This is for all the people who cannot view their website for multiple reasons.
1) You enter your IP address and you cannot see your website.
2) You can only see your website from "localhost."
3) Others cannot see your website, but you can.
To date, I estimate over 50 topics have been started with the same problem. I hope to solve your problems right here, so you do not have to start a new thread.
Problem: You/Others cannot view your website.
This applies to: All people who have a
hardware router.
Solution: Port forwarding.
When someone enters your IP, the request gets sent to your router. Normally, your router would just ignore/block the request, because it cannot do anything with it. We are going to take all requests to your IP address, and forward them specifically to the computer with your website.
What to do:
1) Get the Internal IP address of the computer running Abyss Web Server.
If you run Windows 95, 98, ME: Start>Run>Type "winipcfg" and select your network adapter from the dropdown list. Your IP address either looks like "192.168.x.x" or "10.0.x.x"
If you run Windows 2000, XP, Server 2000, or Server 2003: Go to the command prompt and type "ipconfig" (which will display your Internal IP under the IP Address category).
EDIT: To get your Internal IP, just download my handy little batch file:
95/98/ME or
2000/XP/2003. Download using IE.
2) Go to your router configuration. Usually, you can type "192.168.1.1" or "192.168.0.1" in your browser to bring it up.
Helpful tip: After completing step 1, use the same digit(s) in the third block of your IP in step 2. Example: If your IP address from step 1 was "192.168.254.10," then use 254 to find your router (192.168.254.254). If your IP address was "192.168.1.10," then use "192.168.1.1" (taking the third block of numbers in your IP address, and putting them in the third and fourth place in step 2).
3) If a password prompt comes up, try different combinations of the words "admin" and "administrator." Most linksys routers use "admin" for the password and no username.
4) Once in the configuration, look for an option that says "forwarding." Once you have found it, under port number, type "80." Under IP address, type the IP address you found in step 1 (192.168.x.x). For TCP/UDP, make sure at least TCP is selected.
5) Go to
www.whatismyip.com or
www.aprelium.com/ip/ to find your External IP address. After configuring port forwarding, type that IP address into your browser. Your website should show up!
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This is for all the people who want to have a domain name (
www.myname.com) instead of a numerical IP address (66.212.51.99) for your website.
Your options:
"Dot TK" - This can give you a
www.yourname.tk for your website. All you do is signup, and forward your domain name to your IP address.
Note: The majority of users have a "Dynamic IP." This means, periodically, your IP address changes. You will have to go in manually and change your IP when this happens.
"No-IP" - This popular service lets you have yourname.no-ip.com for free; along with some other choices (such as yorname.mybiz.com, etc.). For those of you with a Dynamic IP (which is mostly everyone), No-IP provides a client you can download that automatically updates your URL whenever your IP changes.
A Real TLD (Top Level Domain, such as .com, .net, and .org) - Let me first say, there is absolutely NO WAY to get a free TLD. Whatever the deal, you will eventually have to open your wallet.
There are many providers to choose from. I like to use 000domains.com. For $13.50 per year, they offer every service you will ever need. I know people have found cheaper ones, but this is just my preference.
How to associate your TLD with your IP Address: The majority of companies whom sell TLDs do not offer DNS services (ways to associate your domain with your IP address). For this, I reccomend a free service called "ZoneEdit." To use this, you must associate your domain with ZoneEdit's namesevers. They show you how to do that on their website,
www.zoneedit.com. For those of you who have dynamic IPs, there is a list of 3rd-party applications in their FAQ.
Everyone has their own preferences.
Hope that helped. Post with any further qurstions you may have.
