Website setup

Cumulus allows you to create pages which can then be made available to all via the internet. There are a number of ways to do this, however all of the options have one specific pre-requisite -- you must have web space on the internet which allows standard FTP access. If you are not sure, ask your webspace provider or check the email they sent you when setting up your webspace. There will be a mention to the FTP server in the email.

Webspace is available commercially (paid) or free from a variety of sources. Your internet service provider (ISP) may provide you with some space or you can sign up to free hosting.

It is worth checking that the free provider allow FTP -- example, Google does not allow FTP as part of it’s Sites package so you can not use this with Cumulus.

Many of the ‘free’ offerings will also want to automatically insert adverts on your page, and may have other restrictions.

As well as web space you will require an FTP program. This is a tool which transfers files from your computer onto your webspace. As a minimum you will need this tool to transfer some files as a one-off at setup. There are a huge array of FTP tools, both commercial and free -- some are detailed here.

Assuming you have webspace, let us consider a number of ways to get your Cumulus data on the internet....

• Simple Website setup -- this is the easiest way, requires minimal setup from you and gets your data online in minutes. It is ideal for those who are not familiar with writing web pages.

• Customised templates -- one step on from the above method, this article tells you how to adapt the default pages Cumulus will produce

• Write your own -- for more advanced users who understand HTML (the language of web pages on the internet)