I'm SO having trouble

[Peri]

I know I must look like a complete an utter idiot, but the templates are awful, and I am totally clueless as to how to upload my own things. (I figured I wouldn't have to-that the templates would be nice)
I tried to modify a template, but what is the deal with those pictures? I'd be stuck with a picture of some stranger on my site?

Please help!! Everyone said how easy Bluehost was to use (me being an idiot and all) but I cannot for the life of me figure this out!!

[areidmtm]

what program are you talking about? Remember we can't read your mind :D

[beyondxm]

Hi Peri,
I'm not sure what templates you're refering to, but as far as uploading files go. I giess you are referring to the java applet. It's possible you might not have a compatible version of java so it may not work properly for you. It could be a number of things actually.

You might want to consider using a desktop ftp client to upload your files such as Cyberduck or Transmit on the Mac or WS_FTP on Windows. Someone else might be able to recommend a better Windows client...I dont use Windows much :)

I hope that helps, if not please give us more info to help you troubleshoot.

Thanks,
Michael

[Fisherking]

I think he's talking about the FREE SITE BUILDER. I'm not too sure because I've never used it but I found it to be not so great. Just my thoughts ;)

Nigel

[Early Out]

I think the bottom line is that Bluehost is easy to use, if you know how to build your own website. I can't speak to what their site builder is like - not only have I never used it, I can't even find it! Bluehost is a web host - they provide a place for you to put your stuff. They don't really have much in the way of tools to help you create the stuff.

[Peri]

I'm sorry I wasn't really clear-it may be that it's not clear in my mind. :( I got the 6.95 a month webhost deal-does that explain what I have?

My problem is probably that I have no clue how to build a website. Java? I don't know what that is! The site builder is called pagewizard, and it contains about 10 templates for use. These templates are (to me) not attractive, and have pictures on them that I cannot replace with anything. There's also a place where you can start from scratch, but I don't have a clue what that is about-there's color blocks (huh?) and things I just don't get.

I did manage to get the e-mail to work (this feature is brilliant) But the actual website builder is baffling to say the least!

Anyone know of a place where I can get templates for this? I think that may be what I need to do.

[Early Out]

If you Google for "web page templates" (without the quotes), you'll find dozens of sites that provide templates, many of them free. But without knowing a fair bit of html, you're not going to be able to alter them to suit your own desires.

Personally, I think someone's always better off starting out by learning some html, and creating a few simple web pages from scratch. Here's just one online tutorial (http://www.w3schools.com/html/) that might serve the purpose.

Once you know the basics of html, you can pick up some templates, and modify them. I find that people who start out with basic page-creating wizards end up getting hopelessly wrapped around the axle, because they don't understand what the wizard has created, and don't know how to change it.

A program like Frontpage or Dreamweaver lets you create web pages without knowing any coding, so that's another route you might consider.

[DreamExtensions]

I'm sorry I wasn't really clear-it may be that it's not clear in my mind. :( I got the 6.95 a month webhost deal-does that explain what I have?

My problem is probably that I have no clue how to build a website. Java? I don't know what that is! The site builder is called pagewizard, and it contains about 10 templates for use. These templates are (to me) not attractive, and have pictures on them that I cannot replace with anything. There's also a place where you can start from scratch, but I don't have a clue what that is about-there's color blocks (huh?) and things I just don't get.

I did manage to get the e-mail to work (this feature is brilliant) But the actual website builder is baffling to say the least!

Anyone know of a place where I can get templates for this? I think that may be what I need to do.
Templates can be confusing for a beginner especially when CSS is attached, I know people will disagree but I would say the best way to go would be Microsoft Word; for a beginner it is the easiest way to get your website up. Make your pages in word save them as htm or html, and make sure you save the main page as index.html. The advantage of using word is that you probably already know how to use it. The disadvantage word has a bad habit of throwing in bad tags in its code, which will not affect you because you'll never see it. The next easiest way I would say is Front page 2003. FrontPage is a drag and drop program and is close to using Word, and has it's own templates (which I think are cheesy) but suffice. Dreamweaver is the cream, but you have the expense and a small learning curve. If I can be of assistance to talk you through getting the frame of your site up, just let me know?

