With the following information, I hope to provide you with the information needed for you to establish a ‘low-maintenance’ aesthetically appealing web-page to serve as a resource to your students. 

 

Before you begin your webpage, ask yourself the following questions:

1.  How often will I have the time to modify and update the page?
2. What information is important for prospective or current students to gain access to?
3. What links would be a valuable resource to students who are investigating the course or course material?

 

Most people establishing a new web page will want to start small, and then add on as they become more comfortable.

 

Resources needed to establish  a ‘low maintenance webpage’ for a course (it is always easiest if the resources are electronic):

1. a course description
2. information on the instructors (contact information)
3. a skeleton outline of topics covered in the course
4. a point total sheet
5. any helpful links that students may wish to visit

 

Once you have gathered your resources, you will need to contact Rob Klinger  to gain access to modify the current course website (all courses currently have a 1 page course description that is what you will ‘replace’ with your new webpage). 

phone: 217-351-2463          E-mail: Rklinger@parkland.edu      office: L261

 

Now you are ready to begin!

 

The simple steps to create your own easy to maintain website:

1. go to your course website link (if you are not sure how to get there, navigate from the following link:  http://www.parkland.edu/ns.html and click on your discipline, and then your course))
2. once you are there, go to the upper toolbar and click on ‘file’ and then go to ‘edit with Microsoft FrontPage’. 
3. It will ask you for your username and password, enter the username and password that Rob Klinger gave you
4. You will then have the ability to create a new page by going to ‘file’ and then clicking on ‘new’
5. You will have a blank page at that time.  You will want to save it as ‘index’.
   1. You may need to close the file that was saved as index before you proceed.
6. To change the background color go to ‘format’ then select ‘theme’ and pick a background you may like.  It will be applied to the page automatically.
7. On the toolbar, go to ‘table’ and then ‘insert table’ (2 rows 4 columns works well to manipulate)
   1. You can merge or split cells by using the mouse to ‘right click’ and selecting ‘merge cells’ or ‘split cells’ 
8. At that point you can begin to insert images. 
   1. On the toolbar, go to ‘insert’ and them ‘images’ then select ‘clip art’. 
   2. A bar will appear on the right hand side.  Generally, I select ‘photographs’ when asked what the ‘results should be’. 
   3. Type in the type of image you would like and then hit ‘go’. 
   4. Images will appear.  You can double click on the image and it will insert it into your table
   5. To manipulate the size of the image, you can click on the image, go to the corner of the image and a double arrow will appear.  Click and drag the diagonal double arrow until the image appears as the desired size
9. You can add text by clicking in the box you would like to add text and begin typing!  You can modify the font by going to the toolbar and selecting ‘format’ and then ‘font’.  Play around to get the font you like.
10. If you would like selected pages (such as a syllabus or helpful links page) to be added, be sure to have them available and saved in an electronic form onto that web folder (or you can ‘create a new page’ and then copy and paste the material into the new page…either works!).  Suggested links include:
    1. Helpful websites
    2. Course content
    3. Instructor information
    4.  Syllabus
11. To add a link with a nice looking button, go to ‘insert’ then select ‘interactive button’
    1. Scroll through the buttons to pick your favorite
    2. In the ‘text’ box type in what you would like the button to say (i.e.: syllabus)
    3. In the ‘link’ box you can ‘browse’ to find your file (keep in mind you will need to have it saved into the website folder
    4. Select the file you want to link
    5. Hit ‘ok’
    6. You may modify the size and shape of the text and interactive button by double clicking on the button and then modifying the font or image
12. You are now ready to ‘save’ the site and have it as your new webpage for the course!  ENJOY!  J 

 

If you have any questions, feel free to contact:

Toni Marie Burkhalter          

Tburkhalter@parkland.edu

217-351-2469

Member of the Web Committee in the Natural Sciences Department