WebMatrix is a free tool from Microsoft that makes the task of creating, editing and publishing your website easy. It allows you to intelligently publish only the files that have changed locally, automatically configure your server for maximum compatibility, and keep your development environment in sync with the live published version of your site.

In order to build sites using WebMatrix, you'll first need to install it on your local computer or development machine.  Click here for the download.

In order to publish sites to our servers using WebMatrix, you'll need to be sure your plan supports it. Currently all ASP.NET plans hosted on Windows 2008/IIS7 and ColdFusion 9 plans support WebMatrix.

Once you're ready to publish your site onto our live servers, you'll need to configure your Publish Settings.

1. First, be sure you're on the Site view in WebMatrix.



2. Go to the Publish drop down, under the Home tab, then select Settings.



3. From Publish Settings, select the Web Deploy protocol from the drop down (alternately, you can use FTP).

4. For Server, enter in your site's IP address.

5. For User Name, enter a valid Site User set up on your account.  If you recently ordered your site, this would be the username you set up during signup.

6. For Password, enter in the password associated with your Site Username.

7. For Site Name, enter in your domain name without the extension (e.g. .com, .net, .org, etc.), and the words "web site" after it.  For example, if your domain was "domain.com", you would enter "domain web site" in the Site Name field.  The site name is based on how your site's name is entered in IIS, and this is the naming convention we use to identify your site on the server.

8. For Destination URL, enter in the URL for the web site/application you're publishing.



9. To ensure your Web Deploy settings in WebMatrix is correct or working correctly, click Validate Connection.

WebMatrix is ready.

10. To create a Database connection, be sure your in the Databases view.

11. Under the Home tab, select New Connection.



To connect to a database, you'll need to:

1. Enter in your database name

2. The database type.

3. The server location. 

4. And then your database Login and Password.



Database Connection Strings

SQL Server Database
Data Source=myServerAddress;Initial Catalog=myDataBase;User Id=myUsername;Password=myPassword;

MySQL Database
Data Source=myServerAddress;Initial Catalog=myDataBase;User Id=myUsername;Password=myPassword;