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

Preparing to go online

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 in the future.

Preparations for upload

Before you upload your web pages to the Internet review the checklist below and make changes where necessary. The time you spend now will pay dividends later. Be sure to check the following;

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 content 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 webhosts 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 webpage layout in both Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox, Chrome, etc. and at different resolutions and browser font sizes. Look at it the way your visitors see it. Check it in every way you possibly 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 webpages. 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. Effective communication relies on the proper use of grammar and spelling!
Proof read your web pages
Have a friend or colleague proof read your webpages. 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 your website content. Then have them re-check the spelling.

Final checkout and implementation

The final checkout and implementation of your website structure requires patience and an eye for detail. Your efforts, at this stage, are most important.

The way that your website displays on the screen, the naming of your webpages and files and the accuracy of spelling and grammar are all points not to be minimized.

Publishing a website to the internet

Once you have collected, correlated and organized your website assembly it is time to publish it for all the world to see. This is when all the hard work you have done is put to the test. Soon you will find out if your efforts have been in vain or if they will open up new worlds.

You are about to join that elite group of individuals who already have an internet presence by virtue of an online website.