This is the inital form in the home page building process. It begins with some basic information about building a home page and filling out forms. After that, you have to provide some data to get the process started. If you know the basic information, you can skip to the data collection process by clicking here.
One comment before we begin: this is a Web page building program, not a Web page editing program. If you have Web pages already, they may be destroyed by this process (although not by this program). Back up anything you want to save.
You can view the structure of home pages built with this program or view a few sample home pages or view a list of topics for subsidiary Web pages now if you wish.
You need to provide information by filling out this initial form, the main form for your home page, and a form for every additional Web page you wish to build. In some cases there are default answers and sometimes a box is already partially filled out. Occasionally a recommendation is listed before the answer. You can change the default or ignore the recommendation if you wish. Not answering a yes/no question is usually the same thing as answering it "no". Leaving a text area blank usually causes the item in question to be omitted from your home page. If an area is only partially filled out, either finish filling it out or make it blank.
Filenames and usernames may contain only letters, digits,
and the characters .(period) and _(underscore) -- spaces
are not allowed -- and they may not consist solely of
periods. The number of characters allowed is large (at
least 30).
It is probably best to use fairly short names consisting of
only lowercase letters (and perhaps underscores to separate
words).
If a file contains HTML code, the program will automatically
add .html (or .htm) to the filename.
Note on entering text with multiple lines:
All the text will run together: any line breaks, extra
spaces, or blank lines you type will be ignored.
You can force a line break by typing <br> and
you can force a blank line (a paragraph break) by
typing </p><p> --- don't type these
at the beginning or end, though.
Note: A few text boxes have specific instructions
that are slightly different from the above. Be
sure to read the instructions.
Here's a hint if you're using Lynx. You can move one page forward or backward by typing CONTROL-f or CONTROL-b: this is the only way I know to get out of a text box quickly. (Any normal characters you type are interpreted as text to be entered, and RETURN and TAB simply take you to the next line.) [This hint may depend on how Lynx is set up on your computer.]
You'll both give information and answer questions about how you want things to appear on your home page. When you are done filling out everything, use the SUBMIT button at the bottom of the form to submit the information. [Whenever you fill out a form, you have to select a SUBMIT button -- it may be called something else -- to start the processing of the form.] At any time while you're filling out the main form, you can view some home pages by going to the top or bottom of that page and following links; however, heed the warning in the next paragraph.
Warning: The data on forms is fragile. It
is not stored in a permanent location.
Every time you follow a link, a new page is loaded.
If too many pages are loaded, when you come back to
a form it may have to be re-loaded from the original
document, which would cause you to lose all the data
you have entered on the form.
If I knew more, perhaps I could predict when this loss of
data would occur, but I can't -- it seems to be quite
variable. Thus I don't know how many links is too many.
I suggest you avoid following many links after you have
filled out a form (until you've saved your newly built
pages).
You'll also be asked whether you wish to create subsidiary pages (e.g., a Research Page or a Teaching Page) in addition to your home page. If you do, you'll have to fill out separate forms for each of these pages (these forms are shorter than the main form). You indicate that you're ready to start doing this after your home page has been built.
When you submit your form, a new page is created. You can view the page in its formatted form or you can view the HTML code. You often will need to go back to the previous page to make corrections. You do this by using the BACK function of your browser. If you view a page for the second or later time, you will need to RELOAD the page into your browser to view the changes. (RELOADing a form may cause you to lose the data you have entered on it.)
There are two ways to save your Web pages. If you are on the alpha, read the description of the process on the page you came here from. You can also save the page from your browser using the SAVE or SAVE AS command (or its equivalent).
A final note: I use the phrase "click here" a lot to indicate a link. I'm assuming some users of this program are still getting used to the Web. It is actually considered rather bad form to use such a phrase or to draw explicit attention to a link; the viewer is supposed to pick out a link by the fact that it is highlighted by the browser. [Also, it's better to say "follow this link" than "click here", since some viewers use text-based browsers.]
We begin by asking for some information that is necessary to send you the correct version of the main form. You have to provide all of the 8 requested pieces of information -- even if some of them do not seem relevant for you -- or the program won't proceed properly.
You can view the structure of home pages built with this program or view a few sample home pages or view a list of topics for subsidiary Web pages now if you wish.