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Web Development

Learn more about School of Medicine web space and features.

 

How can I make my department/office website look like the School of Medicine's?

In Dec 2007, the School of Medicine launched a redesign which exists in a "content management system": a web-based system for maintaining sites without the need for external web publishing software such as Dreamweaver.  Any department, center, program, office, or organization within the school can have one of these sites set up for them and receive training on it at no charge, by contacting Claudia Condrey (843-7918) in the Office of Information Systems.  A key goal in the redesign was to establish a consistent, professional look and feel between SOM sites.  Even so, there are customization options for making your site your own, including a professionally designed homepage graphic made just for your site, at no charge. Visit http://www.med.unc.edu/webguide for more info.

NOTE: At present, the following things must reside outside of the system and be maintained in a traditional fashion.  They can be linked to from within your standardized site:

  • Internal/Intranet content (password-protected areas)
  • Web forms

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How much webspace does my department get?

For web pages and data outside of the newly-redesigned School of Medicine web standard (excluding videos, which can be hosted on a separate video server), each department gets 30 MB of webspace. Additional disk space can be purchased for a monthly charge of $4 per 20 MB. Contact the Office of Information Systems (966-9900) for more information.

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How much webspace for personal use do I get?

Each faculty, staff member, and student is allowed 20 MB of personal webspace. Personal web space is provided as a service to our community and is not a right. It's not intended for commercial use, and we reserve the right to discontinue any and/or all use of this service for a particular user if problems arise. We can't provide individual support for creating and maintaining content in your personal space, but you can find helpful information here: http://help.med.unc.edu/training/web-1/sites-outside-the-web-standard/types/personal-sites

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What is a UNIX account, and why do I need one?

This is a special account that allows you to have access to the School of Medicine web server. It is not another email account. If you do not have a UNIX account, you will not be able to do any web development on our servers. To apply for a UNIX account, go to Medical School Wing B, Room 109 (M-F, 10am-2pm) with your UNC One Card (map/directions).

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I've created my personal directory on the SOM web server... Now, how do I find it?

Enter these settings into an FTP program to access your personal "wwwpub" directory on the School of Medicine web server.
Host Name: www.med.unc.edu
User id: your School of Medicine UNIX user id (i.e. jmhahn, jdoe)
Password: your School of Medicine UNIX password

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How do I find my departmental directory on the web server?

Once you have the correct accounts, permission from your departmental chair, and OIS has given you access to your departmental webspace, you will be able to access it through FTP. Contact OIS Client Services at help@med.unc.edu or 966-1325 for the necessary FTP Remote Host settings.

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What do I need to create my web pages?

  • HTML Editor (for non-standardized pages)

    In the past it was necessary to hand-code all web pages using only HTML tags and a text editor. Now there are many software programs available that do all the work for you. They work a lot like word processing programs once you get to know them. Here are a couple of recommendations:
    • Netscape Composer: This is a free HTML editor that comes with Netscape Communicator. But, you get what you pay for...it gets the job done, but we only recommend it because it's free.
    • Adobe Dreamweaver: This is the HTML editor that OIS recommends. It can be purchased from Student Stores for $99. It's easy to use and easy to learn--it's also highly recommended because it can perform more advanced tasks as your skills improve. Feel free to stop by the Multimedia Lab in 67 MacNider Hall to try the Dreamweaver software.

  • Image Editor

    If you want to add pictures to your web site, you may need to use a scanner and an Image Editor to scan, resize and edit your pictures. If you don't have a scanner, often times your department has one that you can use. The industry standard for Image Editors is Adobe Photoshop, however, it is quite expensive ($600). There are less expensive alternatives, such as Photoshop Elements which performs most of the same functions as Photoshop, but can be purchased from Student Stores for $69. Or you can use Microsoft Image Editor which is a pre-installed software on most Windows PC's. All computers in the Multimedia Lab in 67MacNider Hall have scanners and Photoshop if you would like to work there (The Lab, however, is for those working on Medical School teaching-related projects).

  • SSH Secure Shell

    Once you create your web pages you will need to publish them to the medical school web server. In order to do this you need to use an FTP (file transfer protocol) program called SSH Secure Shell. This program takes files from your hard drive and sends them to a web server and vice versa. You can download this program from the SOM Software Downloads page. Please contact OIS Client Services at help@med.unc.edu or 966-1325 for proper FTP settings for your web site.

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How do people see the web pages I've created?

In order for the world to be able to see your web pages, you must put them on a web server. The School of Medicine maintains a web server where faculty and staff can publish departmental or personal homepages. In order to obtain space on that web server, or to get access to existing webspace, contact OIS Client Services at help@med.unc.edu or 966-1325.

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How do I transfer my web pages from my computer to the web server?

We recommend that you use an application called SSH Secure Shell. You may download this shareware application from the OIS Software Downloads page.

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Can I incorporate a database backend with my web site?

At this time there is no support for individuals to incorporate databases into their web sites. Departments looking to integrate databases into their web sites should contact OIS Client Services at help@med.unc.edu or 966-1325.

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Does OIS provide a hit counter?

We do not have a hit counter that you can place on your web site. We do, however, offer a utility that will check your site and give you a report on the number of hits it has received over a given time period. You can access this tool here: http://www.med.unc.edu/cgi-bin/prbin/websum.pl When prompted for a login and password use your SOM email account information. On the search/query page type your directory name (ie: ~jmhahn or ~jdoe) in the Find this pattern search box.

Have a question that wasn't answered here? Contact OIS Client Services at help@med.unc.edu or 966-1325 or Claudia Condrey at 843-7918.

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