Newbie Q: web site directory structure

nj_dilettante wrote:

 > /mail
 > /public_ftp
 > /public_html
 > /cgi-bin
 > /tmp
 > /www

Basically, any pages you want on your site go in the public_html[1]
folder, and any CGI scripts[2] that you have should go in the cgi-bin
folder. You can safely ignore the other folders. Do NOT try to delete any
of these folders though (although likeliness is you couldn't delete them
anyway).

[1] Some hosts have different names for these folders. Some may call it
www (as yours appears to have an alias for) or may call it http_docs or
something similar.

[2] Programs, often written in Perl, that are used to dynamically generate
pages on your site. If you are new to all this, as I see you are, then the
likeliness is that you won't use this folder either.

--
Dylan Parry - <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.DylanParry.com" target="_blank">http://www.DylanParry.com</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Newbie Q: web site directory structure 

"nj_dilettante" <nj_dilettante.RemoveThis@att.net> wrote in
news:gSE7b.133243$0v4.9758164@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net:

 > I'm setting up my first non-templated web site and have no clue about
 > how to use/set up web site directory structures. I'd like to conform
 > to usual conventions from the start.
 >
 > First, do all web hosts provide you with the same basic directory
 > structure when they set up your account?
 >
 > I've got:
 >
 > /mail
 > /public_ftp
 > /public_html
 > /cgi-bin
 > /tmp
 > /www
 >
 > I finally figured out that index.html goes into /public_html, but am
 > lost as to where to put things after that. And what's the WWW
 > directory for? I'm assuming its some sort of alias since it points me
 > to /public_html.
 >
 > Is there some source for learning this basic stuff without having to
 > bother other people? (I'd like to save your good will for more
 > important questions!)

there isn't really a 'standard' setup for directory structures, since
I've seen em all over the map.

You may want to practice good file organization yourself, though, as you
build out a site. (Just to make it easier to find components)

For mine, this might be a typical structure:

/public_html
  /cgi-bin
   /libraries
  /images
   /banners
   /headers
  /templates
  /section1
  /section2 (etc)
  /protecteddir

--
Marc Bissonnette
/ Perl / CGI / Database / Dynamic Web Content Control /
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.internalysis.com" target="_blank">http://www.internalysis.com</a>
Looking for a new ISP? <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.canadianisp.com" target="_blank">http://www.canadianisp.com</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Newbie Q: web site directory structure 

"Marc Bissonnette" <dragnet RemoveThis @internalysis.com> wrote in message
news:Xns93F26B897AC25dragnetinternalysisc@206.172.150.13...
 > "nj_dilettante" <nj_dilettante RemoveThis @att.net> wrote in
 > news:gSE7b.133243$0v4.9758164@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net:
 >
  > > I'm setting up my first non-templated web site and have no clue about
  > > how to use/set up web site directory structures. I'd like to conform
  > > to usual conventions from the start.
  > >
  > > First, do all web hosts provide you with the same basic directory
  > > structure when they set up your account?
  > >
  > > I've got:
  > >
  > > /mail
  > > /public_ftp
  > > /public_html
  > > /cgi-bin
  > > /tmp
  > > /www
  > >
  > > I finally figured out that index.html goes into /public_html, but am
  > > lost as to where to put things after that. And what's the WWW
  > > directory for? I'm assuming its some sort of alias since it points me
  > > to /public_html.
  > >
  > > Is there some source for learning this basic stuff without having to
  > > bother other people? (I'd like to save your good will for more
  > > important questions!)
 >
 > there isn't really a 'standard' setup for directory structures, since
 > I've seen em all over the map.
 >
 > You may want to practice good file organization yourself, though, as you
 > build out a site. (Just to make it easier to find components)
 >
 > For mine, this might be a typical structure:
 >
 > /public_html
 > /cgi-bin
 > /libraries
 > /images
 > /banners
 > /headers
 > /templates
 > /section1
 > /section2 (etc)
 > /protecteddir
 >
 > --
 > Marc Bissonnette
 > / Perl / CGI / Database / Dynamic Web Content Control /
<font color=purple> > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.internalysis.com</font" target="_blank">http://www.internalysis.com</font</a>>
<font color=purple> > Looking for a new ISP? <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.canadianisp.com</font" target="_blank">http://www.canadianisp.com</font</a>>

Thanks - "good practice" is what I'm after. I've been a mainframe developer
for years and years, and know that I need/want things organized, but I don't
yet know what those 'things' are in the web development world! And I REALLY
don't want to have to do major restructuring when I find out that my initial
organization doesn't work too well.

