The complete guide to creating, managing, and deploying websites across the WholeTech domain portfolio.

Last updated: March 15, 2026 — Private reference, not linked from site navigation

01System Overview

02Local Machine Setup

Directory structure

C:\Users\walhu\websites\
  austen.com\
  firth.com\
  tvreviewer.com\
  wholetech.com\
    static\         ← the actual site files
      index.html
      springnet.html
      activesites.html
      archive.html
    index.html       ← redirect to static/ (or copy of static/index.html)
  [newsite]\          ← create a new folder for each new site

Starting a local preview server

# Navigate to the site's folder and start the server
cd C:\Users\walhu\websites\wholetech.com\static
python -m http.server 8081

# Then open http://localhost:8081 in your browser
# Use a different port for each site if running multiple

03Creating a New Site (Step by Step)

This is the complete process for taking a domain from "parked" to "live static site."

04LiquidWeb Server Setup

Logging in

1. Go to manage.liquidweb.com and log in with your LiquidWeb credentials
2. Navigate to your server/hosting account
3. Open cPanel (usually accessible from the LiquidWeb dashboard)

Adding a new domain (Addon Domain)

1. In cPanel, find "Domains" or "Addon Domains"
2. Enter the domain name (e.g., austinblogger.com)
3. cPanel will auto-fill the document root — typically /home/wholetec/public_html/austinblogger.com
4. Click Add Domain
5. The server now knows to serve files from that directory when someone visits the domain

SSL Certificate (HTTPS)

1. In cPanel, find "SSL/TLS Status" or "Let's Encrypt"
2. Select the new domain
3. Click Issue or Run AutoSSL
4. Wait a few minutes — the certificate will auto-install
5. Verify by visiting https://yourdomain.com

Server file locations

/home/wholetec/
  public_html/              ← primary domain's document root
  public_html/domainname.com/  ← addon domain document roots
  backups/                  ← your old backup files (need external drive to download)

05Uploading with WinSCP

Connection settings

Upload workflow

1. Left panel (local): Navigate to C:\Users\walhu\websites\domainname.com\
2. Right panel (server): Navigate to /home/wholetec/public_html/domainname.com/
3. Select all files on the left → drag to the right (or press F5 to upload)
4. Click OK to confirm

Updating an existing site

Just upload the changed files — WinSCP will ask if you want to overwrite. Click Yes. No build step, no deploy pipeline. Upload and it's live.

06DNS & Domain Pointing

Option A: Nameservers (easiest)

At your domain registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.), set the nameservers to LiquidWeb's nameservers. These are usually something like:

ns1.liquidweb.com
ns2.liquidweb.com

(Check your LiquidWeb dashboard for the exact nameservers for your account.)

Option B: A Record (more control)

If you want to keep DNS at your registrar but point the domain to LiquidWeb:

1. Find your LiquidWeb server's IP address (in cPanel → "Server Information")
2. At your registrar's DNS settings, create an A record:

   Type: A
   Host: @
   Value: [your server IP]
   TTL: 3600

3. Also create a CNAME for www:

   Type: CNAME
   Host: www
   Value: yourdomain.com
   TTL: 3600

07WordPress Coexistence

Some domains (like wholetech.com) still have WordPress installed. Here's how to run a static site alongside WordPress without breaking either:

The static/ subdirectory approach

1. Put your static files in a static/ subfolder inside the domain's document root
2. Create an index.html in the root that redirects to static/, OR copy your homepage to the root as index.html
3. Add this line to the top of .htaccess in the domain root:

   DirectoryIndex index.html index.php

   This tells Apache to serve index.html before WordPress's index.php

Fully replacing WordPress

When you're ready to ditch WordPress entirely:

1. Back up the WordPress files and database (just in case)
2. Move or delete WordPress files from the document root
3. Move your static files from static/ up to the root
4. Update any internal links that pointed to static/whatever.html
5. Done — no more PHP, no more database, no more plugin updates

