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Q. What should my website files be called?

A.

The default files are listed from highest to lowest priority: index.htm, index.html, index.php, index.asp, default.htm, default.html, default.php, default.asp. Be careful about having multiple default files, if you have more than one the highest priority file will be displayed. That will get your first page loaded, from that point there are a number of approaches. Typically your HTML files are included in the same directory and given logical names, and an Images sub-folder is created to store your graphics / photos.

 
Q. How do I upload files / What was my login?

A.

To upload your website your FTP login is typically your domain name with no prefix and no extension. So if your domain name was www.example_Website.com, then your login would be example_website ... your password should be what you requested. You will need to know your FTP user name, password, and domain or IP address (typically ftp.[your_domain.ext]). There are two FTP options built into Windows, you can find help in the FAQ question: How do I FTP from a Command Prompt, or with IE? Otherwise... Next you will need an FTP client, there are a number of FTP clients available for free and for purchase, from CuteFTP to SecureFX, the company IPSwitch makes a good FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client called WS_FTP (They have a free version- WS_FTP LE on their download page, and a WS_FTP Pro Version). Create a new connection to ftp.[yourdomain.ext], login using the username / pw you were given IE: ftp.mydomain.com (mydomain / rq132*). Once connected, upload/transfer your web page files to the root of the remote server. IE all your HTML / .htm files & an Images folder with pictures for your site. After doing that, refreshing (F5) the page should show your website instead of the place holder page, or your old web page.

 
Q. How do I FTP from a Command Prompt?

A.

FTP from a command prompt. This option is somewhat more complicated than a GUI client, but works on most computers. It works well for simple file transfers, but requires a lot of work to transfer multiple folders / sub-folders. We do not provide support for command based FTP or ftp scripting, this info is FYI. It can also be setup with a link to point at a script which will allow you to upload or download specific files with a click. Note for the following instructions, replace <CR> with the enter key, <username> with your login name, <source> with your source file or file and path, same with <target> etc. Start, by going to your Start Menu, then click Run, at the Run prompt type cmd (On earlier Win OS's such as Windows 98, type command) and click Ok. That should bring up a black window showing your current directory, a command prompt. Change to the directory on your computer where your files are stored (Note: if you type the get/put commands with the full file paths you don't need to change directories). Your path is shown in the prompt. Typing the drive letter followed by a colon will change drives, you want to follow each command by hitting the enter key. Typing cd .. will move you up a directory, typing cd <directory_name> will change you to that directory, typing dir will list files and directories in your current path. From the appropriate directory, type ftp <domain_name> You should see a prompt something like... Connected to <domain_name>. 220----- Welcome, CTCCo.com FTP Server ready... ---- 220 __________________________________________________ User (trinity.homeisp.com:(none)): Type in <user_name><CR> You should see something like 331 Password required for <user_name>. Password: Type in <password><CR> This should show you as logged in, and give you an ftp> prompt. Use the cd commands as above at the command prompt, to change directories on the FTP server, and the dir command to list files and folders. Also, mkdir <directory_name> will create a new directory, and rmdir <directory_name> will remove a directory. Before uploading or downloading you want to change to ASCII or Binary mode, ASCII for text based files, and Binary for non-text based files. Type either bin<CR> or ascii<CR> to set this option. To upload a file from your computer to the server use the command: put <source> <target><CR> To download a file from the server to your computer use the command: get <source> <target><CR> To download multiple files type mget *.*<CR>, or mget <Partial file name, * as a wild card><CR> To delete type delete <file_name><CR>, to rename a file type rename <file_name> <new_name><CR> Once you are done, you can type bye<CR> to end your session, and exit<CR> to close the command prompt.

 
Q. How do I script/automate transfers with command based FTP?

A.

