(or use the Master Help Index)
FAQs
Test your network connection
Software Setup Instructions
New to SFF Net?
Your SFF Net Account
About the Newsgroups
Using WebNews
About SFF Net Email
Using WebMail
About the Chatrooms
Using WebChat
Your SFF Net People Page
Your People Newsgroup
Blogging Tools
Hosted Domains
Detailed Instructions Page Index
Once you have requested a page, you'll receive an email telling you the URL (Universal Resource Locator) name of your new
home page. The URL is the address by which the rest of the world finds you.
Index files are crucial special files. The index file is the file that gets loaded if
browsers don't specify a specific filename for a site. For example, a user entering
http://www.sff.net/people/bettyb/ in their browser will get BettyB's
index.html file just as if they'd actually entered http://www.sff.net/people/bettyb/index.html)
All SFF Net People Pages must have a file called either index.html, index.htm, or index.htp
in the root of the home directory. We recommend using index.html. Your subsequent (supplemental) filenames can be anything you want.
NB: The default name may change in the future, so it's important that
you not include it in your URLs. In fact, it has changed. The default
was index.htp from 1995 until Feb 2002. Now it's index.html. But don't
worry if you still have index.htp files. Here's how it works:
The server will search for index files in a specific order. First it looks for
index.htp. If not found, it looks for index.html. If neither one is
found, it looks for index.htm. If none of the three is found, the
the server displays a "404 File Not Found" or other error message to tbe browser.
IMPORTANT: If you have more than one index file (i.e both index.htm and index.htp)
in a directory you may get confused as to which is the actual file being served. You
should have exactly one index file in any directory.
Note: There's an important concept about URLs here that you must understand.
In both cases, your actual default home page filename is index.html. Here's
where people sometimes get confused: Your home page URL should not include
your default page filename!
Your home page URL, also known as your default URL, ends with a slash
character, not a page name. The server will automatically add the page name on the fly.
This rule applies to any default page in any directory. If you're pointing
to the default page in a directory, leave off the page filename.
Yes, http://www.sff.net/people/joeblow/index.html refers to
the same physical page as http://www.sff.net/people/joeblow/ --
but these are different URLs to the computer. When you use the actual page filename to
refer to a default page, you will mess up search engines, links, and yourself later on.
When you write a link to your home page, leave off the page
filename. When you write a link to any home page anywhere leave
off the page filename. Only non-default pages have names in the Internet
world. Thus, if you have page2.htm and page3.htm in your directory,
you not only should but must include the page filename in those URLs. But
the link back to your main page should not have a page filename.
Ditto when referencing someone else's page. If you want to link to
Jeffry Dwight's page, the URL is http://www.sff.net/people/jdwight/ --
the default page filename is left off.
Relative URLs
You may refer to any main URL on SFF Net by forming the URL as noted
above but leaving off the http://www.sff.net part. Thus, if you
want a link to the main SFF Net page, the link is <a href="/">,
not <a href=/index.asp"> or <a href="http://www.sff.net/">.
The leading / in relative URLs refers to the web server's root directory.
Your Home Directory
For example, let's say your username is JaneDoe. If you FTP to
www.sff.net, your directory will be /www/People/JaneDoe.
Programs like WS_FTP and others call this the "remote folder" or "remote directory."
Note that capitalization is significant in FTP - "janedoe" and "JaneDoe" are two different folder names. You
must capitalize your folder names to match the way they are listed on the FTP server.
On the other hand, if you FTP to people.sff.net, you don't have to change
directories at all. You will already be in the /www/People/JaneDoe directory,
and your "remote folder" is already set to /www/People/Janedoe for you.
Storage Limits
Making Your Site "Live"
Web Page Basics
How to Edit Your Web page
How to Use Page Elements
Web Page Basics
Your URL (Home Page Name)
Basic or Professional Members (see the
Membership Wizard for details) may receive a personal web page on request. If you indicated you wanted a page at signup, your URL was sent in your welcome letter. Otherwise, use the Feedback Form at the bottom of any SFF Net page to request one.
The HomeDirectory in the URL gets replaced by your Home Directory name (usually your SFF Net user name).
HomeDirectory is the name of a real directory name on our system, where you
keep your files. Browsers use the HomeDirectory name, plus a Default Filename, to load your home page.
![[*]](/gfx/bullets/bullet4.gif){kind=small}
http://www.sff.net/people/HomeDirectory/
Your default filename can be any of the following.
![[Note]](/gfx/misc/note.gif)
Think of your default page filename as the Name of God: It's known, but never said.
We'll use your username to create a directory for you on www.sff.net.
Only you (and systems administrators) will be able to put files in that
directory, or change files there. Anyone browsing the web can read
files in your directory, however, so keep that in mind.
When you upload files to your site using FTP, you have a choice of
server names to use:
Basic and Pro accounts have a storage limit for the People page (see Plans for details). This refers to the size of files, in megabytes, you can store in your site folder (including subfolders
you create below it). If you regularly exceed your limit, we will notify you
in email and make arrangements for you to upgrade your service.
To make your homepage go "live" and appear on the People Page listing, you must
delete the file in your home directory called delete.me.