of alternatives for your Domain Name, in case someone has already registered some of your choices.
Select an authorised Registrar.
Check that your choice of name is not already registered to someone else. This can be done on-line at the Registrar's Web Site.
Submit the registration application with payment authorisation and await the registrar's determination. This can all be done on-line, however you will be asked to provide a lot of information that you may not be familiar with and each Registrar's process and terminology differs.

When making the registration application, you will need to supply full contact details for:-

The person making the application (this person will have the rights to the registered name).
An Administrative Contact, who will deal with any administrative matters relating to the registration.
A Technical Contact, who will deal with the technical aspects of Delegation.
A Billing Contact, who deals with payment for the registration and subsequent renewals.

In addition you will have to supply:-

Your full legal organisation name. This must match exactly with the ACN or ABN, whichever is supplied, otherwise the application will fail. You should check this at http://www.abr.business.gov.au.
Your organisation's ACN, ABN or incorporation number.
The duration for which you want to initially register. Note that Australian Domains can only be registered for two (2) years at a time, however there is a choice with some TLDs.

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Content Creation

Creating Web Site Content can be relatively simple or it can be a complex programming task. The degree of complexity depends upon what features you want to use, the site functionality and how you want to present the site. In basic terms, Web Content consists of text files containing HTML Tags and graphic files of specific types to display pictures, symbols, icons, etc..

At the simplest level, even Microsoft Office applications from the '95 release onwards can "Save As HTML", enabling you to produce some simple Web pages without knowing much about web authoring. Unforunately, when it comes to linking pages together, you need to know a bit about HTML. Microsoft did not intend applications like MS Word and MS PowerPoint and MS Excelto be used to create Web Sites, but rather to simplify the process of turning office documents into HTML for inclusion in a Web Site.

It is possible to produce a Web Site with a simple text editor, however to do this you need to understand the HTML language. Fortunately, it is not too complex to achieve simple web pages in this way and all the language specifications are on-line at http://www.w3.org/.

Selecting Content Creation Tools

The basics are that you will need:-

A Web Page editor to be able to construct Web pages from text, and images as well as linking pages and sites.
A graphics editor to be able to manipulate images and save them as one of the valid file types allowed in Web Content (".gif", ".jpg", ".png")

There are many products available for Web Content authoring, so there is no chance of this being a comprehensive list, however I'll list some with some comments about them.

Content Authoring Tools
Name	Author	Category	Platforms	Comments
FrontPage	Microsoft	Commercial	Windows	A good site editor for beginners and non-technical people. Provides a directory structure for the site and is easy to use. Provides FrontPage Extensions which add features not easily implemented with other tools, but these are proprietary and your Hosting Provider has to support them to be able to work.
Netscape Navigator	Netscape	Freeware	Windows, Unix	A simple web page editor is included. View or edit web pages.
Amaya	W3C	Freeware	Windows, Unix	A simple web page editor that is standards compliant. Requires some knowledge of HTML to use. Good if you want to use XHTML (The latest generation of Web Page language). Semi WYSIWYG.
CoffeeCup	Coffeecup	Commercial	Windows	A full featured programmer's site editor. Not for the beginner or the faint hearted. Has no Viewer and requires a browser to see what you have done. Has amny other associated tools.
CoffeeCup	Coffeecup	Freeware	Linux	A full featured programmer's site editor. Not for the beginner or the faint hearted. Has no Viewer and requires a browser to see what you have done. This version is the site editor only and does not include the other tools.

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Open a Web Hosting Account

For enquiries, just email or phone. To actually open the account, you must sign up to our terms and conditions. As Systems-Go does not accept credit card payment at this time, we need to establish the payment method (either a cheque or Direct Credit) and then it is a simple process to set up the account for you.

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Upload the Web Site Content

There are basically two techniques for uploading Web Content to a Web Site:-

If you are using Microsoft FrontPage to create your Web Site and FrontPage Extensions have been enabled for your account, then you can use the upload features of FrontPage.

If you are not using Microsoft FrontPage or do not have FrontPage Extensions enabled in your account, then you will have to FTP your Web Content. Most computer operating systems have a simple Command Line FTP Client, but there are also many Shareware and commercial products available that have a graphical interface and are thus easier to use. Some examples are listed here with comments.

FTP Clients
Name	Author	Category	Platforms	Comments
ftp	n/a	Built-in	Windows 95 onwards, Unix	Command line. needs knowledge of FTP commands and they all have to be typed in. Handy but not easy for non-technical people.
WS FTP Pro	Ipswitch	Shareware	Windows	Graphical interface. Low cost and very easy to use. Has more features than the Limited Edition version.
WS-FTP LE	Ipswitch	Freeware	Windows	Graphical interface. Very easy to use

A source of great software is http://www.tucows.com. Although the acronym stands for The Ultimate Collection of Windows Software, it has branced out into other platforms and products as well.

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Test your Web Site

Congratulations, your Web Site should now be working, but there's only one way to be sure. Testing is the final step in any quality implementation plan. The best way to test your site is to visit it yourself. Check each page and every Link to make sure it works.

If there is a Proxy Server between the computer that you use for testing and the Internet, then you may find that after you update a file in the Web Site, you still see the old version when you visit it. This is because either your browser or the Web Proxy has cached the page and simply served it to you from the cache instead of re-fetching it. You can force it to be re-fetched by clicking the "Reload" button on your Browser. Netscape also has a function that should force the Web proxy to re-load as well. To do that press "Shift" and clcik the "Reload" button.

Manage the Web Site

After you have your Web Site up and working, there's always maintenance. Even if you are carefull, Murphy's Law always seems to demand that you make some mistakes, but even if you don't, there's always something that needs to be done. Here is a list of some common management tasks:-

Correcting content errors and typos.
Fixing broken Links. If you Link to other sites, remember that they change too, so your Links may end up pointing at nothing. Even within your own site, if it becomes large, it is easy to change some content without remembering that it was Linked from somewhere else. There are some software tools that can help check for broken Links.
Updating content as things change in your business. Nothing annoys customers more than to find that the content on your site is out of date and no longer applicable. Further, to keep customers comming back to your site, it needs to have usefull content and new items often.
Collecting Hit Statistics, to determine how many times your site has been visited or to determine relative interest of different topics.
Just checking to see that everything is still working ok.

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FrontPage, Frontpage Extensions, MS Word, MS Excel, MS Powerpoint and MS Office are products of Microsoft Corpoation. Netscape and Netscape Communicator are products of Netscape Corporation.