Introduction
About the Internet
About Web Page(s)
Netscape Wizard
What is FTP?
Glossary
Where to go next

Introduction
The goal for today is to first develop an understanding about the process of developing "pages" and "sites" for the Internet, and secondly to actually develop our first "page" for deployment in our own area on Webster's Internet servers. We will be developing a single "page" on our PC using the Netscape Composer, and then making that page available to the Internet. The URL for your page will be ... http://auden.webster.edu/~username

How does your browser work? - The Internet browsers (Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, etc.) are HTML interpreters. They read plain text (ASCII) pages that are formatted using HTML (HyperText Markup Language). The HTML language tells the browser how to display the text (what size, what color, what location, using what images, and so on). One way that a browser knows that a file is an HTML file by the file extension, which should be .html or .htm (either is fine). A browser can also interpret other types of files and languages, including displaying images, but let's stick to HTML.

Understanding where you are ... Understanding where files are

A browser is able to read HTML files from any location. A HTML file may be stored on your floppy drive (A:) or your hard drive (typically c:), or it may be located on a computer anywhere in the world. Of course, to read files that are not located directly on your computer, you must be "connected" to the Internet somehow. 

Files are references by a URL (Uniform Resource Locator - an Internet address). Every page has a unique URL, even those located on the hard drive or floppy drive of your computer. 

An example URL of a file on the Internet ...
http://www.webster.edu/~thompsma/internet/webpage/index.html 

An example URL of a file on your computer's hard drive ...
file:///c|/mom/webpage/index.html 

Make note of the differences between the http and the file protocol - it's important to understand how they are different.

We will be using a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) Web Authoring Tool that is part of the Netscape browser suite. It is called Netscape Composer. It's a relatively easy to use tool; much easier that coding HTML by hand.

It is important to understand the different between Composer and Navigator. One is a web browser (Navigator), and one is a Web editor (Composer). They look very similar, but their function is actually quite different.

We will be using Netscape to create HTML files that can be read by the browser. First, we will store them on our floppy disks (a: drive), and then we will transfer them to one of Webster's servers so that they are available from the Internet.

HTML basics
Start here: http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimer.html
Images - a large part of what makes the Internet attractive is the ability to display images on your web pages without much difficulty. We've already seen how to copy an image from a page. We'll now see how to add an image into our own page. 

FTP is also the name of a program that allows us to transfer files. The FTP program is a standard part of every Windows installation. Macintosh computers also come standard with a simple FTP program. 
We will use FTP to transfer a copy of our web page to the Webster University computers. Our goal is to make our web page(s) accessible from the Internet. However, since our individual computers are not Internet "servers" (meaning no one on the Internet can "connect" to our computer), we have to copy the web page(s) from our computer (a PC) to one of Webster's server computers. 

Each student at Webster has an Email account. Along with that account comes a certain portion of "space" on one of Webster's servers. This space is reserved for you and is accessible from the Internet. Your space is like a "directory" or a "folder" on the server, and that "folder" is restricted to you only. No one else can add or update pages that are stored there. 

The name of the computer that holds your "folder" is "auden.webster.edu". 

The name of the folder is your Webster user name (same as your Webster email name). Margo's is "thompsma". 

In your folder is another folder called "public_html". This is the folder that is accessible from the internet. Any HTML files located in that directory can be read from the internet by using the URL ... http://auden.webster.edu/~username

How to Transfer Files From Your PC to the Auden Server

1. Make sure your pages are tested and working on your computer.
2. Make a list of all the files you wish to transfer, including images, paying attention to where the files are located on your PC, and where you want them to be on the server.
3. Be sure you are connected to the Internet (either dial-up or direct connection is fine).
4. Open the FTP program ... choose the Run option from the Windows Start Menu.

 

 
 
 
 
 


 

5. Type the command c:\windows\ftp.exe in the Run window and press OK.

 

 
 
 


 

6. In the new FTP window, type the command open auden.webster.edu and press Return ... this will establish a FTP connection to the Webster server.

 

 
 
 
 
 


 

7. When prompted for your username and password, provide them. Your password will not be displayed when you type it.

 

 
 
 
 
 


 

8. Change directories on the server to the "public_html" directory. Type the command cd public_html and press Return.
9. Change local directories by typing the command lcd [directory]

 

 
 
 
 
 


 

10. Using the put and mput commands, copy files from your PC to the server. Be sure to use ASCII mode for HTML files and BINARY mode for images.

