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Development: Website Editor's Guide

1. Quick Start Guide for the impatient

2. Accessing your website files for editing

3. Security

4. Web page editing

5. Advanced Topics

6. Help

1. Quick Start Guide for the impatient

  • Access your website files using a shared network drive (if off-campus first connect to campus via VPN Client and CNET ID)
    • Windows: Map Network Drive \\webfiles.bsd.uchicago.edu\website-name
    • Mac OS X: Connect to Server smb://webfiles.bsd.uchicago.edu/website-name
    • Linux: smbclient //webfiles.bsd.uchicago.edu/website-name
  • Authenticate yourself to the server using your BSD account
  • Edit and save your website files. Your changes are immediately visible to the world.
  • Requests for technical support should come from the website owner (see the Owner's Guide)
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2. Accessing your website files for editing

System requirements

  1. Capability to connect to a shared network drive from a campus computer address
  2. Web page editing software of your choice

All recent versions of Windows and Mac OS X have the built-in ability to connect to a shared network drive. Linux needs Samba client software, which is often part of a base workstation install.

Only computers with campus or hospital addresses can connect to the shared drives. To connect from anywhere else (e.g. home), use the VPN client. See elsewhere in this Guide to learn more.

Determine the website name used to access your files

To reach your website files you will connect to the server webfiles.bsd.uchicago.edu and open the folder named after your site's official address. The folder name will match the part of your website address before the bsd.uchicago.edu. If your site is http://yoursite.bsd.uchicago.edu then you would access the yoursite folder on webfiles: \\webfiles.bsd.uchicago.edu\yoursite

Sites that have multiple addresses are only editable via the primary address.

Overview

Your website files are accessible for editing by authorized users on a shared network drive (aka "share" or "mapped drive"), which makes your website files function as if they were located on your desktop machine.

Many BSD faculty/staff have shares on their PC that are visible as F: (user) and G: (group) drives. Your website files will the same way--e.g. a PC user might have a W: drive that has all her website files. To edit her home page she could open W:\home.html in her html editor of choice, edit the file, hit 'save' and close the editor.

To keep the network drives as secure as possible, they will only be available to computers in the University and Hospital networks. So off-campus you must use the University VPN. See elsewhere in the guide for more info.

Setup

Setup varies, depending on your operating system, but is straightforward on all systems. Most systems will allow you to set the configuration to persist after a reboot, so you should only have to set this up once per computer.

For setup use the instructions specific to your operating system.

Windows setup

  • Right-click on the My Computer icon, then select "Map Network Drive."
  • For drive letter: use any available drive letter (W: for web is a good idea). For Folder: use \\webfiles.bsd.uchicago.edu\website-name. (What's the website-name?)
  • Reconnect at Logon is optional but recommended if you edit your site frequently (may slow your computer's startup, but will prevent you from having to map the drive every time).
  • Click Finish.
  • If prompted, enter your BSD userid and password. If you are logged in to the domain already your system may skip this step.
  • In a few seconds your website will be available at the drive letter you assigned. Usually the folder will automatically open; if not, you can double-click My Computer then double-click your drive letter.

Mac OS X setup

  • From Finder menu select Go
  • Select Connect to Server...
  • Enter the address: smb://webfiles.bsd.uchicago.edu/website-name
  • If you need to enter a workgroup enter BSDAD
  • At the prompt enter your BSD username and password

Note that some recent versions of Mac OS X have a bug in the Connect to Server... tool. If you are unable to connect using these instructions, please use the alternative method.

Setup FAQ

I can't connect to the server webfiles.bsd.uchicago.edu to edit my files. What should I do?

By far the most common reasons for connection failure are related to simple administrative setup issues: using incorrect BSD account information (userid, password), not having the right privileges to edit the site, or incorrectly entering the server address when trying to connect. Please note that the error message may be misleading-- this is a problem with Windows not something we can do anything about -- so do not overlook checking these aspects first.

  1. Verify username and password. If you do not log into the BSDAD domain when you log into your computer you may need to prepend the name of the Windows domain to your username (without quotes): "BSDAD\youruserid" not just "youruserid"
  2. Verify that you have proper privileges to connect to the server. If you have connected successfully in the past, you can assume that is not the problem, but if you have not connected in the past and/or have a new account check with the site owner to verify that s/he requested editing access for you and that it was set up.
  3. Verify that you are using the correct server address (see all of section 2, above).
  4. If you are unsure of any of the above, please contact BSD Help. If you are sure that the information you are using is correct, proceed to the next set of steps.

