Posting your own web page

Web accounts
Filenames
Uploading your pages
Web policies

Do you want to post your own web page for the world to see? Vassar provides space on its web server for your pages. You can edit and post the pages any time of day or night. You can use an filet transfer program, e.g., Fetch (for Macintosh) or 3dFTP(for Windows), to place your files online. Once the page is placed in your account, notify us and we will link the page from our "Guide to the Vassar Web" pages.

What You Need To Know

The information provided here, assumes you are familiar with the use of the personal computer. You are familiar with browsing the World Wide Web with programs such as Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Lynx and you have created your own page(s) to be published on the web.

Getting a Web Account

The Vassar Computer Center provides a web account for every Vassar student, faculty member, administrator, and staff member to publish web pages. Go to GetWeb to get started.

Note: If you do not yet have a web account, getweb will create an account for you. If you already have an account, you can use getweb to change your web password.

Directory Structure

Your web pages are public files for everyone on the web to see. All your web files reside in a folder (a.k.a. subdirectory) called "web" to store your web pages. Any file in this subdirectory is public so don't put an item there that is not ready or is not appropiate (such as copyrighted materials) for public viewing.

Naming Your Files

Filenames on the web are case sensitive. This means that "Hello.html" is a completely different file from "hello.html". Therefore, it is a good idea to always use all lowercase letters for your filenames to avoid confusion. All html files should end with ".html" or ".htm". Otherwise, they may not be displayed as expected.

The default page name for your account will be "index.html" -- this is the file that will be returned to a browser if no file is specified. If you do not have a file called index.html, a list of all files in your web directory will be shown when no filename is specified. Therefore, call your entry page "index.html".

Uploading Your Pages

Please note, FTP and sFTP can be used on-campus. If you are going to be uploading files from off-campus you must first connect to the network using VPN. Click here to learn more about VPN.

For directions on uploading your pages to the web using Fetch (Mac), use our online documentation(PDF).

Testing Your Pages

Be sure to test your pages by running your favorite web browser (or better yet, try several browsers because they all display the information differently).

Your URL will be (assuming your entry page is called "index.html"):

Students: http://students.vassar.edu/<username>/
Faculty: http://faculty.vassar.edu/<username>/
Administrators and Staff: http://adminstaff.vassar.edu/<username>/

For example, if you were a student with web username joschmoe and your first page is called index.html, your URL would be http://students.vassar.edu/joschmoe/

Updating Your Pages:

You can update your pages at any time by overwriting them (i.e. just transfer the new version to your account and it will replace the old version). Your link will remain active as long as your first page keeps the same filename.

Vassar Web Policies:

Below is a brief discussion of rules regarding the use of the web at Vassar. Be sure to check the College regulations which are covered more completely in the student handbook.

Who can have a website?
Vassar provides web space for current faculty, staff, administrators and students.
When do web accounts get cleared?
In order to keep content current, individual web accounts are cleared each October. If you wish to keep your page available, you will need to re-upload a copy of your files to the server. Be sure to keep copies of your current pages on a your own disk.
Are there space limitations?
Because hard disk space on the server is limited we limit the space your files occupy. We will notify you if you are over your limit.
Are there network limitations?
The network is shared by everyone on campus. The network can carry only a limited amount of information at any one time. Hints on limiting your traffic include keeping pictures, sound files, movies, etc. small and linking to the original item if it is off-campus. If we find that your web pages account for more than its share of the network traffic, we will ask you to reduce your consumption.
What type of content can I post?
Your web account is provided for media of your own creation. Please do not copy files from elsewhere into your account; use links to those resources instead. This reduces both disk consumption and network traffic. Copyright laws apply to all media, including the web. Don't use copyrighted materials without prior approval and give appropriate credit to the creator of any work that is not your own.
Please use your account for noncommercial purposes only.

This page was last updated on 2/27/08.

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