Web Site Maintenance Help

In this Section --

Steps for Creating A Web Site
Getting Web Stats
Templates Help
Creating A Web Form
Putting a Counter On A Web Page
HTML Primer
Online Bibliography

Steps for Creating A Web Site

In broad outlines, these are the steps you need to follow to create or modify your Web site. The links will connect you to the details needed to actually do this.

NOTE: Your Web site will be automatically created when you first upload a file.

1. You need an HTML Editor. See the Online Bibliography for some choices or buy HTML authoring software at a local store. Your word processing software may already have an HTML editor built in. Refer to the documentation for your editor for instructions on how to use it.
2. Pick a template and save it to your computer, or create your own page from scratch.
3. If you need more instruction on using HTML, please refer to the HTML Primer and Online Bibliography.
4. After creating or modifying your files, access the Maintenance page and Upload the File, naming it index.html (or index.htm) if it is your home page. See Uploading Files.
5. Uploading your first file will automatically create your web site directory.
6. View your page. Press Reload or Refresh if you have made changes. See if it looks like you thought it would. See Viewing Your Home page again for more on Reloading.
7. Repeat Steps 3 through 5 until you like the page (yes, learning HTML is a constant process).

Things to watch out for:

• Don't forget to upload your images.
• Delete files you don't need any more, since web site disk space is limited to 2 Megabytes. See Deleting Files.

• File names:

  • Don't use spaces or unusual characters (@#$&^%) . You won't be able to upload these files.
  • Don't use Upper Case letters in your file names: all files on the Web server will be lower case.
  • Don't mix .htm and .html. This can cause confusion about which ending to use. Choose one extension and stick to it.
• Paths. Any image in Technet's templates directory can be accessed using the following path: /templates/imagename.gif. The source code looks like this: <IMG SRC="/templates/imagename.gif">.
  If you use your own images, the path would be just the file name -- imagename.gif -- because the images files are kept in the same directory. The source code looks like this: <IMG SRC="imagename.gif"> because these images are in the same directory as your HTML files.

Other things you can do:

• Make files available for others to download.
• Get a compression program (this will let you upload multiple files more quickly).
• Get an image program to make cool-looking graphics. Upload the graphics just like any other files.
• Create more web pages. Unlike the home page, which has the special index.html (or index.htm) name, these can be called anything you want as long as they end in .htm or .html (but pick an ending and stick with it).
• Get statistics for your page, have a page counter, and have a form send you e-mail with the information entered into that form.

NOTE: Due to limitations of Internet Explorer 3, these tools must be used with Netscape 3/4 or Internet Explorer 4.

Accessing the Maintenance Page

To access the maintenance page, click on , then .

You will then have to enter your username and password if you have not already done so. Next, click on .

In order to ensure that only you are allowed to modify your page, access the web site maintenace screen is password protected. If you directly access the maintenance page (by using a bookmark, for instance), you must enter your username and password if you haven't already. This is the same username and password you use to dial into Technet and get your mail.

The Web Page Maintenance Screen section lets you click on each button or section for an explanation of what that button or section does.

File Names

Because of the way web servers handle URLs, you are not allowed to use spaces or special characters in your filenames. You are allowed to use "-", "_", and "." in filenames.

All HTML files must end with an extension of .htm or .html. It doesn't matter which you use (except in Windows 3.1, which requires you to use .htm). It's a good idea to pick an extension and stick with it to avoid confusion.

NOTE: The computer you put your web pages on (the server) is running UNIX, which is Case Sensitive, which means the filenames File1.htm and file1.htm are considered two different files. This is different from Windows 95, Windows 3.1 and DOS, which would treat these as the same file. Since all files uploaded to the server will be converted to lower case, Technet recommends you use only lower case filenames on your local computer to avoid confusion.

EXAMPLE:

The file name TopTenList.htm is uploaded. On the web server, it will appear as toptenlist.htm; therefore, a URL which refers to TopTenList.htm will not work.

