Publishing and Site Management

For MUSC departments

1. Instructions for creating a departmental web page
   
   
2. First, make sure you have an MNA. If you do not, or aren't sure, print off an application form: http://www.musc.edu/ccit/mna/mna.pdf
   
   
3. Next, confirm that you have the access you need to be able to save to the right directories.
   How? If you see a "dept_html" directory in your Homeroom, you have access to some web files.
   Inside dept_html should be "www" then "ccit" or "fanda" or whatever department you have access to.
   If the department/directory you need access to is not listed, send an e-mail to webmaster@musc.edu.
   In order to gain access to a web directory, you may need to first get the permission from that directory owner and also many need permission from your manager.
   
   
4. To save files to the web, just save them to that particular directory in homeroom/dept_html...
   Beware: Once you save files to the live server, it will overwrite any other files by the same name. So don't copy a new file to the live server, until it's been tested thoroughly.
   1. Test locally, then save as a different name to test live.
   2. Also, it's a good idea to save a backup of the current document (that is being updated/edited). Save the current file as file_old.html, for instance, before you put your edited file there. That way if something goes wrong, you won't have to start from scratch, and the web page will not produce errors.
   3. Write/send the files to the development server first. (wwwdev.musc.edu/ccit/...) Not all departments have space on the development server. To request a development directory, send an e-mail to webmaster@musc.edu. The development server is governed by separate access, meaning, just because you can save to www/ccit/software/ doesn't mean you have rights to wwwdev/ccit/software/.
   
   
5. To send files to these web directories from off-campus, use the SSH client (secure ftp - can be downloaded from CCIT's software download page) or the online tool: https://www.itlab.musc.edu/ftphomeroom/

Personal MUSC sites

• How to create a personal home page
  
  
• Everyone with an MNA has webspace on MUSC's servers. To view yours, go to http://people.musc.edu/~yourusername/
  
  This site is accessible (viewable) from outside MUSC, so you can use it to share files, show off pictures to your family or access your files from home or on the road.
  
  
• To set up this directory, log onto Homeroom and create a directory called "public_html". Any files or directories in this folder will be viewable via the url http://people.musc.edu/~yourusername/
  
  
• To post files to this website, just save to your homeroom/public_html/... directory. You may create subdirectories within /public_html if you wish.
  
  
• To have an initial web page appear instead of a directory listing, save your main webpage as "index.html" in the public_html directory.

For Other web publishing

• Every website that is hosted will have a user name and password. This can be set by the creator or assigned by the hosting service.
• Use a simple ftp tool to type in the URL (www address), name and password to access the online files.
• Post and retrieve files to the site to make them live on the internet.
• Most web hosting services include detailed instructions on this process; many even provide online uploading, so you don't have to mess with ftp - just enter your website url and the password.

Site Management

• index.html - index.html will open that web page when the directory is typed in. For instance, when I type in www.musc.edu/ccit/ and hit enter in my browser, it will display the www.musc.edu/ccit/index.html page - I don't need to type it in. The browser automatically looks for "index.html" as the opening web page for a directory.
  
  If there is no index.html page, then a directory list of files will be displayed.
  Example: http://people.musc.edu/~adamskr/ccit/training/
  
  
• 404 Error - When presented with a "404 - no page found" error, you can try to get to the original site by backing up one or more directories. For instance, if the url http://www.musc.edu/fanda/facs/08280.html gives me an error, I can try erasing the file name to back up to the main directory to see if it's valid: http://www.musc.edu/fanda/facs/
  
  If the directory is valid, I can begin to search from there. If the directory is not found, I can back up one more, until I get to the root website.
  
  
• Link Path - When your mouse hovers over a link, the full path to that page will appear in the bottom bar of the browser window. So you can see where you're going before you click the link.
  
  
• Images - It's good practice to keep your images in a separate folder (not the top directory) - really helps keep it clean, and also helps in referencing. Create a folder called "images" under your main directory and place images, buttons, photographs here. You can categorize your images within the "images" folder if you need to (i.e. /images/buttons/)
  
  
• Sub-directories - If you have several to many pages for a particular section of your site, create a sub-directory for it. This will help keep all your files pertaining to a particular subject in one area.
  
  So instead of having http://www.musc.edu/ccit/homeroom_instructions.html and http://www.musc.edu/ccit/homeroom_faq.html, you'll see
  http://www.musc.edu/ccit/homeroom/faq.html and http://www.musc.edu/ccit/homeroom/instructions.html
  
  This also helps if you have some sections with similar filenames, like a FAQ page for Homeroom and PPP and MNAs.