May 27th, 2008   

So you have created your website and are ready to put it on the internet for the whole world to see. Not sure how to do this? Then keep reading!

Here at Bravenet we provide you with a few different ways to get your website online: file manager, FTP Java Applet and FTP.

Bravenet File Manager - File Upload

If you have large number of files to upload I suggest trying one of the other two methods below. The 'Upload File' link found in the top right of your file manager comes in handy when you only have a few files to upload. By all means you can upload as many files as you want – it just may take some time.

After you log into Bravenet, select your website and click file manager and you are now in the root of your website (root being: yourwebsite.com or yourwebsite.bravehost.com). If you were to upload your file from here it would be placed in your root – yourwebsite.com/yourfile.html or yourwebsite.bravehost.com/yourfile.html.

If you wish to put your file into a new folder you can click the 'Make Directory' link. Next, name your folder and it will then appear in your file list. If you click that folder (to go into it) and then upload a file it will upload into that folder (yourwebsite.com/yourfolder/yourfile.html or yourwebsite.bravehost.com/yourfolder/yourfile.html).

By default there are four upload boxes in the 'File Upload' window; you can add more by clicking the 'new file upload box' button. And then upload your files by clicking 'uploading files.'

In the Bravenet File Manager you can also edit, rename and delete files. This comes in very handy if you just want to make a small change or delete a single file.

Bravenet Java FTP Applet

You can connect to the FTP Applet from a few different places. The easiest is to click the 'ftp' tab at the top and then click the icon under the title 'FTP Applet.' If you have more than one FTP account simply select the one you wish to use. The FTP Applet always starts by asking you for your password. Once it has loaded, double click the 'web' folder. You will then be provided with a list of your website(s) – select the website you wish to upload to by double clicking.

On the left side you will see a pane that says 'Your Computer'. There you can browse through all of the files currently on your computer. To the right there is another pane called 'Web Server' (your website).

To upload a file to your site:

1. Find the file(s) that you wish to upload on your computer by using the 'Your Computer' pane.
2. If you want to upload the file(s) to a certain location on your website (ie. a folder called images) make sure you have opened that folder by doubling clicking it in your 'Web Server' pane.
3. Select the file(s) (click to highlight them).
4. Click on the upload arrow (arrow pointing to the right).

You can upload more than one file at a time by holding down your shift key. You can also upload an entire folder by just clicking the folder name – the FTP Applet will upload the folder and everything in it. To create a new folder you can click the 'New Folder' icon in the top right of your 'Web Server' pane.

FTP

You can also connect to Bravenet with any third party FTP program of your choice. You can obtain all your FTP information under the 'ftp' tab. You will need to know your username (it is different than your Bravenet one, so double check!), your password and your server/hostname. Again this is found on your 'ftp' tab after logging into Bravenet. How and where you enter this information is going to depend on the program you have chosen. Most FTP programs behave similarly to our Java FTP Applet.

If you are having problems with FTP I suggest checking our knowledge base or our tutorial on FTP for help. Because there are so many FTP programs out there and they all vary it is impossible to give you instructions for every program. Check the program itself or program website for any help files if you are having troubles getting connected.

Recommendations: More than 8 files, or files that are more than 10 MB, use the FTP applet. More than 100 files (for example a complicated PHP application), or more than 100MB use a 3rd party FTP program.

Upload your website now!

Did you know that you could use a speaking character for your online contact form and maximize the leads?

SitePal, a tool to make an online speaking avatar, offers an easy to use, built-in lead collection feature that can be automatically integrated with your own talking character! No programming skills are required.

So this is how it works.

First, you open the SitePal's online editor to create your own speaking character. SitePal offers dozens of base models to be customized to your liking and 5 different ways to add voice to it.

Second, choose "Lead" player in the step 5 "Players" in the editor. Select your favorite style of lead form from the gallery.

Third, customize your lead form by specifying the number and names of information fields. In this section, you can also specify the email address of the lead recipient.

Lastly, copy an HTML embed code from SitePal publishing wizard and paste it into your webpage. It's live!

You can receive the collected lead information via email, SitePal's online report and even excel downloads, so you can follow up or add the leads to your mailing list.

Sign up for a FREE SitePal account offered by Bravenet. (Note: You need to upgrade your FREE account to a premium SitePal account (Silver or Gold) to use the lead generation feature)

Think of the Vote Caster like an online survey. The Vote Caster Service is hosted here at Bravenet and can be used like a survey allowing you to have up to 10 questions and answers. Whereas the Web Poll only allows one question with multiple answers and can be embedded right on your webpage.

Vote Caster

Use the Vote Caster to create a user survey, gather information about your visitors, or even a fun little quiz! To add and remove questions from your Vote Caster click the 'manage questions' link. You can use text or images for your answers; you can also place images beside your question.

The Vote Caster is hosted on Bravenet but you can use the 'custom HTML' option to make your service match your site. You can use the 'colors and fonts' to customize the look and feel of the actual service itself.

Get started with your own Vote Caster!

Web Poll

A Web Poll asks your visitor's one question and allows them to choose an answer from multiple options. A Web Poll can be used for a voting system, a rating system or anything else you can think up!

You can have multiple Web Polls on one Bravenet account; you choose what poll appears on your site or you can create several and have them randomly display with every visit. In order to display random polls, click 'general settings' and look for 'Poll Rotation.' In this same window you can also enable/disable 'Vote Limiting' (the number of times a visitor can vote per day).

The Web Poll Widget allows you to use text, images or a combination of the two for your answers as well as choose from radio buttons, checkbox or drop downs.

You keep track of your votes (for both the Web Poll and Vote Caster) using the 'view stats' link.

Sign up for your Web Poll today!