UNLV Geosciences Department
Guide to Making a Web Page

by Cathy Snelson

Getting Started

All of our web pages are housed on the Unix system. This requires that you have an account in our department and have a working knowledge of Unix to create a web page to link into our page. You have several options for publishing a web page which are using Netscape, Frontpage, by hand, or any other publishing software. In the end your HTMLs have to be transported to your account on the Unix system. This guide will show you how to code a web page by hand and the directions needed to get your homepage online.

Before we get started with HTML lets go over some useful cammands for Unix.

mkdir directory_name - makes a directory with a given name cd directory_name - changes to the directory indicated mv file_name file_name or directory_name - moves a file to either anotehr file name or into a directory. Be careful this can not be undone rm -i file_name - removes the file specified. cp file_name file_name or directory_name - copies a file to a new file name or a directory specified. chgrp web file_name - changes the group to the web group. This is necessary to have the files on our system. chmod 775 directory_name - changes the mode for the directories you are using. chmod 664 file_name - changes the mode for the files you are using.

Working with HTML

HTML or HyperText Markup Language is the language web pages are coded in. This language is constantly being updated and can do many things it couldn't do just 4 years ago. Coding by hand requires that you know the "tags" or code that will make your web page work. Below is a handy cheat sheet of the tags you will use on a regular basis. Be aware that there are more tags out there than I have listed. If you want to know more about how the language has changed or more updated tags your local bookstore has good references.

  • Tag Cheat Sheet

    Making a Web Page

    Here is a basic example on how to make a web page

    <html>
    <head><title>My Home Page</title></head>
    <body bgcolor="#ffffff">
    <center><h1>Welcome</h1></center>
    <p>
    <br>
    <center><img src="Muir_Glacier.gif"></center>
    <p><p>
    <center><img src="yellfalme.JPG"></center>
    <p>
    <ul>
    <li><a href="filename.html">Research</a>
    <li>Resume
    <li>Me
    </ul>
    <p>
    <hr>
    email: <a href="mailto:yourlogin@unlv.edu">Your Name</a>
    <p>
    <a href="http://www.unlv.edu/Colleges/Sciences/Geoscience/html/intro.html"><img src="../../Images/home.gif">Go Home</a>
    <p>
    </body>
    </html>

    Now see what it looks like ---> Basic HTML

    Colors
    You can change the background color as well as the text and link colors all over your page. Below is a link to the color codes that you might use to change the colors of your background, text, or links.

  • Color codes

    Backgrounds and Icons
    Backgrounds gives some texture to your pages. Icons gives some character to your pages. There are many places to find free backgrounds all over the web. There are also plenty of places to get free icons as well. Just make sure they are free, there is no need to pay for them. You can make your own backgrounds using Photoshops. If you are interested in learning how just ask me, I will be happy to show you. You can also make your own icons, I know a little about doing this as well. Below are some links to places find free backgrounds and icons.

    Images
    Photos and images from your research are nice to add to personalize your page and to inform people what you do here.

    Scanning: you should scan images in at 150 dpi. When you bring them into Photshop change the image size to the size you want to view and the resolution to 75 dpi. Remember we do not have unlimited disk space to try not to get images too large. Once you have changed the size and resolution then save the image as a .gif or a .jpg. The main difference with a gif or jpg is that a gif has less colors than a jpg. A jpg is also a compressed file, so it takes longer to upload.
    Graphics from software: The only thing here is to bring the image into Photshop, resize and change the resolution and then save it as a gif or jpg.

    Those are the basics. I have additional information on how to do forms, tables and how to get a web counter. If you are interested in knowing how to do these addtional functions just come find me.

    Departmental Computing Resources Page