Web hosting – What if I use a Mac?

Web hosting is capable of working across all operating systems including Mac’s. In this article I am going to go over what you will need to manage, build and maintain a website using a Mac and free open source programs.

The first step in working with web hosting is obviously purchasing a web hosting plan. There are a million web hosts to choose from and they all have basically the same features. They will include a control panel, web space, bandwidth, and remote access called FTP.

Once you have chosen your web hosting provider now it is time to create your website. You have many options to choose from. We will start with a basic static website that uses CSS and html. I would suggest going and downloading an open source (free) template to start out.

To edit a template you will need a few program, I would suggest a graphics editor called Gimp, text editor called TextWrangler, and a wat you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) html editor Nvu. All of these programs are free to download. If you feel a little more adventurous you can start from scratch and design a site from scratch. These three tools can do that also. I would recommend doing any website modifications or design on your desktop and when it is complete and fully tested you can move on to the next step.

Your second option is to use the handy little program that came with you Mac called iWeb. This is a great program for beginners, all you have to do is pick a theme and add content. When your site has been created in iWeb you will need to publish your site to a folder and save it to your desktop.

Now that you have your site designed and the content added and everything is working properly, you will need to put your site on the hosting server. This is done through an FTP program. There are many to choose from, but lets stick with free software. Cyberduck.ch is a great program and capable of transferring files with ease. Once you have downloaded and installed Cyberduck all you have to do is enter the web address to your site and a user name. This will take you to your ftp account. Once you are logged in you will have to go to the public_html directory. In the public_html directory you will upload the contents of your website. This will include html files, images folder or any other folders inside of your main site folder on your desktop. (Only upload the files inside the main site folder)

Now that the transfer is complete you can go to your web address and view your shiny new website.

This is only a brief overview of web hosting and and what you need to get started. It is always advised to discuss your requirements with your hosting provider. A reputed web hosting company will always guide you to choose the right plan for you or your business.

About the Author

Kirk McCutcheon is the director of web operations for HOST-REA, a web hosting and web design company dedicated to providing Reliable Easy and Affordable web solutions.

Simply The Best Web Hosting Company Period!