I'm sure this is a stupid question, but I'm a greener, and that's why forums are great, aren't they? You can ask stupid questions without embarassing yourself. So, here goes.

I want to put my site on a server so it can be tested and I can iron-out all the kinks. But I want to do this before it goes onto the Net. I don't want to launch it to the public before I've tested it thouroughly, but in order to really test it, it should be on the server, right? I don't want to put it out there and just have "under construction" posted. I only want myself and some selected others to have access to the site during this test period.

Is this possible? And, if it is, how do I arrange this with my host?

Thanks for your time.

You could use a .htaccess file to restrict access to those only with the correct password. After you have entered your password once, te site will behave as normal - without the password you won't see a thing.

Also bear in mind that until you actually tell people about your site (e.g. promote it), it is unlikely that anyone would stumble across it.

You could host it locally (ie. on your machine) to test it quite easily - if you are running Win98 or ME, PWS allows you to setup your machine as a server, and NT, 2K or XP has IIS, which allows you to setup your machine as a server.

An alternative to PWS you could also install the Apache web server for windows. You can download apache.exe for windows at:

http://www.apache.org/

To run apache web server as a local host using your browser, the only change you need is in httpd.conf file change the

ServerName to > localhost

Another way to do this - and something that people have had us do from time to time - is just assign a dummy name to the account. Something like undecided.com would work if you wanted to test by IP address and whatever hosting plan you set up included one. After all your testing was complete, you could then have the host change the name associated with the account. If you go this route though, be sure to check with the host to ensure that they will do this for you.

What is PWS?

And if I do the undecided.com option, isn't there a chance that people could still come across my site through a search engine? I'm thinking this because of the keywords in the meta-files.
Thks.

Originally posted by diggsy
And if I do the undecided.com option, isn't there a chance that people could still come across my site through a search engine? I'm thinking this because of the keywords in the meta-files.
Thks.

Ahh, a world in which search engines search thru the entire Internet, where you don't have to spend hours submitting your site. I can dream, can't I? :D

Basically the bottom line with search engines is that unless you either submit your web site, or other sites link to your site, there is no chance of you showing up in their listings.

Originally posted by diggsy
What is PWS?

PWS = Personal Web Server

Originally posted by avara


Ahh, a world in which search engines search thru the entire Internet, where you don't have to spend hours submitting your site. I can dream, can't I? :D

Basically the bottom line with search engines is that unless you either submit your web site, or other sites link to your site, there is no chance of you showing up in their listings.

Having a URL to your site even in such a menial place as your WHT profile would allow a spider, such as Google's, to add your site to it's database, though.

I think .htaccess files were mentioned before, but I thought I should add that most hosts allow you to password protect directories from an easy control panel. If you're really paranoid about someone seeing your site before its officially launched, this is a pretty good solution.

Originally posted by diggsy
What is PWS?

A P.O.S and I suggest you avoid it at all costs ;)

Most hosts will give you an alternate URL (either an IP or the full path) to see your account, before your domain name resolves to it.

Exampe:

http://server.affordablehost.com/~yourdomain.com

is the same as www.yourdomain.com on our servers.

Just don't update DNS for your domain until you're ready. Until DNS resolves - your domain name won't work with you account.

--Tina

I agree with MikeJeffs, you can have your webpage password-protected. There're plenty of scripts out there or perhaps you want to try sites that offer this kind of service such as safe-entry (http://www.safe-entry.com/)

Also remember that it takes normally 4wks+ for a submitted site to show up in a search engine... also remember that most work on link popularity, so as you are a new site, its not likley that you'll appear top of the listings.

In all honesty though, I think .htaccess is the easiest way to do things. I don't recall the specific commands, but all you need is a text file in the directory named .htaccess

Just do a search on google for "password .htaccess" and there will be loads of info. An added advantage of this method is that it allows you to use your domain name in the working of your site (which many ynamic sites need) - whereas if you didn't have DNS entries you would be having to use ip's or longer urls and then change it all when your DNS resolves again

Here are some options for setting up a Webserver on your PC for development purposes. Once you have it set up simply type "localhost" in your web browser Address line and you will be viewing pages served from your own computer.

If you are strictly using static HTML for your website, either of these methods will work.


---------------For MS ASP (IIS/VBScript/JScript) Development---------------

Windows NT/98/95: Install Personal Web Server/IIS (PWS) by installing the NT Option Pack (here is the link to download: http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/recommended/NT4OptPk/default.asp ).

