How to Publish a Website Using MS Publisher

Microsoft Publisher offers various templates and design tools that can help jumpstart the web design process. Whether you're creating a simple webpage or a complex website with multiple pages, Publisher provides the flexibility to achieve your desired outcome. In this article, we will guide you on how to publish a website using MS Publisher.

• What is Microsoft Publisher
• Advantages of MS Publisher
• How to Publish a Website Using MS Publisher
  • Step 1: Open the Website in Microsoft Publisher
  • Step 2: Prepare for Publishing
  • Step 3: Access Publishing Options
  • Step 4: Select Publishing Destination
  • Step 5: Sign In to Your Bluehost Account
  • Step 6: Publish
  • Step 7: Confirm Publication
• Alternative Way to Publish Website Using MS Publisher
• Summary

What is Microsoft Publisher

Microsoft Publisher is a user-friendly desktop publishing application in the Microsoft Office suite. It stands out for its ease of use, making it accessible to beginners while offering powerful tools for more experienced users. Microsoft Publisher is specially designed to create layouts and designs for documents, marketing materials, newsletters, and, notably, websites.

What sets Microsoft Publisher apart is its focus on page layout and design rather than text composition and proofing. This focus makes it an excellent tool for anyone looking to publish a website with a professional look and feel without needing to delve into traditional web design and coding complexities. With its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, users can easily incorporate text, images, and other elements into their web pages, crafting visually appealing content that reflects their brand or message.

Advantages of Microsoft Publisher

There are several advantages of to using Microsoft Publisher such as:

• Ease of Use: Publisher offers a user-friendly interface and tools, making it accessible for users with no advanced design skills to create professional-looking designs that can be used as part of a website's content.

• Template-Driven Designs: It provides a variety of templates for different types of publications. These templates can be easily adapted for web content, helping to maintain a consistent look across both printed and digital materials.

• Affordable: For small businesses or individuals, Publisher is a cost-effective tool, especially if they already have access to it through the Microsoft Office suite.

• Integrated with Office Suite: Easy integration with other Microsoft Office products like Word and Excel allows for seamless import/export of text and data, which can be useful when creating content for a website.

• Customization: Publisher offers a high level of customization for designs, allowing users to tailor their layouts precisely to their needs, which can be beneficial when creating unique graphics or layouts for web use.

If you're interested in publishing a website directly and managing its content, tools specifically designed for web development and content management, such as WordPress, might be more suitable. These platforms are designed with web publishing in mind, offering features like responsive design, SEO tools, and easy content updates that Publisher does not support for web development purposes.

How to Publish a Website Using MS Publisher

The easiest way to publish a website using MS Publisher is to use Publisher itself to upload the files to your Bluehost account.

To publish a website using Microsoft Publisher, you can follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the Website in Microsoft Publisher

Start by opening the website you wish to publish in Microsoft Publisher.

Step 2: Prepare for Publishing

Make sure your website is finalized and ready for publishing. This means checking for errors, ensuring the layout is as desired, and all content is correctly placed.

Step 3: Access Publishing Options

First, navigate to File on the application menu to publish a website online and select Publish to the Web. A dialog window will then open, asking for the file's name. If there's already a name in the box, you're instructed to delete it before proceeding. 

Step 4: Select Publishing Destination

Under the file name, type http://www.yourdomain.ext, then click Save. The publisher will try to log in to your Bluehost account.

Step 5: Sign In to Your Bluehost Account

Type the username: password: your primary Bluehost password, then click OK. The publisher will log in to your Bluehost account.

Step 6: Publish

Under the file name, now type index.html and click on Save.

Step 7: Confirm Publication

Once the upload process is complete, logging into your Bluehost account through a web browser is a good idea to confirm that the document has been published as expected. Check for any issues with formatting, quality, or accessibility.

Alternative Way to Publish Website Using MS Publisher

If you have trouble, here is an alternative method to prepare and publish a website built in Microsoft Publisher:

1. Create an empty folder on your desktop as a clean location for the files you are about to upload.
2. Open the website you created using Microsoft Publisher.
3. Open the homepage from the pages you created if you have created more than one page.
4. Go to the file menu and select Save as.
5. Browse to the folder you created on your desktop.
6. Set the save as type to webpage (make sure you do not select single file web page as that will not work.
7. Set the file name to be index.htm.
8. Click Save.
9. Check the new folder you created to see if there is a file named index.htm and a folder named index_files. If you do not see these two files or they are named differently, you must delete the folder and start over at step one.

Once you have reached this step and have the correct files, you will be ready to upload them. Please refer to the FTP Tutorials for more information regarding uploading your files to your account. Please note that you must upload the index.htm and index_files folder to your public_html folder for your website to be visible online.

If you have any problems, publish to your desktop using the publish to the web option and then save it locally on your desktop. Then, a client such as Filezilla can upload the entire website.

Summary

Microsoft Publisher emerges as a formidable tool for anyone aiming to publish a visually appealing website without getting entangled in traditional web design and coding complexities. Its user-friendly interface and a rich array of design tools and templates make it accessible to beginners while providing enough depth for more experienced users. By streamlining the web design process and offering straightforward publishing options, Microsoft Publisher simplifies the creation of professional-looking websites and integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft Office applications, enhancing workflow and content management. Whether you're looking to launch a simple webpage or a more complex site, Microsoft Publisher is a valuable asset for individuals and small businesses eager to establish or elevate their online presence.

When you're done creating your content, you can quickly publish a website using MS Publisher directly to your BRAND account. This way, you can have your website up and running immediately. By following the steps on how to publish a website using MS Publisher, you can quickly have a live website accessible online.