I-Power Upload

[tjmarshall]

Hey all, does anyone else use I-Power to upload their website after updating it in NVU? If so, does it take a week or more for your site to update? After I update my webpage in NVU, I upload it in I-Power and finally after about a week or more, my website shows my updates. I have contacted them regarding this annoying issue several times to no avail. By the time they get back to me on the issue, it is naturally working and they say they do not see a problem!?!?!? Any suggestions or help of any kind would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Tammy M.

[troyzone]

Hi Tammy,

Any time you upload changes to your web site, they should be immediately available once the uploading is complete. If you are still seeing your old pages at this point, it is most likely due to a browser caching issue on your computer. See the following threads for more info:

erichw33.proboards53.com/index.cgi?board=web&action=display&thread=1181596635&page=1#1181706046

erichw33.proboards53.com/index.cgi?board=web&action=display&thread=1182025316&page=1#1182186020

Hope this helps.

Troy

[Rae]

HI, It has been a while since I have updated my site, but I am also having problems. I deleted my index in v-deck and upload the new index and still have the 2007 site. I really hope I do not have to wait long. Now that all is well and back to normal here I really want to focus on my site, now that I have time:)

Rae

[troyzone]

Hi Rae,

I'm not sure if you're still on the old vDeck hosting platform with iPower or if you have already been moved to the new vDeck version 3 platform...if you have already been moved then make sure you are updating your new hosting account and not the old one.

I have not been moved yet, but my understanding is that your account on the old platform stays available for a while after you have been upgraded to vDeck 3, so make sure that you are using the updated account information that iPower provides after being moved for making your updates.

I'm not sure if this applies to you or not as of yet, but figured it was worth mentioning just in case you have been upgraded to the new hosting platform recently. If this doesn't apply, then I suggest checking out the links I gave above regarding caching and see if that is your problem as well.

Troy

[tjmarshall]

Troy,
The F5 or refresh key doesn't seem to be working for me. I put my address in the browser, the 2007 sight came up, I hit refresh and when it refreshed, I still have the 2007 site. Would you please open my site and let me know what you see? I do my updating in NVU as i said and have my saved copy in WORD DOCs, so that is not a problem. Thank you and my site is www.nowlivelife.com.

Tammy M.

[Ken]

Hi Tammy,

Here's a little trick that you can use to upload your files directly to your public_html folder without using Ipower or an ftp program.

Right click on your start button and then click explore. In the address bar type in ftp://username@domainname

Put your ipower account username in the username spot and replace domainname with your domain name.

A box will come up asking for you password. Enter it and you'll see your website files show u in the right of the screen.

Click the public_html folder and drag the file you want to transfer from the left of the screen into the right of the screen.

[Rae]

troyzone said:

Hi Rae,

I'm not sure if you're still on the old vDeck hosting platform with iPower or if you have already been moved to the new vDeck version 3 platform...if you have already been moved then make sure you are updating your new hosting account and not the old one.

I have not been moved yet, but my understanding is that your account on the old platform stays available for a while after you have been upgraded to vDeck 3, so make sure that you are using the updated account information that iPower provides after being moved for making your updates.

I'm not sure if this applies to you or not as of yet, but figured it was worth mentioning just in case you have been upgraded to the new hosting platform recently. If this doesn't apply, then I suggest checking out the links I gave above regarding caching and see if that is your problem as well.

Troy

Troy,
You were right on. I have been upgraded to the new hosting platform. It is very different this will take some time to get used to, I have a lot of bmp images and it does not want to upload them. Going to have to do some studying on this one. Again thank you
Rae

[troyzone]

Note: I have moved this thread to the Designing & Developing Website board, as the two separate uploading issues being discussed here have little to do with advertising & marketing and are actually website technical support related in nature.


Hi Tammy,

As Ken mentioned, there are other methods of transferring files besides using the File Manager feature inside vDeck, including using the FTP capabilities built into Internet Explorer/Windows XP, or by using an FTP client program such as SmartFTP, WS-FTP, or CuteFTP, along with hundreds of other such programs.

I quickly viewed your site and the Top Pick graphic is for 2007, so it appears that your site is not yet updated.

