How to update your site
Introduction
Below are instructions for updating simple text items on your Cinderella Webdesign-created site. You can also apply these instructions to sites created by other firms, provided that the text of your site is contained in HTML actually contained in the source code of the site, and not generated by external scripts.
What to do
In order to change the content of your site you have to get into the files where your site is stored on the server (large computer) of your webhosting company.
Go to your webhosting company's website, they usually have a special section for clients where they can log using a User ID and password, to gain access to a control panel for their website (screen allows you to manage your site and make adjustments to it).
Log in and go to the control panel. If you can choose from multiple options (hosting, email, domain names, etc) choose the hosting option. You are looking something that says "File Manager".
Go into the file manager. Here you will see a number of folders where different files are contained relating to your website. While in the File Manager area, be careful not to delete any files or make undue changes to them - this could prove very detrimental to your site.
Go to the folder that says "public html". This is the folder where all the files that are visible on the net are stored. Each web page has its own file. Find the file for the page you want to change. The file will end with the extension .html or .htm. You can find out what the file name is that you need by looking up the page you want to change on the net and looking at the last part of the address in the address box. For example, if a page is called "www.mydomain.com/news.html" then the file you are looking for in the public html folder is called "news.html".
Get into this file (usually there is an "open file" or "edit file" option on the screen. If you are making very simple changes, such as replacing one paragraph by another, just replace the text (do not change the codes in the triangular brackets <>), click the "save" option and get out of their. Your new text will now appear on the net. (You may have the click the "Refresh" button on that page before the new page will actually show up.)
If you want to make more complicated changes, such as adding a paragraph, go to www.w3schools.com and read the following sections of their free HTML tutorial. HTML Home, HTML Introduction, HTML Elements and HTML Basic Tags. If you also want to add a list of things with bullets in front of it, also read the section HTML Lists. Understanding of these basics of HTML will enable you to understand and make changes to the HTML codes that immediately surround the text you are trying to change.
Make sure that while you are reading you also make use of the Try-It-Yourself examples, so that you get some practice with it as you're studying. This will take a little bit of study, but it should not take more than about an hour and you will be able to make any simple text updates you want to from there on out!
Disclaimer: The above information is solely offered as helpful advice. You are entirely responsible for any changes you make to the files of your site and any consequences thereof. Cinderella Webdesign cannot at any time be held legally liable for damage or loss resulting from application of the above information. If you are a client of Cinderella Webdesign, you may contact us at any time for assistance in updating your site, whether by helpful information or in having us update the site for you for a marginal fee. Additionally, sites that have been created by Cinderella Webdesign can in the event of calamity be restored to their original condition by uploading back-ups of the original page files to the server at any time. Contact us for assistance.
