Student Web Page Publishing Using WebDav

Student Web Publishing Using WebDav

Student Web Publishing Home
Publishing Methods: Drive Mapping Windows 2000 | Drive Mapping Windows XP
Drive Mapping Windows Vista | FrontPage 2003 | SharePoint/Expression Web | Mac OS X

What is WebDAV?: Briefly: WebDAV stands for "Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning". It is a set of extensions to the HTTP protocol which allows users to collaboratively edit and manage files on remote web servers.

from http://www.webdav.org/

Longwood will be using WebDav as the method for publishing and editing student files on the web. It will be more secure and provide an easier method to update and maintain your site.

As of August 13th, 2007 the process for publishing and maintaining student web pages and portfolios and student organization web pages has changed. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) will no longer be used. The new procedure will require one of the methods listed in the links at the top of this page.

IMPORTANT: Beginning August 13th the web addresses for all existing student personal web pages, portfolios, and student organizational web pages will change. All existing files will be transferred to the new web share.

Web Address Changes:

Student Personal Web Pages:
New Format: http://lancer.longwood.edu/<LancerNet ID here>/student
(In order for this format to work, you must have all of your web files in a folder named student)

Student Portfolios:
New Format: http://lancer.longwood.edu/<LancerNet ID here>/portfolio
(In order for this format to work, you must have all of your web files in a folder named portfolio)

Student Organization Web Pages:
New Format: http://lancer.longwood.edu/alphaphialpha

The new system will allow a total of 25 MB for personal web space and portfolio combined. This quota can be divided between personal web and portfolio at the student’s discretion. In short, you will be going from two separate websites to one, and can manage the site as you see fit.

If you have questions or need assistance contact your Resident Technology Associate (RTA).

Tips for websites:

Don't use a special characters in your filenames except for hyphens and underscores. Be sure to avoid the # sign in particular!
When designing your site, think of it like a flowchart and chart paths with how users will get between pages. Have good links to get back to where they came from or back into the main site navigation.
Make the main page of your site and the main page in each folder named index.htm
Optimize and resize your images before putting them in your web space to make sure that you have as much room available as possible for other content
Do NOT store personal information, copyrighted music, or games in your web space. Even for a moment.
Check your published website from a different computer than the one you posted it from to look for problems. Also try to use different browsers to gain a different view of possible troubles.
Keep a backup of your website in case of a need for recovery. USB memory sticks are good for that and should be usable in all labs.
If you are using sound or video, be sure to provide a way to turn it off if someone does not want to hear it.
With the design of your site, don't color everything some different color just because you can. Use the same colors consistently and keep their use the same throughout the site. You don't go to a professional site and find links and layouts different from page to page.
Plan ahead. Sometimes problems can happen and starting early can help you identify some pitfalls before you are trying to load your site at the last minute!