FTP Website Maintenance in VDeck

[tjmarshall]

Hello All,

I have gi ven up on NVU and am now in the process of moving my site to ftp. I was online with I-Power for about 2 hours when my internet connection went off. Would anyone please let me know how to save my NVU file to I-Power, I would be so thankful and I also need to know how to publish my site in I-Power. Thank you very much in advance!

Tammy M.

[Erich]

Tammy

I have never used NVU so I can't say how to transfer your files from there to an FTP program but I'm sure someone here will jump in with some help.

I do use an FTP program for making changes to all my pages and it is a program called
WS_FTP by Ipswitch.

If you can login to your NVU acct and copy and paste each one of your files [including graphics] from there onto a notepad or wordpad file then you should be able to move them into the "local directory" of which ever FTP program you are using... that should work for you.

After you get them all copied & pasted into files and set up in the local directory

side of your FTP program... then it would just be a matter of uploading them online. For mine... I simply highlight the file/page and clickion the middle arrow between the local files [on the left side] and moving them into your online hosting account which is on the right side of the arrow in my FTP program. There is a program called CUTE which was free and worked just like WS_FTP ....

Your first step would after downloading the ftp software will be to set up your hosting acct/domain into the ftp program by entering the domain, username, and password.

You can do a google search for free FTP software and you should find CUTE.

I hope I haven't confused you to much.

Erich

[Skyrocket]

Hi Tammy,

I've set up a web page to help with publishing your web pages which also has a tutorial for FTP Commander, which is a free program. For details on how to get it and how to use it use this link:

www.theworkathomeindex.com/tops/publishingwebpages.html#FTP

Regards,

Jim

[troyzone]

Erich, it's funny that you should mention WS-FTP...that's the same FTP client that I've been using for years as well ;D

Tammy, with any HTML editor such as NVU, the web page files themselves are still saved someplace on your computer's hard drive...publishing your site is just a matter of copying those files from your computer to your iPower account. There is a publishing feature inside NVU, but I've seen a few members here mention having problems with it so I wouldn't recommend using that method.

To publish or upload your web site files, you can log into vDeck and use the Host Manager / File Manager feature to browse your computer's hard drive for your files and upload them to iPower that way, or you can use FTP client software such as WS-FTP, SmartFTP, CuteFTP, or FTP Commander to transfer the files.

You can even use Internet Explorer or Windows Explorer to transfer your files in a manner similar to using dedicated FTP client software. Doing this would be similar to copying files from one location to another on your own computer by having two Explorer windows open, only in this case, one window would be focused on the location on your computer's hard drive where your files are stored, and the other window would be focused on your iPower account.

Regardless of the method you use, make sure that any files and folders (or directories) that you upload to your iPower account are placed *inside* its public_html directory, as this is the root or home folder for your web site files. Also note that iPower provides the information required to access your account via FTP (File Transfer Protocol) in your initial iPower account setup email. Usually the server name is ftp.your-domain-name.com and the username and password would be the same as that which you use to log into vDeck.

With an FTP client program such as WS-FTP, there are usually two main windows in the program...one is focused on the contents of your computer's hard drive, and the other displays the files on your web hosting account once you are logged into it. To transfer files from one location to the other, you would simply highlight the source files and click an arrow to copy them to the other location or drag and drop files from one window to the other. That is generally how FTP client software works.

In any case, I guess I don't need to ramble on any further since Jim has already done a great job of explaining much of this already in the page linked to above on his TOPS Help Files tutorial web site. There is also a bit of info along with a couple of other forum links included in the following post regarding alternate FTP methods:

erichw33.proboards53.com/index.cgi?board=web&action=display&thread=1188346092&page=1#1188355198

As for how to find your web page files on your computer's hard drive that you edit with NVU, if you had saved them to your desktop or My Documents or someplace similar in your Windows user profile and you are using Windows XP then they are likely in a similarly named folder under C:\Documents and Settings\your-username, where "your-username" is your Windows account name. You can usually view this by clicking on your Start menu button and looking at the top.

Hope this helps.

Troy

[Roy]

Limited FTP capability is built into most browsers, and you can use an FTP URL to get files.

You can use the following command from in your browser.

username:[e-mail]

This will open a file window with your site directory, then just open the directory or file you wish to move, then just drag and drop it.