You mentioned that you have your saved copy in Word docs...you're not uploading Word docs to your web host by any chance, are you? Your page has to be uploaded in HTML format, and with the filename index.html in all lowercase letters to replace the current home page. Word docs won't display online in web browsers unless visitors have a Microsoft Office browser plug-in or something compatible for viewing Word docs online.

If you meant that you are just copying and pasting your pages into Word docs for storage on your own computer that is different, although I wouldn't advise this either...Word tends to put extra formatting characters into HTML documents that browsers don't recognize and can thus mess up your page.

You should keep everything in HTML format for maximum compatibility and to minimize potential problems, and if you wish to edit or save a page in something other than an HTML editor, use a plain text editor such as Notepad or something similar. HTML files are basically just plain text files with a .html or .htm filename extension written in such a way that web browsers can understand and interpret the code that they contain.

If none of the info in this post applies, then I suggest going back to the drawing board and making sure that you are publishing or uploading your web site files using the right hosting account information, and that you are uploading your files to the correct location (typically inside the public_html directory in iPower).

This is especially true if you are with iPower and have been recently upgraded to the new hosting platform, as I've heard that the publishing info for the new platform is different than for the old platform...others have inadvertently changed files on their old account by mistake and wondered why their web site online wasn't reflecting their changes.

If all else fails, you may need to contact iPower support to get assistance with your issue and determine whether it is something that you are doing wrong, or perhaps there may very well be an issue with your account that they will have to correct on their end.

Troy

[troyzone]

sassietig said:

Troy,
You were right on. I have been upgraded to the new hosting platform. It is very different this will take some time to get used to, I have a lot of bmp images and it does not want to upload them. Going to have to do some studying on this one. Again thank you
Rae

Hi Rae,

You are welcome, I'm glad I was able help.

You mentioned that you have a lot of .bmp images...I would not advise using .bmp images on your web site, as they tend to be quite huge and often will really slow down your web site's load time. It is much better to convert .bmp images to .jpg, .gif, or .png format instead, which are the main formats used on the web for online images. The following sites are helpful for optimizing images:

www.pictureresize.org/online-images-converter.html

www.coolutils.com/Online-Image-Converter.php

www.quickthumbnail.com/

www.gifworks.com/image_editor.html

The .bmp format makes for much larger file sizes, so use .jpg and .gif image formats whenever possible, as they are more optimized for the web. The .png format is also used online and supported by many browsers as well, although the .jpg and .gif formats are the most common. The .jpg format is often used for photos and .gif format is often used for graphics, but this is by no means written in stone...these are merely generalizations.

Images can often be converted from one format to another with image editor software or sites such as the ones above. I would suggest converting all of your .bmp format images to one of the other above-mentioned image formats and using those instead if possible. If you do this and compare the new file sizes to the original .bmp files then you will likely notice quite a significant reduction in size.

Troy

[tjmarshall]

Ken,
I am not quite as computer savvy as you. I did as you said to get to the address bar to input my username and domainname but I did not see an address bar. Could you please go through the steps like I was a baby as I really am confused. Thank you.

Troy,
I do have my index.html page saved under Word Docs and have for almost a year now. I do this because we do a 'back up' of our D drive once a week and if I lost my index.html page I think I would die. Could you please explain to me where else I might be able to save the file or how to save an html file? Thank you.

[tjmarshall]

Troy,
My site updates just fine in I-Power. I can view it and see all of my updates and click on my new banners and they work! But when I put my web name in a new browser, It is still my 2007 site. Is this an I-Power issue? Thank you.
Tammy M.

[Ken]

Hi Tammy,

When you right click on "Start" and the left click on "Explore' you will see all the files on your pc.

At the very top (in the blue bar) should be "Start Menu". Below that will be
"File" "Edit" View" "Favorites" "Tools" "Help"

Below that will be the Forward and Back Buttons, etc.
Below that will be the address bar.
It will have a folder icon and most likely "C:\Documents and Settings\YourPCsName\Start Menu"

Just click on that line to highlight it and type in your ftp info (ftp://username@domainname}
and click the arrow on the very right.

[troyzone]

Hi Tammy,

If you don't see an Address bar field as per Ken's directions in Windows Explorer, then go into the View menu / Toolbars and make sure that "Address bar" is checked, otherwise it won't be displayed. This typically applies to Internet Explorer as well.

