iweb site transfer to bluehost

[glasgowboy]

Okay, I am pretty much a novice here. I created my business website with iweb08, uploaded it to bluehost using the iweb video tutorial instructions. All went well.

I went to file manager to view the files and when I preview the individual pages ie: home.html, I only see text, none of the images that should be there show up. I thought that the page would be viewable as it is in iweb.

Also, I don't understand how the files are viewable by someone going to my url. Is there some other step I need to do address both of the above issues.

Again, new to this and feeling stupid. Thanks!!!

[JND]

You have become used to (and dependent upon) a WYSIWYG HTML editor. To view this style of editing, access cPanel --> File Manager --> (Highlight a File to Edit) --> Click "HTML Editor".

You will then have something similar to whatever iweb is and may make modifications based upon "drag and drop", etc.

[glasgowboy]

Thanks JND! That is what I am used to, I need every crutch I can get!!

When I type the domain name into a browser, I just see a bluehost page that says my domain name is "parked". Not sure why the site isn't showing up as the files seemed to have uploaded ok. Any help would be appreciated.

[Early Out]

When you point a browser to http://example.com, the server is looking for a file to open. It's got some built-in default names that it's expecting to find. So, it will first look for an index.html, then maybe for an index.php, then for an index.htm, and so on. But there's a limited list of names that it knows about, and I don't think that home.html is one of them. (I'll do some searching, and see if I can dig up the thread that lists the names...). Right now, your domain is just coughing up a default page, since there's no index.html to be found.

[Early Out]

Found the post: http://www.bluehostforums.com/showpost.php?p=66293&postcount=7

So, if your top-level file is called home.html, the server won't see it unless you actually spell it out: http://example.com/home.html. If it's home.htm, the server will find it, but you'll need to delete the default.htm file that BH has put in your public_html directory as a placeholder.

Best to go with very standard naming, however, and name your home page index.html.

[JND]

One thing to keep in mind is, these types of WYSIWYG applications have a tendency to destroy (or otherwise damage/invalidate/corrupt/etc) PHP, perl and similar types of coding (based upon the flood of issues I've read among these users in various other forums).

If you plan on running perl scripts or PHP based applications, you should get to know Notepad (or MetaPad) and learn some basic HTML. You will need some basic knowledge in order to properly maintain and update these types of scripts.

I suggest you begin here: http://www.w3schools.com/

Read a little, practice a little and learn a little, a little at a time.

[felgall]

The two guys running w3schools haven't really been keeping it up to date lately. A better place for learning about creating web pages is http://webdesign.about.com

[MrDelish]

Is there any reason you can't or don't want to use iWeb to update and re-publish your site? Part of the convenience of using those editors is to not bother with using any software, especially the HTML editor included in the cPanel (it seems to mostly work, but can be really wonky at times).

[glasgowboy]

Thanks everyone for all the help. I am using iweb to publish the site and it seems to have uploaded just fine. I fixed the index.html issue (thanks early out!)

So I just typed in the domain name (losgatosgourmet.com) into firefox on the computer I am working on and the old site that was hosted by yahoo.com came up. I had someone type in the domain name on a computer in another city and they got the new index page that I uploaded to bluehost from iweb but only the text showed up. I also tried on my iphone and the new bluehost site came up again only with text

In the html editor all the pictures, links, everything looked just like it did when I created the site in iweb.

So, 1) not sure how to fix the text only issue when the domain name is typed into a browser or 2) get rid of the old site.

If it helps I transferred the domain name and hosting to bluehost and it looks like the dns is pointing to bluehost.

[Early Out]

DNS changes can take anywhere from minutes to days. Your PC is using one DNS server, probably the one your ISP maintains. Someone else's PC is using a different DNS server. Until they all get updated, some users will still be directed to the old site. This is not the same thing as a "name server." The name server may be pointing correctly to BH, but there are thousands upon thousands of DNS servers out there in the world that all need to get this new information.

If only the text is showing up on your page, it means that you have managed to louse up the directory structure somehow. So, the index.html page may be pointing to "images/mydog.jpg," but you don't actually have an "images" subdirectory under public_html, or the subdirectory is there, but it doesn't contain a file called "mydog.jpg." There's nothing magical or mysterious about any of this. When the page says, "Go here, get this file, and show it," the file has to be where the page thinks it is.

[JND]

Is there any reason you can't or don't want to use iWeb to update and re-publish your site? Part of the convenience of using those editors is to not bother with using any software, especially the HTML editor included in the cPanel (it seems to mostly work, but can be really wonky at times).
Yes, they are convenient, but at the same time, leave you in a perpetual state of "webmaster ignorance" (for lack of a better phrase). In my opinion, as a webmaster/website administrator, it's our obligation to understand a bit about how our various websites and applications thereof work and how to fix them, if possible, when necessary. Or at least, have an idea where to look when problems occur.

Now two points: Nobody knows it all; there's always something to learn. I consider myself somewhere along the lower end of the "intermediate scale" and am constantly looking for ways to better learn not only how the various applications on my site work (those installed via Simple Scripts, for example), but those I run across as well (such as the flash website also currently being discussed).

And secondly, running a website isn't similar to owning a car. Usually, with respect to websites, we not only get in and drive them, we also maintain them to the best of our ability and therefore become the mechanic, by default, as well. Though yes, there are some who purchase the services of others to administer their websites, however, for the most part, those that are inquiring about editors and such are those maintaining their own sites (sometimes for the first time).

The key here is, "the best of our ability". And when we depend upon WYSIWYG editors, we lose the ability to track down and isolate the very basic of problems that may arise. Simply because, when depending upon such applications, we haven't any idea where to look within the source code (or even know how to look within the source code) when a problem does occur. We are then complacent and rely solely upon the knowledge of someone else who does understand basic HTML.

There's no reason one can't or shouldn't use a WYSIWYG editor to initially publish a portion of a website. However, when it becomes necessary to update programs and applications, or when one attempts to theme their site based upon another applications theme (when most problems occur, by the way), one should know the basics and be able to perform those tasks without the need for WYSIWYG. Especially when these types of editors/builders (a) implement oodles of extra (and most times unnecessary) coding to perpetually wrap table around table because you want this or that image placed "right here", and (b) are useless when trying to isolate why a program "doesn't do this or that like it's supposed to".

Regarding editors, and the editors that are bundled with cPanel in particular, I don't use either of those myself. Instead, I prefer Gossamer-Threads FileMan (Version 2.1.1) using the ASCII/Text editor.

These are my opinions and personal observations. What's right for me may not be right for you.