Web Page Update Guidelines

Organizing files & Preparing Your Resources

1. 
   Create a folder on your computers hard drive inside the Documents folder.
   Name it using your school name followed by an underscore and grade level.
   Example: Germantown_ES, Germantown_MS, or Germantown_HS
   
   No spaces or unusual characters can appear in this name.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. 
   To help organize your web site, it is suggested you place the following folders inside the one you just created. This is not mandatory. However, it will help you organize the many files that accumulate as you create your web site.
   
   All linked images will go into the images folder and all linked pdf files will go into the PDFs folder. Your html files should be the only files showing in the main folder. All other files will be organized by type in their respective folders. Remember this is for your own organizational benefit and you may need additional folders for different types of files.
   
   
   

   
   

3. Put all resources you plan to use inside these folders (any image files, animations, bars, buttons, etc.). Be careful not to have any spaces or unusual characters in the names of these folders.
   
   Hint: Always try to limit folder names to one word. If more than one word is required use a dash or underscore (Big-Picture.jpg, Big_Picture.jpg, etc.). Spaces do not always translate correctly and could cause a loading error.

Develop A Plan - Map Your Site

Develop a plan for your web site. Draw a diagram or flowchart of how you want the information to be grouped. Remember web sites are primary places for communication and information. Try to put all information that changes frequently in one spot. This will help you with quick updates. Basic information is good, but try to have a page that has frequently updated information. This will draw viewers back to your site often.

Adobe Dreamweaver

Most schools were issued a copy of Macromedia Dreamweaver MX and this software is still fine to use but new computers with new operating systems tend to need new software as well. If you want to get the full potential out of your new computer and its software I recommend that you update your old copy of Macromedia Dreamweaver with Adobe Dreamweaver CS3.

Apple iWeb

If you were issued a Apple laptop computer there should be a copy of Apple iWeb installed on it. This application has become a favorite among teachers with little or no web development experience. It is a drag and drop environment that orginizes your files and folders for you as you add your content.

You're not restricted from using any of the many WYSIWYG web development softwares manufactured these days but I can only give you technical support for Dreamweaver and iWeb.

Part 3: Updating an Existing Web Page

Procedure

You as the Web Master at your school are responsible for making sure that all updates are made to your site. Please periodically review the SCS Web Page Guidelines posted on the Shelby County School page (click on Schools, then on the SCS Guidelines link). These guidelines are for everyone's protection. Please pay particular attention to the following:

1. Make sure you have a permission form for any student who has his/her name and/or picture posted on the web site.
   
   
2. Make sure content for the school web site complies with posted guidelines of educational aims.
   
   
3. Make sure all external links included on web pages are evaluated for appropriate educational content. The following disclaimer should appear on every web page that contains external links:

   “Neither _______ School nor Shelby County Schools is responsible for questionable or controversial content found through links external to this site. “

4. Make sure all web pages are free of spelling and grammatical errors.
   

1. Please remember that even though most of you are creating your web pages on a Macintosh, they will appear on any computer via the Internet using UNIX rules and languages. This means that every file that is used in your pages must have a file extension to identify the type of file that it is. Macintosh machines do not require such restrictions and will run your page regardless. However, when your page is sent out on the Internet it will not run without file extensions. The common file extensions are:
   
   

   .html or .htm
   .gif
   .jpeg or .jpg
   .png
   .mov
   .swf
   .asp
   

   
   
2. Please be careful with the correct naming of web pages. Spaces or special characters are not permitted in the file name or directory (folder) name. The only special character exceptions are:
   

   _ (underscore)
   - (hyphen)
   ~ (tilde)
   These may be used to separate lengthy names:
   Mrs_Jones.gif or page~1.html
   

   
   
3. There should be one and only one period in a file name. This period separates the extension from the name of the file.
   
   
4. When you have completed your page(s) or changes, please have your school's principal send me an email requesting an update.
   
   Update Schedule - Updates are made Monday thru Friday. An update request email must be sent to me Bob LaBonia (blabonia@scsk12.org) by your schools principal or assistant principal before I can upload your updates and changes. Please include your school's name in the email. In most cases your updates will take place the same day as your request. There is no limit to the number of update requests because I know that sometimes we make mistakes or need to test certain features in a live environment to see if they function properly.
   If you have a time sensitive update please be sure to include (time sensitive) in your email's subject line and I will take care of your requests first.
   
   
5. Emergency Information Button Code for Home Pages -
   Instructions: Find a spot on your home page for the Emergency Information Button. Click on this space and then go to the code view in Dreamweaver and insert the code below. You must do this step in code view for the button to work. A box the size of the button will show up in your pages layout view. Once the web page is live online the button will show up and the link will work properly.
   
   <p align="center"><a href="http://www.scsk12.org/SCS/Emergency-Information.pdf" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.scsk12.org/SCS/Emergency-Info-Button.gif" alt="Emergency Announcement Information" width="233" height="44" border="0"></a></p>
   
   
6. If you have any questions, please E-mail me at blabonia@scsk12.org
   

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