I. What is a Web Page?

A web page or web site is a set of files containing HTML "code" that exists on a server. When you access the web page you use a universal resource locator (URL) which is given in the format of http://servername/pagename.html. The servername, which contains the file pagename.html, is the address of the server. When your web browser opens a web page the HTML "code" is downloaded to your computer. Then, it is interpreted by the web browser to give you the desired formatting, such as bold, italics, tables, etc.

In order to view HTML pages you must have a web browser. These are mostly available free on the Internet and can be obtained from IT Express (in Shield's library). Such programs include Netscape Communicator and Microsoft Internet Explorer which are the two most popular web browsers.

II. Making a Web Page Overview

Making a web page consists of putting together the HTML "code" mentioned above to give the desired formatting. However, there are over 200 HTML codes, each of them having an average of 5 to 10 options! This makes it relatively difficult for beginners to learn. Software manufacturers have realized this and have created a number of commercial software packages that allow beginners to design their web sites in a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) environment that once saved, will automatically generate the HTML code.

DHC currently uses a program called Adobe Pagemill which is available on all four lab computers. This program is very intuitive to use because its similarity to word processors such as Microsoft Word. DHC offers Pagemill seminars to help students familiarize themselves with the DHC lab and with the Adobe Pagemill software. In addition, the DHC staff can answer any Pagemill or HTML-related questions.

III. Using the DHC Lab to Create Web Sites

Using Pagemill in the DHC lab to create your web site is a relatively straight-forward process. Students should develop the web site content at home in a word processor (such as Microsoft Word) then bring the file containing the information to the DHC Lab. The DHC lab computers are able to read both MAC and IBM formatted disks and most versions of Microsoft Word. Open up the word processor file containing your web site. Select all of the text (Edit -> Select All) then copy the text to the computer's memory by using Edit -> Copy. Once you have done this, quit Microsoft Word and load up Adobe Pagemill.

Once in Pagemill, you'll notice it is very similar to Word. An icon in the upper right corner of the Pagemill window indicates which mode (of two) you are in. If the icon shows a piece of paper and a pencil then you're in Edit mode--this allows you to make changed to your web site. If the icon looks like the Pagemill icon then you're in Preview mode and changes cannot be made. Make sure you are in Edit mode, then paste the text into Pagemill by using Edit -> Paste.

Now you will go through the file and format it the way you want. More detailed instructions on how to do this are presented at the Pagemill seminars. Once you have the page formatted the way you want then you can save the file to your disk as an HTML file. This HTML file contains all the HTML code that will make your page look as it did in Pagemill. Unless you understand HTML code, it is not recommended that you edit the HTML file directly as doing so may cause strange formatting problems.

Now that you've saved the file to disk you'll want to make it accessible through the Internet (i.e., make it "live"). To do this, you'll need your seminar's login ID and password. You'll want to go to the Apple menu in the upper left corner of the screen and select Chooser. Next, click on "Appleshare", then a list of servers will appear in the right hand box. Select DHCServer and click on OK. You will be prompted to enter your seminar's login ID and password. Once you've entered them correctly you may click on "OK". This will place your seminar's web site folder on the desktop. Then you will simply need to copy the file from your disk into the web site folder. Be sure to include all images and other related documents or files or parts of your web page might end up missing. After you've made all your changes you must Logout. To do this, simply drag the seminar web site folder on top of the Trash icon. Be sure to do this or other students may be able to access your files!

IV. Other Useful Information

The following are additional web sites which may provide more in depth information on a particular aspect of making web pages.

1. DHC Server Remote Access Information

2. If you are an instructor or setting up a Web page for a class this is the site for you. It has information for both beginners and more advanced Webmasters.

http://www.splusnet.com/~evilcow/tutorial/index.html

3. Web Style Guide: Basic Design Principles for Creating Web Sites available on the Yale University Web site.

http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/contents.html

4. This page sponsored by Booklyn College's WebCore a campus network, developed to help faculty better utilize resources on the Web.

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/webcore/resources.htm#facguides

5. Handouts like this one on basic HTML are available on their Web site.

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/webcore/basic.htm

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