Steps in Producing a Web Page
A Web page can be created on on your
osf1 (mason cluster) account. In these instructions, the general procedure are
covered then the specific steps. GMU also provide basic instruction on building a
home page at their site call Creating a Home Page.
- The public_html directory If your home directory does not already have a
public_html directory, it's necessary to create one. The command cd
followed by ls public_html will show whether such a directory exists
- Making public_html If not it's necessary to make such a directory
with the command mkdir public_html.
- The pico (pine) editor A simple editor on osf1 (the mason cluster) to
create a home page or any Web page is pico. It's the same editor used for the email
pine.
- HTML tags HTML is a formatter and controls the Web display. Once in the
editor a simple set of tags would be:
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Some title</title>
</head>
<BODY>
Your page with all the necessary tags
</body>
</html>
- Tags Most tags have a beginning <code> and
an end </same code>
- Permissions In order to allow others to browse (read) your home page
it's necessary to provide them with the necessary permission. Permission are
r(read), w(write) and x(execute)
Below are a specific set of steps to create a homepage
Most of the steps come from an IDO instruction sheet
- log on to your ofs1 account
- type the commands as presented; further explanation will be given in class
- cd
- cd ..
- cdmod a+x your username
- chmod go-rw your username
- cd
- mkdir public_html
- chmod a+x public_html
- cd public_html
- pico index.html
- do the home page and do a ctrl x to save and type a y (for yes) to save and
then just press enter to get back to the osf1 prompt.
- chmode a+r index.html
- minimize but don't logout of osf1 and open the browser (e.g., Netscape) and
type the URL of your home page: http://osf1.gmu.edu/~yourusername/index.html
- If you are satisfied toggle back to osf1 and logout
- If you are not satisfied, toggle to osf1 and edit via pico index.html and then
ctrl x to save
- toggle to the browser, reload, and see whether you are pleased. If so toggle to
osf1 and logout
- Subsequently when you log in to osf1 and wish to modified the index.html or
create other web pages, cd public_html, ls (to see the files), and get into the
editor; pico if you wish. For any new files, it's necessary to do the chmod a+r
filename so that others can read new files.
Good Luck
This is a start. Try this approach, then learn some HTML editors
(Hotdog, IA from MS, the editor on Netscape Gold) and how to publish without going
through all the Unix commands given above. Nonetheless, it's good to learn some
Unix.