March 1997
Volume 61 |
Number 3
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| The Basics of
Setting Up an Internet/Intranet Web Site |
Jeffrey M. Cusick, M.D.
Committee on Electronic Media and Information Technology
This article will address some of the issues involved in creating
your own Web site and getting it on the Internet. You can use
this information to begin work on your own personal Web page for
the Internet. You can also develop Web pages for departmental
information exchange on the Internet or an intranet. An intranet
is a private, secure network of computers not usually accessible
through the Internet that uses the same Web page format that you
would find on the public Internet.
Thanks to the great expansion of the Internet and of helpful
tools for this task, creating a Web page is not as difficult as
it sounds. If you have already "surfed the 'Net," you
have a basic understanding of its makeup. If not, please refer
to the April 1996 ASA
NEWSLETTER article "The Internet for Anesthesiologists".
You are also encouraged to read the online version of this article
on the basics of setting up Web sites, because it has clickable
hypertext and references to specific products.
Web Authoring Preview
All you really need to author a Web page are a word processor,
attention to detail, common sense and a computer to serve your
page where others can access it with Web browsers. You can create
a Web page in any word processing or text editing program. Using
a word processor requires knowledge of Web page programming language
HTML (hypertext markup language). You may want to use software
designed specifically for Web authoring as they all but eliminate
the need to know HTML language and make creating a Web site as
simple as typing on a word processor. Newer word processors can
even export formatted text to HTML.
Many Web page editing programs also provide for basic editing
and placement of graphics and have built-in file transfer protocols
to upload your Web page to the server. Web pages consist of text
marked with HTML tags that give a Web browser guidelines for how
to display or align text and how to link text or graphics to another
file on the Internet. For example, to emphasize something, you
enclose it in a pair of tags, like this: <B>That's It!</B>.
A Web browser will then show That's It! in boldface type,
in this example, to make it stand out visually. Attention to detail
counts, because HTML tags are picky, and typographical errors
can wreak havoc on even simple pages.
Common sense counts when it comes to creating a Web page. Most
HTML tags set the structure of a page, not what a page looks like.
People all over the world use the Web with all sorts of computers.
You cannot count on Web browsers to display layout details such
as white space or columns; you cannot count on them to display
typographical "niceties" such as specific fonts; and
you certainly cannot count on them to display pictures. As a result,
well-done Web pages primarily use structural tags that emphasize
text, make strong statements, set up lists and create topic headings.
It is, therefore, good to see what your Web site looks like on
many different Web browsers and computers, and then edit it appropriately.
It is also important to name your graphics for people with browsers
that cannot view them.
Web Graphics
Today's crop of Web browsers limit you to viewing two graphic
formats: GIF and JPEG. Both formats use internal compression routines
that make the graphics smaller, thus decreasing download times.
When you put a graphic on the Web, you have to decide whether
to use GIF or JPEG. Which to use? The short answer is that you
want to use GIF, though JPEG images do have a place in some situations
and may play a greater role in the future.
GIF Versus JPEG: GIF stands for graphics interchange format.
It is the only format that all graphics-savvy Web browsers can
display, so it is the one to use for graphics that you want everyone
to see. The bad part about GIF
graphics is that they are limited to 256 colors and typically
do not compress as well as JPEG graphics do. The latest version
of the GIF specification (version 89a) supports transparent mode,
a nifty option that lets you make one color in a graphic transparent.
GIFs are shaped like rectangles, but if you make a GIF's background
color transparent, you can end up with a GIF that looks like an
irregularly shaped object.
GIFs also can be interlaced, meaning the image is saved in alternating
horizontal bands. If you looked at the first half of an interlaced
GIF, you would see a low-resolution, striped image, with blank
horizontal stripes representing the second half of the image.
Some Web browsers display interlaced GIFs as they read them, first
they display every eighth line, then every fourth line, then every
second line and then every line. This display method makes it
so people waiting for the image to load can quickly figure out
what the final image will look like. Other browsers bring in a
rough version of the graphic and gradually refine it. GIFs also
support animation. You can piece together numerous GIFs and create
a simple movie.
