Guidelines for New Web Page Authors

The following text briefly describes what you, as a new SULAIR Web page author should do to get access to SULAIR Web space, learn how to move files between your computer and the SULAIR Web space, and begin to create and revise files using Dreamweaver. More details and guidelines to help new SULAIR Web authors are at: http://library.stanford.edu/new_site/

1. Get a copy of Dreamweaver 2004 for your computer from Deni Wicklund, Manager of SUL Technical Support, (denise.wicklund@stanford.edu).

2. Read the Help Guides for SULAIR Web Authors at http://library.stanford.edu/guides/web_auth_help.html. These help guides are also available via http://library.stanford.edu/new_site.

The help guides explain how to get access to files in the SULAIR Web space, set up AFS access on your computer, set up a site in Dreamweaver on your computer, and use Dreamweaver to transfer files between your computer and the staging server, and finally move your files to the production server. SULAIR's staging server (http://library-stage.stanford.edu/) is used by Web authors to preview their new/changed Web pages on the Web before moving them to the production server (http://library.stanford.edu/).

Note that when completing the Access Request Form for SULAIR Web Page Authors (linked to from http://library.stanford.edu/guides/web_auth_help.html), you should be sure to select the appropriate department from the Access To list (e.g., if you are in Preservation, the department would be "depts/pres").

Also note that when you are setting up your Dreamweaver local site for the SULAIR Web space (as explained in Setting Up Your Site in Dreamweaver ), you should be sure that the following directories/folders on the remote site (the SULAIR stage server) are also on your local site:

Templates – The templates in this directory are needed to create new Web pages. Once you've set up your Dreamweaver site, to create a new Web page, you choose New… from the File menu and click on the Templates tab to see a list of SULAIR templates to choose from. If this folder isn't on your local server, no templates will appear in the list.
Library – You need this directory and the files it contains on your local server for the library items used in the templates to display correctly.
images – You need this directory and the files it contains for the SULAIR graphics on your pages to display correctly.
stylesheets – You need this directory and the files it contains for your pages to display correctly.
scripts – The files in this directory affect such items/features on the SULAIR Web pages as the print-friendly icon, rollovers (e.g., for text that links to other pages), etc.

These directories are sometimes downloaded automatically to your local site from the stage server when you move the directories and files that you want to update from the stage server to your local site. If you don't see the above-listed directories on your local site, you can download them by clicking on the folder you want to move and using the Get File(s) command (the green down arrow at the top of Dreamweaver's Files window (where your remote and local files are listed).

3. Join SULAIR's Dreamweaver Users Group. To join, send an email message to sulair-dwuser-join@lists.stanford.edu. The subject and body of the message will be ignored. Your email address will then be added to the distribution list. (If at any time you decide that you no longer would like to be a part of the distribution list, simply send an email to sulair-dwuser-leave@lists.stanford.edu. The body and subject of the message will be ignored.) Once you have joined, you can send an email with your question or idea to sulair-dwuser@lists.stanford.edu.

4. And finally, the Media Solutions Resource Site for the SULAIR Web space (a link to it is on http://library.stanford.edu/new_site/) is somewhat out-of-date. The sub-level sites Logo Usage, Best Practices, Building a Site, and Site Design Elements are the most relevant for Web authors. If you are revising pages, you can probably just use these pages as a reference, when needed. However, if you are creating a new page or making extensive changes to existing pages, you should review the above-mentioned Resource Site Web pages before you begin. Do not download templates from the Media Solutions Resource Site. For instructions on how to create a new page using a SULAIR template, see "Templates" in step 2 above.

5. If you have not used Dreamweaver, consider taking IT Services' Dreamweaver Lite class. You can find more information on their Web site at: http://techtraining.stanford.edu/. Click on 2008 Class Schedule in the Current Courses box on the right side of the screen to see their current course offerings.

Last modified: June 17, 2008