This stuff may be frustrating at first (and even at second), but hang in  there. It'll all become second nature soon--I promise!

 

First of all, write your name on a new disc (in case you lose it), along with "English 1091." Then insert your "English 1091" disc into the computer, and open the "My Computer" icon by clicking on it.  Click on "3 1/2 Floppy" and then open "File."  Create a new folder on your disc, and name it http.  All of your wordprocessing documents will be stored on your disc OUTSIDE of this folder; all Internet documents (converted to "html") will go inside of it--more on these steps below.

Next, open the Internet in Netscape and go to your Eastern web page:

You can also go here and enter your name in the search form to find your page:

Open "File," then "Edit Page," which will automatically open the page in Netscape Composer (you're in a web-editing program now, and you're no longer on the Internet).  Now write a line on this page below your name that says English 1091: An Introduction to Alternative Media.  Eventually, you will make a link from this line to a list of assignments for this course by following the directions below.

Close Netscape Composer by hitting the X in the far right corner; when the program asks if you want to save the changes you've made, hit yes.  Browse in the pop-up window to your disc on the A: drive, then open the http folder. Rename the file in this folder index, and hit "SAVE" to store the file named index in your disc’s http folder (make sure the file is not stored outside of this folder; word-processed documents on your disc will go inside this folder).

Now go to our Honors Composition Assignments Index

Copy this page too, like you did your own (by opening up "File," then "Edit Page," and then hitting the upper-right X, and so on).  Before you close it, replace [Student's Name] with your name.  Save it on your disc as ai, in the http folder on your disc again.
 
 

Open the file transfer program, WS_FTP LE.  Sometimes computers have an icon for this program, or you can usually find it in the lower-left “Start” button, then in the “Programs” section.  (For information on downloading this program and others onto your own computer, see our Computer Resources page.)

For "profile name" in WS_FTP LE, use pen; for host name, pen.eiu.edu; for User name and password, those you use for your EIU e-mail account (if asked, do NOT tell a public computer to save your password); then click “OK.” The software may at this point ask you to enter your password again, for security reasons; if so, type it in and hit “OK.” [Note for future reference: the computers in our classroom lab will always ask for the password on WS_FTP twice; therefore, you'll save time if you don't bother to enter it the first time, only the second.]

When WS_FTP LE is open on your screen, the box that appears on your left lists the information stored on your computer, including your disc; the box on the right lists information in your e-mail account, which is where your web page is stored.

Click on [ -a- ] on the left side, and the contents of your disc will appear. Both sides should now have an http folder in them, and you will want to keep the contents of these folders exactly the same on both your web site and your disc.  Having web versions of your documents on your disc will enable you to work on your web site even when the EIU system is not working (you can work from your disc, save a document on it, and then post it on your site when the system is working again).

Now open the http folder in BOTH sides by double clicking on them. Highlight ai.htm (or ai.html) in the left box by clicking ONCE on it; then hit the arrow in the middle that points to the right, sending a copy of this file from your disc to your account. Then highlight index.htm (or index.html) and send it over too. Finally, send over the two files that end with "gif" so that the images on your homepage will appear--image files usually end in "gif" or "jpg." (Note for future reference: when you want to send over more than just one file, you can save time by highlighting more than one item at a time--hold down the Shift key while clicking once on items after the first highlighted item, then hit the arrow key, and all will go over together.)

Now go over to the right box: delete the file on the right side named welcome.html, if there is one, by highlighting it (by clicking on it ONCE), then by hitting the right side's "Delete" button. (The index.htm or index.html file on your disc is going to replace this file--don't worry if there is already one of these marked index.html there--if there is and it has the same name as the one on your disc, your new one will overwrite it; if there is one on the right and its name is slightly different from the one on your disc, delete the one on the right).

To see the changes you’ve just made to your web site, open Netscape by clicking on the box for it at the bottom of your screen, then going to the URL of your EIU home page,

If the page on your site is not the page that you just edited, hit Reload to make sure the computer is displaying the most recent file on your computer. If you hit Reload and it is still not displaying the file that you just completed editing, go back to the WS_FTP LE program and examine the contents of your http folder on the right carefully.

The right side should list an ai.htm (or ai.html) file, and an index.htm (or index.html) file. Make sure that there are not two index files with slightly different names (for example, one with .htm and one .html). If there are two differently named index files, delete the one that differs from the one on your disc on the left (click on the file once to highlight it, then use the "Delete" key on the right side of the screen). Now go back to your website (with Netscape) and again hit "Reload."

