To be able to have a web page on the Internet, you must REGISTER.

How Do I Register?
How do I create web pages?
What should I call my files/directories?
How do I reference (point to) my files?
How do I upload web pages?
Troubleshooting: Something is going wrong
How can I get help?
Hints and tips

How Do I Register?

Go to the Members only section of the Commerce Australia homepage and select the "Enable FTP" link. We have provided a shortcut to this page here for your convenience.

How Do I Create Web Pages?

Web pages, or HTML pages, are text files with formatting and embedding instructions to layout the contents of a page including such things as images and small programs (applets).

There are two ways to create web pages:

• Use a HTML editor

  There are several commercial HTML editors on the market. These include:

  • Homesite
  • Netscape Communicator
  Instructions on using these packages are included with each package.

• Edit HTML through a text editor

  You can also edit HTML directly with a text editor if you know how. Some people find that they have much more control by doing this, but the learning curve is higher.

  If you would like to see an example of what raw HTML looks like, go to the View menu of your browser and select `Document Source'.

• Use an HTML translator

  Some packages offer translators into HTML. These include:

  • Internet assistant for Microsoft Word
  • Internet assistant for Excel
  • Internet assistant for Powerpoint
  • Internet assistant for Access

If there are additional books and programs that you can recommend, please e-mail their details, including a URL (address of the web page) to support so that we can add them to the list.

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What Should I Call My Files/Directories?

The file names you choose should be indicative of the purpose/contents of the file. For example, this page is called `filenames.html'. The `.html' ending signifies that this is an HTML file. Other types of files should have similar endings, for example, `GIF' images should end in `.gif', and `JPEG' should be `.jpg'.

The name of the file, including the ending, can be up to 255 characters long, though we recommend keeping the name down to a reasonable length to save typing. Users who create their files on DOS/Windows machines will be limited to 8 characters and a 3 character ending. If this is the case, use a `.htm' suffix instead of `.html'.

The main page within a directory should be called `index.html' or `index.htm' (or even `INDEX.HTML' or `INDEX.HTM'). Whenever a directory is entered by a browser, it is this file that is displayed first.

Filenames can be made up of a combination of letters and numbers, and other characters such as underscores (_) and dashes (-). Do not use spaces within filenames, nor any other characters.

Filenames must match the case exactly of the reference or link to that file.

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How do I reference (point to) my files?

Links, also called hyperlinks are items you can click on to move to another page or within the same page. Text links are usually underlined, and image links may be surrounded by a border.

Whenever you specify a link within a page, you must provide a new location for the browser to go to. You should be careful when you specify the new location, by adhering to the following rules:

• The file name must match the case of the link you are referring to
  Your pages are mounted on a server that is case-sensitive. Although DOS and Windows machines ignore the case when referred to, your links will not work unless they match the filename case. If you are developing your pages on a DOS/Windows machine, filenames will be in capitals by default, so the references should reflect this.

• Directory separators must be forward slashes (/)
  The default directory separators on DOS/Windows machines are backslashes (\). The correct (standard) separators over the web are forward slashes (/). When you upload your pages you must ensure that all references use the correct separator. For example, when you refer to `logo.gif' within a subdirectory called `images', you do so by specifying: `images/logo.gif'.

• References should be relative
  Absolute references such as `http://www.ca.com.au/~username/filename.html' should not be used to refer to pages within your directory structure. You should use relative references instead (just filename.html or directory/filename.html for subdirectories, or even ../filename.html for referring to `one directory up'). There are a number of reasons for this, such as the convenience of not having to rename everything if the pages move, and also the fact that some caches work better on pages that are referenced in a relative way. When you refer to pages outside your home area, you should use absolute references.

• Do not use the `file:' directive
  The directive `file:' which you may use when you develop your pages on your local machine do not apply to the internet. You must use the `http:' directive, or, better yet, omit this altogether and use relative filenames such as described above.

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How Do I Upload Web Pages?

To upload your web pages to your home area, you will need to keep in mind the following:

• Your home directory from anywhere in the world can be reached at:
  http://www.ca.com.au/~username

• Whenever you must enter a password, use the same password that you use to log in to the internet or read your mail.

• You have a maximum limit on the amount of disk space you can upload to. For most users, this is 5Mb, however this depends on the sort of product you have purchased.

• When performing uploads, don't forget to upload your images along with your HTML files.

• If you are using FTP, DO NOT try to FTP to:
  www.ca.com.au
  as this will not work. Use:
  userftp.ca.com.au
  instead.

• If you get authentication errors when performing the upload, turn off the proxy (under Netscape, go into options/Network Preferences/Proxies and select `No Proxies'). Don't forget to turn the proxy back on after your upload is complete.

There are two ways to upload your pages:

• Through the Netscape browser:

  Open the location:

  ftp://<username>@userftp.ca.com.au

  where <username> is your own username. When asked to do so, enter your password. You can then view the files you have already uploaded, or select `Upload File' from the `File' menu and specify the file(s) you wish to upload.

• Through an FTP program

  Note: Installing and operating such a program is NOT supported by Commerce Australia

  There are several programs available which offer a drag-and-drop interface for transfering files to/from your home directory. These also have options will allow you to move, delete and rename files and directories. Such programs are:

  • Leech FTP

  • WS_FTP

  • Cute FTP

  Whichever program you use, you must ftp to the address:

  userftp.ca.com.au

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Troubleshooting: Something is going wrong.

• I get: `ERROR: The requested URL could not be retrieved' when uploading through Netscape Gold or FrontPage

  This problem can be fixed by termporarily turning off your proxy. Under Netscape, you do this by selecting the Options / Network Preferences, then the Proxies tab, then click on No proxies.

  Use the 'Shift' key and the 'Reload' Button on Netscape to force an update of the new settings to your browser.

  Don't forget to turn your proxy back on (by selecting Manual Proxy Configuration) when you have finished so that your Internet access remains fast.

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How Can I Get Help?

If you come across any problems that you cannot resolve yourself, there are several ways to get help.

• From a friend

  Probably the best source of help is from a friend who knows a bit more about web pages and ftp'ing than you do.

• Limited support

  If you are certain that the problem is in the upload facility and not in what you are doing (for example, getting a bad password), please e-mail support and let us know what the problem seems to be. If it's a problem with our system, we will fix it and inform you.

• From the Web

  There are a number of sites around the world that offer tutorials in Web page creation. There are also a number of newsgroups which discuss issues that you may be interested in.

• Professional Assistance

  If your pages are for your company, they represent your company and the services you offer or the products that you sell. It's definitely worth investing in a professional job. E-mail us to enquire about your options. Please note that this is a chargeable service.

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Hints And Tips.

These are some handy hints and tips to help improve your pages.

• Check for different sized screens and browsers

  The screen resolution and the colour depth (the number of colours that can be displayed at any one time) vary from one computer to another. These days, you can safely assume a minimum of 640 by 480 in 256 colours. Many of the new machines are coming out with 800 by 600 in 16 thousand colours. You should target as large an audience as you can, and not restrict users with lower resolutions.

  One technique is to try all different browser sizes after selecting the largest resolution your monitor can go to.

• Check for different sized fonts

  As users can set their own preferred fonts and sizes, you should check with differents fonts and sizes to make sure that your pages look good.

• Get a friend to check your colours

  Many people in our society are colour blind, and there are several pages out there which are difficult to read. Also, people perceive different colours differently.