What will you need to set up a Unit Web Page?

Webspace

How much web space you need depends on what you are putting on your web site. Generally, 10MB is enough for a site that is mostly text and with some graphics and photos. If you are putting up a large photo gallery or video/audio, you will need much more space.

Often, an organization may sponsor your webspace. Companies or even churches may have webservers with extra space and could donate the space as well as technical support to set it up.

Internet service providers generally provide 10MB or more to members that can be used for non-commercial sites. The problem with this is the site space is tied to an individual who will leave your unit at some point.

There are several free webspaces available – Geocities, Angelfire, freeservers.com, etc. – but they require you to allow advertising on your site. Some of these advertisements may be inappropriate for a unit web page, so be careful when looking and ensure you retain control over the goods and services associated with your site.

Finally, there are paid web services like ValueWeb that can provide larger webspaces, streaming audio and video and e-commerce opportunities.

Domain Names

Domain names (www.cubpack175.org, for example), are not required, but they help your users find the site. Having to remember or publicize a website with an address of http://www.geocities.com/~pack215/ is much more difficult for users and is a barrier to easy access. There are a lot of services to register a domain name, including Register.com, and Network Solutions. You may have to look around and find a variation on the name you want if other units have already registered your unit name.

If you already have a website, but would like tools to administer and easily redirect users to your site, DomainDirect provides tools like mail redirectors and hit statistics.

Accessibility

In Layout, we talked about testing color combinations to allow color-blind users to use our sites. There are other disabilities that prevent easy use, and ways to look for them. "Bobby" was created to help web page authors identify and repair barriers to access by individuals with disabilities. It tests web pages using the guidelines established by the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Access Initiative (WAI), as well as Section 508 guidelines from the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) of the U.S. Federal Government.

Efficiency Tools

Depending on the tool you use, things like Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and Templates can automate font changes, graphical themes, and global changes.

Frames

Frames allow you to load more than one page in a single browser. Sites may use one frame to display a table of contents and another frame where the contents are displayed. The table of contents stays static, while the contents are changed dynamically.

I discourage frames on websites because, a) not all browsers can display frames, b) bookmarks and URLs become meaningless because they point to the overall frameset, not the contents, c) printing is more difficult because the content is not contained on a single page, d) authoring is more difficult, and e) search engines can't find the contents. While it's a good idea, the implementation causes more problems than it solves. If you want a static menu that can be changed easily, get an authoring tool that supports templates or themes.

Scripting

Web pages can give a lot of information, but they can be more fun with dynamic elements such as scripting, PHP, and Active Server Pages (ASP). These are advanced features that allow you to show random graphics, rotate elements, change the look of the page, and customize the experience for the individual user. Scripting resources are available on the Resources page.

Directories

Although invisible to end-users, directory structures in your website can help you organize your site. Most sites have an "images" subdirectory to keep graphics in. Beyond that, when you have content that can be grouped, say a den subsection, or a collection of link pages, it is better to throw the pages together in their own subdirectory.

Filenames like

denwolf10.html

become

dens/wolf10.html

Fewer files to wade through in your master directory makes everything easy to find.