A bells and whistles sound file
Bells and Whistles for the CSUB Web AuthorConstruction

(Last Modified Monday, 23-Aug-2004 16:12:08 Pacific Daylight Time )
Want to add some action and interactive components to your web pages? One way is to use a comprehensive classroom authoring program like WebCT or TopClass. Another way which avoids the total involvement and control of these authoring tools  is to use only the web tools you want to use. The web services staff are continuing to develop tools we can use at CSUB.

Web enhancement possibilities currently available at CSUB.

  1. Password protected Files
  2. Response Pages to Create a Response Page
  3. On Line Surveys
  4. On Line Testing
  5. Threaded Response Pages
  6. Mail To: Forms
  7. Date, Time, Counters
  8. Animated Graphics, Java, etc.
  9. Sounds
  10. Movies
(1) Password protected files
This is used for copy righted or other files that one should not make available to all internet users.  The current position is that this does not differ from articles placed on reserve at the library and does not violate copyright laws.  You can have an article digitized at the media services lab then place it on the web server.  The password you can distribute to your classes on an as needed basis.  You can view one of these I set up as an example on the VAX:
A sample protected file
Use the following account and password to access this file: To create a protected files
(1) Digitize your files and scan pictures and graphics,  You can get help with this at Media Services.
(2) Contact Mike Larson and he will set up a protected folder that allows only password access (name the folder ProtFile).
(3) Move your digitized files to the protected folder on the server
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(2) Response Pages
Response pages are a method for creating an interactive web page.  Response pages can be used in a variety of way. Examples:
  The potential uses for response pages are limited only by your imagination!
 

To create a response page

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(3) Threaded Response Pages
A threaded response page allows discussion on a topic to follow multiple threads (directions).  The high school debate topic for 1998-1999 school year  was "Sanctity of life verses quality of life".  One break could be into religious, political or moral aspects of the issue.  The procedure for using this has changed and Mike Larson will help if you are interested in adding this function to your web site.

(4) On Line Surveys
This CGI procedure facilitates the collection of information via the internet to be placed into a statistical program (SPSS) or a spreadsheet for analysis.  It does not perform any analysis.
Sample survey: Web Survey
Sample survey HTML: sample survey

This procedure is very flexible and will require one who wants to use the procedure to contact Mike Larson at web services (664-3477).

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(5) On Line Testing
If you would like to have practice quizzes available on the web for your class it is suggested that you use WebCT.

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(6) Mail To and forms
These are forms created on a web page.  It lets a web author structure responses to a set of questions.  The responses can be e-mailed to you or placed on a response page. Creating a Mail To or Form page
(1) View and copy the source for submit assignments. This is done by choosing Edit Page from the file menu and saving the page to your hard drive.  The key line in a form page is:     I had a special mail box set up for the assignments it was "soc100@csubak.edu".  In your form change this to your e-mail address.

(2) Change the rest of the form to meet your needs.  Specific HTML commands can be found in most HTML books.

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(7) Modification Date, Access Counter
These functions are CGI's (Common Gateway Interfaces) or java. CGIs require a special suffix name of ".htx" instead of the traditional ".htm" or "html" for your page.  They allow your web page to run a function on the server computer and report the outcome on your web page.  These have to be written by your local web administrator.  We will illustrate only two of these for CSUB's www server.
 
To place these functions on your page when using Netscape Composer:
(1) Copy script 
(2) Place cursor at location you want the information to appear, 
(3) Choose Insert/HTML tag, paste script in the dialog box, 
(4) Click OK:
  • Modification Date, This CGI will look at the modification date for your web page (this means the last FTP transfer) and reports it back to the web page.  Your file must have an ".htx" suffix for this to work. The usual form is to display the modification date close to the top of this page (see the modification date at the top of this page).  The java script  for this is:
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    (8) Animated Graphics
    Want interesting graphics and animation on your web page!  There are many ways to make these work but most are beyond the non programmer and some require software (e.g. Flash) to create.  However, we can borrow  and modify  to fit our needs. We can also find a source that has samples for us to use.  The easiest of these to use are animated gifs. These essentially are a stack of graphics that are revealed in order thus creating the image of animation.  This works like the animation kids draw on a notepad, then flip to get motion..  You can "borrow" these animated "gif"  files (how to copy a graphic from a web source)
     

    For animated as well as other graphics that you can use on your page try http://www.mediabuilder.com are do a search on google http://www.google.com (click "Images" then your search concept). One other source is the clip art that came with Word (place the image on a page, click on it and copy, paste in Microsoft paint and save as a ,gif or .jpg file).

     If you would like to experiment making your own animated gif files, check http://www.gifworks.com.

    Check more information on HTML, java, and shareware graphics check these links :


    (9) Sounds
    Sounds can make your page interesting.  They can also make your page really get on your last nerve if you get tired of the sound (the start sound for this page is pretty much getting to me at this point). Sounds are actually quite easy to add to a page.
             An Example: sounds.htm

    (10) Movies
    The hot item for web pages are videos.  With the introduction of iMovie several years ago creating video for a web page became quite simple.  Check this site for information about video on your web page.

          http://www.csubak.edu/~jross/classes/GS390/Video/VideoIntro/VideoIntro.html
     

    Finally from the first CSUB workshop on advanced techniques for web pages Web Links for CSUB Web Authors using HTML
     
    Accesses to this page------->
    2313

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