Copyright 1999 Arne Electro-Tech
All rights reserved
Teachers Online | home
Web Construction Workshop | Education for Electricians | About Us | FAQ | Contact Us | Web Resources | Links of Interest | Privacy Policy
Web Construction Workshop
Supplemental Topics:
Teachers On Line
Getting Started on the Web
When I decided that it was time for my fledgling part-time business to enter the ether-world of the Internet, I had very little knowledge of how to build a web-site.
First crawling, then with slow, uncertain steps, I began the process of web-site development.
Several on-line courses later, it seems that every spare moment is spent developing, planning, or fine-tuning my electronic creations. My first site, www.education4electricians.com was developed primarily to provide a marketing presence on the Internet for the weekend seminars that I teach for electricians.
This site has fostered correspondence with people from all over the United States and Canada, confirming that the Internet can provide a far-reaching medium of communication.
An informational site at members.xoom.com/stevearne was created to deliver course related material to busy college night students. This has provided an avenue to reinforce assignments and add resources that simply can't be contained in a hectic class period.
My third site, located at members.tripod.com/stevearne is an effort to share with other teachers who may be interested in developing their own web presence. Most teachers have a wealth of experience and knowledge in their chosen fields, but for many of them, web-site construction does not fall within the Arts, Sciences or Languages with which they are familiar.
A simple homily may help to introduce the avenues available to the would-be architect of a new Web-site. There are often several ways to accomplish a task. For instance, if you were in the mood for a fresh chocolate chip cookie, you might go to your local bakery and purchase cookies fresh from the oven that will make your mouth water. If you are like me, you may not get home without sampling the contents of the bakery bag. Alternatively, there is no better aroma than to come home and smell fresh cookies baking. But do you realize that even this could have taken place in several different ways?
The cook could have started with all the individual ingredients and baked this batch of tasty treats "from scratch". But the cook could have also taken advantage of a modern convenience and purchased refrigerated "ready to bake" dough, possibly in a tube that only has to be opened to reveal a roll of "ready to bake" cookies.
This analogy provides us with the understanding that there are several ways to develop a web-site. You can start from scratch and develop a site using the HTML (Hypertext Mark up Language) code. You can "go to the bakery" --so to speak-- by employing a programming expert to develop your web site. Or you can utilize the "ready to bake" approach by authoring your web pages with specific software that works much like a familiar word processor. In this manner, you can become the proud owner of a new web site without the need to know HTML programming, and without the cost of employing a consultant or programmer. There is a variety of Web authoring software available, such as Microsoft Front Page.
HTML (Hypertext Mark up Language) is the language in which web pages are written. A simple exercise will allow you to view the HTML code on any web page. When viewing a web page, position your cursor in the middle of the page. Be certain that your cursor is not on a picture, graphic, or link, and then click on the right mouse button. Click on the "view source" if using Internet Explorer, or you may find a similar option with slightly different wording if you are using another browser. The HTML source code will be revealed to you.
HTML programming is not extremely complicated, but does take some time to learn. In our baking analogy, baking cookies from scratch requires a greater time commitment and expertise than the other methods discussed.
When working with a limited amount of time to publish information to a web-site, and if one is unfamiliar with HTML, the "ready to bake" approach of using a web authoring tool offers an attractive alternative. An investment in software and the continuing cost of securing a web hosting service are the next issues to address.
Each web-site must be located on a web-based computer called a server, that communicates with other servers throughout the world on the Internet. Hosting companies are in business to sell space on their servers to aspiring "Web Masters" such as you and I. Most Internet Service Providers (ISP's) make available some free space on their server for the customers who purchase Internet access through them. Some hosting companies make limited free space available to anyone. This marketing vehicle allows the hosting company to increase their exposure on the Internet through various means, including requiring each web-site to include advertising.
Tripod.com is a hosting service that provides free space on their servers. Tripod is distinguished from many other free hosting services in that members are afforded the free use of a web authoring software from a company called Trellix Web. Trellix 2 is an extremely versatile and user friendly tool. Easy to follow "Help" topics within the software, as well as a number of excellent tutorials both on line and within the software download, enhance the usability of this software.
I have chosen to feature Tripod.com and Trellix 2 as the focus of my web-site for teachers. The ease of use and the quality of the completed design are outstanding for a free product. This decision did not come without some misgivings. After all, when you have learned to bake from scratch, there is always some hesitancy to accept the "ready to bake" product.
Applications of a web site for the enhancement of a conventional class.
The Internet has opened up a new world of information for educators. Most of us have made use of the Internet for research as well as for communication. Many of us as have had the opportunity to teach or learn from on-line educational offerings. Another application that can be made of this technology is through the development of web-sites for the conventional courses that we teach.
