In Mac OS X, what is Personal Web Sharing, and how do I use it?

Personal Web Sharing is a feature in Mac OS X that allows you to serve documents and other files from your computer via the World Wide Web. For web sharing to be practical, the computer that is sharing HTML documents and associated files should have a full-time connection to the Internet (or local intranet) and a fixed IP number. To set up Personal Web Sharing, follow these steps:

1. From the Apple menu, select System Preferences... . In System Preferences, from the View menu, select Sharing.
   
   
2. In Mac OS X 10.2.x and later, click the Services tab, then click the box next to Personal Web Sharing so that it is checked.
   
   In Mac OS X 10.1.x, click the File & Web tab, then, under "Web Sharing Off", click the Start button.
   
   In Mac OS X 10.0.x, under "Web Sharing Off", click the Start button.
   
   
3. To share files on the web, place them in the Sites folder in your home directory. Others may then access your web pages at the following address: http://address/~username/ Replace address with your computer's domain name, and username with the short name of your account. If you are using an administrative account, you may also put documents in the folder /Library/WebServer/Documents/. Files in this directory will be available at the following URL: http://address/

In Mac OS X, web sharing is provided by Apache, a powerful and flexible server. Though changing its settings is not for novices, it has many configuration options. You may access the Apache documentation by entering the following in a web browser: file:///Library/Documentation/Services/apache/

Also see:

• In Mac OS X, how do I rename my OS X account?
• In Mac OS X, how do I transfer files between two OS X accounts?
• In Mac OS X, what is fast user switching, and how do I use it?