08Working with Claude

Starting AI tools

# Open terminal (bash or PowerShell)
# Navigate to the site's directory
cd C:\Users\walhu\websites\domainname.com

# Start AI tools
claude

What Claude can do

• Build entire sites from a description — "build me a site about X"
• Edit existing files — "change the headline" or "add a dark mode"
• Read and understand your existing code before making changes
• Search the web for information (archive.org lookups, etc.)
• Run commands — start servers, run scripts, check disk space
• Write PowerShell scripts for bulk operations across many files
• Preview sites on localhost

What Claude cannot do

• Access remote servers directly — can't SSH into LiquidWeb. You upload via WinSCP.
• Edit Google Sheets — can read published sheets but not write to them
• Push to production — Claude works on local files only, you deploy

Giving Claude context

Claude remembers things within a conversation but starts fresh each new session. To help Claude pick up where you left off:

• Your CLAUDE.md file at the project root is automatically loaded — it tells Claude about the project structure and conventions
• Claude has a memory system that persists between conversations (stored in ~/.claude/projects/)
• If Claude seems confused, just say "read the CLAUDE.md" or "check your memory"

09Claude Best Practices

How to get the best results

1. Be specific about what you want — "make the background blue" works better than "make it look better"
2. Show examples — "make it look like tvreviewer.com" gives Claude a concrete reference
3. Review before deploying — always preview on localhost before uploading to the server
4. Ask Claude to explain — if you don't understand a change, ask "what did you just do?"
5. Course correct early — if it's going in the wrong direction, say so immediately rather than letting it continue
6. Save your Claude.md — keep it up to date with conventions so Claude stays consistent across sessions

Effective prompts for building sites

# Starting a new site
"Build a static site for austinblogger.com. It should be a modern Austin
culture blog. Use a warm color palette, not the typical dark-theme-with-gold
look. Include a search/filter, dark mode toggle, and responsive design."

# Modifying an existing site
"On the activesites.html page, add a new domain called example.com.
It's a tech site. Give it the tech category and find a good archive.org
snapshot from before June 2007."

# Bulk operations
"Add a nav bar to all the pages in the wholetech static directory
with links to Home, Archive, and Active Sites."

# Debugging
"The page isn't loading on the server. Here's what I see: [describe].
What might be wrong?"

Things to tell Claude at the start of a session

• Which site you're working on: "I'm working on wholetech.com"
• What you want to accomplish: "I want to add a new page" or "I want to update the design"
• Any constraints: "Keep it simple" or "Match the existing style" or "Don't use any frameworks"

10Google Sheets Integration

You can use Google Sheets as a live data source for any page. The sheet data loads fresh every time a visitor opens the page.

Setup

1. Create or open your Google Sheet
2. Go to File → Share → Publish to web
3. Choose Entire Document and click Publish
4. This is separate from the normal sharing settings — the sheet must be published, not just shared

Fetching sheet data in JavaScript

// Use the JSON endpoint (avoids CSV comma-parsing issues)
var SHEET_ID = 'your-sheet-id-here';
var url = 'https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/'
        + SHEET_ID + '/gviz/tq?tqx=out:json';

fetch(url)
  .then(r => r.text())
  .then(text => {
    // Strip the wrapper: google.visualization.Query.setResponse({...})
    var json = text.replace(/^[^(]*\(/, '').replace(/\);?\s*$/, '');
    var data = JSON.parse(json);
    // data.table.rows is your row array
    // data.table.rows[0].c[0].v is the value of cell A1
  });

When to use Google Sheets vs. hardcoded data

11Archive.org Notes

The LiquidWeb attack (Summer 2007)

Your LiquidWeb server was attacked between June and October 2007. Archive.org snapshots from after this date may show compromised or garbage content for sites that were hosted on that server.

Finding archive.org snapshots

# Check if a snapshot exists (returns JSON)
https://archive.org/wayback/available?url=domainname.com

# Request a snapshot near a specific date
https://archive.org/wayback/available?url=domainname.com&timestamp=20060601

# Browse all snapshots (calendar view)
https://web.archive.org/web/*/domainname.com

Your backups on LiquidWeb

Old site backups exist at /home/wholetec/ on the LiquidWeb server. You'll need an external drive attached to the Beelink to download them (the internal drive is small). Use WinSCP to download the backup files, then Claude can help you restore and rebuild from them.