Remember: if you save an html file on your disc that replaces one that's already on your disc, you have to hit the "Refresh" button on the left in WS_FTP before sending over the new version.

Once you see the file you have edited displayed on the Internet and you are finished working, go back to WS-FTP LE and close the program to make sure no once else can alter your web pages.
 

Bring your homepage up in Netscape (it should now include a line describing this course). Open your page in Composer by hitting "File," then "Edit Page."

Use the cursor to highlight all or part of the course name; click the Link button (the image that looks like a chainlink), which will call up another dialogue screen or box.

If a URL (that is, an internet address) appears in the space labeled URL, erase it by hitting the backspace key; type in the file name of your assignment index, ai.html (you don’t need to use a full URL because you’re linking to a file inside your own web site).

Click OK to close the dialogue box.

Place your cursor over the newly created hyperlink and click the left mouse button once to put your cursor there, then click the RIGHT mouse button once. A dialogue menu will pop up, so choose the "Browse to . . . " line by clicking on it.  If your link is working, this will open the Assignment Index; now close this window by clicking on the X in the far upper-right corner of your screen.

During this semester, every linked section within your Assignment Index must contain a link back to it.

Now go back to Netscape, and create a link on your Assignment Index page back to your main homepage.  Open your Assignment Index in Composer (by Choosing "File," then "Edit page"), and then highlight the line that says Back to Homepage.

Now click the "Link" button (the chainlink image), which will call up a dialogue screen, or box.

Type in the entire URL of your main homepage, or copy this URL from the internet and paste it into the box that asks for a URL (again, if something else is there instead, delete it before typing in the file name).  If you type the URL, be accurate! Be aware that link names must be perfectly accurate (this is why cutting and pasting where possible is usually a better idea, aside from the typing time it can save you), and they must not contain empty spaces.

Click “OK” to close the dialogue box.

Again, place your cursor over the newly created hyperlink, then click the left button once, and then click the right mouse button once; a dialogue menu will pop up, so choose "Browse to . . . ," to make sure your link is working.  If it’s working, this returns you to your main homepage on the Internet.  Now that you've checked, you should close this window by hitting the upper-right X, which brings you back to your Assignment Index in Composer.

Now hit the upper-right button in Composer, then the "Yes" button, and save this file in your http folder. (NOTE: Closing programs like this when you are finished with them is a habit you should get into to avoid confusion; close Composer and save the work you’ve done in it when
you're finished before going on to work in another program.)

Now you’ve created links back and forth between your main index page (your main homepage, index.html) and your Assignment Index.  But only on your disc, so far.

To get this stuff onto the internet, go to WS_FTP, and follow the file transferring directions above.

To create links WITHIN a page to another section in that page, click here.

There are several methods for converting your word-processed writing to html, the Internet-ready format.  For formatting reasons, this one seems to work best in this class:

Open a document in your word processing program, then highlight and copy the entire document.

Open Netscape, then File, then New, then Blank Page; then paste the copied material into this new document.

Add a link at the top back to your assignment index.

Close the document with the X in the upper-right corner, and save it with an appropriate name INSIDE your disc's http folder.

You now have an html document on your disc; Open WS-FTP, and send it over to your account (for detailed information on how to do this step, see the next section below).

Make a link on your assignment index to this new document, and be very careful that you give the link the exact same name that you gave to the html file.

Note that when the Composer asks for a title for this document, this will be the title that appears in the blue space at the very top of the Netscape program; give it any appropriate title.

NOTE: Unfortunately, this method does not transfer certain formatting features, such as italics and bold print, so you will need to go through the document and redo such items.  This is one reason why, later in the semester, you will want to write and save versions of your final report in Composer, rather than writing earlier versions in a word-processing program.
 
 

One interesting (and, to some, disturbing) feature of the internet is that most of the material on it is in effect out there in public, and thus available for use by others. This means that you can cut and paste other people's writing into your own writing, but of course you shouldn't do so without giving them credit, of course, because that would be plagiarism.  Taking other people's images, however, is far more common (whether or not doing so without giving them credit is plagiarism is still an open question).

In order to adorn your site with some appropriate images, find an image (photo, symbol, graphic, animated graphic, or whatever) somewhere on the internet, according to the search methods we discussed in class last week.  Think about the concept of "alternative media," and try to find an image that's somehow appropriate to that concept (if you can't find something fairly quickly, just put in this image for now, so that you can practice the following these steps).