BTW - what would you put in /protecteddir?<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Newbie Q: web site directory structure 

"nj_dilettante" <nj_dilettante.TakeThisOut@att.net> wrote in
news:UkH7b.133367$0v4.9769831@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net:

 > "Marc Bissonnette" <dragnet.TakeThisOut@internalysis.com> wrote in message
 > news:Xns93F26B897AC25dragnetinternalysisc@206.172.150.13...
  >> "nj_dilettante" <nj_dilettante.TakeThisOut@att.net> wrote in
  >> news:gSE7b.133243$0v4.9758164@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net:
  >>
   >> > I'm setting up my first non-templated web site and have no clue
   >> > about how to use/set up web site directory structures. I'd like to
   >> > conform to usual conventions from the start.
   >> >
   >> > First, do all web hosts provide you with the same basic directory
   >> > structure when they set up your account?
   >> >
   >> > I've got:
   >> >
   >> > /mail
   >> > /public_ftp
   >> > /public_html
   >> > /cgi-bin
   >> > /tmp
   >> > /www
   >> >
   >> > I finally figured out that index.html goes into /public_html, but
   >> > am lost as to where to put things after that. And what's the WWW
   >> > directory for? I'm assuming its some sort of alias since it points
   >> > me to /public_html.
   >> >
   >> > Is there some source for learning this basic stuff without having
   >> > to bother other people? (I'd like to save your good will for more
   >> > important questions!)
  >>
  >> there isn't really a 'standard' setup for directory structures, since
  >> I've seen em all over the map.
  >>
  >> You may want to practice good file organization yourself, though, as
  >> you build out a site. (Just to make it easier to find components)
  >>
  >> For mine, this might be a typical structure:
  >>
  >> /public_html
  >> /cgi-bin
  >> /libraries
  >> /images
  >> /banners
  >> /headers
  >> /templates
  >> /section1
  >> /section2 (etc)
  >> /protecteddir
  >>
  >> --
  >> Marc Bissonnette
  >> / Perl / CGI / Database / Dynamic Web Content Control /
<font color=green>  >> <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.internalysis.com</font" target="_blank">http://www.internalysis.com</font</a>>
<font color=green>  >> Looking for a new ISP? <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.canadianisp.com</font" target="_blank">http://www.canadianisp.com</font</a>>
 >
 > Thanks - "good practice" is what I'm after. I've been a mainframe
 > developer for years and years, and know that I need/want things
 > organized, but I don't yet know what those 'things' are in the web
 > development world! And I REALLY don't want to have to do major
 > restructuring when I find out that my initial organization doesn't
 > work too well.
 >
 > BTW - what would you put in /protecteddir?

/protecteddir is just representational of anything you'd have in a
password protected directory (members only stuff, stuff under
development, etc.) Depending on the nature of the content in the
protected directory, you may need/want a sub-hierarchy under that dir for
images and whatnot (let's say you had engineering drawings or project
documents, etc)

Getting into good directory organization from the get-go is a _really_
good thing to do. I wish I had done that from the beginning, as there are
still a few sites I have to deal with where I shake my head at my own
lack of foresight from years ago

--
Marc Bissonnette
/ Perl / CGI / Database / Dynamic Web Content Control /
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.internalysis.com" target="_blank">http://www.internalysis.com</a>
Looking for a new ISP? <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.canadianisp.com" target="_blank">http://www.canadianisp.com</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Newbie Q: web site directory structure 

nj_dilettante wrote:
 > I'm setting up my first non-templated web site and have no clue about how to
 > use/set up web site directory structures. I'd like to conform to usual
 > conventions from the start.

There are no set conventions about subdirectories in a site; it depends
on what your site's needs are. Just try to plan things logically.

I have some notes on subdirectories here:
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://webtips.dan.info/subdir.html" target="_blank">http://webtips.dan.info/subdir.html</a>

--
== Dan ==
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Dan's Web Tips: <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://webtips.dan.info/" target="_blank">http://webtips.dan.info/</a>
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 >> Stay informed about: Newbie Q: web site directory structure