Category: Basic computer skills

If you’ve been storing files, experimenting, and building web sites for fun on your OSU ONID web server, it’s probably time to clean up the space—the public_html directory as well as other areas.

Cleanup is important before beginning a new web project, as you won’t want any old files confusing you or confusing the dynamic functions you’ll be using.

• Delete files you know you won’t use again.
• Move files you’re aren’t sure about into a temp directory.
• Put files for each web site in separate directories; each named similar to the site name. For instance:
  • oregonstate.edu/~oniduserid/vietnam
  • oregonstate.edu/~oniduserid/juggling
  • oregonstate.edu/~oniduserid/cs195

By following these guidelines, you’ll succeed in this course:

• Check Bb frequently for announcements and solutions.
• Ask technical questions and provide alternative methods in class and the weekly forums so I can answer them for everyone.
  • If you need help getting your code to work:
    1. Use Dreamweaver’s Results panel to see what errors it finds.
    2. Ask questions in the Forum and check back later for answers.
    3. Come in during office hours.
    4. If all three of those methods fail to help solve your problem, email me. I check email every day. Send the URL of the page on the server in the email.
    5. If you have questions about your grade, then use email (it’s a private matter).
• Add all work to your ONID or ENG server space and submit the URL in Blackboard.
• Read the textbook(s), my lecture notes, and tutorials to see three different ways to accomplish the same tasks.
  • Print the lecture materials and deliverable page prior to class so you can ask questions and keep notes on the same page.
  • Try what you read.
  • Put in the necessary time.
• Refrain from using Frames. But experiment with iframes.
• Refrain from using adult content in your site, or anything illegal.
• Title all emails with the course number (CS 195 or CS 295).
  • This is a requirement!
  • I get more than 100 emails per day and yours are the most important, so help me find them.

These definitions come from a variety of online sources. Click the term to read more about it.

HTML

Hypertext Markup Language is a formatting language used for documents on the World Wide Web. HTML files are plain text files with formatting Codes that tell browsers such as the Netscape Navigator how to display text, position graphics and form items, and display links to other pages.

XHTML

Extensible Hypertext Markup Language, a stricter remaking of HTML as an application of XML. The successor to HTML.

DHTML

Dynamic HTML, a mixture of standards including HTML, style sheets, the Document Object Model and scripting.

SHTML

(Server-parsed HTML) A file extension used to identify HTML pages that contain server-side includes. This extension is not required.

PHP

Hypertext Preprocessor, an open source, server-side, HTML embedded scripting language used to create dynamic Web pages. In an HTML document, PHP script (similar syntax to that of Perl or C ) is enclosed within special PHP tags. Because PHP is embedded within tags, the author can jump between HTML and PHP (similar to ASP and Cold Fusion) instead of having to rely on heavy amounts of code to output HTML. And, because PHP is executed on the server, the client cannot view the PHP code. PHP can perform any task that any CGI program can do, but its strength lies in its compatibility with many types of databases.

JavaScript

JavaScript is a simple scripting language that is sent as text and compiled on the client before execution. It was created by Netscape-not Sun Microsystems or JavaSoft. Originally named LiveScript, JavaScript code (which is unrelated to Sun’s Java language) is designed to be embedded into HTML documents. It is a competitor to Microsoft’s VBScript.

CSS

Cascading Style Sheets were created in 1997 with the introduction of the HTML 4.0 Standard. Style sheets let an HTML author create an overall consistent design and layout for Web pages. There are three parts to CSS: the styles, their placement, and the fact they can cascade.

SSI

Server Site Includes are server-parsed pages, meaning the server scans the page for commands that require additional insertion before the page is sent to the user. back to top SMTP server Short for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, a protocol for sending e-mail messages between servers. Most e-mail systems that send mail over the Internet use SMTP to send messages from one server to another; the messages can then be retrieved with an e-mail client using either POP or IMAP.

XML

eXtensible Mark-up Language, a specification developed by the W3C. XML is a pared-down version of Standard Generalised Mark-Up Language, designed especially for Web documents. It allows designers to create their own customised tags, enabling the definition, transmission, validation, and interpretation of data between applications and between organizations.

RSS

Quoting the official RSS v1.0 specification: ‘RDF Site Summary (RSS) is a lightweight multipurpose extensible metadata description and syndication format. RSS is an XML application, conforms to the W3C’s RDF specification and is extensible via XML-namespace and/or RDF based modularization.’ Here’s a tamer description: RSS is a format for syndicating news and the content of news-like sites, including major news sites like Wired, news-oriented community sites like Slashdot, and personal weblogs.

 

XSLT

XSL Transformations, a language for transforming XML documents into other XML documents. XSLT is designed for use as part of XSL, which is a style sheet language for XML. In addition to XSLT, XSL includes an XML vocabulary for specifying formatting. XSLT is a W3C specification but also part 2 of the XSL specification.

SOAP

Interfaces with XML to deliver web services.

WML

Wireless Markup Language which was formerly known as HDML (Handheld Devices Markup Language). WML is a language that allows the text portions of Web pages to be displayed on mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) via wireless access. WML is part of the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) that is being proposed by several vendors to standards bodies.

MathML

MathML is an XML application for describing mathematical notation and capturing both its structure and content. The goal of MathML is to enable mathematics to be served, received, and processed on the Web, just as HTML has enabled this functionality for text.

.NET

Microsoft’s set of software technologies for connecting information, people, systems, and devices. The technology is based on Web services—small building-block applications that can connect to each other as well as to other, larger applications over the Internet.

ASPX

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ASP

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Macromedia Dreamweaver Advanced for Windows & Macintosh

J. Tarin Towers, Sasha Magee, Abie Hadjitarkhani. Visual QuickPro Guide. Peachpit Press.

Photoshop 7 for Windows & Macintosh

Elaine Weinmann, Peter Lourekas. Visual Quickstart Guide. Peachpit Press.

HTML for the World Wide Web, 5th Ed.

With XHTML and CSS. Elizabeth Castro. Visual Quickstart Guide. Peachpit Press.

Supplemental web site

Download example files

JavaScript for the World Wide Web,
4th Edition

By Tom Negrino, Dori Smith. Visual QuickStart Guide. Includes companion site and online version with 14-day free trial.

Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity

Jakob Nielsen. 1999. New Riders; 1st edition (December 1999) Nielson is the authority in usability. If Web Development is your field, buy this one or the next one.

Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed

Jakob Nielsen, Marie Tahir. New Riders; 1st edition (November 5, 2001)

Optimizing Flow in Web Design

Andrew King. Sample Chapter. New Riders. Jul 11, 2003.

Attracting Return Visitors

David deBoer. InformIT. Jan 31, 2003.