Put your cursor on the image, then click on the right button.  In the pop-up window that appears, click "Save Image As . . ." and save it in the http folder on your disc.

Go to your Assignment Index in Netscape and open it in Composer for editing.  Put your cursor a couple of lines above the title of this page, and then center your cursor (there's a button for this that opens a window--choose the middle option).

Hit the "Image" icon, then the "Choose File" button. Browse to the image you just saved in your disc's http folder, then click away until the "Image location" box has the name of the image file in it, then hit "OK."  (If more letters and such than the short file name appear, delete everything but the file name itself).

Now save your Assignment Index file in the usual way (by hitting the upper-left X, and so on), and transfer it AND THE IMAGE file from your disc over to your EIU account's http folder.  Now go to Netscape and hit "Reload" to see if your image is where you want it to be.

If the image is the wrong size: open up the Assignment Index page in Composer again and put your cursor on the image. When the cursor changes into a hand, click on the right mouse button so that a pop-up window appears, then on "Image Properties."   Notice that in the "Dimensions" section of the pop-up window, you can enter different numbers to change the size of the image--out in some slightly larger numbers.

Next, try putting a new background texture, color, or image on your homepage (not your Assignment Index, which should remain white).  First, find a background texture on the internet that you like, from anywhere, and save it on your disc in the same way that you saved an image.

Then open your homepage in Netscape, then in Composer; put your cursor anywhere in your homepage, click on the "Image" icon, and enter the name of the background that you have saved on your disc.  Then click on the little box next to the words "Use as background."  The background should change from white to whatever background image, color, or texture you've chosen. Now save your homepage in the usual way, as index.html or index.htm.

(Note: again, don't change the background or text color on your Assignment Index; leave that black on white for a more professional presentation.)

If the background is too dark to read the page's words: you can change the color of the writing on your homepage to white, or any other color, by highlighting them in Composer, then choosing "Color" under "Format."

You can also experiment with different font styles and sizes, of course, just as you can in a regular word-processing program.  Be aware, though, that some font styles (like this one) are considered simply ridiculous in academic and professional settings, and that 12-point font is the best size for the text on most web pages.  Also, be aware that some font styles (like this one) can not be translated by some computers or browsers, so your attempt at funky quirkiness might just come across as confusing (this particular style might work in Internet Explorer, but not in Netscape) .
 
 

• REMEMBER: these steps might seem complicated at first, but they’ll become fairly automatic as you do them many times throughout the semester. The "learning-to-ride-a-bike" analogy is an old cliché, but it's true--recall how hard it was for you at first to ride a bike, compared to how easy it is now, then have faith that the same principle will eventually apply with posting materials successfully on your web site.

• Before you save a word-processing version of a document as an html (web) version, be sure it's single-spaced; converting double-spaced documents often causes formatting problems. Insert an extra space between each paragraph, and do NOT indent the first line of each paragraph.

• You can use different web page editors for posting material on the web, such as Frontpage Express, but I don't recommend doing so for this course. If you do use other editors, and especially if you use different programs at different times, BE SURE to check for the accuracy of file names!  Be aware that some programs automatically change the names of files written with other editing programs, often by capitalizing lower-case letters, or by adding or deleting an "l" at the end of file names.

• You can do what you like to the appearance and content of your own homepage, but during this semester it must have a prominently displayed link to your English 1091 Assignment Index.  Since this course is also a semester-long exercise in college-level writing, the appearance of the Assignment Index page, and of the writing assignments linked to it, must remain as professional in appearance as possible.

• The Assignment Index that you now have on the Internet is where you will be posting your assignments all semester long.  The main reason: so your classmates can help you by reading them on the Internet, then sending you comments.

• The Assignment Index should remain in black type on a white background for easiest legibility.  The list of assignments must remain as it now appears, again with the drafts of each assignment linked as you post them to their descriptions in the list.  However, you can change the size and style of the type on this page if you like, again keeping legibility and appropriateness in mind.

• Note that all assignments linked to the AssignmentIindex (even rough drafts) must have a link at the top going BACK to the Assignment Index.  This link must be entitled "back to assignment index," and it must appear in the upper-left corner.  I recommend putting this link in a 10-point font size so that it's less obtrusive. Note that due to some strange glitch in the Netscape Composer program, you'll need to go back to the internet, copy the ENTIRE URL of your assignment index, then paste that into the link box in Composer (instead of typing just ai.html).