Earlier I was referring to the actual file format of your page itself, it has to be in HTML format (such as index.html). It now sounds like it is and that you are just storing it inside a folder named Word Docs. If that's the case then this is fine...you can name the folder whatever you want...your problem must be of a different nature.

I still suspect that your files are not getting uploaded to the right place...if they are named correctly and put in the right place then they should be displaying for me at least. Sometimes when viewing your own site you will encounter caching issues with your browser as I mentioned earlier in this thread and refreshing the page helps, but others such as myself who may not have viewed your page in a long time or ever should still see the latest version right away. I had tried refreshing as well to no avail.

I've heard that iPower changed the way you have to log in to vDeck and/or via FTP to transfer files to your account on the new hosting platform, so double-check any information that they sent you and make sure that you're using the most up-to-date info to log in. If you still log in the old way your update will appear to be successful, but it will be going onto the old hosting platform and won't be visible online via your domain name when viewed with a browser. That is my understanding of how things work now in any case...I'll be more familiar with it once they upgrade my own account and I get to see the new platform first-hand.

If none of the above helps, then I highly recommend that you contact iPower directly for assistance with updating your site via phone or live help on their site, as there is not much we can do directly here to help besides offer suggestions like this. Some interactive help with those who manage the hosting platform would probably solve your problem if the comments posted in this thread don't help.

Troy

[Sandi Moses]

tjmarshall said:

Troy,
My site updates just fine in I-Power. I can view it and see all of my updates and click on my new banners and they work! But when I put my web name in a new browser, It is still my 2007 site. Is this an I-Power issue? Thank you.
Tammy M.

For what it's worth, when I click on the link in your signature, I get a site with the 2007 graphic. So I assume that is still not the updated one? When did you upload the 2008 version?

Sandi

[tjmarshall]

Hi All,
I just got through with I-Power and everything is fixed except my 2008TopPick banner. I cannot seem to get it uploaded. I have tried uploading it to no avail and edited it in I-Power and the html code looks fine, but when I load my web page in a new browser, well, you'll see when you look at it for me. Any suggestions on this and thank you Ken and Troy so much for your help and time. I really appreciate the effort. Sorry to be such a bother.
Tammy M.

[Ken]

Hi Tammy,

I can't find "2008TopPick.gif " in your "images" directory or the "public_html" directory.

Re-upload it to your "images" directory and make sure it is named exactly "2008TopPick.gif"

[tjmarshall]

Ken,
Did you check my new version of I-Power or where did you look? My gif is showing in both places, but it is not highlighted blue. Should I delete these and try again? Thanks.
Tammy M.

[troyzone]

Tammy, I was just checking your site from work and was about to say the same thing when I refreshed this thread and saw Ken's post, then I got busy for the entire day and didn't get back here until now

You apparently don't have the image file uploaded to iPower, it is named differently, or it is not in the proper location. It needs to be inside your images directory under public_html, and as Ken mentioned, the file name has to match exactly.

File and folder (or directory) names on web hosts are generally case-sensitive, i.e. index.html is not the same as Index.html for example, they are considered as two different files. The same goes for your image file names. See the following post inside the forum's FAQs for more info about this:

erichw33.proboards53.com/index.cgi?board=tool&action=display&thread=1143747000&page=1#1145778477

I clicked on your URL in your signature, www.nowlivelife.com and refreshed it again just now, and I still just see an empty placeholder for your Top Pick image indicating that the image file itself is missing. Your index.html page itself appears updated as its code for the Top Pick image is as follows:

src="images/2008TopPick.gif"

However, the image file 2008TopPick.gif does not appear to be present inside the images directory on iPower. Your index.html file would go inside of the public_html directory, then the image directory would go inside of the public_html directory, then the 2008TopPick.gif file would go inside of that.

Here is a diagram that Jim once created showing the recommended file and folder/directory structure for your web site files:

www.theworkathomeindex.com/template/folderstructure.gif

The root or top-level web site folder is generally called public_html on iPower.

Troy

[tjmarshall]

Hey Troy and Ken,

I cannot thank you both enough for all of your help. Currently, I am working with I-Power to get the banner moved to the right location. As far as all of the other things, I am doing it correctly like Troy said. I guess I just need some heavy duty training on the new I-Power system. Thanks again.

Tammy M.