HTML and Your Web Page

First of all...what is HTML? HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. To put it simply, HTML code " formats " a webpage. It doesn't include any images, programs, or anything else on your webpage, only your text and formatting " tags " that place image files in the right locations. What an HTML document does, in a nutshell, is place and format your text using tags, and make calls to place images, etc...in the page, according to tags that specify their size, shape, alignment, and other attributes. This is why when uploading an HTML document, you must also upload all files, graphic and otherwise, associated with it, and make sure the tag that calls it up is exactly the same as the filename...the images themselves are not included in the HTML code. If the filename, location, or even the case of the letters in the filename is different, your image won't be displayed.

Step 1: Setting Up A Webpage Directory on SCIS

To perform this step, you'll need to log into SCIS via Telnet. Follow the directions off the main helpmenu to do so, if you've not already.
You should have an SCIS prompt on your screen, for example,

user@scis>

Follow the directions in the box below to set up your web directory, and be sure to set the permissions correctly. Remember, all web files must be uploaded and placed into this directory for your webpage to display them.

1) In /home/username (your home directory) type "mkdir public_html"
2) Change permissions on public_html. type "chmod 755 public_html"
3) Move or create all .html files and directories into your public_html directory. The web server on SCIS can only see your files if they are in "public_html" or in a directory within it, no file outside of this directory may be accessed through the Web.
4) Change permissions on all files and subdirectories in your public_html directory by typing "chmod 755 *" while within the public_html directory . If you don't change the permissions like this, the web server won't be able to "see" your files.
5) For any new item you create in your "public_html" directory, you must open the permissions, or you won't be able to see the page through Lynx/Netscape.
6) Hint: Give your homepage the name of "index.html". If you do so, you can use the popular convention of ~username for your URL.
Example: Your web page will be "http://scis.nova.edu/~username"


Step 2: Creating or Editing a Web Page


If you've never done a webpage before, one of the best places to start is an excellent html code tutorial. It covers everything from what HTML is, to tags, images, links, and everything else you're likely to need to understand the syntax of. Before starting anything, you'll want to have the following reference handy, for it involves exactly how to set up your web directory and page in your SCIS account. For graphics, you may link to the NSU Image Library.

There are several ways to create and edit your webpages, either from within your SCIS account or on your home PC. You may use one of the numerous HTML editors available that run on both Windows and Macintosh.
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