Here are some basic guides for publishing your iWeb site to a web hosting server. Remember, you need to do this before July, if you are currently hosting your site on MobileMe!
Also, it’s quite a bit easier to do this in iLife 2009 and later, so it may be worth upgrading if you plan to stick with iWeb as your web publishing software in the foreseeable future!
For iLife 2008 and earlier…
1) Sign up for a web hosting account and get the following details about your account:
- FTP server address
- Username and password
- Directory/Initial Path (like public_html)
2) Once you have these details, download an file transfer (FTP) application. We like Transmit by Panic Software, but there are many to choose from.
3) Export your website from iWeb:
- Choose File > Publish to Folder
- Select the Desktop and press the Publish button
4) Launch Transmit and choose FTP in the right hand top section of the Transmit window.
5) Enter the details from step 1, above.
Note: If you plan to update your site regularly, you may want to click the blue flag with the + sign to add this location to your favorites. Then you won’t have to renter this information every time you update your site.
6) Drag the contents of your iWeb published folder into the blank window at the right of the screen. This may take some time to copy, depending on the size of your site and your internet connection speed.
Rinse and repeat! You can update your site but repeating step 3 and 6 at any time. Good luck!
For iLife 2009 and later…
This is a little easier if you have iLife 2009 or later. Just follow these steps:
1) Sign up for a web hosting account and get the following details about your account:
- FTP server address
- Username and password
- Directory/Initial Path (like public_html)
2) Launch iWeb and update your website content, if needed.
3) Click the main tab of the website in the left hand side of the iWeb window.
- Choose FTP Server from the “Publish To” pull down menu.
- Enter your FTP settings (from step 1, above) in this “Site Publishing Settings” page.
- Enter your website URL (like https://www.macorama.com).
- Add a Facebook account (optional).
4) Choose File > Publish Entire Site.
Repeat step 4 to update your site anytime you make changes!
–Jason
