AOL Web Site Basics - Uploading Files to the Web

Saving Files, and File Names

Before you save your web files, you should know a few things about files, file names, and file formats. First, if you've used a word processor to write your HTML file, you'll need to select Save As, and select one of the following file formats:

Plain Text
MS-Dos Text
ASCII Text

This ensures that the file will be saved in a format that the web browser will be able to read.

If you're using an HTML editor like Hot Dog or AOLpress or PageMill, it will automatically save your file in the correct format. Windows NotePad saves in ASCII format as well.

A flamingo with no significance Be sure to save your HTML file with an HTML extension, either .htm or .html. The default file name for your web page on AOL is index.html or index.htm. All HTML files must be saved with the .htm or .html extension on the file name or the web browser may not recognize the file.

Unlike desktop publishing files, or drawing program files, graphics are not embedded into HTML files. If you're using graphics in your web page, you'll want to save your images as separate GIF or JPG files. TIFF PICT, ART, and BMP file formats are not supported by all web browsers, so use GIF or JPG only. Save your images with file names that end in .gif or .jpg or .jpeg.

Uploading Your Files to the Web

Once you've saved your files, you can upload them to the AOL server. You can do this in one of three ways.

You can either upload each file individually at keyword: MY PLACE,
or you can use an FTP utility like WS FTP, Cute FTP, or if you're on the Mac, use Fetch, to upload all of your web files at once.
or, you may be using an HTML Editor like Microsoft Publisher 97, or Netscape Navigator Gold, that includes an FTP utility. You can use this to upload. The only exception to this is Microsoft FrontPage. FrontPage requires a special server configuration, and AOL is not set up for this.

Using Keyword: MY PLACE

You can upload files at keyword: MY PLACE on AOL by following these steps:

Go to Keyword: MY PLACE on AOL
Select the Go To My Place Icon
Select the Upload icon
Next, type in the Remote File Name. This is the only tricky part of uploading. Be sure that your Remote File Name is the same name that you file has on your computer. File names are case sensitive. If your HTML file points to a file named cat.gif, but you upload it as CAT.GIF or Cat.GIF, the image will not appear on your web page. Be sure you're using the correct file name.
Select Continue, then Browse to select the file you wish to upload on your hard drive.
Select OK.

A radio Repeat this for every file. As you can see, the main problem with this method is the potential for errors in file names.

Using an FTP Utility

Once you've installed the FTP utility, uploading files is simple. Sign on to AOL, open your FTP Utility and enter the following information:
HOSTID: members.aol.com
USERID: ftp
PASSWORD: your full email address. For instance, if your screenname on AOL was WDFlo, you would enter wdflo@aol.com for your password.