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Website Template QuickStart Guide (Windows)
This guide is intended to get you started using your new website template as quickly as possible.
It takes you step-by-step through how to download and unzip your template, get started editing your template, and
get your website online.
Before anything else, the first thing you'll need to do is download your template >>
In the email you received from us detailing your order you'll notice a Download Item link beside each item. Clicking on any of these links will take you to the information page for the order (as shown below).
You may be prompted for your email address and account password (shown in the email if you are a first time customer).
This page shows a list of all items in this order, as well as other order details. Click on the Download button next to the template you would like to download.
A dialog box will appear asking where you would like to save the file.
Choose the place you want to save the template ZIP file. If you have a special folder on your computer where you work on web pages, save the file there. Otherwise, choose something easy to find such as My Documents or simply your Desktop. Once you have chosen the place to save your template, click OK. The file will begin to download.
Once the download has finished, you can now unzip your template >>
You'll notice that you only downloaded one file for the template -- a ZIP file. ZIP files are special files that can contain other files. The files inside the ZIP are compressed to make them smaller in size, making them ideal for sending multiple files over the Internet.
To actually use the template you purchased, you'll need an 'Unzipping' application to extract the files from the ZIP file. For this, you have several choices:
1. Windows XP
If you use Windows XP, no applications need to be downloaded. Windows XP has built in support for dealing with ZIP files and makes them look like folders (XP refers to them as 'compressed folders'). To extract the files, follow these steps:
- In Explorer, Right click on the ZIP file
- Click on Extract All
- Choose the folder you wish to extract to and click Next
- Click Finish
2. WinZIP
If you do not have Windows XP, you can download an excellent application named WinZip from here. Once you have downloaded and installed WinZip:
- In Explorer, Right click on the ZIP file
- Click on Extract to...
- Choose the folder you wish to extract to and click Extract
Once you have unzipped the ZIP file, open the folder you extracted it to. You should now see one or more HTML files in addition to several other files.
Now you can move on to editing your template >>
At this point, you can now begin editing your template. While we won't get very detailed in this short guide (you can learn more about editing from our Tutorials), we'll cover the basics.
The template you purchased is made up of one or more HTML files, several JPEG/GIF images, and, if you ordered a template featuring Flash animation, several FLA/SWF files. For most of our templates, you'll find all of the JPEG/GIF images in a separate subfolder.
If you plan on altering any of the images in the template (this includes logos and button images), you will need an image editor that is capable
of opening JPEG/GIF images. The majority of image editors out there are able to open them so this shouldn't be a problem. If you have an image editor
already, simply open the JPG or GIF image you wish to change. Otherwise, we have several recommendations:
Note: If you purchased a template that features Flash, please consult the template's included documentation. If you also plan on extensively
editing the Flash files you will need Flash.
If you have experience working with web pages already, you can go ahead and start working on the template in the manner you are used to. Simply open the HTML files in your HTML editor or text editor of choice and go. If not, you have several choices:
1. Download or Purchase a HTML Editor
This is by far the simplest choice. An HTML editor provides you with a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), drag and drop interface to work with your template. Simply use your mouse to drag elements around, choose areas to edit, or any of the other tools the editor provides. Many modern HTML editors also provide more powerful features, such as built in Publish-to-Web capabilities.
Below are several HTML editors we recommend that will work with our templates:
If you decide to use a HTML editor, working with them is as simple as opening the template's HTML file. For more details on using a particular editor, please check out our HTML Editor Guides.
2. Learn HTML
HTML is the language of the World Wide Web. Every page you see on the Internet is written at some point in a special language known as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). Web servers send files written in this language to your web browser, which then reads the language and draws the page you see.
HTML has somewhat of a learning curve if you've never done this sort of thing before, but learning it is highly recommended if you have the time. Below are a few links to some excellent resources for starting out with HTML:
If you decide to learn HTML, no special editor is needed as a simple text editor such as Notepad will suffice. However, many of the modern HTML editors also include modes that let you work with the HTML code of a page directly. So if the jump to working only with HTML code is too big of a step right now, using a HTML editor can give you the best of both worlds.
3. Hire a Web Designer
If the work you need done to your template is beyond what you're able to do yourself, you may want to consider hiring a Web Designer to do the work for you.
You may be thinking, "What? I just paid for a template, now I have to pay someone else to make it work for me?" Web Designers can be quite expensive to hire, but that's only because their fees usually include coming up with a design concept from scratch, which is no easy task. However, since you'll be providing them with a complete template to work from their fees will be considerably lower.
There are countless designers out there of varying skills and price ranges. We recommend browsing through Google's directory
listing for Web Designers.
If you choose to work on the template yourself, be sure to check out our editing guides for help with common editing tasks.
Once you've created the pages for your website and finished editing, the next step is to get your website online >>
You should now have a complete website ready on your computer based on the template you purchased. The next step is getting the website online. If you're using a HTML editor that includes a built-in publishing feature, we strongly recommend you try using that. For more information on that feature, please consult the help documentation for your HTML editor.
For most people, the first step of getting a site online requires picking a web bost. Web hosts are companies or groups that store (or host) websites on their web servers, which are computers that are always on and connected to very high speed Internet connections. When someone types in your website's address to go there, the web server is contacted and 'serves' them the website in their browser. There are many, many web hosting companies out there -- some are free, some are not. Below are a few web hosts you may consider looking into:
Note: Your Internet Service Provider (Comcast, Bellsouth, etc.) may provide you with free web space as a customer. Please consult your ISP if you know this is the case and wish to use your web space with them.
Depending on your budget, you may want to also purchase a domain name (www.yourwebsite.com, for example) for your website if you don't already have one. How you set this up largely depends on which web host you decide to go with, so more details can be provided by them.
Once you've picked a web host and set up your account with them, the final step is to upload your site to the web server. The instructions provided below apply to most web hosts, but if your web host provides alternative instructions please consult those instead.
Most web hosts let you connect and upload your website's files using what's known as FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Simply put, it's a way to copy files from your computer to the web server much like copying files between two folders on your own computer. To use FTP, you'll need a FTP client.
If you don't already have a FTP client for Windows, we recommend WSFTP. You can download it for free from
here. We also have a
step-by-step WSFTP guide that shows you how to upload your website's files to your web server.
And that's the end of this QuickStart guide. If you need more help, be sure to check out our other guides,
our frequently asked questions, or feel free to contact us.
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