These are how to's for GW Design's clients. These will help you to do the little bit that you need to do to help me develop and maintain your web site.
- This page
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A rather large list of search engines and directories to submit your sites to.
- ~ Keyword tooL ~
If you are the sort that has tried repeatedly to download files from the internet, or adjust your video settings or defrag your hard drive, among other things, and have met with repeated disappointment, this page is for you.
I have given very
clear step by step instructions below on how to do some of the basic steps
to using a computer below. If you have a specific questions that are not
answered here, let me know with as much detail as possible what it is, and
I will either respond to you, or post the answer here.
Click
here to e-mail your
Windows
Explorer (Have not written this for XP yet)
Understanding Windows Explorer is fundamental to virtually all the things
we are going to be considering with the computer, so if you are not familiar
with how to use it, this is going to be a simple walk through on how to
use it to facilitate, what needs to be facilitated, so that we can facilitate
using the blasted computer.
Please keep in mind the difference
between Windows Explorer, and Internet Explorer. Microsoft
has elected to use the term "Explorer" for several programs,
and it can be confusing. Windows explorer can be accessed a number of
ways. I am in the custom of right clicking the "Start"
button. This gives you a little menu that will be a slightly different
from mine. (click
for graphic) Some programs that you load into your computer add things
to this menu. But there will always be the word "Explore". Left
click that, and you will be looking at the file structure of your computer.
Usually this opens into the "Windows" directory. (click
here for graphic) For orderliness' sake, I like to close this directory.
You do this by click the little minus thing just to the left of the word
"Windows".
Now, lets do an exercise in
file management. Making a new directory. We will use this directory later
on to download to.
Your "C" drive is expanded and selected. (click
for graphic). Click "File" and rest on "New" then
click "Folder". (click
for graphic). This will make a new folder in the "C" directory.
It will be at the bottom of the manila folders in the "C" drive.
It should be highlighted and waiting to be named. If you just start typing
it will replace the highlighted words "New Folder" with what
you type. I like to name the folder "Zap". I use this folder
for all our downloads. I make lots of new folders inside of Zap to keep
our downloads organized, such as "Drivers" "MP3s"
"Updates" etc... I like Zap cuz its always at the bottom of
the directories, so I know where it is. (click
for graphic). I download all files to this directory. Almost always,
downloaded files from the internet are compressed. They will most likely
end in .zip or .exe. so that when you double click the file, you start
a process of installation. If it is .zip, you will open WinZip.
I discuss WinZip later on. But the point for the
moment is that, you will always have your compressed original download
files as backup here in Zap should you ever need to re-install the file
later on.
We will refer to this introduction
to Windows Explorer in other walk through. You might want to go ahead
and make another directory for "Images" since that is most likely
what you are going to be uploading to me.
FTP
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol.
To send me files, please click
here to download a small free FTP program. This is a real small, very
basic FTP program. The setup is simple and it is super easy to use. I've
got a graphical tutorial below to help you set it up.
When you get it, you need to
unzip it. See below if you don't know how to use WinZip. Make
a directory on your hard drive for the program. Unzip the file into
it. Make a shortcut to your desktop if you want.
Double click the program. Now step through the following tutorial.
- Click
for graphic
In the first window, enter "ftp.yourdomain.com" (without the quotes). Then enter your UserID and Password. (If I haven't given these to you yet, please let me know). - Click
for graphic
Go to the next tab that says "Advanced" and click on the little button with the 3 dots to navigate to the directory on your computer where the files that you want to upload are stored. Ignore the rest of the tabs. Click "OK" and wait while it connects - Click
for graphic
When it connects, you will see this here 3 columned window. You don't need to concern yourself about the first column. The middle one are the files that you have "Locally" on your own computer. The far-right column are the directories that are on the server. You are looking at the contents of a hard drive in Atlanta Georgia, which is where your site is hosted, also known as your Internet Service Provider. So now you open (double click) the directory on the server that you want to transfer files into. I usually assign a directory called "NewScans" for you to upload into. If you want a different one, please let me know what it is. To transfer files, click and drag them from your local directory, into the remote NewScans. - Click here to notify me via e-mail that you have put new files in the directory.
If you have any input regarding this tutorial, please notify me with specific suggestions and I'll make the changes.
This is the free way to transfer files. There are some draw backs to using a free FTP program. I think that Leech is a pretty darn good one, but I have noticed that you have to enter all your data every time you use it. No big wup really, especially if you don't do alot of transferring of files like I do. I use a commercial program called CuteFTP. It is powerful and suits our needs. If you would like to go the deluxe route. You can use it for 30 days for free to see if you like it, then it is $40.00 to register it. If you get it, and need help setting it up, let me know and I'll get you set up.
Of course, the transfer of the file will take as long as the file is large. So it is best, especially with graphics, to zip them with WinZip. How you say? Continue on to the next topic.
WinZip
This is one of the longest used file utilities around. You can download
it by clicking
here. Just follow the links to get the most recent version of the
program. You can use it free for 30 days. I registered our first version
some years ago and have never regretted it. You only pay once, then you
are notified any time that there is an update.
In spite of all this, I have
heard from a number of clients that they have never been able to figure
out how to use the during thing. I will outline here how to do the basic
functions necessary with WinZip that will make transferring files to me
easier for you.
For the sake of this walk through, lets say that you have a directory on "C" that is called "Images" (click here to see how to make the directory) and that is where you store your scanned or digital camera images.
- Open WinZip
- Cick the big "New" button (Image)
- Click on the little down arrow next to the "Create" window (Image)
- Click on the "C" drive. (Image)
- Click on "Images" then "OK" (Image)
- Type in the name of your Zip file then "OK" (Image) (you don't need to type the .zip at the end)
- Notice that the top of the WinZip window now shows the name of your Zip file. It is currently empty and is waiting for you to "Add" whatever files to it. So, click "Add".
- Since your graphics files are in the same directory "Images" you select that directory then "OK" (Image)
- Select the image(s) that you want to add to the zip file and then "OK". (Image)
- Now if you look in Windows Explorer in the directory "Images" you will see the Zip file there. (Image)
Selecting
Multiple Files
If you want to select several files you can. If the files you want are all
grouped together, and you want to select all of them, click on the file
at the top or the bottom, the hold down the "Shift" key while
clicking the file at the other end. It'll select all the files in between.
If you want to select just
a few of the files, hold down the "Ctrl" key while clicking the
files you want to select. This will select multiple individual files.
- Putting Shortcuts on the Desktop
-
Method 2) - Click "Start" then "Programs". When the menu appears that has all of your programs on it, you can right click any program, and then "Send to" then "Desktop".
Method 1) - Open Windows Explorer, (right click Start button, select "Explore"). Scroll to the directory that contains your program. All programs end in .exe. So lets say that you wanted to find the file that starts WinZip. You would go to C:\Program Files\Winzip\WINIP32.exe. Right click the exe file and select "Send To" then "Desktop" (create shortcut).
