Website Hosting Checklist
Critical Path Project provides FREE website hosting to non-profit organizations, allied community groups, and activists to foster the free flow of life-saving information and organize for wider social justice goals.
If the purpose of your website does not align with the statement above or you are a for-profit company, your website will NOT be approved.
Important: Critical Path only offers hosting services we DO NOT provide any web design services. If you require any web design services or maintenance services we can recommend several companies that specialize in non-profit and activism website design.
Please note: when you establish a website on the Critical Path servers, you are taking on the responsibility of maintaining it.
Critical Path has provided a checklist of things that you will need in order to host a website on Critical Path.
After reviewing these steps, please contact critpath@critpath.org or 215-525-8664 or 215-985-4448 ext. 145.
STEP 1: Have you registered a domain name?
The domain name is the primary component your website's URL or address, also thought of as your website name.
Example domain names are: critpath.org, fight.org, google.com, temple.edu, etc...
In order to host a website on Critical Path, you must register a domain name at a domain registrar such as Godaddy.com, NetworkSolutions.com, Register.com, or any similar company.
You are responsible for contacting a domain registrar. This may cost you approx. $15/year, depending on the company.
When you register your domain, you will need to provide the domain registrar with the following Critical Path Primary Name Server and Secondary Name Server:
I. DNS Name Servers
Primary Name Server ns1.critpath.org
Secondary Name Server: ns2.critpath.org
If you do not enter this information correctly, the domain name registrant will not know to point your website to the Critical Path servers and your website will not display properly.
NOTE: Web designers, please check and make sure your client or you has registered the domain before proceeding!
You can check WHOIS http://www.internic.net/whois.html to see if your domain has already been registered.
If this is something that you are unfamiliar with, we suggest that you consult a web designer before going to the next step on this checklist.
STEP 2: Do you have a web designer ready to work on the website or will you develop it yourself?
Anyone can learn to build a website. However, there are many things to know if you are not a professional web designer and you choose to build your own website.
- You should have a working knowledge of basic HTML, the language used to build websites.
- You should be familiar with and own a copy of website development software, such as DreamWeaver or Komposer. Critical Path does not support any windows web-based programs. We are only on Linux, so you can only use software that is supported by Linux. We do not provide help on how to use any of these web-design software programs.
- You are responsible for keeping your applications and scripts up to date. If your scripts or software cause a vulnerability we will temporarily take your site down and ask that you update and repair your software immediately.
- Anything requiring more advanced knowledge, such as Java or PERL scripts or databases, you will be responsible for figuring out or hiring someone to do the work for you.
If you feel that the challenge of building a website requires too much time or effort, we encourage you to hire a web designer to develop your website.
A web designer is a professional who is skilled in coding and design for websites. This person should have exceptional knowledge about HTML, the language used to build a website. A web designer should understand databases and be able to write and troubleshoot scripts. This person should be familiar with Java, PHP, CGI, or PERL scripts. A web designer should be able to understand all aspects of this checklist.
Ultimately your web designer or you will be responsible for maintaining your website.
STEP 3: Do you have an SFTP program to upload your website content to our servers?
Webpages are uploaded by File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to the server, which makes your website "live" on the Internet.
There are many FTP programs that you can use to upload your website to our servers. In order to use Critical Path, you must use a Secure FTP (SFTP) program.
An example of a Secure FTP program is FileZilla: http://filezilla-project.org/
You may SFTP your website to Critical Path's servers using your own Internet provider (Comcast, Verizon).
STEP 4: Do you, or someone who will be designing the website, have a working understanding of scripts and databases that you may need on your website.
Many websites have special configurations that require the use of other "languages" besides HTML, such as PHP, Java, CGI, or PERL, particularly if you have a form on your website to automate a process such as spinning logo or a map or a search query for example. HTML allows static content, scripts allow dynamic content to allow for calculations to find information in a database. Databases are often used for event calendars or registration or for a very large listing of locations or resources for example.
In order to have a website hosted on Critical Path, we need to know what type of programs you will need enabled on your website.
STEP 5: Do you intend to use special software for your website?
Many people ask us if they can use a particular type of software or language on their website. Popular software that people want to use is open source Content Management Systems, such as WordPress, Joomla or Drupal. These are programs that help people build and manage their websites more easily.
The software listed below is already approved by Critical Path. Any other software that is not on this list needs to be approved. Critical Path supports the following software and languages:
- MySQL
- PHP
- WordPress
- Drupal
- Joomla
- Dreamweaver
- CGI
- Java
- Pearl
- HTML
We are happy to help you figure these steps out. Please contact critpath@critpath.org or 215-525-8664 or 215-985-4448 ext. 145. if you would like to host a website on Critical Path.
Download Web Hosting Checklist PDF
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