The Web Page Maintenance Screen

Click anywhere on the image below to see what everything does.

(Older browsers may have difficulty using this.)

Breakdown of Web maintenance screen:

Web Browser

This area is part of the web browser. Netscape 3 is shown here, but Netscape 4 and Internet Explorer 4 also work. (Internet Explorer 3 does NOT work.) See Graphical Web Browsers for more.

Back to Tools Page Button

This button will return you to the Web Tools page.

Space Used By Your Mail

This is the space taken up by your regular Technet mail.

Free Disk Space For Your Web Files

This is how much space you have left for more files.

Total Disk Space Available

This is the grand total of how much disk space you have for everything: web page files and mail.

Enter File To Upload:

You may either type the name of the file you wish to upload in this field or you can click and select the file using a normal Windows or Macintosh browse. In the example, the home page is being uploaded. Since index.html is already there, it will be overwritten with the newer version.

Browse Button

This is the button that lets you browse your hard drive to select which file to upload.

Upload Button

This is the button you click once you've selected the file you want to upload. Your file will be uploaded.

If it has the same file name as a file already there, the old file will be automatically overwritten. If you forget to select a file, nothing will happen.

NOTE: Uploading and Renaming are both shown, but you cannot do both at once.

Unzip on Host Option

This option only applies if you are uploading a zip file. This will unzip the contents of the file into your web directory. This is useful for uploading multiple files that you have combined into one zip file.

Remove Zip File Option

This option only applies if you are uploading a zip file. It will automatically remove the zip file after you upload it. Useful only when used with the Unzip on host option.

Current List Of Files

This area lists all the current files in your web directory and their size. You can click on the filenames to view them. Click on a zip file you have previously uploaded will take you to a separate screen where you can pick which files you want to uncompress into your web directory.

Remove?

Click on this checkbox to select a file you want to delete. Note that you must click the Remove Checked Button for this to take effect. You can check as many files as you want.

Rename?

Type the new name of the file in the field here. Note that you must click the Rename button for this to take effect. You can rename as many files as you want.

NOTE: Uploading and Renaming are both shown, but you cannot do both at once.

Clicking this button will rename any files you have entered new names for. If no names are entered, nothing will happen.

Disk Space Used

This shows the disk space you are using for your web files.

Remove Checked Button

Clicking on this will remove any files which have the Remove? checkbox checked next to them.

Reset Button

The reset button, like most reset buttons, clears anything you have entered into the form. Any filename in the Upload area is cleared, and all check boxes are unchecked.

Uploading Files

Uploading a Single File

Make sure you're on the web site maintenance page. (See Accessing the Maintenance Page.)

Make sure you're connected to New Mexico Technet and click on to select the file from your hard drive. This File Upload window lets you select a file just like a normal Windows or Macintosh browse. Once you've selected the correct file, click on the button.

You should see a message that the upload was successful. If the file you upload has the same name as a current file, it will overwrite that file. Notice that each time you upload a new file, or a larger version of a previously existing file, your available space decreases.

NOTE: If the file you picked to upload did not exist or was empty, it will automatically be deleted.

Uploading Multiple Files

Make sure you're on the web site maintenance page. (See Accessing the Maintenance Page.)

Using this feature requires your computer to have a compression program that is compatible with the zip format.

Due to a limitation in the way web browsers upload files, only one file at a time can be uploaded. If you have only a few files, it will probably be easier to upload them one by one. But if you have a large number of files, we have provided a way to upload a compressed file and uncompress it into multiple files in your web directory.

Windows 3.1/Windows 95:

Using a zip program (see Compression Programs), create a zip file with all the files in it you wish to upload. In Windows 95, make sure that the zip files does not include the path because of the spaces that are likely in it. Click on the button and select the file. Then click the Unzip on host? option and click . The files in the zip file will be unzipped into your web directory for you. Please note that filenames in the zip file cannot contain spaces or unusual characters: see File Names for more.