12Standard File Structure

Every WholeTech static site follows this pattern:

domainname.com/
  index.html          ← homepage (inline styles or linked CSS)
  [other-page].html   ← additional pages
  style.css           ← shared styles (optional, can be inline)
  images/             ← site images (optional)

Standard HTML template

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>Page Title — Site Name</title>
  <meta name="description" content="...">
  <!-- Google Fonts -->
  <!-- Early theme detection script -->
  <style>
    /* CSS variables for light/dark/spring */
    /* All styles inline */
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <nav>...</nav>
  <header>...</header>
  <main>...</main>
  <footer>...</footer>
  <script>
    /* Theme toggle + page logic */
  </script>
</body>
</html>

13Theme System (Light / Dark / Spring)

WholeTech sites use a three-theme system: light (default), dark, and spring.

How it works

1. CSS variables defined on :root (light), html.dark, and html.spring
2. An early <script> in <head> checks localStorage and applies the class before paint (prevents flash)
3. A toggle button cycles: light → dark → spring → light
4. Choice saved to localStorage as wt-theme
5. Respects prefers-color-scheme: dark on first visit

Early detection script (put in <head>)

<script>
(function(){
  var t = localStorage.getItem('wt-theme');
  if (t === 'dark' || (!t && matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme:dark)').matches))
    document.documentElement.classList.add('dark');
  else if (t === 'spring')
    document.documentElement.classList.add('spring');
})();
</script>

Toggle script (put before </body>)

document.getElementById('theme-toggle').addEventListener('click', function() {
  var el = document.documentElement;
  var themes = ['light', 'dark', 'spring'];
  var current = el.classList.contains('dark') ? 'dark'
              : el.classList.contains('spring') ? 'spring' : 'light';
  var next = themes[(themes.indexOf(current) + 1) % themes.length];
  el.classList.remove('dark', 'spring');
  if (next !== 'light') el.classList.add(next);
  localStorage.setItem('wt-theme', next);
});

14Launch Checklist

Before going live with any new site:

• Page loads correctly on localhost
• All three themes work (light, dark, spring)
• Page is responsive (check at 375px mobile width)
• All links work and open in correct tab
• <title> and <meta description> are set
• No placeholder text left in the page
• Domain is added in cPanel on LiquidWeb
• DNS is pointing to LiquidWeb
• Files uploaded via WinSCP
• Site loads at https://yourdomain.com
• SSL certificate is active (padlock in browser)
• If replacing WordPress: .htaccess updated with DirectoryIndex index.html index.php

15Troubleshooting

Site shows "Redirecting..." instead of the real page

The root index.html is the redirect stub, not your real homepage. Either copy your real homepage to the root as index.html, or make sure the meta refresh redirect is working.

WordPress shows instead of static site

Apache is serving index.php (WordPress) instead of index.html. Add DirectoryIndex index.html index.php to the top of your .htaccess file in the domain root.

SSL certificate won't issue

DNS isn't pointing to LiquidWeb yet. Point DNS first, wait for propagation (check with nslookup), then request SSL.

Google Sheets data not loading

The sheet needs to be published to the web (File → Share → Publish to web), which is different from the normal sharing settings. Also make sure you're using the JSON endpoint, not CSV.

Archive.org snapshot shows garbage

You're looking at a post-attack snapshot. Find a snapshot from before June 2007. Use the Wayback API with a timestamp: ?url=domain.com&timestamp=20060601

WinSCP can't connect

• Check hostname, username, password are correct
• Try port 22 (SFTP) first, then port 21 (FTP) if that fails
• Make sure your IP isn't blocked by the server firewall — contact LiquidWeb support if needed

Page looks different on server vs. localhost

Usually a caching issue. Hard-refresh with Ctrl+Shift+R. If using Cloudflare or another CDN, purge the cache there too.