Web 101- Part 2- Parts of your Website: HOST + Domain Name + Web Files = Website
CLICK HERE for Part 1- How the Web Works
The host is the company which provides the site’s server space. Think of the host as the owner of several lots and you are going to build your house on one. Buying the space doesnt create the site and just because you are building doesn’t mean you are ready to invite your friends. You can have a hosted site, but that doesn’t mean there is actually anything there. It still has an address (but it’s all numbers). Think of it like an address. The land may now belong to you, but for now its just an address.
Getting a domain name makes your site easier to find than a bunch of numbers.
You buy this for a period of time and ‘attach’ it to your hosted site, kind of like adding your name (if your name could be completely unique!). The site is no longer 104 S Main, but is the Everest house. If you purchase the domain name from someone other than your host, the name needs to be pointed at the address by redirecting the name servers (like putting in a forward mail request).
When you are ready to build your home, do you want a handyman who took woodworking 101 to build it? How about an interior designer? No, you hire a web professional trained to put it together (like an architect) so it works well for your family, has the niceties you want and can afford, is attractive and built to code. But, in the case of the website, the most important consideration is that it works for your user - to make them comfortable, answer their questions and meet their needs.
Things the designer should take into account when designing your site:
- Your purpose for the site - is it there to inform, entertain, sell, and/or for contact? (What are you going to do with your guests when they get there? What are their expectations? What are yours?)
- The audience (user). How web savvy are they? What kind of equipment are they likely to be using? What is their demographic? (Who are your guests? Dont bring out the beer and brats if they are a champagne and caviar group.)
- The user’s purpose in coming to the site - how do you uniquely meet their needs? (You invited them. Are you clear why they are there?)
- The look of the site - is it attractive, engaging, well laid out? (Curb appeal.)
- Interactivity or interest of the site - is it engaging, user friendly, easy to navigate, fun? (Clean, neat and functional.)
- Site coding and functionality - does it look good on different browsers, does it work, does it load well? (Can you find your way in, out and through it easily?)
The web designer or programmer uploading the web pages to your server is like moving day into a new home. Pages are loaded onto the server using either an FTP client (this is software that allows files to be moved to the hosting server form the designer's computer) or the one built into an html editor. Databases, files, navigation, and so on are moved in first, various rooms (like pages) are designed and finished. [NOTE: The whole site may have been created on another site, or it may have been created on your host in a way that the public can't see it yet.]
What files are in a website?
A website can be as simple as a single page of html (basic web code) or can be thousands of pages within hundreds of files. Basically, a web site has standard components and they are within folders, just as your documents are on your computer.
Most websites have:
- Page Files - There will be a file for each page on the site and each will have it's own name, such as index.html.
- Images - Every image on the site will be at least one file (larger images may be sliced into parts)
- CSS - There may be one or many style sheets for the site to tell the site how to look. Style sheets serve to cut down on the amount of information on each page, to assure consistency throughout the site and to give one place to make a change rather than needing to make changes everywhere the same style is used.
- Scripts - These create interactivity on the site -such as the drop-down menu - and are often stored in their own folder.
There might also be:
- PDF Files - More and more sites offer downloadable PDFs, and it makes life easier if these are kept in a separate file if there are more than a few.
- Include Files - These, like CSS files, offer the ability to make a change to one file that appears in several places. For example, if the header of the site is the same on all pages, there may be one header file, an include file. IfI need to change the phone number, for example, I only change it in the header file and everywhere the header appears on the site, it will be changed.Common includes are headers, footers, and menus.
- Video, Audio or Flash Files - If a site has more than one or two of these, its a good idea that these be in a separate file.
Clearly, the more complex a site is, the more files and folders there will be.
Until there is a page called index, there will not be a site visible to the public. If I call the index hector.html instead of index.html, you could see the site by typing in hector. html, but not by just putting in the domain name. Once there is an index page (the welcome mat) and the domain servers are directed to your site, the site is live and people can find you!
Optimizing the site helps more people can find you than the ones to whom you give your address. CLICK HERE for more on Search Engine Optimization.