Macintosh:

Using a zip program (see Compression Programs), create a zip file with all the files in it you wish to upload. Click on the button and select the file. Then click the Unzip on host? option and click . The files in the zip file will be unzipped into your web directory for you. Please note that file names in the zip file cannot contain spaces or unusual characters: see File Names for more.

Deleting Files

On the lower half of the Web Site Maintenance screen, you should see a list of all the files in your web directory with a check box next to each file. (Please see the Web Page Maintenance Screen for more). Click on the check boxes to select any file or files you wish to delete. Click the button to delete selected files. Notice that this increases your free disk space.

Viewing Your Home Page

If you have created a home page, it is located at http://www.technet.nm.net/~username/. For this to work, your home page must be named index.html or index.htm.

EXAMPLE: Your username is afirm. You enter http://www.technet.nm.net/~afirm/ in Netscape or Internet Explorer to access your home page. (The tilde (~) key is usually located above the [Tab] key. Be sure to press Shift, otherwise you will produce the (`) character.)

If you have changed your web page or graphics for that web page (see Uploading Files for more), make sure you press the button to ensure you are looking at the most recent version. (See Graphical Web browsers for more on Reload.)

The actual file name of your home page should be index.htm or index.html. If you don't have one of these two files and someone attempts to access your home page, the web server will automatically list all the files (if any) in your web directory. This is probably not what you want.

NOTE: Due to limitations of Internet Explorer 3, these tools must be used with Netscape 3/4 or Internet Explorer 4.

Bookmarking Your Home Page

While viewing your home page in Netscape 3, click on the Bookmark menu, and select Add Bookmark.

NOTE: Even though the actual name of your home page is index.htm (or index.html), the bookmark will look like http://www.technet.nm.net/~username/ because of the way the Web works. This is because index.htm or index.html are special names used for your home page.

Saving Your Current Home Page

While Viewing your Home Page in Netscape 3, click on File and select Save As... Keep the name of index.html (or index.htm) because this name has a special meaning and save the file.

Making Files Available For Others to Download

You may wish to make files available for others to download. Here's how.

Windows 3.1/Windows 95:

Create a zip file using one of the compression programs listed. Access the Web Site Maintenance page (See Accessing the Maintenance page). Click and browse to the filename. Click , making sure the Unzip on host? box is NOT checked. You can then create a link to the file name for people to download it.

Macintosh:

Using Stuffit Lite or Stuffit Deluxe, create a .sit file, then translate it to a .hqx format. Next, to the file name and click .

Compression Programs

Here is where you can download programs that will create .zip or .sit/.hqx files:

• Windows 3.1
• Windows 95
• Macintosh
• Mac ZipIt (for uploading HTML and image files)
• Stuffit Lite (for making files available to other Macintosh users)

Image Editing Programs

• Windows 95
• Windows 3.1
• Macintosh

Putting a Counter on A Web Page

Using a counter is optional.

A counter is an image that shows how many hits your web page has. This counter only displays hits for the web page it is on. If you would like statistics for all your pages, start web stats.

NOTE: The number of hits reported by your counter will probably NOT match the web site statistics. These counts are kept separately, and work differently.

To include a counter, simply put this tag into your HTML where you want the counter to appear:

<img src="/cgi-bin/Count.cgi?df=username.dat"> where username is your username.

EXAMPLE: If your username is mburns, the tag would be:

<img src="/cgi-bin/Count.cgi?df=mburns.dat">

Note that the counter is set to ignore anyone reloading the page. Also, if you forget to include the df parameter, the counter will generate a random number each time the page is accessed.

The counter has many more options you may wish to use. Please see the Counter Help Page for more.

Document URL -- http://www.technet.nm.net/menu/doc/maintenance-help.htm

Last modified on July 9, 1999

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