HTML Art

FILE TYPES

One of the nightmares of the web designer who is using free web hosts is knowing the file types he or she can upload to the web server he/she is using. The best hosts state exactly what kind of files their server will support and they are all different. Supported file types as a minimum should include the following:-

HTML
JPG
GIF
JS
CSS
ZIP

The list is usually greater than that and it should be specified clearly in the FAQs of your host. The size of file you may upload should also be specified. If not you should ask them and if these file types are not included on the server, or you find that the file size maximum you may upload is less than 256 kb, you should look elsewhere. Most web files will be considerably less than 256 kb but there will be the occasional large image or zip file and you need to be sure it will upload. Most free web hosts have very clear limitations on Midi or MP3 file types and again you must check the FAQs on hotlinking to such files on another server, as well as what the host says you may use.

If you are uploading a very large program file with lots of sub files (in a zip file of course), you could break these up into smaller groups to force the zip file into a size that your host/ISP will allow you to upload. You will need to give your visitors FAQs that will tell them clearly what to do once they have downloaded the files. Remember people don't read on web pages and information needs to be clear and on the same page as the downloadable file.

I can't emphasize too strongly that you must check the FAQs regularly with any free web host that you use to double check the file types you may upload. They frequently change this information without notice or warning and leave you in breach of Terms and Conditions!