You can build a Web site and display it on your computer, but it's not truly a Web site until you make it available to the online community on the Web itself.

When you first create your Web site, it exists as a group of HTML pages inside a folder on your computer's hard disk or on a local network. You can prepare and maintain a site on your computer, then upload (send) a copy of the site files to a Web server, where they will be published electronically to the world.

Unless your company maintains its own Web server, your Web connection is hosted by an Internet service provider (ISP). After you have created your Web pages, you will pass those page files on to the ISP to publish on the Web.

Coordinating with your Internet Service Provider
To simplify the process of delivering your Web site to an ISP, ask your ISP the following questions (where applicable) before creating your pages:

1. Does the Web server run on a UNIX workstation, DOS system, or a Macintosh computer?

2. What are the filenaming conventions?

3. What is the path to the root directory of your Web site on the server? (This is important to know if you're creating server-side image maps.)

4. Does your ISP make CGI (Common Gateway Interface) scripts available to subscribers? (CGI scrips are necessary to implement image maps and forms on most Web servers. Obtain instructions from your ISP to use CGI scripts successfully.)

5. What image map file format does the Web server use: client-side or server-side?

6. How much disk space is allocated to your site? Are there additional charges incurred for this hosting service? If so, how much?

7. What is the correct procedure for uploading your Web site to the server?

Applying for a domain name through InterNIC
Before going live, you will need to register a domain name (the name of your site, such as adobe.com) and obtain a URL (the complete Web address, such as www.adobe.com). For a fee, an ISP will register your domain name. Or, if you prefer, you can research and apply for a domain name on your own through the InterNIC.

InterNIC is a cooperative activity between the National Science Foundation, Network Solutions, Inc., and AT&T. Network Solutions sponsors registration services, and you can register your domain name with them.

On the Web, go to Network Solutions. The site explains the domain name registration process and enables you to complete it online.

Setting up PageMill preferences
Once you have the information you need from your ISP, you'll be able to set up Adobe® PageMill® preferences. Customizing the preference options before creating your Web site ensures that your site's links will work as expected when the site is uploaded to a Web server.

To customize preferences:

1. Start PageMill.

2. Choose Edit>Preferences.

3. In Windows®, click the General tab. On the Mac, click the General icon from the list of icons on the left.

4. On the Mac only, select the first option in the Tiling section, which lines up tiled windows side by side on-screen. Note: In Windows, the tiling option is not a preference setting. Tiling options are available from the Windows menu.

5. In the Browsing section, choose Preview Mode for Open Pages In. Also choose Same Window for Local Links.

6. In the Browsing section in Windows, click the Browse button next to Open Remote Links Using, locate a Web browser on the hard disk, and then click Open. In Mac OS, choose Select Browser from the Remote Links menu, locate a Web browser on the hard disk, and then click Open.

7. In Windows, click the Page tab. In Mac OS, click the Page icon from the list of icons on the left.

8. Leave the options in the Appearance section set to Default.

9. In the File Format section, leave the Line Breaks and Suffix options set to their default values.

10. In Windows, click the Switch To tab. In Mac OS, scroll down to the Switch To icon on the left and click it.

11. In Windows, click the Add button in the Switch To Menu Application section, locate a Web browser on your hard disk, and then click Open. In Mac OS, click the small application icon, locate a Web browser on your hard disk, and then click Open. Mac OS Note: If a Web browser is already installed, the browser name will appear in the Switch To Menu Applications section and you can skip the preceding step.

12. Leave the rest of the preferences set to their default values and click OK to close the Preferences dialog box.

If you're creating server-side image maps, you need to specify the map format and server location preferences.

Creating a mirror folder
Web pages usually include hypertext links to other files, not to the contents of those files. When you use PageMill to move or rename files, PageMill automatically updates the links in the HTML pages.

Another way to avoid broken links is to preserve relative file position by creating and using a pair of mirrored site folders: one on the local hard disk, and one on the Web server. When you initially upload your local site folder to the Web server, both folders should be identical. Any changes you make to the local folder (the one housed on your computer) should also be made to the site folder to preserve the mirror relationship.

If you are unable to upload your entire site folder at the same time, create a folder structure on the Web server that matches the folder structure of your local site folder, and then upload the site files into the appropriate folders.

Naming Web pages
Web pages require a filename extension appropriate to the platform from which you publish them. If your Web server is a DOS computer, use .HTM. If your Web server is a Mac OS computer or a UNIX workstation, use .HTML. Files without filename extensions will display raw HTML code, rather than the formatted page.

Use alphanumeric characters when naming Web pages. For maximum compatibility with all computers, use eight-character, single-word filenames, such as "document.html." If you require more than one word when you name Web pages, use an underscore (_) or hyphen (-), not a space character. Space characters become ASCII-encoded, and links to the files are broken.

Many Web servers are case-sensitive - that is, they distinguish between upper- and lowercase characters. When you create links manually, make sure you match the case of the filename to which you are linking.

Locating and naming image files
PageMill supports images in GIF, JPEG, and PICT formats. When importing PICT images, PageMill converts the PICT image to a GIF image and stores the GIF image in the Resource folder. To specify a default resource folder, choose Edit>Preferences and then select a folder within your local site folder. Place the images you want to use into this folder before placing them in your Web pages.

PageMill converts the PICT filenames according to this format: image1.gif, image2.gif, image3.gif, in numeric order. If you want more control over the names of image files within your Web site, convert PICT files to either GIF or JPEG format before you import them.

Image files need a filename extension appropriate to the platform on which you publish them. If your Web server is a DOS computer, use .GIF or .JPG. If your Web server is a Mac OS computer or a UNIX workstation, use .GIF or .JPEG.

Files without filename extensions display the code of the image file in a Web browser (rather than the image).

Uploading your Web site
When you upload your Web site to the server, send HTML files as text, and all other files as raw data. If you upload files using a different format, links will not work correctly and graphics will not display.

If you upload your Web site using a standard FTP (file transfer protocol) utility, such as Fetch, refer to the software's support documentation for information and contact your ISP for support.

Test the pages by visiting them on the Web server. If everything works, your pages are now available worldwide over the Web.