The second most common reasons for connection problems are more difficult to troubleshoot. Usually, there is unusual or erroneous networking configuration on your computer or within your local area network that will require troubleshooting help from BSDIS and/or your local tech support group. All users should be able to try troubleshooting step 1 below, and possibly 2. Step 3 is provided for powers users only.

  1. If you can't connect at all first try using the web server's numeric address rather than host name, i.e. instead of \\webfiles.bsd.uchicago.edu\website-name or smb://webfiles.bsd.uchicago.edu/website-name use \\128.135.242.52\website-name (Windows) or smb://128.135.242.52/website-name (Mac)
  2. Try connecting to another server the same way you connect to webfiles.bsd.uchicago.edu (if you have shares on another server). If you have a share on the BSD server files.bsd.uchicago.edu or any other server in the BSDAD domain try that server. If neither of those are options, use whatever you can as a test case. If you cannot connect to the other server, then there is likely some temporary network trouble or some larger issue that requires attention. If you can connect to another server, make a note of which server, which userid you used, and what time you connected.
  3. If you have never been able to connect or are having intermittent trouble (works for a while, stops working for a while, and so on), verify that your WINS servers are correct for your location. This will likely require assistance from whichever Information Services group provides desktop and/or networking support for you. Mac systems are particularly sensitive to poorly configured WINS.

If the above steps did not resolve the problem you should get tech support help. Since the location of the problem may or may not be something under the control of BSDIS and the CBIS Service Desk you may want to start with your local Information Services group. If in doubt, or if you don't have a local support group, contact BSD Help.

Please make a note of what share (i.e. website name) you are trying to connect to, what userid you are using, what date/time you last tried, and exactly what happened (i.e. if you get an error message, what is it? do you get the message immediately, or does it take a while? etc.). This information will be useful to technical support staff.

Can I use FTP (SFTP, Frontpage, WebDAV, the old Netscape-based system, etc.) to move or save my files?

No. The network share method is currently the only method to access your site for editing.

What folder name do I use for editing my site? My site has multiple addresses--which do I use to edit my site? Does editing my site using one address have any effect when visitors use another address?

Some sites can be browsed from more than one address and each address works exactly the same when visitors browse the site; however, every site has an 'official' address which must be used to reach the site for editing. The official name will be the first word in the BSD web address, i.e. for the site http://mysite.bsd.uchicago.edu/ the name of the site is mysite. If the site has more than one address in the bsd.uchicago.edu domain you could try all the site's names; if you are unsure what site name to use to edit your site, you can always contact the CBIS Service Desk.

How can I edit my website from off-campus?

To increase security, only computers that are part of the University or UCH network can connect to the shared network drive. In order to edit your website from off-campus you need to connect to our network via the University Virtual Private Network (VPN). Once connected you can edit your site as if you were on campus. Please note that the VPN is administered and supported by NSIT rather than BSDIS; for assistance contact NSIT.

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3. Security

User accounts and passwords

All authentication and authorization is checked against the BSD user database, so whether you are accessing password-protected website files via your browser or editing your website files via the network shared drive, you should use your BSD account. For questions about your BSD account contact the CBIS Service Desk.

Modifying Security Permissions on Your Website

To make any changes to the security of a website the website owner(s) should submit a ticket to the CBIS Service Desk. The request must originate from an owner, i.e. someone listed in our records as having authority to request such a change. See also the Website Owner's Guide.

Security FAQ

What password should I use? I forgot my password, how do I get it reset?

To connect to the BSD web server use your BSD account (same as email, network share, domain logon)-- not your CNET ID. If you have forgotten your ID or password, contact the CBIS Service Desk. If you are using the Cisco VPN client from off-campus you must use your CNET ID to run the VPN then use your BSD ID for connecting to the web server.

What is a website owner? Who is the website owner for site X?

A website owner is the person or group of people who has the authority to make decisions regarding a website. Not everyone who has the ability to edit a site is necessarily a site owner for that site. BSDIS itself does not make content-related decisions regarding sites we host. BSDIS maintains a list of owners for each site so that we can consult the correct person for any given website. See also the Website Owner's Guide.

