paul_r
18th May 2006, 12:20 AM
A common question now so I'll add it here ...
Many people want to add downloadable files to their site. These might be registration or application forms, rules, training guides, etc. For this tutorial I'll use the downloadable 'First Aid basics' that I've added on the demo site for the Supporting Your Sport scheme. You'll see what this ends up looking like on THIS (http://www.supportingyoursport.com/_mgxroot/page_10760.html) page. It's simple enough - just follow the 5 steps below carefully.
Step 1: create your pdf document, in this case 'firstaid.pdf'
Step 2: Create a folder (or 'Directory' - same thing) on your site for storing all your downloadable documents.
Open your site Control Panel and click on 'Files' on the top menu, or 'File Manager' in the 'Your Account' section (both do the same job).
Click on the folder icon beside 'Public_html'
Scroll to the bottom of the page to where it says 'Create New Folder' -> type into the yellow box 'downloads' (without the ' ') and click the 'Create' button.
A new folder called 'downloads' will have been added to the list above (you may have to click your browsers Refresh button to see it).Step 3: add the file you want to download to your site.
Click on that new 'Downloads' folder.
At the bottom of the next page you will see a long button 'Upload files to current directory' -> click that.
You will see 8 boxes where you can add files from your PC to the Downloads folder. You can add up to 8 files at a time to that directory but in this case we're just adding 1. Click on the first 'Browse' button and navigate to the 'firstaid.pdf' file you created on your PC in Step 1, and Add it to the list.
Click the 'Upload Files' button to upload 'firstaid.pdf' from your PC to your webspace.Step 4: Create the link to the 'firstaid.pdf' file in your website.
Open your sitebuilder (or whatever you are using to build your site) and go to the page you want to add the download - in this case the 'Downloads' page (original, huh?)
Go to the word you want to use as the link to the downloadable document - in this example I've added it to the word 'Download' in the box titled 'First Aid basics' but I could just as easily make the words 'First Aid basics' be the actual link so we'll do that too for this tutorial.
Highlight the words 'First Aid basics' and click on the little chain-link icon on the top menu ...http://www.visport.co.uk/forums/images/download_tut.jpg
That chain-link icon represents a link (obvious once you know!) to something. Once you click it another page opens that allows you to determine what the highlighted words link TO.
Down the left side you will see a list of options. From these you can select what to the link the words to e.g. an 'External Web Page', or a page within your site. In this case select 'External Web Page'
Now at the top of the main section you will see a small white panel containing 'http://' and a longer white panel where you should type in the address of the file you uploaded in Step 3 above. In this case that address is www.supportingyoursport.com/downloads/firstaid.pdf' (http://www.supportingyoursport.com/downloads/firstaid.pdf')
i.e. www.your-domain-name/the-name-of-the-download-folder-you-created-in-Step-2/the-filename-you-uploaded-in-Step-3 (http://www.your-domain-name/the-name-of-the-download-folder-you-created-in-Step-2/the-filename-you-uploaded-in-Step-3).
Now click the 'OK' button at the top-right of that window ...Step 5: Re-publish your site and you're done.
Click the 'Publish' button at top right of the next screen to upload the changes and on your live site you should have the selected words acting as a link to download the file.Any questions, post and ask. :)
Many people want to add downloadable files to their site. These might be registration or application forms, rules, training guides, etc. For this tutorial I'll use the downloadable 'First Aid basics' that I've added on the demo site for the Supporting Your Sport scheme. You'll see what this ends up looking like on THIS (http://www.supportingyoursport.com/_mgxroot/page_10760.html) page. It's simple enough - just follow the 5 steps below carefully.
Step 1: create your pdf document, in this case 'firstaid.pdf'
Step 2: Create a folder (or 'Directory' - same thing) on your site for storing all your downloadable documents.
Open your site Control Panel and click on 'Files' on the top menu, or 'File Manager' in the 'Your Account' section (both do the same job).
Click on the folder icon beside 'Public_html'
Scroll to the bottom of the page to where it says 'Create New Folder' -> type into the yellow box 'downloads' (without the ' ') and click the 'Create' button.
A new folder called 'downloads' will have been added to the list above (you may have to click your browsers Refresh button to see it).Step 3: add the file you want to download to your site.
Click on that new 'Downloads' folder.
At the bottom of the next page you will see a long button 'Upload files to current directory' -> click that.
You will see 8 boxes where you can add files from your PC to the Downloads folder. You can add up to 8 files at a time to that directory but in this case we're just adding 1. Click on the first 'Browse' button and navigate to the 'firstaid.pdf' file you created on your PC in Step 1, and Add it to the list.
Click the 'Upload Files' button to upload 'firstaid.pdf' from your PC to your webspace.Step 4: Create the link to the 'firstaid.pdf' file in your website.
Open your sitebuilder (or whatever you are using to build your site) and go to the page you want to add the download - in this case the 'Downloads' page (original, huh?)
Go to the word you want to use as the link to the downloadable document - in this example I've added it to the word 'Download' in the box titled 'First Aid basics' but I could just as easily make the words 'First Aid basics' be the actual link so we'll do that too for this tutorial.
Highlight the words 'First Aid basics' and click on the little chain-link icon on the top menu ...http://www.visport.co.uk/forums/images/download_tut.jpg
That chain-link icon represents a link (obvious once you know!) to something. Once you click it another page opens that allows you to determine what the highlighted words link TO.
Down the left side you will see a list of options. From these you can select what to the link the words to e.g. an 'External Web Page', or a page within your site. In this case select 'External Web Page'
Now at the top of the main section you will see a small white panel containing 'http://' and a longer white panel where you should type in the address of the file you uploaded in Step 3 above. In this case that address is www.supportingyoursport.com/downloads/firstaid.pdf' (http://www.supportingyoursport.com/downloads/firstaid.pdf')
i.e. www.your-domain-name/the-name-of-the-download-folder-you-created-in-Step-2/the-filename-you-uploaded-in-Step-3 (http://www.your-domain-name/the-name-of-the-download-folder-you-created-in-Step-2/the-filename-you-uploaded-in-Step-3).
Now click the 'OK' button at the top-right of that window ...Step 5: Re-publish your site and you're done.
Click the 'Publish' button at top right of the next screen to upload the changes and on your live site you should have the selected words acting as a link to download the file.Any questions, post and ask. :)