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 Signing Up With Tripod
This page contains instructions for signing up with Tripod, a company that offers free web hosting. After you sign up, you'll need to configure RoboPhoto to communicate with them. RoboPhoto will work with any web hosting provider, but Tripod is highly recommended and is used as the example here because of their high reliability and the other value added services they provide. You need a web hosting provider if you want to create web pages for viewing on the internet. RoboPhoto, by default, only creates web pages that are stored on and viewed from your local computer. Note: you can only use Tripod for non-commercial purposes. See the FAQ for Tripod alternatives. Let's get started: Sign Up With Tripod Note that the information here is correct as of this writing. There's no assurance that Tripod won't change their procedures or requirements in the future. Step #1. Go to Tripod's main page by clicking here. Wait for the page to load. Step #2. Click the 'Sign Up' link near the top of the page. Step #3. Complete Tripod's membership form. One field that you want to carefully consider is the 'Member Name'. The member name will always be a part of the web page URL. For example, if you choose 'joesmith', the URL associated with your main page would be http://members.tripod.com/joesmith. Note: For the above member name, if RoboPhoto creates a web page named 'mywebpage', the resulting URL would be http://members.tripod.com/joesmith/mywebpage. Tripod has thousands of users, so don't be surprised if the user name you select is already taken. Make sure you enter a valid e-mail address. Tripod needs this in order to send you their membership information. Be sure to read their terms and conditions before signing up. If you don't agree them, don't sign up. Step #4. After completing the membership form and clicking the 'Sign Me Up' button, you're done. Step #5. Check your e-mail for the Tripod membership info. This message is usually sent immediately after you sign up, but there could be a delay. You now have an account with Tripod. They are your 'web hosting provider' and allow you to create real web pages on the internet. Now you need to tell RoboPhoto this wonderful news. Configure RoboPhoto With Tripod's Information Before you can upload web pages to Tripod, you must configure RoboPhoto to communicate with their servers. Step #1. Start RoboPhoto and go to the main wizard screen. Step #2. Select the 'Configure RoboPhoto' option. Step #3. Click the 'Next' button. The main settings screen will appear. Step #4. Click the 'Uploading' tab. The information that you enter should look very similar to this graphic: 
Note: the information above applies to an account named 'someuser0'. Use your Tripod user name everywhere you see someuser0. Step #5. Click the 'New' button next to the 'FTP server name' field. Type in the name of Tripod's FTP server (ftp.tripod.com as of this writing), then click OK. Step #6. Complete the other fields as indicated on the screen above. Leave the 'Initial server directory' field blank. Make sure that the 'Upload locally created webpages to the FTP server' box is checked (you can always change this when creating a web page). Again, use your Tripod user name everywhere you see 'someuser0'. Step #6. Test what you entered by clicking the 'Test' button. If the test fails, it will be reported to you - click here or here for help with correcting specific errors. Step #7. If the test passed, save the information and exit the settings area by clicking the 'Save' button at the bottom of the screen. For detailed information about configuring an FTP server, especially in the event that the test fails, click on the graphic above or click here. Again, there is no assurance that Tripod won't change their FTP information making the values here incorrect. If you suspect that is the case, visit Tripod's web site and obtain the correct information. You're done. You have an account with a web hosting provider and RoboPhoto is configured to communicate with it. You can now create web pages on the internet. See the quick start page for detailed instructions for creating web pages. You're done with signing up with Tripod and configuring RoboPhoto so that it can communicate with them. Getting Your Own Domain Name A drawback to using a free web hosting provider like Tripod is that you don't get your own domain name, i.e. the URL of your web pages will be something like http://members.tripod.com/joesmith/mypictures instead of just http://www.joesmith.com/mypictures. If you want your own domain name and are willing to pay for it, follow these steps: Step #1. Select and register a domain name. Owning a domain name gives you the exclusive right to use it. This legal right costs about $35.00 USD per year. Click here to register your own domain name. Upon registering, the domain name is your legal property for as long as you pay the yearly dues. It takes about 2 days for the domain registration to become official. Step #2. Once official, contract with a web hosting provider to host it. Technically, this is same thing you did with Tripod except the web hosting provider will host your domain name instead of just giving you a URL within their domain. The cost of a typical hosting package, in addition to the yearly domain name costs, is about $15.00 USD per month, which will make your total costs about $215.00 USD per year. Relative to free web hosting providers, you'll typically get more features (more disk space, customizable e-mail addresses, mailing lists, autoresponders, etc) in return for your hard earned cash. Note: there are free web hosting providers that will host a domain name, but they are generally unreliable due to the high number of accounts they host. If you want to do it right with your own domain name, go ahead and belly up to the bar and pay for it. You can find a web hosting provider by clicking here and searching for 'web hosting'. For the price and available features, OLM.NET or aplus.net is recommended. |