Exercise 9: Making a document available on the World Wide Web (WWW)

There are 2 main steps in putting a document on the web. The first involves translating the document into a common language, usually html. The second involves putting the document on a computer which acts as a server, or distributor , of the document.

    1. Making an html document.

There are many editors that will allow you to make an html document. In this class I am going to show you only one, the use of MS WORD. In WORD one generates a document in the normal fashion and then saves it in html format, it's as simple as that.

HTML stand for HyperText Markup Language. Is is a set of rules whereby a simple text document is marked up in such a way that specific types of text can be identified. These might be Titles, Paragraphs, Tables, links to other documents, links to images, and so on.

The following example shows how a simple home page would appear in WORD and in HTML

-----------------Here is how it looks in WORD ----------------------------------

You have reached the home page of

John Doe.

I am a student at the University of Washington in Seattle

Click here to find out about the UW http://www.washington.edu

Click here to see my ocn499 project report.

 

--------------Here is what it looks like in HTML-----------

<HTML>

<HEAD>

<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=windows-1252">

<META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="Microsoft Word 97">

<TITLE>sample_home_page</TITLE>

<META NAME="Template" CONTENT="C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT OFFICE\OFFICE\html.dot">

</HEAD>

<BODY LINK="#0000ff" VLINK="#800080">

 

<FONT SIZE=2><P>You have reached the home page of </P>

<P>John Doe.</P>

<P>I am a student at the University of Washington in Seattle</P>

<P>Click here to find out about the UW </FONT><A HREF="http://www.washington.edu/"><FONT SIZE=2>http://www.washington.edu</FONT></A></P>

<P><A HREF="TOC.htm">Click here to see my ocn499 project report</A><FONT SIZE=2>.</P>

<P>&nbsp;</P></FONT></BODY>

</HTML>

 

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2.1 Putting your html document on a web server.

First of all the computer which is acting as the server must be properly configured so as to have a publically accessible directory, usually called the www directory. In this directory there may be other subdirectories, including one for you if prior arrangements have been made. In addition to the public space there must be a program running on the server which is able to answer requests for information and send out the proper data to the requesting station. This program is usually called the httpd daemon.

 

To help you set up your own web home page I have copied the material the UW provides and included it in the following.

Creating a Student Home Page

From : http://www.washington.edu/computing/web/publishing/students.html

 

If you are a currently enrolled student you can publish your course work, research results, and other projects and documents on the Web using the UW Student Web Server. Just follow these steps.

1. Enable Web Publishing

Web publishing is a service tied to your UW NetID and Dante account. The UW Student Web Server uses space on your Dante to store your Web pages.

To enable Web publishing:

  1. Create a UW NetID and a Dante account.
  2. Go to Your UW NetID Services page and...
    1. Login with your UW NetID and password.
    2. Select Enable Web Publishing.
    3. Write down the URL address for your home page.

Enabling Web publishing creates your Web directory. A shortcut called public_html is also created on your Dante account to make it easier to put files in your Web directory. Putting a file in public_html is the same as putting it in your Web directory. You can put any file in your Web directory and it will be accessible via the UW Student Web Server.

2. Compose a Home Page

Use a text editor or HTML authoring tool to compose your home page. Save the file as index.html (or index.htm). This is the filename associated with your home page.

If you are familiar with Unix, you can compose your home page by using the shell environment on Dante.

For help, see Authoring Web Pages.

3. Move index.html to Your Web Directory

If you created index.html on a desktop computer, move index.html to your Web directory using a file transfer program such as WS_FTP or Fetch:

When transferring files to your Web directory always remember to:

For help, see Moving Web Pages to Your Web Directory.

4. Open Your Home Page

Use a Web browser to open your home page (index.html). Your URL address depends on your UW NetID:

http://students.washington.edu/youruwnetid/

Other Web pages have similar URL addresses. For example, if you put a file called info.html in your Web directory, the URL for it is:

http://students.washington.edu/youruwnetid/info.html