Windows 2000/XP: Go to Start->Settings-> Control Panel. Double click on "Add/Remove Programs". Select "Add/Remove Windows Components" icon on the left. Select Internet Information Server/IIS. Be sure you have your origional windows 200 CD.

----------For PHP/Apache/mySQL Development------------
Windows 95/98/2000/XP: Download phpTriad from here http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/phptriad/phptriadsetup2-11.exe . Save file to your hard drive and run it. This will install Apache (www.apache.org) webserver, PHP (www.php.net) scripting language support and mySQL (www.mySQL.com) database server.



Personally I prefer PHP for website development, but I get paid to develop in ASP.

Originally posted by Trevor

----------For PHP/Apache/mySQL Development------------
Windows 95/98/2000/XP: Download phpTriad from here http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/...adsetup2-11.exe . Save file to your hard drive and run it. This will install Apache (www.apache.org) webserver, PHP (www.php.net) scripting language support and mySQL (www.mySQL.com) database server.


An alternative method is to buy the book if you get confused on how to configure the programs and use it on your computer for testing purposes:

PHP - Fast & Easy Web Development
Publisher - Prima Tech
Author - Julie C. Meloni
CD-ROM INCLUDED - Lots of goodies! You don't have to spend your time wading through manuals to learn PHP


It comes with a CD-ROM included and you can install the above programs(Apache ver1.3/PHP/MySQL from the CD-ROM directly to your computer. It's an excellent book if you are a web developer/designer as it teaches you pratical hands-on PHP training.(Just Imagine):)

Note:
When you installed Apache Web Server on your computer, go to Start - Programs -> Apache Web Server -> Start Apache

Apache must be running(Don't closed it when it's running or you will not be able to use localhost via browser to test your pages/site/scripts.

As I mentioned in my earlier post you must edit httpd.conf :

To run apache web server as a local host using your browser, the only change you need is in httpd.conf file. Look for the below in the file and change it to:

"ServerName localhost "


Hope this helps


P/S
If you are a web developer/designer it would be an advantage to install the above as you will be spending many hours on a certain project tweaking/fine tuning/optimizing it , so it's better to work off-line. As the others mentioned you can also work on-line using other recommended methods on your Host's server, it's your choice but as a web designer/reseller, I prefer testing it off-line on my computer as there is quite a saving in terms of money.


.

Man o man, I love forums. And I'm very grateful to you guys for your advice. This is exactly The kind of info I need at this stage. Just one more way in which the net can be so goddam exciting and inspiring. I have one more question if anyone gets the chance:

I will be using passwords extensively in my site and I'm wondering if .htaccess and/or php is helpfulwith this. Will picking up the book on php be just what I'm looking for?

Thanks so much.

Hi diggsy,

There are a number of ways that you can protect your directories using client-side and server-side scripting.

Client- side:
Use Javascipt and there's alot of it on the web, just do a search and pick one that is suitable to your requirements.

Server-side:
For high security .htaccess protection is recommended using cgi/perl.

For .htaccess I would recommend using the following:

1)http://www.veinotte.com ...(Member Manager 1.01)

a)It's a third party script and it's free. You can manage it through a admin control panel to add/delete/modify the user name/password for menbers. The only drawback is you can protect one directory at a time, so if you need to protect multiple directories, you have to change the script name and do it a second time for the second directory and so on for the third directories.

Third Party:
a)If you need to protect several directories for members and using the same username/password to access all the protected directories , then buy their Member manager II which gives you complete control on multiple directories and has a global username/password feature. I purhased it for a client that wanted to incorporate it to his site and at that time(1 year ago) it was $39 but I am not sure how much they are selling now.

CPanel:
2) You can also password protect directories if your Host provide CPanel but the features are similar to (1a) above. In cpanel click on Access Menu -> Web Protect -> select the directories that you wish to protect, you can add/delete/modify any username/password for that particular directory.

Hope this helps

You mentioned passwords so I guess you are talking about limiting access to your website and/or creating a website membership program.

.htaccess is a feature of Apache web server that is used to limit access to directory folders and files. Setting it up involves creating a text file on your site named ".htaccess". By typing particular commands into the text file you can define folder/file access permissions for users, groups of users and/or domains. htaccess can also be used for creating custom "error 404 page not found" pages. For instance, instead of simply displaying the error it could redirect the user back to the main page. Here are some tutorials for creating .htaccess files:
http://www.apacheweek.com/features/userauth
http://www.freewebmasterhelp.com/tutorials/htaccess/

For the most part this type of Authentication/site security should be used for defining custom error messages and keeping people out of any folders within your site you don't want them to access. For instance, you may use a php script like phpMyAdmin (comes with phpTriad) to administer your mySQL server databases. You wouldn't want to let everyone access the script.