Many Web pages use small GIFs as bullets and as navigational
devices (such as arrows and bullets); these GIFs are sometimes
called picons. You can make your own picons in a graphics program
(just save them as GIFs), or you can download them from Web pages
people have set up in order to share them.
JPEG stands for joint photographic experts group. It is a graphics
compression format that works best for digitized photographs,
particularly if they depict photos of natural scenes such as forests
or sunsets. JPEG was designed to lose details that the human eye
often will not notice, particularly details that would not be
noticed from an image with gradual changes in shading and color.
JPEG is most likely to lose too much detail with images that have
sudden transitions from one color to another, so JPEG tends to
be a poor format for graphics containing text, line drawings and
navigational icons. JPEG images can have millions of colors instead
of a "measly" 256. They have better compression, but
many older browsers cannot display them without the assistance
of a helper application (where the picture displays in a different
program's window).
The bottom line: Use GIF unless you have a photograph that looks
much nicer or compresses significantly tighter as a JPEG.
Adding Interactivity
Once you have constructed your basic Web site with text, hypertext
links and graphics, you may thirst for interactive additions such
as image maps, sound, video, search capability, database retrieval,
forms and even encryption security. These advanced topics involve
the addition of technologies such as Java programming, common
gateway interface (cgi) scripting or the addition of plug-ins.
They usually require additions to and modifications of your server
software. Such a discussion is beyond the scope of this article
but is mentioned for completeness.
Getting Your Web Pages on the Internet
Before you jump in and author a Web page, decide how you will
serve it to the Internet. You must find an organization that will
serve your page, thus making it available to anyone using the
Web. You might ask your Internet service provider (ISP) or your
system administrator. Many universities and businesses serve employee
and student/faculty home pages, and an ever-increasing number
of commercial ISPs serve home pages for their customers (usually
at a low cost to individuals).
Another option is dedicating a computer to run Web server software.
The advantage of a dedicated computer is personal control of Web
server software. This option is not terribly realistic unless
you have a dedicated Internet connection. Some ISPs will let you
keep your server computer at their site for a direct Internet
connection. This usually requires remote control software or many
trips to your ISP. Personal server software is becoming popular
for small-scale Web sites on office computers with a dedicated
Internet connection.
After you find an organization that will serve your page or you
choose your Web server software, ask yourself some questions:
- What kind of file name extensions are used? The Web
is picky about file names, and file names must end with an extension
that indicates the file type. For example, a Web page coded
in HTML needs a .htm or .html extension. The specific extension
and the length of the file names depend on the server that serves
your files. The beginning Web page may need to be called either
homepage.html, default.html or index.html depending on the server
software.
- How will you update your pages? This is usually accomplished
by using file transfer protocol (ftp) to transport your html
documents and graphics files to a specific directory on the
server. You will need ftp access to the server along with a
password.
- What is the charge for serving your pages? Check also
if there might be any extra charges if your site proves enormously
popular.
Final Thoughts
HTML code is not invisible and is easily downloaded for review.
It is also possible that if you see a Web site technique that
sparks your interest, you can simply save the Web page as HTML
and study how it was made from its code. This will give you the
means for incorporating the special techniques they used into
your own Web pages. Web site graphics are also easily downloaded,
but one needs to consider infringement of copyright laws, if any,
before you incorporate them into your own Web site.
References:
(Research was done completely from the Internet.)
- Stein LD. How to Set Up and Maintain a Web Site.
2nd ed., January 1997 http://www.genome.wi.mit.edu/WWW/.
- Internet Literacy Consultants™ ILC Glossary of Internet
Terms. http://matisse.net/files/glossary.html.
- Connolly MS. Tools for WWW Providers. November 14, 1996. http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/Tools/Overview.html.
- Engst AC. Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh.
Jeffrey M. Cusick, M.D., is Director of
Anesthesia Services and Chief of the Ambulatory Surgery Unit with
the 374th Medical Group at Yokota U.S. Air Force Base, Yokota,
Japan.
E-mail the author.
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