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Search the ITS Knowledge Base: http://kb.its.psu.edu/

Valuable Help Resources at Penn State University Park

ITS HelpDesk: http://css.its.psu.edu/consulting/
University Learning Center: http://www.ulc.psu.edu/
TLC: http://www.ulrc.psu.edu/techcenter.php
Writing Center: http://www.psu.edu/dept/cew/
Studio 204: http://studio204.tlt.psu.edu/
Career Services: http://www.sa.psu.edu/career/students.shtml
ITS Guide for Penn State Web Developers: http://css.its.psu.edu/publish/webdev/

FAQ's

Q. How do I apply for Penn State Web space?

It is very easy to obtain personal Web space (also called PASS) on the Penn State Web servers.

All you have to do is visit the Web site http://www.personal.psu.edu/. On this Web site you can get answers to frequently asked questions and other information. When you are ready, click on the "Apply for Web space on www.personal.psu.edu" link. This link takes you to the "Application for a Web Space Account" Web page. Here you will be asked to take a short quiz in order to demonstrate that you possess a minimal understanding of appropriate use of the World Wide Web. In this brief quiz, you will be asked five questions. If you answer four of them correctly, you will be granted a Web account and within 3 business days you will be notified via Penn State email that your web space has been created! If you do not pass the quiz on the first attempt, feel free to take it again.

Q. Where is it that I go to get started?

Two options:

Easy: Build It with Blogs! (login to the Penn State Blog tool at http://blogs.psu.edu )

More to Learn but More Flexible: Build it Using a Web Editor, (link to the left)

This quick tutorial takes you through the steps involved in creating and publishing Web pages. It provides directions for creating simple web pages that contain text, graphics, tables, links etc.; as well as directions for uploading these Web pages to your Penn State web space. There are scores of software that belong to the genre of software called Web page editors that you can use to edit your Web pages. This tutorial provides directions for two popular Web page editors - Microsoft Frontpage and Adobe Dreamweaver. Both these software are available on all computers in ITS labs.

Still Stuck?

Q. Can I get one-on-one help?

Go to the Technology Learning Center or, find the Digital Commons location on your campus.

Q. How do I publish an e-portfolio made with a Web editor or other application?

Typically while working on your e-portfolio you will first create Web pages on your computer (or a computer in a lab). When you are ready with these pages and you want others (anybody, anywhere in the world that has access to the Internet) to see your work, you "publish" your work by copying these files to your Penn State Web space (PASS). This involves two simple steps:

Step 1: Connect to your Penn State Web space by either:

1. Mapping a drive on your personal computer or a computers in the CAC lab to your Penn State Web space.
2. Using SSH software to connect to your Penn State Web space.
3. Using PASS Explorer that is available through Penn State Portal

Step 2: Copy the files that you have created on your computer (or a computer in a lab) and paste them into 'www' folder in your Penn State Web space.

This process is also called "uploading" (as compared to "copying") because what you are doing is copying files from your computer to another computer (in this case the Penn State Web server that you connected to in Step 1). Your e-portfolio should be live as soon as all the files have been copied!

Q. How do I update my e-portfolio?

Let us suppose that you published an e-portfolio couple of semesters ago. Now you want to make some changes to it or maybe replace it with something altogether new. How do you do this?

When you published your e-portfolio, you first created the Web pages on your computer and then copied these files to the 'www' folder in your Penn State Web space. To make changes to your old e-portfolio you should first connect to your Penn State Web space, go to the 'www' folder and copy all the files to a folder on your computer. Now open these files in your favorite Web editor (like Microsoft Frontpage or Adobe Dreamweaver) and make any changes you like. When you are ready, just follow the reverse process - this time copy all the files in the folder on your computer back to the 'www' folder in your Web space. As soon as you do this, you should be able to see the updated pages online.

In case you want to remove your old e-portfolio altogether, you should connect to your Penn State Web space, and then delete files in the 'www' folder that are associated with the old e-portfolio. Remember, you may want to make a backup of these files first. As soon as you delete these files from the 'www' folder your old e-portfolio will no longer be accessible.

Q. How do I add pictures/graphics to my ePortfolio?

Adding pictures and graphics to your Web pages is a simple process. The specific directions depend on the software that you use to prepare your Web pages. Note that many times the pictures or graphics that you include in your Web pages are stored in a separate folder. When you upload your Web pages to the 'www' folder in your Penn State Web space, do not forget to upload this folder as well. If you forget to do this, you will not be able to see the pictures/graphics when you view your pages online.

Also, check out Studio 204 for all of your multimedia related inquiries:

Q. What do I do if I get a message that says "You don't have permission to access /xyz123/index.html on this server"?

If you get this message, it is likely that you deleted the 'www' folder from your Personal Web Space space by accident and then recreated another folder with the same name. The problem is that the new 'www' folder that you recreated is not "world readable" yet. You will have to reset the "privileges" so that it becomes world readable. Here is what you should do:

Go to https://www.work.psu.edu/ and click on the ACL reset button. This will reset the privileges and resolve the problem.