350:465 September 27, 2001

Explanation for "Grand Central" tutorial: A new "index.html" file

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Objectives: to lay the foundations for a more sophisticated "index.html" page which will serve as the main Grand Central Terminal to direct traffic for an entire web site. To use a book metaphor, it will combine elements of the table of contents and the index.

Considerations: the initial "index.html" page was a temporary demonstration of primitive but necessary skills employing e-mail, Pico as a Unix editor, and basic Unix commands on the web server Pegasus.

You should now have in your public_html directory at least two of these files:

1. index.html (a demonstration file)

2. 920.html (the insult file)

3. perhaps the temporary template0 or template1 file or both

We will now create a more sophisticated index.html file

Ingredients: the new index.html file eventually should have the following as your new home file

1. Introduction: identification of you as the owner

Focus: your personal, profession, or advocacy statement or indication

Title, main heading, initial statement

Use of visual/digital/design elements appropriate for your purpose

Font face, size, color palette, background color/image, graphics

Contact data: email, other avenues if appropriate

Signature

2. Physical Development: initial sample of the nature of the file and web site

Data and explanation

Lead paragraph

Links to related pages and sites

Hypertext URLs

Reading and research

Bibliography

Supporting graphics and multimedia

3. Logical/structural elements: with possible/optional examples

Navigation scheme1: sections within file (#name)

Single line horizontal menu (text)

Navigation scheme2: forward/back/home/help

Graphical aids (images/with text)

Within site (relative URLs)

Multi-line text block menu (text with images)

Outside site (absolute URLs)

Link list (text)

Help: using the site and current location indicator

Site:

Plan/map, clickable imagemap

"About" page with configuration and preference data

Search utility for site


Priorities:

1: Title and Main Heading

2: Subhead: Write at least one paragraph of description or intention

3: Assemble list of links -- internal names and external URLs

4. Add signature -- contact information

5: Top/bottom: one line hypertext menu of internal sections

6: Preliminary design/style plan: write description

7: Add graphics as appropriate