You can automate the simple upload / download of a file(s), using the command prompt based FTP program included in Windows. Be careful about accidently over writing important files. We do not provide support for command based FTP or ftp scripting, this info is FYI. You will need to make a script file ending in .ftp and stored in a path you know, or in the same directory as the shortcut (example below). You need to make a shortcut calling the FTP program, the FTP host, and using the script. Syntax: ftp <domain_name> -s:<file_name.ftp IE: ftp ftp.my_domain_name.com -s:c:\temp\my_script_file.ftp For example... a simple <file_name>.ftp file might look like... <username> <password> get <source_file> <target_file> put <source_file> <target_file> bye Note the get command is taking a source file from the ftp server and copying it to your local machine, the put command is copying a source file from your computer to the target on the server. Always be sure to test your FTP script. Clicking your shortcut should connect, transfer files, and disconnect. If you want to play around with a much more advanced / complex FTP script... you can download the following one. It can be edited and run with no external scripts to make (They are dynamically generated in your temp folder), or it can be used with external scripts to warn on errors, write a log etc. AutoFTP.cmd V. 1.34 Batch File, save to your hard drive and edit settings in notepad.

 
Q. How do I make a website?

A.

Making a website is somewhat beyond the scope of this FAQ, how ever some pointers in the right direction. There are a number of WYSIWYG editors out there (What You See Is What You Get), these allow you to edit web pages seeing the results rather than the code that generates them. If you just want to do something quick and don't want to take a lot of time learning, this is probably the way to go. WYSIWYG editors make things much simpler to create, how ever they don't give you as much control, and the code they create is usually somewhat sloppy. A couple of common editors are Dream Weaver, and Front Page, I tend to think Dream Weaver's code is somewhat cleaner. The other option is to learn a language, the basic foundation is HTML. There are a number of other related languages & tools, such as JavaScript, PHP, CSS, and Flash. Editing code by hand can be done in something as simple as Notepad, there are also a number of editors that highlight the TAGs and offer canned code excerpts (Such as CoffeeCup). A lot can also be learned by looking at the source for other peoples sites and figuring out how they did something. There are a number of tutorials out there on HTML etc., try looking for help in your favorite search engine.

 
Q. Does the server support PHP?

A.

Yes, PHP is a recursive acronym for "PHP Hypertext Preprocessor". This is a useful language for creating dynamic content on your website. There are a number of sites out there that have free downloads of PHP scripts, that can do things like count hits on your webpage. PHP is a server-side, cross-platform, HTML embedded scripting language that lets you create dynamic web pages. PHP-enabled web pages are treated just like regular HTML pages and you can create and edit them the same way you normally create regular HTML pages.

 
Q. Can Front Page Extensions be setup?

A.

Yes, although... We generally advise against running Front Page Extensions, while they do add a couple of nice features the problems that tend to arise from using them cause more issues then the extensions solve. By default they are not loaded, how ever, upon request we can set them up for you. Most of the time if you are wanting to add a counter or another feature they support, you can find a simple PHP script that will do the same job more smoothly. There are a number of websites that offer PHP scripts for free download.

 
Q. How do I FTP from IE?

A.

Start by opening Internet Explorer. Click in the address bar, and type ftp://<your_FTP_domain>/ then hit enter (IE ftp://ftp.example_domain.com/<CR>). This should prompt you with the server name, asking for a User name:, and Password:. Type them in, and click Log On. You should see a Windows Explorer style folder / file display. You can drag and drop files and folders to or from that window to upload and download files. You can add the page to your favorites for easy access. Depending on whether IE is setup as your default FTP client, you can drag and copy that short cut to your desktop, or another location for speedy access.

 
Q. I want to use CGI, where is the CGI-BIN?

A.	You can run CGI scripts, these are generally located in the CGI-BIN folder from the root of your website. By default the CGI-BIN folder is not automatically created. Please call or e-mail us (including details about your site, who you are etc.), and we can set one up for you.

 
Q. How do I check a web server with out a browser / Alternative way to verify port 80 is open?

A.