A web-site can be used to provide a variety of resources to our students. As well as posting a copy of the course syllabus and schedule, a web-site can be used to reinforce assignments and provide additional resource material. Study topics and terms may be posted to motivate students to prepare for tests. Links to sites relevant to the course are always useful.
A site that I have used for courses recently is to be found at http://education4electricians.com/ie
A link to the Instructors e-mail address will provide a convenient means of communication. It should be pointed out that the browser the student is using must be configured for e-mail before this type of link will work. If your web host supports forms, a more foolproof method of providing communication would be to provide a comment form on your site. This is a slightly more advanced procedure for future consideration.
An example of a form program is included at http://www.education4electricians.com/reqfrm.htm
Some other applications to be included on an instructor's web-site might include bulletin boards, guest books, or chat rooms.
A class web-site might be useful in accelerated format classes or to provide reinforcement to students who missed a class.
If you are not familiar with Internet terminology, you will want to know that the URL address is the address that displays in the address window of your browser, following the http://
When you wish to find a site on the web, you can proceed directly to that site by typing the site URL into the address window of your browser. If you do not know the site URL, you may wish to make use of a search engine. Search engines, and directories, make use of keywords on a web page in conjunction with key words that are contained in hidden Meta Tags on the web page to provide a list of sites in response to a key word search.
There are a number of search engines available. A couple of very useful search tools are dogpile and Ask Jeeves. Each of these sites bring the resources of multiple search engines to your assistance.
Take a moment to try searching using a common keyword with the following:
The distinction between a web-site domain and sub domain is important to understand as you prepare to set up a site of your own. A web-site which has its own domain will have an address in the form of www.yoursite.com If you are using a sub domain, your address will take one of a number of forms which may look like: members.xoom.com/yourname
In order to obtain a domain name of your own, you will need to register that name with one of several registration sources on-line. That registration will cost you a minimum of $60 for the first two years, then $30 each year thereafter. Some on-line sources will charge additional fees above that amount. Some web hosts also charge fees to configure their server to host your domain. To see if a domain you would like is available, use the following search tool:
Web site construction
Remember the 3 levels of involvement in regard to web-site construction that I mentioned in the "Getting Started" section? There are many resources available to support you in developing a web site regardless of which of the methods of construction you should choose. In the time available for this workshop, we will concentrate on using the Trellix authoring software.
You may subsequently find that you wish to develop your skills in HTML programming. There are many web sites that provide additional help in this area, and I will endeavor to list some resources in the future on my Web Resources page.
How do I go about finding a Web host for my site?
There are a variety of web hosting services available on the Internet. If you subscribe to an internet service provider (ISP) such as America On Line or a local provider such as Enet (enetis.net), often your ISP will allow you some space on their server to set up a personal web site. In most cases, that site would be restricted to using a sub domain address, unless upgrade your account or pay for the additional service. Web hosting companies abound on the Internet, and there are many that provide free web hosting within certain specifications and limits.
A word of caution is in order before you select a web host. Some free web providers will lay claim to rights of ownership of material on your web site. Also exercise caution if you decide to set up your own domain name, as there are some web hosts that will charge high fees to register your domain name for you, and some have even registered the name in a manner so that they exercise ownership of what was intended to by your domain name.
How are some web hosts able to allow free web sites? They require you to provide advertising for them and their clients on your site in the form of a banner on each page or a pop-up window. For an extra monthly fee, many of them will upgrade your service and allow you to eliminate this type of advertising.
Some of the many free hosting sites include:
Tripod.com
Web site development exercise
Now it is time to begin to develop your own web-site. Take a moment to visualize the type of site you will want to develop, in terms of the outline form your pages might take. For example, you may choose to develop a site whose map would show several pages each having a down level branch under it with several related topics. When using the Trellix Wizard, It is easier to start with more pages and more levels to begin with, and eliminate any that you find you do not wish to use later.
I would recommend that you start with a minimum of the following:
An index page which includes your introduction.
A page used to introduce the courses you teach, with sub pages under this for each course
An Instructor's introduction & resume page
Contact information
A Web resources page to include pertinent links
Visualize your site construction first, and sketch the site map. An old programming recommendation is: "Think first, program later".
Trellix Web
First of all, you will need to have the Trellix software loaded to your computer. If that has not been done, you will find instructions to help you do that on the FAQ page. If for some reason you have difficulty downloading Trellix, they have customer support contact information available on their web-site. You can go to their site by clicking on the Trellix emblem at the bottom of this page. If you prefer, they will send you a CD for a small fee.
