FTP Final Checklist
FTP final checklist for uploading your website to the internet.

Publishing a website to the internet

Everything you publish to your website, from now on, will be before the eyes of the world in a matter of seconds. Therefore, preparation is essential in order to make the transition to the Web a painless experience. Below is a checklist to help make this most important step simple and to minimize problems down the road.

Preparing to upload

• Naming your homepage

  The first page (i.e. homepage) should be named index.html. Many web hosts require this. But, it is also a good idea because if someone just types in your domain name their browser will automatically open up your site if there is an ''index'' page.

• Naming your web pages

  The other HTML documents (webpages) should have descriptive names rather than just page 1, page 2, etc. Search engines look at page titles to help them determine the contents of a webpage. If you have a page of links, name that file ''links.html''; if you have an FAQ page, it should be named ''faq.html'', etc.
  
  Note: It is a good idea to get in the habit of using lowercase Letters to name files, graphics, directories, etc. Again, some web hosts require you to use all lowercase. More importantly, however, is that it will help prevent errors in coding. If everything is lowercase, you won't make the error of not capitalizing the name of a directory or graphic.

• Browser check

  View your web pages in both Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox, etc. and at different resolutions and browser font sizes. Look at it the way your visitors see it. Check it in every possible way you can.

  Are the colors and graphics displaying as they should? Do the homepage and the internal pages fit correctly on the screen? Think of all the things that annoy you when you visit a poorly designed website and eliminate them from your site now.

• Check spelling and grammar

  It is imperative that you check and double check the spelling and grammar on all of your web pages. Web users have less tolerance for misspellings than any other consumer and tend to base their opinion of your whole site on that one typing error. Believe me, even when you're careful, it's easy to overlook some of the most obvious errors.

• Proof read your web pages

  Have a friend or colleague proof read your web pages. Get their opinion on whether your site is easy to navigate and easy to read; whether there is enough white space or objects are too crowded; and whether the graphics relate to the content. Then have them re-check the spelling.
  
  

Summary