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Construction Plus online support
An explanation of terms and instructions.
Contents
Construction Plus Support:
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), or the Web for short, is
a vast collection of hypertext "pages" (screens) which
can contain text, graphics, sound files, and links to
other pages or resources.
Navigating the Web
The easiest way to get around the Web is to follow links.
Links: Text will usually be marked in a different
colour from the rest of the text, and/or underlined.
You can tell when you've found a link because the pointer
will change to a different shape, generally a hand.
These are similar to shortcut icons on you computer.
Pictures: may also be links. Click on them and
see where they take you!
If you know where you want to go, you can type the Web
address (properly called a URL),into the address bar.
Make sure you type the URL correctly - without spaces,
and getting all the capital letters in the right places.
Construction Plus
Email
Email (short for electronic mail) enables you to send
letters and messages to people using your computer.
A dial-up Internet account with Construction Plus gives
you an Email address. This is similar to a house address,
as it gives you a unique identity on the Internet, so
other people can write to you. In order to write to
someone, they will need an Internet account similar
to yours, with an Email address of their own. This is
their unique identity on the Internet and does not have
to be an account with Construction Plus.
Click
here to request a Construction plus e-mail account
Offline vs Online Email
Although Email doesn't allow you to have a conversation
(like a 'Chat' program), the vast majority of the Mail
programs available allow you to read and write your
Emails 'offline'. This means that you can write as long,
and as many, Emails as you want, without being connected
to the Internet via your telephone line, thus saving
you money. When you're ready to send your Emails, only
then do you need to connect. Once connected, the Emails
will be sent and you can also check your mail. This
will download any mail direct to your system, after
which you can disconnect to read your Emails and write
any replies, without running up a phone bill.
Construction Plus Support:
News Groups
News enables you to make your thoughts or questions
readable by the world.
If you have a question or a problem, or wish to make
your opinions known to like-minded people (or sometimes
unlike-minded people) then this is a way to do so. The
world of News is split into thousands of individual
Newsgroups, covering a huge range of topics.
Any number of these Newsgroups can be joined (or 'subscribed
to') and messages can be written to the group. This
message (or 'posting') can then be read by anyone else
who has subscribed to that group. Similarly, you will
be able to see what other people have written and reply
if you want to, or post a brand new message in the group.
Each new message, along with any replies that are posted,
are called 'threads'.
Offline or Online?
There are two ways you can deal with the newsgroups,
depending on the time and resources you have available:
Online: You can connect to the news server, collect
the postings from your subscribed newsgroups (using
your news reader) and then read and respond to them.
All while you are connected to the Internet.
Offline: If you do not want to stay connected
whilst reading the postings, there is an alternative.
Once you have collected all the postings from your subscribed
Newsgroups, you can disconnect from the Internet entirely
and then read through the postings at you leisure. If
you want to respond to any of the postings, you can
prepare your replies offline and then connect to the
Internet and post them all at once.
Construction Plus
Support: Publishing your own web pages
Producing a web page or site is easy! You have the
web space just waiting to be used!
There are four steps to putting a site up, and we'll
lead you through them.
- Choose your topic. As you can imagine, the Internet
has web sites on just about every subject, so it's
a good idea to make it as interesting as possible.
As far as we're concerned, we don't mind what you
put up as long as it's non-commercial, in "good taste"
and doesn't break the law; a site breaking these rules
will be terminated immediately by the Webmaster! Check
here for a copy of our web terms and conditions.
- Write your page. The language web pages are written
in is called Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML). Don't
worry, that probably sounds a lot worse than it really
is. The easy way to create a web page is to use an
HTML editor. (In fact if you have Microsoft Word 97
or later you can use the 'save as html' option to
create pages). These let you choose where you would
like the words and pictures to be displayed and write
the HTML code for you. Alternatively you can learn
how to write the HTML code yourself. (That isn't as
hard as it might seem, there are lots of books and
online tutorials to help you along the way).
- Upload your webpages and any associated images
to our webserver using File Transfer Protocol (FTP
- instructions follow). Doing this displays the web
pages on the Web.
Two FTP clients that Construction Plus will work with
are:
Both require licences if you intend to put them to
a commercial use. Others will work too, if you already
have them installed, these are just easy to download.
- View your website
We'll try to lead you through the process of setting
this all up.
Getting Published
For PC users we suggest using a program called Ws-Ftp.
If you don't have a copy of Ws-Ftp Grab it here.
Once you have your copy of Ws-Ftp installed, open it
and on the following screen fill in the following information:
User Profile: Your Username
Host Name: pages.constructionplus.net
Host Type: automatic detect
User ID: Your username
Password: Your password
Account: Leave blank
Comment: Leave Blank
Once you have filled in the information, select the
tab: Advanced.
Put a tick in the Passive Transfers box.
Click Ok and then Apply
Moving Files
Ws-Ftp will now connect to your web space.
The screen on the Left is your computer. The screen
on the Right is your web space.
On the Left screen locate your index.html file. (You
must call your intended homepage index.htm or index.html).
Double clicking on the Green Arrow will take you up
to the next Directory on your computer.
When you have found your index.html file click on it
once to highlight it. To Upload this file, click on
the Arrow in the centre, that points to the right.
Ws-Ftp will let you know when the file has been transferred.
Repeat this process for each file you want to upload.
Important: All graphics files must be uploaded separately
from your html files. Otherwise they won't display.
If you want to download a file from your web space
to your computer, just reverse the process. (Clicking
the Arrow that points to the Left.) This will leave
a copy on the web space. If you want to remove this
click on the file and then click on Delete (on the Right).
When you are finished click on Close. This will close
your connection to your web space.
