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Information Technology Department

Student Web Pages

Student Web Pages Getting Started

People.hsph.harvard.edu!

About individual web space
HSPH is pleased to offer individual web space to students as a new initiative in the fall of 2005. This offering is a result of the work of the HSPH IT Advisory Committee and the Student Coordinating Committee. We offer space with a people.hsph.harvard.edu URL for individual use.

How do I access my website folder?

On campus:

  • Log onto the Novell network from the student microlab
  • Double click on My Computer
  • Double click on the P: Drive
  • Create a folder called public_website. This is the directory where your web files will be housed. You are free to make directories and subdirectories. Do not use spaces or special characters in the directory, subdirectory, or file names.

Off campus or on your laptop:

  • Open a web browser and visit NetStorage at http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/netstorage (also available as MyFiles option in my.hsph.harvard.edu)
  • Log on using your Novell username and password
  • Double click on the P: Drive
  • Create a folder called public_website. This is the directory where your web files will be housed. You are free make directories and subdirectories Do not use spaces or special characters in the directory, subdirectory, or file names.

How do I upload a file and email someone the file location?

One of the nice features of individual web space is the ability to drop a large file into your website directory and notify other users via email that the file is available. With file sizes growing and email quotas both at HSPH and your recipient’s email system restricting file transfer, individual web space assists with collaboration.

  • Save or copy the file to the P: Drive in your folder called public_website. (If you haven’t created the Public_Website folder, please create it.)
  • Do not use spaces or special characters (quotes, apostrophes, ampersands, etc.) in the file names.
  • File names and access to the file names via a web browser are case sensitive.
  • Send email to your recipient with the web link http://people.hsph.harvard.edu/~username/filename.doc where username is your Novell login and filename.doc is the name of the file that you wish to distribute. Important: use proper file extensions (i.e., .doc, .xls, .ppt, .pdf, .zip) to assist your end user with opening the file.

How do I create a full-featured website?

You may create a full website by either hand coding HTML or by using an HTML editor such as Macromedia Dreamweaver, Microsoft Frontpage, or another editor of choice.

For your website to be available to the public from your URL of people.hsph.harvard.edu/~username, you must have a file called index.html or index.htm in your directory. This is the default page served from each directory. A permission denied message is returned if the server does not find this file.

An example of an index.html file:

 

 

My Individual Web Page

 

 

 

My Individual Web Page

 

Links:

Link to Test.doc

Link to Harvard School of Public Health

 

 

What are the training options? Where do I learn more?

  • Individual web space is offered with minimal support from Information Technology Staff.
  • Web seminars sponsored by the Department of Information Technology will offer a hands-on opportunity to create a simple website (beginning in late September).
  • Macromedia Dreamweaver, a popular HTML editor, is installed on microlaboratory computers. Dreamweaver documentation is available from the ICF staff, and many tutorials exist online.
  • A listing of online tutorials and help sites for website development is being developed. Some tutorials may be found at:

NCSA HTML tutorial:
http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimerAll.html

HTML Primer
http://www.htmlprimer.com

Using Macromedia Dreamweaver
http://www.macromedia.com/support/dreamweaver/documentation/dwmx_tutorials.html

Web Developer.com
http://www.webdeveloper.com/html/

Web Monkey by Wired Magazine
http://webmonkey.wired.com/webmonkey/

Lynda.com Web Graphics
http://www.lynda.com/

  • Searching Google for web templates and tutorials will yield hundreds of help sites.

How much space do I have?

Your web space is part of your Novell account quota of 200 MB.

What is my website URL?

Website URLs take the form of:

http://people.hsph.harvard.edu/~username

where username is your Novell login name.

In order to view website, http://people.hsph.harvard.edu/~username, you must have uploaded a file called index.html or index.htm that serves as your home page. Index.html or index.htm is default file that is served from your website directory. A permission denied message is returned if the server does not find this file.

You may access files directly without an index.html file, by entering the entire directory and file information. For example, to access a MS file called test.doc in your main directory, you would type http://people.hsph.harvard.edu/~username/test.doc into your web browser.

What file formats are supported?

Your individual web space supports any file formats that are supported on the HSPH web server.

File formats include:

  • HTML files (.html, .htm)
  • Javascript files (.js)
  • CSS files (.css)
  • Graphic files (.jpg, .gif, .png)
  • MS Office files including Word, Excel, Access (for download only), and Powerpoint (.doc, .xls, .mdb, .ppt)
  • Flash files (.swf)
  • Data files
  • Text files (.txt)
  • PDF files (.pdf)
  • Downloadable audio/video files (.mp3, .rm, .wmv, .mov)

What isn't supported?
Your individual web space does not allow for executable applications or live database access.

Restricted file formats include:

  • Any middleware or CGI scripting including PHP, ASP, ColdFusion, Java/JSP, PERL
  • Database including MySQL, MSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, etc.
  • Streaming media
  • MS FrontPage Extensions

The web server is a UNIX-based system running Apache as a web server. Directory and file names are case sensitive. Spaces in file names and directory names are not supported and will yield error messages in most browsers. Directory names should not contain special characters including quotes, apostrophes, and ampersands.

Isites

A Harvard University application called Isites will be available to official student groups and ad hoc student groups beginning in mid-September. This application offers threaded discussion, file sharing, and other community-building features. Permission of the Office for Student Services will be required for access to this resource. More information will be available in early September.