General T171/TU170 web design issues... or... print this out - you'll need it!

There are certain bits an' bobs that you need to be aware of when you're doing your web sites or web reports for T171/TU170... little quirks and things that you skim read at first and then trip over later on cuz you've forgotten about 'em. Well... here's a handy checklist!

Whatever you do, and no matter how much sense it makes at the time... don't put parts of your website into sub-folders. The eTMA system will trash it, and your tutor won't see your beautifully hand-crafted work as you intended.

Packages like (for example) Microsoft Word and FrontPage put images into separate folders by default - and you need to switch off that function in order for your web site to be okay for T171/TU170. Have a look at the FrontPage and Word pages to find out how to do just that!

Basically, all your work should live in the same folder, if you need to move things from sub-folders later on, bear in mind the effect it'll have on your web page... after all... the web page won't automatically know that you've moved an image - it'll still be looking for it in its original location... well, unless you've got a super-duper fancy HTML Editor that is!!

In order to make sure that no matter how fantastic or how rubbishy the person who's viewing your web site's machine is can see your hard work... follow these simple rules:

a.  Use all lower case file names, "index.htm" rather than "Index.htm"
Some systems are case sensitive, so stick to lower case, it's easier in the long run!

b.  Don't give your files really long names... 8 letters before the dot - max!!
"Old" computer systems would only allow you to have 8 letters, a dot, then 3 letters i.e. sfullard.htm. Anything more than that will get chopped off... for example, sarahfullard.htm would become sarahf~1.htm and might not display or link properly on an older machine

c.  Don't use spaces in your file names
If I call my file "Sarah Fullard.htm" then the way it'll look in the web browser's address bar is "Sarah%20Fullard.htm" - you're asking for trouble!!

Don't rely on the way your website looks on your own computer - send it to a friend and ask them to check... better still publish it to some web space. If you don't check anywhere else, remember you can use your OU web space to preview your site. On your FirstClass desktop, you'll have a folder called "Home page". Drag the files you want to view into this folder and go online to see the finished article. Your website's URL will be something like:

http://oufcntx.open.ac.uk/~firstname_lastname/
where x = the number of the server you're on

So, my OU web address is:

http://oufcnt6.open.ac.uk/~sarah_fullard/

Remember, it is your EXACT preferred name on FirstClass that'll be used - if you've got a number in your name i.e. Sarah Fullard 2, then the end bit of the web address would be "~sarah_fullard_2"

Good advice generally, but particularly if you use AOL as your ISP.

The way AOL compresses graphics for quicker loading can lead to problems - pictures not showing up in Netscape for example. You need to click on "Members" "Preferences" "WWW" and then "Web Graphics". There's a box saying "Compressed Graphics"... take the cross outta that box. Clear the temporary internet files (clearing out any old *.art versions of images) and then start browsing again - and re-save your piccies. Everything should be fine!!