Now Playing on the Web

Create a global on-line presence -- as we did

By Lars Kongshem

Lars Kongshem is assistant editor and webmaster of Electronic School.

Welcome to Electronic School's outpost in cyberspace. As you can see, we've created an on-line version of your favorite school technology publication and put it on the Web.

The Web is changing the publishing business in a manner not seen since Gutenberg started cranking out Bibles by hand, and publications large and small -- from Time magazine to the St. Petersburg Press weekly newspaper in Russia -- are setting up shop on the global network. Publishing a magazine or newspaper by coating dead trees with petrochemicals is starting to look decidedly old hat.

As the proliferation of "home pages" attests, it's not terribly difficult to publish on the Web. You or your school can do it, too. At the time this was written, 442 schools and 136 school districts already had Web sites of their own, according to Gleason Sackman's Hotlist of K-12 Internet School Sites. And the number of personal home pages no doubt numbers in the millions.

What follows is a brief how-to Web cookbook, based on our experiences:

Find a gracious host. To publish on the Web, you need access to an Internet host computer that is running Web server software. There's no need to go out and buy your own, however; simply rent, beg, or borrow space on someone else's. (Even the popular on-line service Prodigy now gives subscribers a home page starter kit. All you need is a computer, a modem, and a telephone line.)

In our case, we're using a server located in the offices of our Internet access provider, Digital Express Group Inc., of Beltsville, Md. Digital Express furnishes file space on the Web server to all of its regular customers at no extra charge -- a common service among Internet access providers.

Put your act together. Your Web site will be visited by people from all over the world -- not to mention parents and others in your own community. Keep in mind that visitors to your Web site will be looking for worthwhile and useful information, not just pretty pictures. Make sure your content is well-written, edited, and proofread, too.

Make your information fit the Web. Now you'll need to format your content for presentation on the Web. This is a slightly tricky part, because the technology is in its infancy and evolving rapidly. Web browsers format pages for display by interpreting a fairly rudimentary typesetting language called HTML (HyperText Markup Language).

Learning basic HTML is easy, but mastering all of its nuances can be a chore. There's a booming market for software that allows you to create Web documents without having to know HTML, so you don't have to be an expert programmer to create a whiz-bang Web site. But keep this in mind: Each type of browser interprets HTML a little differently, so remember to check the end result on at least the three most common browsers -- Mosaic, Netscape, and Lynx.

Beam it up. Don't place your Web pages on the server until you're completely satisfied with the result. Keep them on your hard drive while you're editing them.

When it's time to publish, upload your files to the server. The exact procedure will vary according to local conditions, so you'll need to consult with the owners of the server. If the server is running the operating system Unix, you'll have to grit your teeth and learn some basic commands.

Announce yourself. Congratulations! You've joined the Web community. Now how do you make sure people know you're there? Answer: Announce your Web site online, but pick your audience with great care.

First, send short announcements to forums specifically set up for the purpose of announcing new Web sites. This category includes the USENET newsgroups comp.infosystems.www.announce and comp.internet.net-happenings and Web sites such as the National Center for Supercomputing Applications' What's New page.

Next, send announcements to mailing lists and USENET newsgroups that discuss those topics that are related to the type of information you are making available. However, before you post your announcement, listen in on the discussions for a while to make sure your posting will be relevant to the members of that on-line community.

Finally, contact the administrators of other Web sites that feature content similar to yours and ask them nicely to create a link to your Web site. Don't take it personally if they turn you down.

Keep it current. The Web is a dynamic place, and you'll need to update the content on your Web site regularly if you want your visitors to return. Make a point to upload new and timely content periodically. After all, the New York Times doesn't publish the same paper every day.

That's all there is to it. Now roll up your sleeves, grab a browser and an Internet connection, and make yourself or your school a publisher with a global audience.