If you do not have access to a browser, it is possible to use Telnet to perform some very basic checks to confirm if your web server is responding to requests. A web server normally listens for connections on port 80 (often referred to as HTTP) - Customer websites use this port. On other systems alternative ports may be used: Port 8080 is a common alternative or where a proxy is involved, Port 443 is normally used for secure (HTTPS) connections etc. Note: secure connections cannot be tested with Telnet because it has no knowledge of initiating a secure encrypted connection with the web server. A web server does not produce a prompt like a BBS, it just responds to HTTP requests/commands sent to it, which is exactly what a browser expects. In simple terms a browser makes a connection to the web server and requests a page using a set of HTTP protocol commands. So lets simulate a basic connection to a web server and get some data back. In the example I will be using the www.ctcco.com website and connect on port 80. Because the web server has no prompt and does not echo anything you type you have to type the commands exactly as shown even though you will not see it echoed to the screen. Once a connection to the web server is established, we need to enter some HTTP commands to get the web server to send back some information. Note: You cannot use the backspace key to correct typing errors, if you do you will get an error reply - which is actually still testing the web server. If this happens just repeat the whole telnet connection again. Also the case of the text must be exactly as specified or it will not be recognised as a HTTP command: [At a command prompt IE: C:\>, Type in the following (Note, when typing these commands, the <CR> is a carriage return / hit enter).] telnet www.ctcco.com 80 <CR> [You should see the following] Connecting to www.ctcco.com.... [at this point the screen will go blank (wait for this to happen) and anything you type will not be echoed back] [Type the following lines in (Note: the commands are case sensitive, and should be in upper case.] HEAD / HTTP/1.1<CR> Host: www.ctcco.com<CR> <CR> [Alternatively typing in the following lines will show the entire page, and may work if the previous commands don't] GET / HTTP/1.1 Host: www.ctcco.com<CR> <CR> [The server will then reply with header information related to the default html page as defined by the web designer (normally something like index.html) or an error if you entered the HTTP commands wrong. The telnet connection will also close automatically. The important info is the 200 OK line, which indicates the commands were entered successfully and the web server has responded to the HTTP request.] [A successful request will look similar to this:] HTTP/1.1 200 OK Server: Microsoft-IIS Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 22:08:14 GMT X-Powered-By: ASP.NET Connection: close Content-type: text/html X-Powered-By: PHP/5.0.5 Connection to host lost. [If any of the commands were not understood, you may get a reply like this:] HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request Server: Microsoft-IIS/Ver Date: Wed, 01 Jan 2000 01:01:01 GMT Content-Type: text/html Content-Length: 87 The parameter is incorrect. Connection to host lost. These should be the results you get on our servers, if you use your own server they may vary a little depending on the OS and web server / software. If you got responses as expected, it looks like the server / connection is working. For more information see the other FAQ entry with a list of HTTP error codes - these will help explain what an error code means. Other commands: GET /filename HTTP/1.0   (or 1.1, command used to receive a plain file.)

 
Q. I'm getting HTTP error codes, what do they mean?

A.

Following are some of the more common HTTP error codes, if you need more information try searching in google for "HTTP [Error#]". More detailed descriptions will likely be added later. Failure Codes Error # Error Code 100 Continue 101 Switching Protocols Success Codes Error # Error Code 200 OK A standard response for a working web server. 201 Created 202 Accepted 203 Non-Authoritative Information 204 No Content 205 Reset Content 206 Partial Content Redirection Codes Error # Error Code 300 Multiple Choices 301 Moved Permanently 302 Found 303 See Other 304 Not Modified 305 Use Proxy 307 Temporary Redirect Client Error Codes Error # Error Code 400 Bad Request 401 Unauthorized 402 Payment Required 403 Forbidden 404 Not Found 405 Method Not Allowed 406 Not Acceptable 407 Proxy Authentication Required 408 Request Timeout 409 Conflict 410 Gone 411 Length Required 412 Precondition Failed 413 Request Entity Too Large 414 Request-URI Too Large 415 Unsupported Media Type 416 Requested Range Not Satisfiable 417 Expectation Failed Server Error Codes Error # Error Code 500 Internal Server Error 501 Not Implemented 502 Bad Gateway 503 Service Unavailable 504 Gateway Timeout 505 HTTP Version not supported