What is a website?
In it's simplest form, a website is nothing more than a collection of computer files.
The main files are text files written in the HTML language.
For example, you could create a set of five files written in HTML called index.html,
about.html, contact.html, products.html, and service.html. Each page would have information
appropriate for that page, as well as a link to all the other pages. For example, each page could
have a link called About our Company which would link to the about.html page.
HTML is a simple language to learn, and there are many books on the subject. TCFB also has an
interactive tutorial which will teach you all you need to know about HTML.
When can I start my website?
When you signed up, you should have received a site name and password
by e-mail. You can sign in with these and begin right away.
When I try to log in I get a message "access denied".
Remember, all names and passwords are case sensitive. This means that, for example, "boyscout" is
not the same as "Boyscout" or "BOYSCOUT". To an internet computer, these are three different names,
websites, or passwords. Be sure to type your site name and password name EXACTLY as they are supplied
to you. Back to top
Basic Editing Instructions:
go to: http://www.tcfb.com/signin.html
Sign in and you will see a set of buttons. One is labeled "Edit website". Click it.
You will then see a list of the files on your website, and a set of buttons. One of the buttons is labeled "Edit".
Click on the file you want to change, then click the "Edit" button.
You will then see a window with the contents of the file in it. Under the window is a button labeled "Save Document".
Make the changes you want, then click the "Save Document" button.
You will then see the list of the files on your website, and a set of buttons. One of the buttons is labeled "View".
Click on the file you want to see, then click the "View" button. This will show you the file
(if you don't see your changes, hold the "Ctrl" key on your keyboard and click the browser's "refresh" button).
Use the "back" button on your browser to return to the list.
Repeat these steps as many times as necessary.
There are also buttons for creating new files, uploading files, etc. Instructions are located to the right of the buttons.
There is an HTML tutorial here: http://www.tcfb.com/tutorial/index.html Back to top
Is FTP Access available?
For security reasons, we have decided not to allow FTP access. We do have an
upload utility which works with any modern browser (Netscape 3 or higher, or
Internet Explorer 4 or higher). Back to top
Does tcfb offer secure business ordering?
Our ShopBuilder software is in beta testing. We expect to be running within
a week or so. You will be able to link an ordering system right to your
current site. Back to top
I have completed my website. How do I start the TrafficBuilder free trial?
You can use the TrafficBuilder order form to activate your account. If you
are not sure you will continue after the free trial, just select "free trial"
as your form of payment. If you want to receive your free trial, and continue
with TrafficBuilder with no disruption of service, fill out the form completely.
You will not be billed until the trial period is over. Back to top
When I view my site in the browser, all I see is a list of files.
When a browser goes to a new site (such as http://www.tcfb.com/presencebuilder),
the first file that the browser looks for is index.html. If the browser doesn't
find this file, it looks for index.htm, and then default.html, and finally, default.htm.
If the browser doesn't find any of these files, it then simply shows a list of
all the files in the directory, and lets you choose which file you want to see.
For best results, you should have a main page called index.html on your site so
that the browser will find it first. Back to top
When I view my files in the browser, all I see is binary or HTML code.
When a browser tries to show a file, it must make a decision about what type of
file it is. Is it a picture? Plain text? A web page? The browser doesn't know.
It is up to you the designer to tell the browser what type of file it is dealing with.
You do this with the file ending. If your file is a web page, it must end with
.html pictures are .gif or .jpg, and plain text should be .txt. If your file has
no ending, the browser will guess that it is plain text, and show it as text. Back to top
Do you support SSL, CGI, FrontPage 98 and extensions?
We are working on limited CGI script access (for forms), and we are creating a
secure web shop program called ShopBuilder. The others are not supported. Back to top
How do I get images onto my page?
This is a tricky subject, and is asked about often. There are three issues. 1. The page must ask for the image. 2. The image must be of the right type and be named correctly. 3. The image must be in the location that the page expects it to be.
So, here is a run down of what you need to do. First, create an image of type GIF or JPG,
and save it with a simple lower case name (eg. logo.gif). You must do this on your machine,
using graphics software.
Next, using PresenceBuilder, go to the directory that you wish to
upload to. When you start with PresenceBuilder, there is your main directory with your site
name, and a sub-directory called graphics. To upload to the graphics directory, you must be
in the graphics directory. You get there by selecting the graphics name in the drop down menu, and
the clicking the "Change Directory" button.
Upload the image using the upload utility, and giving the image a lowercase name ending in .gif or .jpg and with no spaces or special characters.
Finally, using the form (for pages created with the form), or the edit window, make sure that the
file asked for is in the same place as the file. The HTML text of an image request is: <IMG SRC="graphics/logo.gif"> If you know the height and width (in pixels)
of the image, you can put those in like this: <IMG SRC="graphics/logo.gif" height="45" width="200"> Back to top
I have uploaded my images, but they don't show up on my page.
The TCFB server is a unix machine. This means that file names are case sensitive.
picture.gif, Picture.gif and picture.GIF are three different files in the unix
world. Be sure that the file names called for in your HTML document match the
file name of your pictures exactly. Also, if the document is looking for a picture that is at /graphics/picture.gif,
then the picture must be in the graphics directory to be found. Back to top
My pages are not linking to each other.
As with the question above, check the file names, and the path. You can check the
path with your browser by putting the mouse pointer over the link and reading the path information
at the bottom of the browser. Back to top
Can my site have a link to another site?
Yes, but you will need to edit the file's text to create the link. Back to top
How can I go back to the original page I built and add on to that page?
If you created your page using the PresenceBuilder form, you can edit it using the form.
If you decide to change the page using the text editor, you must continue to use the
text editor to make changes. The form will not recognise your changes, and will
write over them. Back to top
