Dreamweaver Website Creation

You can use your personal volume on AFS to create personal web pages. In the next few modules, you’ll learn how to create web pages on the Andrew Web Publishing System (AWPS). By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• Develop a site outline for the file structure of your website.
• Select a proper name for your web pages and directories according to the naming conventions.

Planning Your Site

There are many reasons you may choose to create a website. Below are a few examples from the C@CM teaching assistants:

• Personal websites can be an extension of your resume where you can display artistic work or technical research you have done for your potential employers to view.
• Create a homepage for a club so you can publicize upcoming events and share details about the organization.

Before you begin creating your web pages, you should plan out the site. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Why is the site needed?
• What are you trying to communicate?
• Who will view the Web page?
• What do you want visitors of the page to take away?

You'll also need to develop an outline that lays out the file structure of the site. Gather the text, graphics and other content you'll use in the site.

Naming Conventions

The names of your files and folders will define the URL users will type to access your page. The best practice is to keep your names short and all in lower-case letters. Some other general rules are listed below:

Don't use spaces

You must use the dash character to separate words instead. If there is a space in your file or directory names, the web browser will not be able to display your web page and users will receive a "File Not Found" or "Page Doesn't Exist" error messge. Make sure you don't accidentially add a space to the end of your file and directory names.

Don't use special characters

You can use letters and numbers in your file and directory names, but no special characters other than the dash. Using special characters will create the same errors as spaces. Don't use numbers at the beginning of your file and directory names to avoid additional problems.