Another popular use for passwords/authentication is setting up a website where users may subscribe and gain access to special content or features. Typically this is accomplished using a scripted programming language such as PHP or VBScript to access a database and authenticate that the user has typed in the correct password. This method works better because you have more options of defining what the user has access to.

This is where the rubber meets the road. If you have never learned to program and this is your first website you have quite a steep learning curve ahead. But don't get discouraged. There are many things you can do to get your site up and running while you learn how to build dynamic websites yourself. Keep reading and I'll gloss over some basic stuff (sorry if this is redundant) and point you to some good places to get started.

HTML -Hypertext Markup Language - isn't a programming language. HTML is primarily a text formatting and presentation language. It is used to define how text should appear on a client webbrowser. The HTML standard is controlled by an organization called the World Wide Web Consortium (http://www.w3c.org/). Creating HTML pages is done either by simply typing HTML markup into a text file or a developer may use a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor. For the first method, any text editor such as notepad will do. Here are some WYSIWYG editors that are pretty good:

Dreamweaver($)- http://www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver/
HomeSite($) - http://www.macromedia.com/software/homesite/
HTMLKit(Free and not quite WYSIWYG) - http://www.chami.com/html-kit/


In my opinion, and I've tried a lot of tools, Dreamweaver wins hands down. They also have an excellent graphics editor called Fireworks. But to tell the truth I use a simple text editor for most of my work.

To learn more about HTML here are some excellent resources:
http://www.ncdesign.org
http://slackerhtml.tripod.com/
http://www.devguru.com/


PHP, JScript, Javascript, VBScript, ColdFusion, etc are scripted programming languages. Unlike traditional programming languages such as C, C++, Java and Visual Basic, scripted languages aren't compiled before execution. They are interpreted. Compilation is the process of converting a human readable source code file into a machine readable binary file. Scripted languages aren't compiled, they are interpreted at runtime. What this means for the developer is that the code can be edited at any time.

When a user types in your website's url into his browser, the HTTP server (Apache or IIS) receives this request and based on how the server is configured, passes the requested page text to another program such as PHP to be interpreted. PHP interprets the text/script and passes the results of the commands back to the web server. The web server then sends the resulting HTML back to the user.

Another thing that sets scripted languages apart from most compiled languages is that variables are dynamically typed. What this means is that when defining a variable you don't have to specify the variable type (interger, string, array, etc). The interpreter guesses what type the variable should be by the way it is used. Dynamic typing saves time for the developer.


Alright, now, what scripting language should you choose? By far the most popular server side scripting languages are Perl, PHP, VBScript and ColdFusion.

ColdFusion is expensive and finding a web host can be difficult and expensive. ColdFusion syntax is like HTML and does not lend it self to teaching you other languages.

Perl and PHP both have a C/C++/Java like syntax. If you learn either of these you have a good head start at leaning similar languages, in particular JavaScript which developers use extensively on the client side for common functions such ad HTML form validation.

Rather than get into an in depth discussion I'll just cut to the chase. Perl is difficult to learn for a beginner. PHP on the other hand is easy to learn and is one of the first programming languages invented specifically for web application development. The guys developing PHP put the needs of web developers before any other consideration. Also, there are tons of web hosts that support PHP, including many free ones. It is a standard install on most Linux distributions and as I mentioned earlier, very easy to setup for web development on windows using phpTriad.


Before you go out and buy a bunch of books I would suggest looking at what if freely available on the web. Here are some:

Annotated online PHP manual - http://www.php.net/manual/en/
Downloadable PHP manual in windows help file (chm) format - http://weblabor.hu/php/newchm.php
PHP Builder articles teaching PHP - http://www.phpbuilder.com/
Archived mailing lists - http://www.php.net/support.php
Other sources of info - http://www.php.net/links.php

As I mentioned, while your are learning you could go ahead with your website. There are many free full featured PHP website scripts available here http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/Scripts_and_Programs/News_Publishing/ and here http://hotscripts.com/PHP/Scripts_and_Programs/.

One that I would recommend, because it is being developed at a university is phpWebSite ( http://phpwebsite.appstate.edu/ ). Download the script, read the instructions for installing it and start learning by playing with the code.

Anyhow, this should be plenty of information for getting started. If you have questions as you go along feel free to email me.