CHEBUCTO CONNECTIONS 
TIPS FOR NEWBIES


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Making your Profile

For this month and next month, I will be writing on how to create your profile. I'll try to keep this as simple as possible but it can still be difficult. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

The very basics

Finding your profile

Your profile can be found on CCN by typing "gfiles" without the quotes. Press enter (or return) and then choose "public_html". In this directory, you should have a file called "Profile.html". This is your profile. If you choose it, there won't be much there - just your name and a link to send email to you.

If someone else wants to find your profile, they can do so by on CCN, typing "gpeople" and then typing in your name. Off CCN, they can access it by typing in the following URL: http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~zz999/Profile.html. Substitute "zz999" for your log in name, and NO the little ~ thing is not a typo - it has to be there.

Editing your profile

Once you are viewing your profile you can edit it by pressing "e".

How to write stuff in your profile

You write stuff in your profile using a programming language called the HyperText Markup Language (HTML). HTML is made up of tags and normal English.

What on Earth is a tag?

A tag is just one of those weird little things that start with a left angle bracket or a less than sign (<) and end with a right angle bracket or a greater than sign (>). An example of a tag would be <TITLE>. Tags are usually paired. In other words there is a starting tag and an ending tag for the same thing. For example:

<TITLE>Profile of somebody</TITLE>
As you can see, the starting tag just has the name of the tag, and the ending tag has a slash (/) and then the name of a tag.

Just type (sort of)

The best thing to do to create your profile, is to just add onto the bottom of the what's already there. Just type away, whatever you want to say about youself. The reason I put the "sort of" in is because you can't just press enter (or return) to end a paragraph. The reason for this is because HTML ignores "enters (or returns)". You could press enter (or return) after every word if you like - it still won't make any difference in the end result (although your enter/return button will probably be worn down quite a bit more!). To end a paragraph in HTML, you have to type in <P>. There is no such thing as </P>, as this is the primary exception to the pairing rule.

Putting in links to other documents or web sites

To make a link to another web site, you have to add this tag wherever you want the link to appear in your profile:

<A HREF="http://name.of.site/directory/file">Name of the link</A>
Note that the http:// can be changed to ftp://, file://, mailto:, or gopher://. There are also several others, but you will problably never use them anyway. The directory and file are not always needed, for example, here is how you would key in a link to CCN's homepage:

<A HREF="http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/">Chebucto Community Net Homepage</a>

Next month

Next month, I'll show you how to make lists, put in links to a certain section of a document, and some other features.

If you would like more information on writing HTML, check out the Beginner's Guide to HTML.


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Chebucto Connections TIPS FOR NEWBIES
is edited by James Schofield
who is happy to receive Questions, Comments or Suggestions.
If your browser does not support mail, write to James Schofield later at ae828@ccn·cs·dal·ca

Last Month: March 1996 Next Month: May 1996