COE Server Publishing Tips, Issues, and Warnings
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Your homepage URL
Your base URL is "http://coe.west.asu.edu/students/xyyy/" where x is your first name initial and
yyy is your last name. If Gary Lewallen
published a home page named "home.html" the URL for his home page would be:
http://coe.west.asu.edu/students/glewallen/home.html
When you connect to the COE server through Claris Home Page or an FTP program,
you will automatically connect to your specific folder within the students
folder on the server.
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File and folder naming rules
Do yourself a favor and double check the names of each of your files and
folders to:
- make sure there are no spaces, commas, slashes, question marks, or other "extended" characters [(~!@$%^&*{}:;\ /+'<>?)]
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make sure there are no extra periods (dots). For example:
fav.math.sites.html It is not uncommon to see files names like
this on the web but there is a possible issue with the COE Server interpreting
such files incorrectly so avoid possible problems by avoiding extra dots.
You may use an underscore ( _ ) instead if you wish.
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make sure that the file name length does not exceed 30 characters.
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make sure each HTML file name ends with .htm or .html
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make sure each GIF file name ends with .gif
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make sure each JPEG file name ends with .jpg or .jpeg
- be careful about using capitals letters in names - in the web server world "This.html" and "this.html" are two different files. The standard
convention is to use all lowercase letters for all folders and file names.
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Using the default file name for your
page
Another tip about naming your home page: most servers have a default file
name that the server looks for when someone makes a request without specifying
a file name. For most servers, including the COE Server, this is "index.html." This means if you name your home page "index.html" anyone
typing in "http://coe.west.asu.edu/students/yourname/" will be connected
to your index.html file. If you use another name it's no big deal but it
does make it a little easier to make a mistake when you pass out your URL
to all your friends and colleagues.
PLEASE NOTE:
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A file name of index.htm will NOT work as the default file name on
the COE Server; you must name your file index.html in order for the
COE Server to use it as your default file.
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If you use Claris Home Page, when you save your page with a name of
index.html you will see a warning/reminder page about file names including
a point about only using .htm as an extension. Don't worry about this,
using .html will work on any or all of your pages on the COE server
and most other servers too.
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Please tell Alice the name of your home page file
so she can link to it from her page.
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Adding a counter to your page
ASU has a counter CGI script available to anyone publishing a page on an ASU
server. It is pretty simple to use, just
follow these directions. There are more sophisticated options available
(changing fonts, including clocks, making an invisible counter, etc.) but
it strongly recommended beginners shy away from these advanced
features.
- Posting multimedia files such as HyperStudio, PowerPoint,
and WAV or AU sound files
Do you want to include files on your web site other than HTML and graphics
such as sound files, HyperStudio, Powerpoint, etc.? One of your first considerations
should be server space (see note in the Issues section below) as these files
can be very large. Assuming that the files are of modest numbers and
sizes, the next consideration is that how they are named. Just as the
section above addressed the importance of using proper file name extensions
for HTML and graphic files, sound files and those created by other applications
also need to have proper extensions to be sent correctly by the web server.
Sound files need extensions of .wav, .au, .aiff,
or .midi depending on the type of file it is. HyperStudio stack
files should end in .stk and Powerpoint files should end in .ppt to be served properly. Follow this link to more
detailed instructions.
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Server space:
At this point we do not have a system restricting students to a certain amount
of server space. So far, students have averaged using around 1MB for their
work. Feel free to use up to 3MB but beyond that, please check with
Alice first. Also, be sure to only post those files that are needed.
Frequently students have uploaded the whole folder where they have
developed their work including all the draft versions and original format
photos. We reserve the right to cull files that are not being used;
DO NOT use the COE Server as a place for your backup files.
- Updates/changes to my pages don't appear to work!!!
It can be quite maddening to upload a change to your web page on the server
and then when you check it in your browser you see the OLD page! What's going
on here?!?!? The source of the problem is a technique used by both servers
and browsers called caching. A cache is either a specialized section of reserved
memory or hard drive space used to speed up retrieval of frequently accessed
files. Normally this is a good thing that is completely transparent to you.
However when you are updating pages and testing them it can be an annoyance.
Fortunately, there are some easy ways to deal with the problem.
The first thing to try is a "forced" or "super" reload.
Normally when you click the RELOAD button your browser simply reloads the
current page from its cache. Force it to reload the updated page from the
server by holding down the CTRL key (Command on a Mac) and clicking the reload
button.
If you are making frequent changes, it may be worthwhile to change your browser
cache settings to check for newer versions of the page every time you try
to access it. It's a similar process on a Mac or PC and either Internet Explorer
or Navigator. Get to your browser's settings/preferences and look for the
cache settings. There will be a setting for checking for newer versions of
a page and the choices are "never," "once a session,"
and "every time." Change the setting to "Every time."
If this doesn't cure the problem it could be caused by the cache on the server.
If you are updating your pages via FTP (either with Claris HomePage, FrontPage,
Fetch, WS_FTP or other FTP client) then the server's cache is automatically
purged with every upload. However, if you are on campus and are using a direct
LAN connection to the COE Server, someone with administrative access to the
COE Server will have to manually flush the cache or change the server's settings
to flush the cache every minute or two.
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Using MS FrontPage:
FrontPage in many ways is an excellent web page editor. However, you
need to be aware of some significant issues.
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FrontPage makes creating sophisticated pages easy but the price to be paid
is compatibility with Netscape. While the basic features will be compatible
with any browser, FrontPage does not indicate anywhere within the program
when you incorporate fancier options that using them may make your page
incompatible with Netscape. You won't know there is a problems until you
browse you page with Netscape and see it doesn't work.
- FrontPage also does not make it clear many of its features (such as counters
and form processing) require that special server "extensions" need to be
installed on the server that will host your pages. The COE server does
not have these extensions so those pages will not work as you created them.
This is also true if you try to publish your pages to AOL member web
space and many other Internet Service Providers and school district
servers.
- Even if you avoid the compatibility problems and the need for extensions
there is another problem with putting FrontPage created web pages on the
COE server. FrontPage offers a number of theme sets of graphics and
backgrounds for you to use on your pages. Frontpage customizes these
graphics based on your content and creates literally hundreds of small graphic
files (for things such as bullets and buttons) with very long file names
such as: "articles.htm_cmp_tidepool110_vbtn.gif." That file name is
37 characters long and the COE server is a Macintosh with a limitation of
30 characters. A possible workaround would be to use sequential numbers for
file names (01.htm, 02.htm, etc.) and make a copy of the themeset you want
to use and rename it (e.g. tidepool110 to tp1).
All ASU policies on computer use apply to the COE Server.
In particular the COE Server may only be used for non commercial purposes
and copyright laws must be followed. Violations may result in anything from
warnings to immediate deletion of accounts and stored files and reports to
the University and proper authorities.
Last updated: September 6, 2005