1. Chapter 10 Publishing and Maintaining Your Web Site

2. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 2 Principles of Web Design Objectives Publish your Web site Test your Web site Refine and update your content Attract notice to your Web site Chapter 10

3. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 3 Principles of Web Design Publishing Your Site To make your site live, you transfer your Web site files to a Web server Unless your company or organization has a Web server, you’ll have to use the services of a Web hosting provider After you choose a server to host your files, you’ll need to select file transfer software and upload the Web site files from your development machine to the Web server Chapter 10

4. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 4 Principles of Web Design Choosing an ISP One of the most important decisions you’ll make is your choice of Web hosting service or Internet Service Provider (ISP). This is the company that hosts your Web pages on a Web server, making them available to anyone who knows your URL. Web hosting services provide Web server space only, and may be more capable of hosting a complex commercial site Chapter 10

5. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 5 Principles of Web Design ISP Checklist Is the ISP local or national? Does the ISP have enough local Points Of Presence (POPs) in my area code? Does the ISP offer technical support? When is support staff available? How many e-mail address do I get with an account? Does the ISP provide software, such as an FTP client? Chapter 10

6. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 6 Principles of Web Design ISP Checklist Does the ISP support the latest connection technologies? Does the ISP offer enhanced services, such as SQL database support, Secure Socket Layer, CGI scripting, and multimedia technology? Chapter 10

7. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 7 Principles of Web Design Using CGI Scripts The Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is the communications “bridge” between the Internet and the server Using programs called scripts, CGI can collect data sent by a user via the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and transfer it to a variety of data processing programs including spreadsheets, databases, or other software running on the server Chapter 10

8. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 8 Principles of Web Design Using FTP To publish your pages on the Web, you must send your HTML, image, and other files to the Web server To do this, you need File Transfer Protocol (FTP) software, often called an FTP client Chapter 10

9. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 9 Principles of Web Design Using FTP To upload your files, start your FTP program and connect to your Web server using the FTP information provided by your service provider Select the files that you want to upload in your local directory listing and transfer them to the server Once the files have reached the Web server, they are immediately available for access on the Web Chapter 10

10. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 10 Principles of Web Design Chapter 10 Figure 10-1

11. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 11 Principles of Web Design Testing Your Site Remember to test for the following Web design variables: Multiple browsers Multiple operating systems Connection speeds Display types Chapter 10

12. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 12 Principles of Web Design User Testing Vary your subjects Formalize your testing Develop a feedback form Chapter 10

13. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 13 Principles of Web Design User Feedback Questions Did you find the information you needed? Was it easy or difficult to find the information you needed? Did you find the site visually attractive? Did you find the content easy to read? Did you find the site easy to navigate? Chapter 10

14. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 14 Principles of Web Design User Feedback Questions Did you think the information was presented correctly? Did the information have enough depth? What area of the site did you like the best? What area of the site did you like the least? Would you recommend the site to others? Chapter 10

15. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 15 Principles of Web Design Refining and Updating Content Refine your content and presentation based on your user’s feedback Analyze your visitors and their preferences when they visit Plan for ongoing maintenance of your site Plan for major site design changes on a regular basis Chapter 10

16. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 16 Principles of Web Design Working with Search Engines Search engines are software programs that search out and index Web sites in a catalog Not all search engines are alike, so the way they search and catalog differs greatly Chapter 10

17. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 17 Principles of Web Design Working with Search Engines Use meaningful titles Use META elements Be careful with frames Use ALT text with images Submit your URL to different search engines Chapter 10

18. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 18 Principles of Web Design Working with Tags You can use the elements on your site to possibly raise your Web site listing with certain search engines The tags will get you results with Alta Vista, Excite, Inktomi, and HotBot The element is an empty element that resides in the section of the HTML document allows you to specify information about a document that is invisible to the user Chapter 10

19. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 19 Principles of Web Design Chapter 10 Table 10-1

20. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 20 Principles of Web Design Syntax Chapter 10

21. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 21 Principles of Web Design Frames and Search Engines Since frame set files contain no content, they lack the information that many search engines look for Use both tags and information in the noframes element Chapter 10

22. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 22 Principles of Web Design Syntax The Joel Sklar Consulting Web site is a resource for HTML authors and students. You can view a non- framed version of the site. Chapter 10

23. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 23 Principles of Web Design Summary Publishing your Web site involves transferring files to a Web server. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) provide space on their Web server if you are one of their subscribers. You can use an FTP application to transfer the files. Shop carefully and compare features when you are looking for an Internet Service Provider or Web host. Consider the future disk space and technology needs of your content. Chapter 10

24. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 24 Principles of Web Design Chapter 10 Summary Download and learn to use an FTP client. You transfer files to your site often and you need to know how to do this. After your site is live, test it against the basic Web variables of browser, operating system, display resolution, and connection speed Test your site with a variety of users. Listen carefully to their feedback to determine trouble spots in your information design.

25. Principles of Web Design 2nd Ed. Chapter 10 25 Principles of Web Design Chapter 10 Summary Plan for the maintenance, upkeep, and redesign of your site. Keep your content fresh! Let users know when you have made updates to the site. Enhance your site to take advantage of search engine behavior