Learn all the in and out here:

www.walthowe.com/navnet/faq/ftpq.html

You can then just move files or whole directory as if you was in window.

Roy

[tjmarshall]

Wow! I thank all of you so much. I really wouldn't be this far in TOPs if it weren't for the great people here in the forum. I will proceed to do "some" reading first and when I have succeeded in my transformation of my site, I wll let you know what I did. Don't hold your breath though, this could take me a bit of time. (smile) Thanks again to all.

Tammy M.

[tjmarshall]

Hey Guys,

I downloaded FTP Commander and then just moved my index file from my D: drive to the right side of the page and I overwrited the index.html file there. So it works now, but I still have to update in NVU, save that and then overwrite on the right side again. Should I do as Erich suggested and save each individual file on the left side of FTP? Thank you again. I am of course very new at FTP.

[tjmarshall]

Anyone,

I replaced my 2008 Tops Banner with another one at the top of my website and I cannot get it to open in a new window. I have the target blank where it is supposed to be and all I did was change the link name and location to the new banner. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Tammy M.

[troyzone]

Hi Tammy,

It sounds like you are using the FTP client correctly. If you told it to copy your index.html file from the window on the left showing your computer's D: drive over to your web hosting account displayed in the window on the right then that is all there is to it. Just make sure that your files are all synchronized with the most up-to-date versions being displayed in both windows of your FTP client and be sure not to overwrite a new file with an older one.

In other words, as long as you keep both copies of your site the same you should be fine. For example, each time you update your offline or local computer's copy of your index.html file, load up your FTP client and upload it to your iPower account for the changes to become "live" on your web site.

As for your banner that is top-center on your site, you have the target="_blank" in the wrong place. It has to be inside the anchor <a> or link tag, but you have it inside your <span> tag right after your inline style code instead. Find the following section of code:


<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://thebizoppnetwork.com/z/2724/CD2122"><span style="text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><img style="border: 0px solid ; width: 350px; height: 265px;" alt="biz opp" title="biz opp" src="http://thebizoppnetwork.com/42/2122/2724"></span></a><br></div>


and replace it with this:


<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://thebizoppnetwork.com/z/2724/CD2122" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><img style="border: 0px solid ; width: 350px; height: 265px;" alt="biz opp" title="biz opp" src="http://thebizoppnetwork.com/42/2122/2724"></span></a><br></div>


Notice I moved the target="_blank" just before the closing > of your <a> tag. Hope this helps.

Troy

[tjmarshall]

Troy,

Thank you so much. Your such a big help. Take care.

Tammy M.

[tjmarshall]

Hey Troy,

Well, I changed my html and it is still not opening in another window. I have checked it several times and it looks okay. Maybe I am not uploading it correctly in FTP Commander. Is there somewhere where I can read how to use it, I mean, basic instructions on how to load my index file and then transfer it to the other side? It looked like it worked for me but when I am not sure if I am doing it correctly or not, I really don't know. Thank you.

Tammy M.

[troyzone]

Tammy,

I checked your source code online by visiting your web page, right-clicking my mouse and choosing View Source in Internet Explorer. The target="_blank" is still in the wrong location, which is why the link is not opening up into a new window.

It does not appear that the index.html page in the public_html directory has been updated on your web host. Make sure that you have uploaded your updated index.html page to the proper location (inside the public_html directory).

I am not familiar with the FTP Commander application specifically so I don't know where to obtain documentation or tutorials for it....Jim mentions having some instructions in his TOPS Help Files tutorial web site.

Also, I would think that there would be some help or documentation provided with the application itself either right in its Help menu or in a separate file that may be included with the download, or on the home web page for the application.

You may have to do a web search to find out more information about the application. First however I would recommend reviewing Jim's instructions again on his TOPS help site here as this should help:

www.theworkathomeindex.com/tops/publishingwebpages.html#FTP

Troy

[tjmarshall]

Troy,

I figured out FTP Commander and I fixed the banner. Thanks again for your help and I am pretty excited now! It seems my opportunities with my website are limitless now that I know what I am doing! Will be talking to all of you again soon!

Tammy M.

[Myron]

troyzone said:

Erich, it's funny that you should mention WS-FTP...that's the same FTP client that I've been using for years as well ;D

or you can use FTP client software such as WS-FTP, SmartFTP, CuteFTP, or FTP Commander to transfer the files.