Next, you can choose to develop a web-site using a wizard, a template, or open an existing web-site that you have previously saved. Trellix includes a good help program, and there is a tutorial that can be downloaded from the Trellix site after you have registered with Trellix.
Let's begin by viewing the on-line demo at Trellix. Go to the Trellix home page, http://www.trellix.com and enter the site by clicking on the "hand" graphic. Click on the tab for the demo. View the three part demo:
1. Create
2. Enhance
3. Publish
After viewing the demo, click on the tab entitled "Customer sites" to view some sites developed using Trellix in a recent contest. (Notice the winner of the VW Bug Grand Prize). Also especially notice the sites done by educators.
Spend a little time viewing some of these Trellix developed sites.
Now open the Trellix program on your computer. You may have an icon on your desktop, or you may need to find the Trellix program on you computer by clicking on the start button, opening programs, and clicking on the Trellix program.
Once inside Trellix, go to the Help menu. Some resources you will find here include a short description of how the internet and web publishing work: All about web publishing. You will also find a guided tour option in the Help menu. The guided tour is great. If it does not work when you click on it, you will need to go to the Trellix web site and download it. The instructions to do that are included on my FAQ page. Also on the Help menu is a Hands-on Tutorial which takes you step-by-step through creating a web-site.
A word about Trellix help:
If the help menu does not provide an answer to your questions about using Trellix, there is a good support section on-line at the Trellix site. If you are unable to find answers to a question in the FAQ Trellix provides live telephone support and a live support chat room during specified hours. I have found them to be very helpful.
Start to develop your own site using Trellix Web
For your first web-site, we will start by using a Wizard to guide us. Click on File, click on New. In the selection box, under Select a Template, choose Web Wizard.
Using the Web Wizard, make the following selections:
1. Choose a type of site: Select business
2. Fill in information to name your site & contact information, etc. You can always edit or change this information later.
3. Choose a look. You can change designs even after your site is completed
4. Choose and name your pages-- pick more pages than you think you will need at this point, it is easier to delete them later. I would suggest that you rename products & services to something like "Courses I Teach" or "My Courses" and change Product 1 to the name of your first course, Product 2 the second course, and so on.
5. View the site diagram and adjust pages as needed.
6. Enter some text allows you to enter the beginning text for each page. This can be changed, removed, or edited easily later.
Publish your site
Once you have developed an award-winning web site, the next step is to publish it to a web host. There are a number of ways of doing this. One of the common methods of publishing a web site is to use FTP, or file transfer protocol. When you develop a site using HTML, some method of FTP must be used. The FTP software is a program that you would need to download to your computer. Some web hosts, particularly the free hosts, provide their own on-line publishing utilities.
Trellix includes everything necessary to publish your site to a "supported" host. If you have been using the Tripod version of Trellix, this means that the only host you can publish your site to is Tripod. It is possible to purchase a version of Trellix which will work to publish to any web host, but the free version discussed in this lesson is designated to be used only on Tripod.com.
There are other web hosts that have partnered with Trellix, and I expect that you will see even more added in the near future. As this is being written, I have become aware that Trelllix now is also a partner with Webprovider.com
When you finish the Web Wizard, an option box should prompt you to preview and publish your web site. Alternatively, when not working with the Wizard, you can preview and publish at any time by going to the File menu.
The Preview and Publish option will guide you through the process of setting up your membership at Tripod.com and publishing your new web site. When you choose your member name at Tripod.com, this will be the name that your site will be published under. For example: https://members.tripod.com/stevearne where stevearne is my member name. When you publish your site, you can select if you wish the site map to be published or not.
Once you have published your web site, be careful not to leave the file on a shared or computer lab computer, particularly if you selected "remember password". You might be in for some unpleasant surprises!
Enjoy!
Once you have mastered building your own site and find that you have been bitten by the "web bug", check out the information to be found in the following link. Ken Evoy (of make your site sell fame) has put together some marvelous information to help you develop your interests into an online presence that will even provide some extra income. http://myks.sitesell.com/etech.html
It may be hard to visualize what YOU could sell on the internet, if you have never done it before. The book Make Your Knowledge Sell will help you to take your own experiences and knowledge, and put together a product to sell on your web site.
You have a lifetime of experience and knowledge that you can draw from. Ken and Co-author Monique Harris will show you how it is possible to develop and sell your own infoproduct. http://myks.sitesell.com/etech.html
Copyright © 1999, 2000 Arne Electro-Tech. All rights reserved.
No material on this site may be reproduced, in whole or in part,
without prior written permission from Arne Electro-Tech