 

 
 
 
 
 


 

11. When finished, type the close command to close the connection, and the bye command to exit the FTP program.

• help - this will give you a list of possible commands. Type "help [command]" to get help on a specific command.
• open - followed by a server name, this will request a FTP connection to the server.
• user - this command will ask the computer to "connect" you to the sever
• pwd - ask the computer what the current location on the server is
• cd - the "change directory" command - followed by the name of a directory will change the location to that directory. Example: "cd public_html", or "cd .."
• lcd - the "change local directory" command - followed by the name of a folder on your computer, will change the location on your PC. Example: "lcd c:\nurs4600"
• dir - asks the server for a listing of all files in the current folder or directory on the server
• close - terminates a connection with a server
• bye - terminates a connection with a server
• delete - followed by a file name, deletes that file from the server. Example: "delete links.html"
• put - followed by a file name, transfers that file from your PC to the server. Example: "put index.html"
• mput - allows you to transfer multiple files with one command. For example, to transfer all your HTML files at once, type "mput *.html" ... the FTP program will prompt you with the name of each file to confirm that you wish to send it. Type "Y" to confirm, or "N" to deny, and then press Enter.
• get - followed by the name of a file on the server, will transfer that file from the server to your PC to the location defined by the last "lcd" command. Example: "get personal.html"
• mget - allows the retrieval of multiple files on the server. Example: "mget *.gif" (this will get all GIF image files).
• ascii - sets your FTP program to transfer text files; use this command before transferring HTML files
• binary - sets your FTP program to transfer in non-text mode; use this command before transferring images (GIF, JPG, etc.)
• mkdir - followed by a directory name, creates that directory on the server

• ASCII - plain text, no formatting
• HTTP - hypertext transfer protocol, the primary communications protocol for transmitting Internet documents
• FTP - file transfer protocol, a communications protocol used for transferring files between computers
• HTML - hypertext markup language, the primary langauge used for formatting web pages
• CGI - common gateway interface, a file extension seen on the web - these are active programs that can process data in real time
• Browser - an HTML interpreter that is capable of navigating on the web via URLs and translating HTML files into readable form
• Web Server - a combination of hardware and software that allows a computer to 'serve' documents to the internet - a server will listen for and respond to requests made for pages
• TCP/IP - terminal communications protocol / internet protocol, the communication rules that define how http, ftp, and other protocols work
• URL - uniform resource locator - an address for a web page that can be parsed by a web server and translated into a location on a web server
• IP Address - the unique number assigned by InterNic to a individual computer
• GIF - a type of image compression commonly used on the web
• JPG - a type of image compression commonly used on the web

Web pages are based on the HTML language. To create intricate web pages requires some knowledge of the HTML language. It is a relatively simple language to learn - not like a true programming language (that is because it is not a programming language). 

A good place to start learning HTML is on the Web at ... http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimer.html. I learned HTML from this site and from others like it that I found in Yahoo! in the category ... Computers-Internet-WWW-HTML-Beginners HTML. Try here.

Another good way is to find books. Use the form below to search through Amazon.Com, a site that sells books and music directly from the web. You can buy books using your credit card and have them shipped to your door. The prices are great, and all the purchase information is encrypted to prevent anyone from gaining access to your credit card number. You'd be surprised, studies have shown that on-line purchasing is less prone to fraud than telephone or retail credit card purchasing. 

We did not attempt to learn HTML in this class. Rather, we used a WYSIWYG Web Authoring Tool to assist us in the creation of HTML pages. Netscape is only one of dozens of Web Authoring tools available for creating Web Pages and Web Sites. We chose it for use in this class since it is one of the most basic tools, and it also has access to the Netscape "Wizards" on the Internet. Others include Microsoft Front Page, NetObjects Fusion, and others. Much more information can be found at CNET.com. 

Now, the BEST way to learn how to program on the web is not to read all the books and primers cover to cover. If you see a page that you like, COPY IT. In your browser, under the View menu, there is an option View Source. This will allow you to look at a page's HTML code. Or, in Netscape, when you find a page you like, just choose the Edit Page option from the File menu. This will download a copy of the page, including all images, to your computer, and allow you to edit and save it. 

As always, feel free to Email me with any questions.