You are going to create a variety of files as you develop a website. These files will be stored on your local computer. It's important to keep your files in organized locations so they are easy to find and manage.
Root Directories
A web site will live in some "root directory" on a web server's hard drive. All of the HTML files, image files, and other resources should go inside this root directory, or some sub-directory below the root. As you create web pages on your own computer, you will want to store all of those files within a root directory that you have created just for that web site.
In this class, you will create more than one web site. So, we also recommend you create a common folder or working area that will hold all of your web site root directories. Make sure you create this folder in some easy-to-remember location. Then, you can create root directories for each of your web sites underneath that common folder. That way, your projects are easy to find and manage.
The example below shows how we've created a "MyProjects" working folder on a Windows computer under the user's "Documents" area. This "MyProjects" folder will be our working area for all projects. We then created a "CreepyCrawlies" sub-folder as the root directory for an example website.
We have also placed several HTML files in that "CreepyCrawlies" root directory and also added an "images" sub-folder that will hold our image files. The actual location of your working folder is not important; just make sure you remember where you are placing your projects so you can find them later!
If you have more than one web site, you would create more than one root directory. So you might also create a "MyDogs" folder underneath "MyProjects" as a second root for a website about dogs. Make sure to keep your work neat and organized with a separate root directory for each site.
In our examples, we are going to use the "MyProjects" folder as the top-level working area. On a Windows computer this might be stored under the user's "Documents" directory or as "<YourUserName>/MyProjects" on Mac OS. You can pick a different working folder, but our examples will show these directory structures.Throughout this first semester, you are going to be building a website about "Raptors". We'll start off very simply and then make the website more complex as you learn new HTML skills.Since we are making a web site about Raptors, let's begin by making a "Raptors" root directory on your computer.If you have spent any time on the computer, you have probably experienced some sort of computer error. The screen freezes, the program kicks you off or you see the dreaded Windows blue screen or Apple's "spinning circle of death". These problems can cause you to lose hours of work or, sometimes, your entire computer!
These types of errors mean it's important to "back up" your important files. When you back up your files, you make a copy them in another location for safe keeping. If you ever lose your files, you can copy them from backup into your main working area. Ideally, your backup location will be outside of your computer itself, perhaps on a flash drive, shared network drive, or even stored in an online cloud service.One simple backup approach is to copy files to another location on your hard drive when you reach a good stopping point. You can create a folder such as "MyProjectsBackups" right next to your "MyProjects" folder. Then use this location to store backup copies of your work after each chapter.
So far, there are no files in your "Raptors" web site folder. But we can practice making a backup copy of the entire folder so you'll know how to do this later, once you start creating web pages.
Instructions
Open your Windows Explorer, File Explorer or Finder program
Move to your "MyProjects" folder.
Select the "Raptors" folder in the right side window.
Copy the folder by pressing the CTRL+C keys (Windows) or the Command+C keys (Mac) at the same time, or right-click on the folder and select "Copy".
Select the "MyProjectsBackups" folder
Paste a copy of your project by pressing CTRL+V keys (Windows) or the Command+V keys (Mac) at the same time, or right-click in an empty area in the right-side window and select "Paste".
Rename the "Raptors" backup folder inside "MyProjectsBackups" and add a number to show the chapter to which it belongs such as "Raptors-02".
To back up your "Raptors" root directory, follow these steps:
1. Open your file explorer program (Windows Explorer, File Explorer, or Finder).
2. Navigate to your "MyProjects" folder.
3. Locate the "Raptors" folder in the right-side window.
4. Copy the folder by pressing the CTRL+C keys (Windows) or the Command+C keys (Mac) simultaneously, or right-click on the folder and select "Copy."
5. Go back to the "MyProjects" folder or navigate to the location where you want to store your backups (e.g., "MyProjectsBackups" folder).
6. Paste a copy of your project by pressing CTRL+V keys (Windows) or the Command+V keys (Mac) simultaneously, or right-click in an empty area in the right-side window and select "Paste."
7. Rename the "Raptors" backup folder inside "MyProjectsBackups" by adding a number to indicate the chapter it belongs to. For example, you can rename it to "Raptors-02" to indicate it is a backup for chapter 2.
By following these steps, you have successfully created a backup copy of your "Raptors" root directory in a separate folder for safekeeping.
To create a backup of your "Raptors" web site folder, follow these step-by-step instructions:
1. Open your Windows Explorer, File Explorer, or Finder program.
2. Navigate to your "MyProjects" folder. This might be located under your "Documents" directory on Windows or "<YourUserName>/MyProjects" on Mac OS.
3. In the right-side window, locate and select the "Raptors" folder.
4. Copy the folder by pressing the CTRL+C keys (Windows) or the Command+C keys (Mac) at the same time. Alternatively, you can right-click on the folder and select "Copy".
5. Now, navigate to the "MyProjectsBackups" folder. If you haven't created this folder yet, create it in the same location as your "MyProjects" folder.
6. Paste a copy of your "Raptors" folder by pressing the CTRL+V keys (Windows) or the Command+V keys (Mac) at the same time. Alternatively, you can right-click in an empty area in the right-side window and select "Paste".
7. Finally, rename the copied folder to indicate the chapter it belongs to. For example, you can add a number to the folder name like "Raptors-02".
By following these steps, you have successfully created a backup copy of your "Raptors" web site folder in the "MyProjectsBackups" folder. This ensures that your work is safe and can be restored if anything goes wrong. Remember to repeat these steps after each chapter or when you reach a good stopping point to keep your backups up-to-date.