Building a Home Page

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.

This Web page describes a procedure for building a Home Page and other Web Pages and installing them on UWM's alpha computer, and it contains the first form you have to fill out.
Here are the steps. If you do not wish to install your pages on the alpha, you carry out only the first step and SAVE the pages from your browser after they are built (SAVE your home page only at the end, as it is modified after every new Web page is built).

Fill out the form at the end of this page, and then fill out subsequent forms until you've built your home page and any extra pages you desire.
Log on to the alpha and run wwwsetup.
Issue the command:
/usr/ua/adbell/wwwbin/installhp
This actually installs the home page that has been built.
Members of the Math department should instead issue the command
/usr/ua/adbell/wwwbin/installhp Lastname groupname
where Lastname is your last name (capitalized) and groupname is math or mathgrad. This version generates an email message to the maintainers of the Math Web pages, so they can link in your new home page.
If you want an ftp directory, issue the command:
/usr/ua/adbell/wwwbin/makeftp
or
/usr/ua/adbell/wwwbin/makeftp math
Use the latter version if you want your ftp directory in the Math area (only available to members of the math group on the alpha, which is mainly Math faculty). [The location of your directory on the alpha will be either ~ftp/pub/username or ~ftp/pub/Math/username.]

Note: Step 3 must be carried out in a timely fashion: after 24 hours your pages will be deleted if you haven't installed them.

Some Comments about using the Program

Not answering a yes/no question on a form 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. If a default is given, you can change it if you desire. When you are done filling out a form, use the SUBMIT button at the bottom of the form to submit the information (it may be called something else, but every form has a button you must select to start processing).

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.

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).

When you submit your form, a new page is created. You can view the page in a formatted form, you can view the HTML code, or you can view the "actual page". After viewing, you may need to go back to the input form 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.)

The Initial Data You Must Provide

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.

Enter your username, that is, your login name on alpha1 or alpha2 (e.g., cfgauss). If you are not on the alpha, you still need to give some (any) username.

Enter your email address (e.g., cfgauss@uwm.edu).

Enter your full name (e.g., Carl Gauss or C.F. Gauss):

To build your home page, you will fill out the main form later. The next three questions help customize the form and the building of your home page.

Which version of the form do you wish to fill out? The longer version gives you more options (more control over details) and requires you to make more choices.
Longer version (more choices)
Shorter version (fewer choices)

Select one of the following choices indicating your affiliation
UWM Math
UWM, but not Math
Other

Where do you intend to install your Home Page?
On the UWM alpha (UWM main computer)
Somewhere else

Your own pictures and images should be stored in a subdirectory of your www directory. Enter a name for that directory.

You can store other images that might be used on your Web pages -- such as the UWM Math logo, the UWM logo, and the background image -- in your own subdirectory, or you can use the copies of those images that are in the Math department's www directory. Which do you wish to do?
Store common images in my own subdirectory
Use common images in Math/Images subdirectory.

When you have filled out the above information (remember, every item must be filled out or answered), select the SUBMIT button below to get the main form you need to fill out. (Don't select the reset button unless you want to start over with a new blank form.)

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.

Here are three sources of information about Web page authoring and HTML (as usual, click on the name to follow the link): Introduction to HTML by Chuck Musciano, Internet Sources for HTML Authors by Spike Hernandez, and Introduction to HTML by Ian Graham (including an online version of his popular book The HTML Sourcebook).

To Allen Bell's home page

Send feedback to adbell@uwm.edu