Okay so you’ve bought your domain/hosting account, you have your content, and now you are ready to upload your website. Usually one would upload a website to their hosting account via an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program. A File Transfer Protocol program provides a user friendly platform that one can use to upload files from their computer’s hard drive to their hosting account. Usually, an FTP program will have two main windows. One window shows the files and folders located on your hard drive, and the other window displays the files/folders that are already in your hosting account on the server. Simply put, to upload content to your hosting account, you’ll have to select the files/folders you want to upload from your computer in your “computer window”, and then drag and drop them into the “server window”. Of course that is a highly simplistic explanation of how an FTP program works. Below is a step by step tutorial teaching you how to use a very popular FTP program called DreamWeaver to upload your website.

upload a website using DreamWeaver

Uploading a Website With DreamWeaver
DreamWeaver allows you to create new web pages easily, make a connection to a previously published web site, and of course open an existing project, all with very little effort. Follow these steps and you will learn the basics of uploading your website with DreamWeaver.

1. First, you’ll need to “define” your site in Dreamweaver. Select Site from the top, and then select the New Site option:

2. Once the Site Definition window pops up, choose Advanced, and then select the Local Info category.

3. In the “Site Name” field, provide the name of your web site. Be sure to specify the path to the root folder
of your site that is stored on your local computer. If you do not have a root folder for your site you will want to create one now.

4. Next, check the Refresh local file list automatically and Enable cache options.

5. Then enter the URL that your remote Web site will use in the HTTP Address field. This will allow Dreamweaver to verify the links within your website.

6. This step is very important. First click on the Remote Info category, and then Select FTP from the Access drop-down menu. In FTP host field, provide the “remote server host name”. If your domain name is already pointed to the right host, then you can simply provide the domain name.

7. In the Host Directory field you should type either public_html or www. This is the directory where you will be storing your website.

8. Now provide the FTP login details for your domain. If you’d like, you can now test your connection by clicking Test. It is imperative that you check the Use passive FTP option.

9. Finally, select the remote server model you wish to use in the Testing Server category.

10. When you’ve finished setting your preferences, click OK and the setup will be complete.

Uploading Files After Setup
To upload files to your website once you have completed the setup, select your site from the list menu located in the top left corner and then click the button to “connect to the remote server”. You can also choose to browse for files on the remote server, or on your local computer, using the right list menu. All that is left for you to do now is select the directory or file that you would like to upload and click the up arrow button. If you would like to download a directory or file then you should select the down arrow button.

Author Bio:
Will is the owner and editor of Tech FAQ. He is technology and gadgets junkie with a degree in electronics