Thanks Chris

[cyberphr]

If you don't have any idea try installing a script from fantastico (in your cpanel) ;)

[Tabula Rasa]

Like has been mentioned... more or less you will want what is called WYSIWYG (wissywig) software, that's "What You See Is What You Get." This is great for anyone not a programmer. Programs like Dreamweaver and Frontpage will write the code for you as you drag and drop pictures, add text and make other changes.

http://www.mcwebsoftware.com/wwez/ This is a pretty popular free HTML WYSIWYG from what I understand, I haven't used it myself.

You will want to upload all of your files when you are done to your webhost using FTP. FTP options can be found in the cpanel on your bluehost account. Make sure you put them into the folder public_html and make sure your homepage file is named index.html

http://www.webmonkey.com/ has some pretty good tutorials as far as developing sites. Start with the beginner stuff and work your way up. It's a good idea to get a basic grasp on at least some programming because the WYSIWYG softwares don't generally write the nicest code and it can be difficult to troubleshoot.

[Peri]

Thank you for all of your responses! I started making the page with Word-it's actually easier than I thought-when I play around with it and look for the things I'd like to do. It's way less cheesy looking than what I started with!
Next problem-how do I get it from word onto my site? (I know, I must seem like a complete "horse and wagon" type! )My only excuse is that I'm pretty old and learned about computers only in my senior year in high school (and I had to learn basic and Pascal-no windows, doors, ceilings or anything like that-lol)

[Early Out]

OK, I'll take a stab at this. First, of course, you need to save your page as a web page, rather than a Word document. Word lets you do this with a "Save As Webpage." Let's say you've called it "mypage.html." If you have any images on the page, Word will also create a folder called "mypage_files" in the same directory, where it stashes all the images that go with the page. So, both mypage.html and the mypage_files folder (and everything in it) now need to be moved to the server.

The easiest way to move the files is with some FTP client software (FTP, by the way, stands for File Transfer Protocol). I use WS_FTP, but there are a lot of other choices out there, many of them free. (Someone else may be able to recommend one that's easy to use.)

If you don't already have an FTP client package, it is possible to move the files just using Internet Explorer - it's a little clunky, but for moving just a few things, it will do the trick.

Launch IE, and point it to ftp://yourid@yourdomain.org/public_html, where "yourid" is your Bluehost username, and "yourdomain.org" is, well, your domain! The directory is public_html (the underbar doesn't show up when the whole address is underlined!). You'll be prompted for your password, and then you'll see the files you have on the server listed on the right. (If you don't, you'll need to make one small change to IE - Tools, Internet Options, the Advanced tab, click "Enable folder view for FTP sites.")

Now, if you click the Folder icon up on the tool bar, you'll see a display that looks just like Windows Explorer or My Computer, with folders on the left, and the contents of those folders on the right. At this point, you just need to navigate to your C: drive, find mypage.html, copy it (Edit/Copy, or right-click/Copy, or just hit CTRL-C), navigate back to the public_html folder, and paste it there (Edit/Paste, or just hit CTRL-V). Do the same with the mypage_files folder.

Now, to access your webpage, point your browser to http://www.yourdomain.org/mypage.html.

If you name your webpage index.html, that's a default, so people can get to it with just: http://www.yourdomain.org, without having to specify the index.html part of the address.

[KnowProSE]

It's good that you're getting all of this advice. There are, as you will find, a lot of ways to do it.

I'm not a big fan of Microsoft Word, but it does have that ability - so for all intents and purposes, use it! But I would also suggest that as you learn, you move away from it. A few people here can explain why - but it's not that it doesn't work. And I certainly don't want to add to a daunting task. When you're comfortable enough, another thread may be helpful on that. Just know that it isn't perfect. :)

FTP clients are a dime a dozen, and you will need one. I use Filezilla (http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/). It doesn't really matter which one you use, as long as it works.

So for now, save your Microsoft Word files as web pages (when the save dialog comes up, at the bottom is a little selector that you can scroll through, as I recall).

When you have saved the pages, then open up the FTP client that you choose. Connect with the password and username provided by BlueHost. You will see a 'public_html' folder. Upload your files (you will have to find them on your computer, your FTP client will help you with that). Test them out.

Remember, one of the files should be named 'index.html', because that's what the web browser is looking for. ;-)