File Name Rules

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Web pages can have any of the following characters in their file name:

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
1234567890 - _ .

Web page files should not have spaces or any other funny characters in their file names. Our web server is CASE SENSITIVE. Please be aware of how your FTP program transfers files to our server. Some FTP programs will convert filenames to all lowercase (or all uppercase) depending on its settings.

Special note to Macintosh owners: Do not use spaces in your file names. Most computers (including ours) will not understand what you are trying to do if there is a space in the filename.

Files named index.html, index.htm, , and  will be loaded automatically by our server  (they are server defaults) if a visitor goes to your web site without specifying a file name.

Example: http://vdsinc.net  actually brings up the index.html file that 
lives in the directory that stores all vndsinc's web site.

Web page files are generally transferred to our servers by FTP (File Transfer Protocol). When transferring files, make sure you use the following table to send the files correctly. If you do not follow the table, your web pages will probably not work as you expect them to.


PC
ASCII
Web Page (*.htm, *.html, *.shtml)

Mac
ASCII or Plain Text
Pictures (*.gif *.jpg, etc.)

PC
Binary
Pictures (*.gif, *.jpg, etc.)

Mac
Raw Data
Imagemap (*.map) files

PC
ASCII
Imagemap (*.map) files

Mac
ASCII or Plain Text
Zip (*.zip) files

PC
Binary

Where to put your files
When you FTP to your account you are normally placed in your home directory. youmust place the files in the "www" Dir or "web" dir. depending on weather you are a NT or UNIX  user

Important conventions to use
When creating your pages to be viewed on our server, there are certain
conventions that you must follow in order for the server to correctly serve your pages. 

1.When someone wishes to access your pages from our server, they will most likely type in your URL something like this: http://www.the-future.com
In order for the server software to pull up your pages, there must be a page in your directory named "index.htm" or "index.html". This is what the server looks for as a default file to bring up as the first page in your set of pages

2.You must also remember that when you reference your own pages from within your html documents, that the files are CASE SENSITIVE. For example,
"mypage.html" is a different file than "MyPage.html".

3.Try not to incorporate spaces into any of the names of your files or folders, as it will just be more complicated for you, and anyone viewing your pages. 

General HTML do's and dont's
Here are some tips to help the overall quality of your pages.

DO - Sit down before you create your pages, and brainstorm as to what your goals are for your pages. Try asking yourself some of these questions:

What information do you wish to convey, or have available?
What is my target audience?
What type of browsers do I wish to write for?

DO - Take time to organize your pages by drawing a storyboard of the progression of your pages. You will be much happier if you take the time in the beginning.

DON'T - Inundate your pages with graphics that are too large. Graphics are an important element to many sites, but if they are used in excess, they tend to make your readers leave. Try using some utilities to make the graphics you scan or create smaller.

DON'T - Make your pages too large in both width, and length. Not everyone has large monitors, and scrolling is something that will also turn off your readers.

DO - Break up your pages into logical sections to make it easier for your reader to find what they are interested in.

DO - Look at the source code of any cool pages that you find to see how the author created their pages.

DO - Obtain texts on the subject for reference. HTML books are everywhere these days, so go to your local bookstore and explore the possibilities.

Another helpful suggestion is to stick with a set naming convention and directory structure, which makes creating your links much easier within your HTML. Be sure and use the same extension on all HTML files, either .htm or .html. Mixing and matching both extensions can lead to broken links.

Transferring your pages
Once you have created your web site, then you will need to transfer those html documents and graphics files to our server. Follow the steps below... 

1.Obtain FTP Client software.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is the way two computers talk to each other in order to exchange files. FTP is universally accepted, so it does not matter what kind of machine you are on, just as long as you have software that speaks the FTP language.
 
2.Configure your software.
Now that you have your FTP software, you need to configure it to be able to connect to our server. Each of the software clients has its own way of setting up its preferences, but each of them will require the following information to make a connection: 
A. The Host or Server Name: www.[insertyourdomain.com]  or your IP address without any prefixes
B. Your User Login Name: yourlogin
C. Your  Password: yourpassword
You do not need to specify a directory if your software asks for it. When you connect, you will automatically land in your directory, with a view of all of your current files.

3.Transfer your files.
Once you are connected, you may transfer files to and from your account, make new folders, or delete files. Remember to name your first page "index.html" or "index.htm". Once your pages are transferred they are automatically ready to be viewed. So just type your URL into your browser, and you will see your pages on the Net! 

Viewing Your Pages
Now that you have successfully transferred your files to our server, you should view them to make sure that all of the links and graphics work. Use your browser and type in your URL. If you now see your front page, then congratulations! Your pages are on the net! If you don't see your page, then you may not have named your page correctly, so check and make sure it is "index.html" or "index.htm". or your domain name may not yet have propagated. If this is so then type in the IP address of your site in the browser and it should pull up your first page.

If you have any further questions, please contact our customer care center.