Using Postinfo.html File for Posting Web Pages

Last reviewed: September 4, 1997
Article ID: Q163838

1.00 1.00a 1.10 WINDOWS kbhowto

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Web Publishing Wizard versions 1.0, 1.0a, 1.1 for Windows 95
Microsoft Web Publishing Wizard versions 1.0, 1.0a, 1.1 for Windows NT 4.0

SUMMARY

If your Internet service provider (ISP) provides space for publishing personal Web pages, you can use Web Publishing Wizard (WPW) to post your personal Web pages. Normally, you must first manually configure WPW before posting your pages.

To prevent you from having to manually configure WPW, ISPs can place a file named Postinfo.html in the root folder of Web servers. This file contains all the server-specific information that you would normally have to enter. The file makes posting Web pages faster and easier.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft Technical Support does not support the writing or modification of Postinfo.html files. This article contains information describing how to write a new Postinfo.html file or tailor an existing one. You can find additional information about Postinfo.html files and WPW at the following Microsoft Web site:

   http://www.microsoft.com/windows/software/Webpost/default.htm

Postinfo.html File Parameters

BaseURL:

A fully qualified Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to the user's content folder on the Web server.

This URL should be the same URL that someone would enter in a Web browser to view the user's content. Typically, this parameter is similar to:

   BaseURL="http://<servername>/~$USERNAME"

The <servername> parameter is the ISP's Web server. The "~$USERNAME" parameter is a replaceable parameter that is replaced with a tilde ("~") prefixed to the user's login name. This is done for you by WPW. If the ISP's Web server software identifies personal Web space by a URL prefixed with a tilde, this field should be left alone.

BasePath:

A File Transfer Protocol (FTP)-accessible path to the same content referenced in the BaseURL line.

Note that the BasePath and the BaseURL parameters may not be the same thing. National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NSCA)-compliant servers usually use the "public_html" folder in the user's home folder to store the user's Web pages. The format for this parameter is:

   BasePath="<ftp directory>"

Some ISPs may use different folder naming conventions, or their Web server software may use different methods to provide personal Web space.

FtpServerName:

The name of the FTP server WPW connects to for file transfers. The syntax is

   FtpServerName="<servername>"

where <servername> is the name of the FTP server that contains the user's personal Web space.

XferType:

The type of transfer method used by WPW to transfer files. This option contains one parameter (a protocol specification) and takes the form:

   XferType="<protocol>"

When used to connect to a server on the Internet, this option generally specifies the use of File Transfer Protocol (FTP). In the intranet environment, it can be set to either FTP or SMB. (SMB, or Server Message Block protocol, is used to connect to PCs running Microsoft networking software.)

DefaultPage:

Name of default Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) document.

This is the name of the document that the Web server looks for by default if a specific document is not referenced in the URL. In most cases, this is either Default.htm or Index.htm. The syntax is:

   DefaultPage="<default page name>"

VerifyFiles:

This parameter tells WPW to verify the user's read and write permissions on the target server path (FtpServerName + BasePath) by sending a temporary file to the server using the specified transfer method (XferType) and reading it back from the specified URL (BaseURL). The syntax is:

   VerifyFiles="< 1 or 0 >"

This is a Boolean value. A value of 1 turns the option on; a value of 0 turns the option off. It is on by default.

CreateRoot:

This parameter tells WPW to create the folder specified in BasePath if it does not exist. The syntax is:

   CreateRoot="< 1 or 0 >"

This is a Boolean value. It is on by default. It is best to leave this parameter on, so that in the event that the BasePath does not exist, WPW creates it instead of generating an error message.

Sample Postinfo.html File

The following sample Postinfo.html file demonstrates the correct structure of the Postinfo.html file for WPW version 1.1. Note that although the version number in the file is 1.0, the format also applies to version 1.1.

   <HTML>
     <!-- postinfo.html version 1.0 -->

     <HEAD>
       <TITLE>
        Web Posting Information
       </TITLE>
     </HEAD>

   <BODY>
     <!--
       WebPost
       version="1.0"
       BaseURL="http://example.microsoft.com/~$username"
       BasePath="public_html"
       FtpServerName="example.microsoft.com"
       XferType="FTP"
       DefaultPage="default.htm"
       VerifyFiles="1"
       CreateRoot="1"
     -->

   <H1>
     Web Posting Information
   </H1>
   </BODY>
   </HTML>

KBCategory: kbhowto
KBSubcategory: Webpostw95 Webpostnt
Additional reference words: 1.00 1.00a 1.10
Keywords : webpostnt webpostw95 kbhowto
Version : 1.00 1.00a 1.10
Platform : WINDOWS
glossary

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Last reviewed: September 4, 1997
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