So, you've decided to go for it and stake your place in Cyberspace! Congratulations and welcome to the dawn of a new millennium! I have done it twice: once at GeoCities, and once at Tripod. Most of the tips pertain to both webtropoli, or webtropolisss'ss' or however you say it! And I'll let you know when one's different! So now, Stay tuned for...
Cybersmith's Handy WWW Homesteading Tips,
Cybersmith's thinly Veiled Page of GeoCities Flame!
An easy way to save your hair and sanity!
Obviously you should make your webpage(s) offline. Of course if you have a limited access type of internet account, you have no alternative! But even if you have unlimited access to the internet, it still makes good sense to work up your pages offline. That way, you can get your images and links to work perfectly, and then you can move on to the next step (after finding your place);
Getting your stuff to the servers!
I found GeoCities' File manager utilities easy to use. Tripod is initially a little more confusing, but you can figure it out. I used the Advanced HTML editor at both places, so my tips are geared for that level. But if you're going to use the Basic Editor (only at GeoCities) or the EZ editors, read on anyway, for these tips can help you too!
Or,
(I just love that Bullwinkle Duo-title thingie!)
Okay, I promise, it's NOT that bad!
The page formation stage is a good time to tell you that you should follow the same KISS guidelines for naming your files that you used in the days before Windows 95:
GeoCities will let you use either Caps or Lower case in your filenames, but DON'T MIX THEM! They will not get uploaded to the server if you mix them up so be consistent in your cases! Tripod is a little more forgiving concerning mixed cases, even allowing you to reduce filenames to lowercase on the upload. But consistency is still the best policy.
And that goes for file EXTENTIONS too! On your machine, your page may still work if the file name is (pay close attention here!) "dog.GIF" and the HTML code says "dog.gif", but on GeoCities and Tripod, you'll get the broken image icon in dog.GIF's place! Believe me, I've been there, done that, got the T-Shirt, and everything! So, make sure you have PERFECT matches between the file names and your HTML code! And do this BEFORE you upload! It will save you some pain and grief!
And now, to thoroughly confuse you:
Remember the bit above about "lose the apostrophes"? Well there is ONE exception. Spaces are not allowed in filenames! You must either use an Underline ( _ ) or a Dash (-) in place of spaces. I used the underline.
Now that you've found your place,
How do you get your stuff up to the servers? The easiest way is to use the EZ Uploader utilities from GeoCities or Tripod! At GeoCities, you can send as many as 20 files up at one shot. At Tripod you can only upload 5 files at a time. Tripod lets you know what made it and what didn't, plus gives you a chance to check out your files. You can still upload more files at tripod by choosing "Upload more Files" from the list at the bottom of the page below the upload stats. [HANDY TIPS FOR TRIPOD] If you want to get back to the Homepage Houskeeper, it's best to get there from the menu at the TOP of the page. That will take you directly to your file list. If you go by way of the list at the bottom of the page, you'll wind up returning to the page after your login!
I have uploaded both HTML and image files in one whack using EZ Uploaders with no problems (aside from filenames that is!). FTP clients suggest sending them separately (HTML files as ASCII files, GIF's + JPEG's as binaries). Geocities EZ uploader will let you replace a file with the same name, no sweat. To replace a file at Tripod, you have to check a box. If you don't the file will not upload.
If your browser is really old, it may not support the file upload utility. In that case...
Long Distance Tweaking of your Pages
The HTML Editors are pretty good. At GeoCities, the Preview button gives you a sneak peek at how your changes will look while keeping the HTML code handy for you to make changes! Tripod doesn't give you a Preview option. You just edit the HTML, hit the "use this HTML" button, and then Tripod gives you a link you can hit to see the page. GeoCities also gives you buttons that lets you save and return to File Manager, save and keep editing, or just quit.
However,
Sometimes, your best bet at GeoCities may be to edit your HTML using an HTML editor on your computer (like Notepad, Editpad, whatever) and then re-upload your fixed page! I say this because, as I'm sure you've noticed while poking around in GeoCities, at times things have a tendency to become
Veeeeeeerrrrryyyyyyyyyyy sloooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
Imagine you're editing a page. You hit Save, and you wait, and you wait, and you wait, and you wait for GeoCities to respond. Finally you get an error message like "No Connection could be Established!" or "Document contains no data!" (Please explain that one!) If it's really busy, you could punch Save a whole bunch of times and get the same no response! And what about all that work you've put in on your page? You get ONE GUESS! It's all for nought! But it's not this way at GeoCities all the time, so go ahead and try online editing, and if it's slow, fix locally and re-upload.
Does the Browser make a difference?
Kinda. Internet Explorer has a tendency to make a federal case of using the Back button in Geocities File Manager. Using IE, I have gotten a "Page has Expired" error message backing up , but I've backed up and gone forward with no trouble using Netscape. If you get the message, don't panic or get mad! Just hit refresh, and when it asks you "repost from data, say YES! and you're back in the saddle again!
After it's all up..
Test, test, test! Start with the index and just navigate your site like you've never been there before. Hit all the links you can find. Do you go to the right pages, or do you go to an "Ooops Page" that says it doesn't exist? Make notes about pages you miss. Note any broken graphic icons or the "Riddler" graphic icons (you know, the ones with a question mark in them). If you hit Ooops Pages or get missing graphics, don't worry. Go to the file manager and...
) Check your file list: Did you miss any files on the upload? Unless you've got a real plain and small website, you'll have scads of HTML, JPG, and GIF files, and it's not difficult to miss files on the upload. A real easy fix!
)Check that spelling: Look for case mismatches between the HTML and other files. Remember Geocities won't load "Turkey.GIF" if the HTML says "turkey.GIF"! And it won't load "Summer_vacation.HTML" in place of "Summer_Vacation.html"
)Take your time: It can take a little bit of renaming files and rewriting HTML to make your site work perfectly. You've made it this far, so there's no reason to turn back now!
Happy websteading! Cybersmith!
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