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[previous article] [next article]When working with a new concept, just getting started can be an ordeal. Taking the first steps toward providing information on the Web can be tricky if not seemingly impossible for novice and experienced users alike. Webinit was designed to give ECN users a start at providing their own information on the Web.
To activate the Webinit program, go to a Unix command line prompt on an ECN Sun account and enter webinit. Webinit will create your Web directory, change directory permissions as necessary, and install some startup files for you. It will return status messages as it runs and will print and e-mail information to you when it is finished.
Congratulations! You are now a Web information provider!
To tell people how to get to your new "homepage," you'll need to know your URL. Your URL is displayed when Webinit is finished, but Webinit also mails it to you. By typing this URL into a Web browser, anyone in the world can look at your information.
You'll probably want to personalize your homepage and create some more
pages. To personalize your homepage, go to the directory public-web
in your home directory and edit the file Index.html .
The strange-looking codes used in Index.html are HyperText Markup
Language (HTML). These codes allow you, as an information provider, to
give suggestions to Web browsers on how to display your information.
Point your Web browser at
http://www.ecn.purdue.edu/ECN/FAQ/
and look at HTML Answers to find out more about HTML.
After you've worked with your homepage, try making a new HTML file. You can start by copying the file template.html to a new file. For example, type cp template.html mystuff.html to create the file mystuff.html. You may now edit mystuff.html to contain whatever information you want to make available to the world. When you are done, you can access mystuff.html with your Web browser using a URL of the form http://mymachine.ecn.purdue.edu/~mylogin/mystuff (substituting your machine name and login for "mymachine" and "mylogin").
? You may notice that some extra text and graphics are added to the top and bottom of your homepage and any page created using template.html. These elements are added in by three files which are included whenever someone looks at your page.
The first included file, info.inc, puts some basic information about you in the heading of your documents. This information is not usually visible, but it allows browsers to determine the owner of the document.
A banner file is included from the Banners directory. This file is different for every school. It is centrally administered and will be maintained for you.
At the bottom of your documents, the file signature.inc contains the commands to place a horizontal rule followed by your name. It also contains a command to show when the document was last modified so that callers will know how current your information is. Finally, signature.inc is responsible for adding the "HTML Check" icon at the bottom of each page. Clicking on this icon will submit the page for checking by an HTML validation service. This service will report back any errors that it finds in your HTML code. Writing good standard HTML will help insure that your pages are readable on any Web browser.
The info.inc and signature.inc files are located in your public-web directory. Any changes you make to these files will immediately show up in any documents which include them.
In the future when a search engine is install at the ECN, all public-web directories will be indexed to assist the world in locating information.
Questions or problems regarding WEBINIT should be sent to laird@ecn.purdue.edu.
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