Troy

Troy:

I tried both Cute and Smart but couldn't log in to IPower. Could it be the extra security they now have on the log in page?

[mpatton]

myron said:

troyzone said:

Erich, it's funny that you should mention WS-FTP...that's the same FTP client that I've been using for years as well ;D

or you can use FTP client software such as WS-FTP, SmartFTP, CuteFTP, or FTP Commander to transfer the files.

Troy

Troy:

I tried both Cute and Smart but couldn't log in to IPower. Could it be the extra security they now have on the log in page?

Myron

Myron you may have to try and get updated password and Login info.
I have had fits over the past 2 weeks. I finally got a password for a sight I could not get into.
They changed several some of the login info as they have updated the servers.

[Myron]

Mike:

To log in to the old version of IPower, I have to insert my user name & password as well as enter letters from the box on the page.

Doesn't this happen to everyone?

Myron

[mpatton]

myron said:

Mike:

To log in to the old version of IPower, I have to insert my user name & password as well as enter letters from the box on the page.

Doesn't this happen to everyone?

Myron

Myron

I believe the new thing with the letters and numbers depends on the platform. On one of my domains they had changed the user name ans password. It seems they had the web on one platform and the email on another. I finally talked with some one today that had both internet smarts as well as common sense to figure it out.

I had gotten to the point of being ready to cancel several domains I had registered with i-power.
I do believe after today everything is going to work out with those accounts....

Thanks

Michael

[tjmarshall]

Mike and Myron,

I had problems after I-Power moved me to the new system also. I was on the on-line chat for quite awhile when we finally got it straightened out. It does have something to do with having numbers in your password as well as letters. Mine is fixed now and it works great! Don't give up if you need help, get someone from I-Power to assist you and once you are set up, you can get er done!

Tammy M.

[troyzone]

Myron,

I noticed last night when I logged into my old vDeck account that I had to type in the characters displayed in an image as verification for the first time also. iPower is making many changes to both hosting platforms it seems, so things will be in a constant state of flux for quite some time I'm sure until they get everyone migrated over to the new vDeck 3.0 and any major issues ironed out.

I'm still on the old vDeck myself so I have no experience with vDeck 3.0, but I think I read one time that the FTP login info and so forth has completely changed with the new hosting platform. If you can't log in with your FTP client then you are likely using the wrong login info...your account name and/or password could be wrong, but your server name that you are connecting to could be wrong also. You would have to check any emails or other documentation that iPower may have sent you when you migrated to vDeck 3.0 for account login info and make sure that you are using the right info for the new platform.

In digging through iPower's site a bit while logged into my "transition kiosk", I noticed the following link leading to info regarding vDeck 3.0:

members.ipower.com/info/systemnotice.bml?id=2719

I read this one time a couple of months back and it included what to use as the server name when connecting to your account on the vDeck 3.0 hosting platform with a FTP client program. One section of it states:

FTP Settings: Publish to youraccountusername.ipower.com (recommended) or ftp.yourdomain.com

This is found directly on the following page:

members.ipower.com/info/systemnotice.bml?id=5703

Make sure that you are using this format and not something else that may have been used for connecting to your account on the old vDeck 1.0 hosting platform. If you still can't figure out how to connect to your account with an FTP client, you may need to contact iPower support directly via phone, their live website chat feature, or via troubleshooting ticket on their site (I'd recommend either of the first two options for quicker resolution).

Troy

[Myron]

Troy:

I haven't migrated yet to the new IPower version.

Myron

[troyzone]

Myron,

The extra security that you mentioned is on the web site now where you have to type in characters displayed in a verification image is just a feature on the web site itself, it would have no impact on logging into your account via FTP.

On the old platform, I log into my account with my FTP client using host508.ipowerweb.com as the server name, or alternately ftp.my-domain-name.com could be used. The host508 part would vary depending on which server your account is hosted on.

Troy

[Myron]

troyzone said:

Myron,

The extra security that you mentioned is on the web site now where you have to type in characters displayed in a verification image is just a feature on the web site itself, it would have no impact on logging into your account via FTP.

On the old platform, I log into my account with my FTP client using host508.ipowerweb.com as the server name, or alternately ftp.my-domain-name.com could be used. The host508 part would vary depending on which server your account is hosted on.

Troy

Troy:

I took your advice and called them last night. They are going to issue a ticket and have support address the issue.

Thanks again!

Myron