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4. Web page editing

Support for Editing

Please note that CBIS does not have an officially supported web editing tool, as the editing needs of beginner or occasional site editors are very different from those of power users..

Be aware that ultimately web pages are made up of html, css and javascript code, which all reside in plain text files. So basically if you have a plain text editor such as notepad or notepad++ for windows or nedit, bbedit, textmate or vi for linux/mac you have all the required tools you need to get started.

Most users, however, will ultimately want to use a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) html editor. This will allow you to quickly preview your work or to even graphically layout your pages without having to learn all the nooks and crannies of HTML. There are numerous free and commercial tools available for this purpose:

Always check with the university bookstore and NSIT first when purchasing commercial software as academic rates often apply.

As with any other tool, the more powerful a tool is the steeper the learning curve you should expect. There is a large amount of tutorial information on the web and in print. Two of the best resources are:



We strongly advise that you do not use Microsoft Word to generate your web pages. Although it may seem the easiest way to create a page, Word creates web pages that are nearly impossible to edit and that do not work well consistently in all browsers.

Editing FAQ

Why can't I restore a deleted file from my Recycle Bin? Why is there a TRASH folder on my site?

Files located on a shared network drive are not moved to your Recycle Bin when deleted, they are actually deleted. A safer alternative to deleting files is to move any file you want to delete to the TRASH folder on your site. This is just a regular folder, but it will be automatically cleaned out periodically by the web server, so until that time you can restore a file you put there. Files are backed up regularly, so if you accidentally delete a file that you need, contact the CBIS Service Desk to get it restored from the backup system.

Why do I get a "FORBIDDEN" message when I try to browse to my site?

The most likely cause is that you do not have a default page (also called index or home page) in your site folder. For security reasons the web server is set up so that a site visitor doesn't ask for a specific file, the server will send them back the default page for that directory. If the default page doesn't exist it will send a FORBIDDEN error. To create a default page name your site home page to index.html. Other common default page names will work as well (default.html, home.html, and more) but index.html is the preferred file name.

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5. Advanced Topics

How do I add the capability to search my site?

Please see the site search page.

How do I use Server-Side Includes (SSI)?

SSI is available to all sites but it is not enabled by default. To use includes you need to first request that it be enabled for your site. Once enabled any file ending with .shtml rather than .html or .htm will be scanned by the server for includes directives. To maintain server security, we do not allow use of the exec command. For more technical information on using includes please see Apache's basic elements of Server Side Includes.

Please note that not all webpage editing tools work well on pages using SSI. Be sure to test before converting your entire site.

How do I customize my site's error messages (401 UNAUTHORIZED, 403 FORBIDDEN, 404 NOT FOUND)?

If a visitor to your site requests a page that doesn't exist, or a password protected file that s/he doesn't have authorization to see, the server will reply with an error page. The default error pages are used by numerous sites on the server and so have no information customized for your visitors (e.g. your logo, a friendly helpful hint, search box, etc).

If you would like to customize your error pages, please create page(s) that you want to use. You can customize any or all of a 401, 403, and 404 response. Please name the page after numeric error code, e.g. your custom NOT FOUND page should be named 404.html (or if you use SSI, it can be 404.shtml). Then request that the web services team configure the server to use your pages.

Why is there a robots.txt file on my site?

In Internet terms, a robot (aka crawler or spider) is a program that automatically scans websites, requesting and reading files that it finds. Often this is used by a search engine to index content to add to its search results. Usually robots will read any and every file they can find; however, well-behaved robots will first request a site's robots.txt file for a list of files that it should not read. These robot instruction files are not required by anyone and robots are not bound to follow the instructions--but usually they do.

BSDIS adds a robots.txt file to sites when we set up hosting. The default setup allows all requests, but depending on site requirements it may be customized. Usually there is no need to modify the file, but you can edit as needed. Please do so only if you understand the implications. A good source for more technical information is The Web Robots Pages.

 

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6. Help

My question has not been answered by this Guide and FAQ. How can I get get my question answered and/or get assistance with my website?

If you are a site editor, generally your best first step is to contact the site owner(s). Site owners with questions should contact the CBIS Service Desk.

 

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