Web Page Assignment

Home Page Assignment
(as of 9 September)

In this assignment you will create a personal home page -- on the Internet's WWW - accessible by 50 million people around the world. The page will be stored on your student Mason drive - in a special public directory specifically reserved for web pages created by students. Once the files that comprise your web site are stored in this directory, and you have set the permissions for others to view your web site, it will be viewable by anyone on the WWW. Instructions for creating this special directory, setting the permissions, and storing your web site files are included at the end of this document. I will hold an in class tutorial on how to create web sites to get you started.

A list of all the students in your class with links to their home pages (including yours !) is located at the following address (this site is referred to as the class menu in the instructions below):

http://classweb.gmu.edu/nshaw/MIS301/Fall2009.html

To view some sample home pages from last semester go here!

http://classweb.gmu.edu/nshaw/MIS301/Spring2008.html

You should bookmark this site, and use it to check out all the home pages of your classmates!

The address for your particular website will be: http://mason.gmu.edu/~yourmasonuserid

(e.g. http://mason.gmu.edu/~jsmith )

Grading Rubric:

For this assignment you will create your own home page. It should include the following items: (each bulleted item is worth 10%)

A picture of you.
Biographical information about yourself (no phone numbers!). (e.g. where you are from, your interests....)
A background image on the first page - other than just a plain color. (try to find an interesting one...…).
A link to send you e-mail on the bottom of the first page.
Links to some of your favorite web sites. All links must work!
There should be exactly three pages, each page linked to the other pages that comprise your web site.
Your name and date of last update must appear at the bottom of the main page.
The main page must link back to the class menu mentioned above.
The main page must be link-able from the main class menu mentioned above. If it does not work, it is your responsibility to figure out why and notify me if the link in the menu is incorrect. I control the links from the class menu to your individual pages. Sometimes the link address is just mistyped - but YOU are responsible for letting me know if I have the link wrong!
Any images or pictures on your website must be created with an "Alternate Text" descriptor, to make the images accessible to those with disabilities. The descriptor must adequately describe the image/picture. All images or pictures must load properly!

(Note that the main file in your directory must be called "index.html” in order for the link to work.)

NVU, (the tool we will use in the tutorial) is loaded on all PC machines in all the labs on campus. For beginners, I suggest you stick with this web composer for creating your first web page. However, you are welcome to use any other tool to create your home page if you wish, with the exception of Front Page. The Unix web server that is used to store your web pages does not support many of the advanced features that can be created with Front Page.

If you need to scan in your pictures, you can use the scanners in the Star Lab on the second floor of the Johnson Center. You need to call them to make an appointment. You are not limited to just one picture on your web site – feel free to scan in pictures of your friends, family, and pets. The design of your home page is left to your discretion, but it should reflect your own creativity. There is no real right way or wrong way to design home pages. We have all seen really good ones, and REALLY bad ones, and mediocre ones (like mine!).

Prior to creating your web site, you must know your masonuserid and your mason cluster password. If you have forgotten this password (it is NOT the same as your email password....) please go to this site to reset your password:

http://mason.gmu.edu/

Once you have your mason account created, and you know your password, you need to create the public web directory for your web page, and change the permissions on that directory so others may see your web site. Follow the instructions on the following site to do those tasks (click on the link "Personal Websites for Students, Faculty and Staff).

http://itusupport.gmu.edu/help/keywordcontent.cfm?contentid=33

http://www.gmu.edu/mlnavbar/webdev/findex.html

That site also includes instructions on:

how to upload your web site (all pages and graphics!) to your public directory once you have completed your web site
some basic guidelines for web page design

Miscellanous Notes:

All file names MUST have NO spaces. (including your picture and/or image files)
All file names MUST be 8 characters in length or shorter.