One of the most frequently asked questions of WebStudio technical support has to do with sorting out the settings to upload a website.

The process of uploading is relatively simple. First you go to the WebSite menu and choose Save Website To Internet. This builds your website and stores it in a folder on your computer. You next see the Site Info dialog. Next click the Upload button. This will bring up the WebStudio Publisher Wizard.

Things to Check First

There are now many things that you or your computer manufacturer put on your computer that can interfere with uploading your website.

The Firewall: this is designed to keep programs on your computer from connecting to the internet and from other computers from connecting to yours.

If you have a firewall, you MUST set it to enable Web Studio to have FULL ACCESS to the internet. Look at your firewall's Help file for information on how to do this, or contact the publisher.

If you have Windows XP Service Pack 2, you have a firewall...it has a firewall built in. So, if you have Windows XP with Serive Pack 2 of Windows, go to the Start menu, to Help, and search for Firewall. If you don't know if you have Windows XP Service Pack 2, go to the Start menu, move the mouse to and right click on MyComputer, choose Properties from the menu. The dialog will tell you what version of Windows you have.

If you have McAfee's Internet Firewall, it will present a dialog to you when you try to upload and ask if you want to allow Web Studio access to the internet. Tell it to Always allow Web Studio Full Access the net. If you don't you won't be able to upload your website, or do any of the other things Web Studio needs to do for you.

Internet Connection: If you have a dial up connection to the internet, you should connect to the internet prior to uploading with Web Studio. This is because your computer may be set to NOT dial the internet when other programs, like Web Studio, want to connect. By connecting in your normal way, you are assured that Web Studio will get a connection.

If you use AOL as your internet service provider, and have a dialup connection, make sure AOL is running before you try to upload. Also, AOL has a fireall, so tell it to give Web Studio Full Access.

If you use AOL and have a broadband connection (cable, DSL), then make sure AOL is NOT running when you try to upload.

If you have a dialup, open Internet Explorer. Go to the Tools menu and choose Internet Options. Click on the Connections tab. There should be at least one item in the text box named "Dial-up and Virtual Private Network settings". Click on that name. The three radio buttons below the text box should now be enabled. Remember which of the radio buttons is currently set, you'll need to know this for later. Click on the one labeled "Always dial my default connection". Then click ok. Next run Web Studio and then upload. This technique will use your telephone modem to connect to the net instead of your ISP and may solve the problem. Make sure you go back to the Connections tab and reset it to whatever it previously was.

Do you have DSL? If so, open Internet Explorer, even if that isn't your browser of choice. Next choose Internet Options from the Tools menu. Click on the Connections tab in the dialog. Next, click the Setup button and the "New Connection Wizard" will come up. Click Next. Click on the "Connect to Internet" radio button and click Next. Click "Setup My connection manually" and click Next. Click "Connect using a broadband connection that is always on" and click Next. Click Finish. Now you have a good connection that Web Studio can use to upload.

The FTP Information from Your Website Hosting Company: This infomation is the address to your site's files and the log-in information necessary to gain access to your hosting service. Sometimes the hosting company give incorrect or incomplete information. The biggest source of this problem is the "Remote Site Folder". They typically forget to tell you if you need one. Note that many hosts do NOT need a remote site folder, but many do.

America Online or AOL: AOL isn't very internet friendly, ironically. You'll want to make sure you are connected to the internet properly as described above prior to uploading with Web Studio. This ensures a connection. Sometimes AOL will block the connection via the AOL Firewall. So, you'll want to ensure the AOL Firewall will allow Web Studio to have Full Access to the internet. See the help in AOL's Firewall to do this.

We also have a complete FAQ on AOL and uploading. Click here to read the AOL FAQ

Creating a New Destination

The first thing to do in the publishing wizard is to create a new Destination. This is done by pressing the New button in the Upload page of the wizard. You'll see some instructions which you should read and then press Next to go to the Name Your Destination page.

Here you'll enter a name for you destination. This can be anything you want. It isn't used to upload, it is used to remind you of what destinations you have created and is displayed on the first page of the wizard. So, enter MySite, for example. Below that is a list of Destinations. If your hosting service is listed there, click on it to select it. Otherwise click Other. Note: If you have Geocities, click on Other. You need to do this because Geocities changed the way their uploading works, using Other makes it work fine with WebStudio. Now click Next to go to the Identification page.

Your hosting company should have given you your User ID and Password. Sometimes the User ID is called the User Name by the hosting company. In any event, enter them here exactly as your hosting company sent them to you. Make sure you use capital or lower case letters as appropriate. Then click the Save Password checkbox so you won't have to enter your password every time you upload. Then click Next to go to the FTP Address page.

FTP Address

This is where one of the problems starts. Your hosting company sent you an FTP Address along with your User ID and Password. The FTP Address could be in a number of forms. Here are some examples:

• ftp.mysite.com
  
• ftp.hostingcompanyname.com
  
• mysite.com
  
• 21.24.56.135
  

Remote Site Folder

Here's the biggest problem: the Remote Site Folder. It is important to know that some hosting services require one of these, some hosting services don't. This is literally a folder on your host's computer, just like a folder in your MyDocuments folder.

It is important for you to know that many hosting companies fail to tell you that you need one of these. This is the biggest problem we find with uploading sites. So, if you have a problem uploading your site, the first thing to do is to contact your hosting company and ask them if there is a Remote Site Folder you need to use.

If your hosting service says you don't need one, don't enter anything in the Remote Site Folder page.

If they do, enter whatever they give you. Make sure that you precede it with a slash "/". Here are some examples of common folder names:

• /www
  
• /web
  
• /public
  
• /public_html
  
• /html
  

Home Page Address

Finally you enter the address of your Home Page. This is the address you would type into your browser to go to your site. Your hosting company will give you this address.

You'll want to enter the Home Page address with the http:// preceding the actual address. For example, you'd enter:

http://www.webstudio.com

not

www.webstudio.com

Enter it exactly as your hosting company says and then press the Finish button to return to the Upload page.

Uploading Your Website

Finally it is time to upload your website. Click on the name of your new Destination in the Available Destinations list. Then make sure the Upload this site as the root website checkbox is checked, if not click in its checkbox. Finally, click the Upload button. This will start the upload process. In a few minutes you'll know if the upload has succeeded. If it has, it will offer you the opportunity to preview your website, on the web.

What if there is an Error?

If the upload got all the way to the Preview page, you pressed the Preview button, but your website didn't show up, your probably entered your Home Page Address incorrectly. Go back and Edit your Destination to ensure you entered it correctly. If you did, contact your hosting company to ensure they gave you the correct information.

If you got an error message when uploading, it is probably due to a faulty Remote Site Folder. If you entered a Remote Site Folder and you have the backslash in it, remove the backslash and try again. If that doesn't work, try one of the other Remote Site Folder's listed above. If you didn't enter a Remote Site Folder, try entering the ones listed above until you find one that works, or you run out of paths. Remember to try them both with and without the slash.

If that still doesn't work, contact your hosting company to find out exactly what you need to enter.

This is essentially how our tech support people determine what to do when someone can't upload.

There has been one case where WebStudio itself was at fault. Every other case has been faulty or missing information either entered by the customer or sent by the hosting company. With the info above, you should be able to fix this problem yourself if you run across it.