If you want any help with this please contact us on
0906 326 3766 (50p a minute).
For Mac users
First you must download the
Fetch software. The file is 1mb in size, and will
take around 5 to 10 minutes to download. Double click
on the file name "fetch-303.hqx" and follow the instructions
to install the program.
When you first run Fetch you will get a screen full
of information. To copy files (pages, pictures etc.)
for your web space from your computer to the Internet
you need to remove the information on this screen so
you are left with a blank screen and enter the following
information:
Host: pages.constructionplus.net
User ID: Your username
Password: Your password
Directory a single slash ("/")
Once you click OK the computer will then connect you
to the web space on the Internet that holds the files
(pages, pictures etc.) and folders for your web site
and will display them as a list.
From here, to copy files from your computer to the
Internet, click on the Put Files button. This will then
show a box were you select the file(s) you want to copy.
Or to copy files from your web space back to your computer
select the file on your web space you want to copy and
then click the Get File button and then select where
on your computer you want to store the file.
You can also drag files to and from the Fetch window
from an open folder. When using Fetch, keep your local
site folder (the folder on your hard drive where you
are building your site) open next to the Fetch window.
Simply drag the files you want to upload to the server
into the Fetch window, and vice versa.
If you want any help with this please contact us on
0906 326 3766 (50p a minute).
Viewing your website
4. Viewing your website. Once you have finished building
your website, and you have uploaded it to your Construction
Plus webspace, you (and anyone else) can look at your
site from anywhere in the world simply by typing into
their browsers' address field: http://pages.constructionplus.net/yourusername
You may need to click 'refresh' on your browser if
you have it open as you are uploading files to make
sure it is looking at the current version. You can save
the page address in your browser by adding it to your
'Favourites' or 'Bookmarks' using the relevant pull
down menu on your browser.
Construction Plus Support:
FAQ (Frequently asked questions)
How do I get extra email addresses?
Click on signup and repeat the procedure for each new
address. If you click setup my computer at the end you
will create a new dialup account each time.
How many email addresses can I have?
As many as you want.
How do I set up multiple email accounts in Outlook
Express?
Each time you sign up a new account and email address
and click the 'set-up my computer' button the new account
is added to your Outlook Express. You can check these
accounts by going to the Tools menu in Outlook Express
and selecting Accounts and then Mail.
What are the Construction Plus server details?
Incoming(POP3): POP3.constructionplus.net
Outgoing(SMTP): SMTP.constructionplus.net
News: news.constructionplus.net
How do I check my email?
Click on the email button in Internet Explorer. This
will open Outlook Express, and from there you can read,
write, send and save email messages. For help using
Outlook Express, hit the 'F1' key on your keyboard.
How can I check my email when I am away from the
machine I set up my account on?
Go into Outlook Express. Click on Accounts in the Tools
menu. Click on Add and Mail. Follow the 'wizard' through,
adding your name, your constructionplus.net e-mail address,
the POP3 an SMTP server details - Incoming(POP3): POP3.constructionplus.net,
Outgoing(SMTP): SMTP.constructionplus.net, your account
name (your e-mail minus the @constructionplus.net) and
password. You will then have access to your e-mail from
that machine. Remember to remove that account from Outlook
Express later if you do not want that machine to always
be able to pick up your e-mail.
Can I use Netscape with Construction Plus?
Yes if you have it installed.
Can I use other email programs?
Yes, but you will need to configure them by entering
your account details and the Construction Plus server
details.
How much free web space do I get?
20 Megabytes
Can I still use other ISPs?
Yes.
Why can't I get through to Construction Plus using
my modem?
If you have an external modem, check that it is switched
on and plugged into a power source, a phone socket and
the correct socket in your computer. Also make sure
that no other extension is being used. You may also
need to turn off call waiting. If you are dialling from
the office or a hotel you may need to add a '9' before
the number. Adding a comma (,) after the 9 in those
circumstances is sometimes necessary too.
Is the Construction Plus password case sensitive?
Yes it is
How can I change my password?
Contact Technical Support on 0906 296 5566 (50p a minute).
They will ask you some questions to confirm your identity.
What should I do if I forget my password?
Contact Technical Support on 0906 296 5566 (50p a minute).
They will ask you some questions to confirm your identity
before issuing a password.
How do I create my own personal web page?
If you are new to the net, create a document with a
software programme such as Word for Windows or Frontpage
Express. These programmes can convert your documents
automatically into HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language),
the standard for web pages. There are books and online
tutorials on HTML if you want to learn more about programming.
Web pages can be as simple or as complex as you wish.
You can include elements such as photographs, animations
or sound. You may need additional equipment, software
and expertise to add these successfully to your web
page.
For help creating and publishing your web pages see
our Getting Published
section.
How can I pay for things on the net?
By credit/debit card. As long as they are via a secure
server (your browser will automatically tell you if
you are using a secure server), credit card transactions
are as safe or safer than any offline credit card transaction.
What are viruses and should I be worried?
A virus is a software programme that modifies your computer
and damages the data. The programme has to be downloaded
onto your system. You can help guard against this by
installing an anti-virus programme on your PC and updating
it frequently. More importantly if you receive emails
with an attachment from someone you don't know you should
delete it without reading it. This is the most common
way that viruses are spread.
Can I reduce the cost of the phone calls to go online?
Yes you can. You can register the Construction Plus
dial-up number (0845 333 1851) with BT's Friends and
Family. Dial 150 for BT customer services. If you are
on a different operator, check with them if they operate
a similar service. You can also reduce costs by working
offline when you prepare or read email messages.
How can I control what my children have access to
on the web?
The best way is to make sure you always supervise them.
In addition you can also download filtering software
such as 'Netnanny'.
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