Expression® Web Design

Using FTP in Expression Web

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Once you are done with your new web site in Expression Web, chances are you will want to get those pages on your server.  One of the ways to accomplish this is to use FTP (file transfer protocol).  Expression Web will provide you a way to do this.

Before you start though, you will need to know the URL for the FTP server, the FTP username, and the FTP password.  You can get this information from your hosting company or the web hosting control panel.  Once you have this information, you are ready to begin.

Go to File - Publish in Expression Web.  In the Remote Web Site Properties tab, choose FTP for the Remote Server type.  For the Remote Web site location, you should be able to find this in your web hosting control panel.  The hosting company might call it the FTP URL or FTP access.

The FTP directory field might need a folder name in it.  For example, some hosting companies might set you up automatically with FTP access.  Usually this access includes some folders that are not accessible via the web browser.  If this is the case, you might need to enter a folder name, such as wwwroot.  Or you might be able to set up another FTP account, having it default to the correct path.

After you publish and your web site does not show up on the Internet, it could be a number of things.  If you are sure the domain has propagated to your hosting company, the FTP information that was entered might be incorrect.  For example, if you entered a folder in the FTP directory and one was not needed, your web site might be in that folder.

Let's say you entered wwwroot in the FTP directory but that was not needed.  Your web site would be seen at http://www.example.com/wwwroot.  To fix this, you would need to remove the wwwroot from the FTP directory in the Remote Web Site Properties and re-publish.  You will probably see a wwwroot folder on the server.  You might want to verify you are at the proper location before deleting this folder.

Could not locate a Web server

Could not find a Web server at 'ftp.example.com' on port 21. Please check to make sure that the Web server name is valid and your proxy settings are set correctly. If you are sure that everything is correct, the Web server may be temporarily out of service.

This error might come up if the FTP location is entered incorrectly.  It also might come up if the domain name has not propagated yet to the new server.  (If this is the case, the web hosting company should provide you with an FTP address to use that will point to their server.)

If you think everything is entered correctly, you might try to go to a command prompt on your computer.  To locate this, go to Programs - Accessories - Command Prompt.  This will open a window with a cursor in it.  In this window, type in telnet ftp.example.com 21 and hit the Enter button.  The screen should go blank and then tell you what FTP server the hosting company is using, for example something like 220 Serv-U FTP Server ready.

If it says something like Connecting To ftp.example.com… Could not open connection to the host on port 21: Connect failed, you might want to verify the FTP location / URL again with the hosting company.

You can also watch a video on connecting to your FTP server with Expression Web.

Create a New Web Site in Expression Web

Monday, November 17, 2008

To create a new web site in Expression Web, go to File - New - Web Site.  This will open the New dialog box with the Web Site tab activated.



You can then choose Empty Web site to have Expression Web create a web site with no pages added.  In the specify the location of the new Web site, make sure you enter the name of the web site.  In the example above, the folder mysite will contain the web site that just created. 

If you go to the location via explorer on your computer, you will see the folder mysite has a globe in the middle.  This helps you to know Expression Web (and Frontpage) considers this to be a web site.  Expression Web will create the links (paths) that you use for hyperlinks and images in your web site.  For example, if you notice the path in the anchor tag (<a>) has information pointing back to your computer, Expression Web might not recognize the folder as a web site.

You can also watch how to create a new web site in Expression Web.