How to Take Free Stuff
October 20, 1999
Many sites give you adequate instruction in how to take whatever they're
offering, and tell you what your obligations and commitments are,
if any.
We'll summarise some typical instructions here,
and point out some of the legal and ethical caveats.
The first thing to do is simply, be a good Netizen.
That means, don't take stuff that isn't clearly offered for free,
don't link to it directly
unless they specifically allow or request it;
and acknowledge the author or where you got it from -
ideally with a live link.
There are two basic ways to copy stuff from a web site to your own web
server:
one is to download it to your own computer (e.g. PC or Mac) first,
and then copy it over to your web server
(assuming it's not on the same computer).
You might do this if you want to make some changes first, e.g. to add
your own text to a banner ad template; or if you develop your web pages
offline rather than directly on your server.
Downloading Images to a PC or Macintosh
| PC | Macintosh |
|---|
1) Right click on any image you want to use.
2) Click Save Picture As on the menu.
3) In the Save As dialog box, select a directory to store your image.
4) Click Save.
|
1) Click and hold on any image you want to
use.
2) Select Save this Image as on the menu.
3) In the Save As dialog box, select a location on your hard drive to store
your image.
4) Click Save.
|
Similar instructions apply for other media, e.g. links to zipped files.
After you have saved it and performed any required changes,
you then need to copy it over to your web server.
The usual way to do this is by using FTP -
your PC probably has an FTP program, just use Find to locate it.
However, it might be an MS-DOS program...
Otherwise you can get one from
Stroud's CWSApps
FTP clients list.
Another way, in some cases,
may be to download from the web site directly to your server,
e.g. by FTP if both sites provide the facility; or using
the text-mode web browser lynx.
I often use lynx to copy HTML pages,
e.g. from my authors' sites to my own.
Just bring up the page in lynx, then type "\p" and hit Enter.
Whys and Wherefores
How To Build a Web Site with Free Stuff Table of Contents
Copyright
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