Before letting the public see my site . .

[lulalake]

What I wish to do is build the website completely (sort of) and not let it be seen by the public till I am ready.
Is this the proper method?
Create a “Private” folder,
Build the site and publish everything to that “private” folder
Then when ready, copy/move everything to the public folder?
Does this sound right or is there another way?

Thanks for the help.

Jules

[WSBlue]

publish everything to that “private” folder.
I don't understand how to publish to "private" folder.
You can preview it one by one after you have done, and when you see
everything is OK then you may publish them and show to the public.

[lulalake]

publish everything to that “private” folder.
I don't understand how to publish to "private" folder.
You can preview it one by one after you have done, and when you see
everything is OK then you may publish them and show to the public.

Thanks much, that was what I was wondering.

Jules

[Vasili]

This suggestion is not worth pursuing, for if your intention is to keep your pages unseen by visitors and uncached from the Search Engines, this is merely a means to thwart - not stop - visitor traffic and does nothing to prevent the SE's from permanently caching pages for review for the entire Net. Even if you were to "password protect" your folder, the SE's would still record pages in a 'hidden' directory, despite any 'do not follow' bot files (the Rules have changed).

This is the very purpose of having the Preview feature included in Blue Voda: you can see exactly how your pages will look and function (to the nearest degree possible) in a live browser.

There is nothing entirely hidden when published on the Net. I can pull up hidden pages, files, PDF's, and even Drafts of emails people are waiting to complete and send. If you do not want things cached and available for a full view simply by doing a Google Search, don't publish it.

[lulalake]

Tahnks Vasili, but what I'm asking is what's the best way to keep it hidden until it's complete. Nothing as complicated as you seem to have interpreted.

Jules

[Vasili]

Nothing is hidden, which is my point entirely. Everything will eventually be cached, and once cached, impossible to remove from full public view simply by using a Search Engine.

To prevent public access to your pages temporarily (generic traffic only, as they will still have the ability to see and get to your Cached Page), you may simply wish to Password Protect your main public_html directory itself: this way, you do not have to worry about duplicate pages being cached (and counting against you as duplicative or counterfeit Content even if you delete them from a separate directory before re-publishing them in the proper directory), deleting old pages, and taking the time to re-publish them. If visitors cannot generically 'visit' your site as it is being developed until you remove the Password Protection, the SE's will evaluate and cache the pages normally and consider the changes as normal updating.

I am not complicating things .... you simply can't cut corners when dealing with standard procedures, even if to be innocently clever (for whatever reason).

[lulalake]

Nothing is hidden, which is my point entirely. Everything will eventually be cached, and once cached, impossible to remove from full public view simply by using a Search Engine.

To prevent public access to your pages temporarily (generic traffic only, as they will still have the ability to see and get to your Cached Page), you may simply wish to Password Protect your main public_html directory itself: this way, you do not have to worry about duplicate pages being cached (and counting against you as duplicative or counterfeit Content even if you delete them from a separate directory before re-publishing them in the proper directory), deleting old pages, and taking the time to re-publish them. If visitors cannot generically 'visit' your site as it is being developed until you remove the Password Protection, the SE's will evaluate and cache the pages normally and consider the changes as normal updating.

I am not complicating things .... you simply can't cut corners when dealing with standard procedures, even if to be innocently clever (for whatever reason).

Ahhh I see what you are saying. You seem to be saying that preventing general access is a bit more than it seems and as you suggest, " . .you may simply wish to Password Protect your main public_html directory itself:"

May be the best way to do it.

Thanks much That's what I will try.

Jules

[Vasili]

Yes ... for whatever compels you to publish but restrict visitors from seeing your site, the point is the SE's cache permanently whatever is published on the Net, and as such, offer page views and access via each cached page. To publish pages in one "protected" area only to later delete them and re-publish elsewhere only opens the door to other liabilities regarding duplicated content and conflicting SE caching, which will immediately have lasting dire consequences for the domain name itself (the entire domain, irrespective of what directory you created or publshed in).

Everything you do online has consequences ... it is best to know what they are and to progress within the set parameters to achieve the best results, via compromise or not.