How to Build an Online Internet Directory (6 Steps)

Purchase a domain name and monthly web hosting subscription. Domain names can be purchased at the same place where you buy web hosting services such as GoDaddy.com, Register.com or LiquidWeb.com. Make the domain name an easy one to remember as this will help your Internet directory's 'brand' and it also helps repeat visitors recall the site quickly. For Internet directories, the most basic web hosting subscription can be purchased; you can always upgrade your hosting account once your directory is established and has daily traffic.
Choose an Internet directory script. These scripts are typically automatic-type programs that include the essential tools you need for an Internet directory website. Both free and paid Internet directory scripts exist; consider your skills and web design knowledge when choosing one. An example of a paid script includes eSyndiCat; free ones include PHP Link Directory and In-Portal, included in the Resources section. Free scripts may have little support from authors/creators, but you can perform modifications by yourself or pay someone to do them. Paid directory scripts usually have a support team available to help you get set up and may have extra features in the script. Look for the integration of advertisements and featured directory listings if your plan is to own a paid Internet directory; other important characteristics of an Internet directory script include comprehensive administrative panels, the ability to accept directory listings automatically or with pre-approval and plenty of categories and listings included with the script.
Upload the Internet directory script to your website. Follow the instructions in the help guides of the directory script. Get help from your web host's customer service if you need additional assistance. Many Internet directory scripts require the use of a MySQL database which is set up in the administrative control panel of your web hosting management.
Log in to your Internet directory script's administrative panel and make any modifications that are necessary. Upload a logo and/or header image for your website and change any design elements that are able to be changed. You can hire a freelance web developer (iFreelance.com and Guru.com are two sources of freelancers) to make these changes for you if you lack the skills or knowledge.
Add categories to your Internet directory website. The administrative or control panel for your directory contains options for adding, deleting, and changing categories and listings. The categories you add are dependent on the type of online Internet directory you want to create. Add local business information if you're creating a directory for a city or local area. A few possible categories include restaurants, shopping centers, retail and department stores, and Internet forums just to name a few.
Test your online Internet directory website from the user side. Make sure that your categories and listings are in the right places and that all user features included with your script work correctly.
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How to Use Putty and SSH

Start the PuTTY program on your computer and wait for the main dialog box to appear on your screen.
Enter the host name of the server on which you host your website or shell account, placing it in the 'Host Name' box of the PuTTY dialog box on your screen. This information should have been given to you by the system administrator of the server on which your account is hosted. An example would be if your website address is http://www.myawesomesite.com. The actual host name of this address is 'myawesomesite.com' without the rest of the address components. This is what would be entered into the 'Host Name' block of the PuTTY dialog box.
Tell PuTTY what kind of data connection you desire for it to initiate when logging into the server. To do so, look at the section of the dialog box labeled 'Connection Types' and note that a multitude of buttons exist in this section including: telnet, rlogin, SSH, and raw. Click on the SSH button to prepare PuTTY for an SSH login to your server.
Look at the 'Port' block on the PuTTY dialog box and verify that the port number is set to 22. This is the default SSH port that all SSH servers listen on for incoming connections. This port number should never be changed unless the system administrator of your host server has informed you that the server listens on a different port. If a different port is used on your server, enter that port number into this port block now.
Begin the SSH connection process. Locate the button at the bottom of the PuTTY dialog box labeled 'Open' and click on it. Connection progress information will now be displayed in the main text area of PuTTY.
Verify the host SSH key and add it to your PuTTY terminal cache for future log-ins. A caution message will appear in the main terminal screen of Putty if it is the first time you have logged into an SSH session with the server. The message is a cautionary measure telling you the server fingerprint identification number. It will ask you if you want to trust the server and to have its key added to your PuTTY terminal program's cache. If you are uncertain, call your system administrator by phone and ask him to read you the server fingerprint number to verify it. Whether you made a call, or simply choose to accept it, enter 'Yes' at the prompt on the text screen to accept the key and to have it added to PuTTY. The verification step will now be complete.
Wait for the log-in prompt to appear. The first line of SSH servers when logging in will require your hosting account user name. Enter your user name on the first prompt line when asked for it, then press the 'Enter' or 'Return' key on your keyboard to send it. After sending your user name, the prompt will ask for your password. Enter the password for your hosting account and press the 'Enter' or 'Return' key to send it. If you entered both correctly, you will get a command prompt through which you may perform your system commands.
Log out of your SSH session when finished by typing either 'logout' or 'exit' (without the quotes) at the command prompt on the screen, then press 'Enter' or 'Return' on the keyboard to log out completely. Whether 'logout' or 'exit' is used depends on how the hosting server is set up. Try both if you are unsure. If the first one you try doesn't work, then the other will. If neither works for some reason, contact the administrator of your hosting account and ask what the logout command is for that server.
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