Free Web Page Editing: Using AOLPress in your Classroom

Bob Perkins
Educational Foundations and Specializations
School of Education
College of Charleston / University of Charleston, SC
Charleston, SC 29424
To send e-mail:PerkinsR@cofc.edu
(843)953-5699

http://arachne.cofc.edu/faculty/perkins/Perkins.EdTech98.html

AOLPress is a freeware WYSIWYG Web editor available for both Macintosh and Windows based computers. It can be downloaded directly from their web site http://www.aolpress.com. It has all the power to create web pages that most educators need without the price. This program includes the capability to do Forms, Tables, incorporate Images (including animated gifs), Links, Frames, Lists and you name it, but without entering any HTML code. If you like HTML, a built in editor lets you deal with code too. This is a good all around and intuitive Web Page editor that is easy to use.

You can create classroom web pages and store them on your network for Intranet access or the pages can be accessed over Internet. Do you have a class web project you would like to do but were too scared of HTML to try? Don't have much of a budget to buy new software? Check out AOLPress, it just might be the answer.

AOLPress comes with a built in Help Menu. It includes a Table of Contents, Search capability, Online Resources, FAQ, an excellent Tutorial, and Tech Support. A manual is also part of the package (in PDF file format). Spell Check is built in as is Check Links.

Let's Explore!

1. Creating a New Web Page-Web pages have many attributes that you can control from Format/Page Attributes

   • Background Color-This is the color that your web page will be. Computers have a variety of ways to choose color from a color wheel or R(ed)G(reen)B(lue) settings. Use Pick to choose yours. If you prefer to have a background image instead of a color, you can use Browse to select it.

     • The Phoenix Gate Backgrounds & Images
   • Text-This controls the normal text color. Again, it uses the same method of picking colors as the Back Ground color.
   • Links-This is the color of text for links.
   • Visited links-This is the color of links that you have already clicked on.
2. Text formatting
   • Headings-used for titles and subheadings. There are six levels (H1-H6) from big to small.

   • Justification-Centering and Left Justify are options that can be obtained from buttons or Format/Paragraph, which also offers other choices such as Right Justify And Align Flush (Full Justify).

   • Text Style-This is where you get Bold, Italics, Underline, etc. by using Format/Type Style
   • Paragraphs are distinguished by Returns. They cause a skipped line. Remember that paragraphs can control other things such as justification and list formation (below).
   • Forced Line Break (Shift-Return) allow you to move to the next line without creating a new paragraph.
3. Inserting images-Pictures can be used to add excitement to your page. GIF, JPEG and Animated GIFs can be added the same way (AOLPress can not display animated GIF animation, just the first frame). Just click the Image button or Element/Image. Images can also be clickable links. The following are options to set for your image:
   • Alignment-This controls where your picture appears in relationship to text on your page.
     • Top-Lines the top of the image with the top of the text
     • Middle-Lines the middle of the image with the middle of the text
     • Bottom-Lines the bottom of the image with the bottom of the text
     • Floating Left-Because you may need more than one line of text to be beside a picture (Top, Middle and Bottom only allow one line of text next to the picture), this puts the picture on the left side of the page and moves text to the right.
     • Floating Right-This puts the picture on the right side of the page and moves text to the left, but does allow more than one line of text next to the image.
   • Picture size (Double click in the image to Resize)-When you add a picture to your page, it keeps the original size. However, you may need to make the picture larger or smaller. You can double click on the picture to resize or you can type in pixel information into the Image dialog box (as you place the image on your page or by selecting it and clicking the Image button).
   • Description-Because not all browsers show images (older browsers, browsers used by the blind or some people turn images off to load pages faster), putting in a description will show up as text on their browsers.
   • Apple City Mall Free Stuff! Clipart/Clickart
   • Apple City Mall Free Stuff! Animated GIFS
4. Lists-Lists are special ways of formatting paragraphs to organize and present information. They automatically mark each item in the list and indent to distinguish the items from each other
   • Types
     1. Numbered-Numbered lists are good for situations that require steps to an operation. Each item will be automatically numbered (when the Return key is pressed). New items can be inserted by clicking after an item and pressing Return.
     • Unnumbered (Bulleted)-Unnumbered lists automatically put a bullet in front of each item and indents the information. A Return is used to add a new item.

       Definition

       Definition lists consists of a term and definition. The term is on the first line of an item, and the definition is automatically indented from the term on the next line.

5. Elements-Elements allow connections to the rest of Internet, web pages and email.
   • Links-Links can take a client from page to page either locally or anywhere on the Web. Both text and images can be part of the link.
     • Absolute-Absolute links are useful when your page links to someone else's. You put in the exact web address (http://there.server.org/their.web.page.html).
     • Relative-If you are linking to your own pictures and pages, relative links allow movement of entire sites without needing to change all the links.
   • E-mail Link-This type of link addresses a piece of email automatically to the owner of the web page  (or whoever's address is put into the page) as long as the browser has been set up correctly.
   • Anchor-Anchors allow links to a specific part of a web page. This is useful if the web page is long and saves the user having to scan through all the text to find an item. Anchors can be used to set up a Table of Contents
     1. Select the text to be the anchor
     2. Give it a name (use a single word)
     3. Select the text to Link to the Anchor
     4. Put Anchor name (case sensitive) in the Append Anchor Name field of the link
6. Tables-Useful to format columns and rows of information. Tables can also be used to format images in relation to text to make the page show up the same on most browsers. Table cells can hold text, pictures, links and lists
   • Create the Table-The attributes for the table must be specified
     • Dimensions
       • Rows
       • Columns
     • Border-The table can be distinguished from the rest of the web page using a border (looks like a frame)
       • Visible- you can decide if a frame is to be visible
       • Size-you can decide how wide the frame is to be.
     • Cell Margin
       • Spacing-you decide how much space is between the frame and words above and below the words.
       • Padding-You can control the amount of space between the left and right sides of the frame and the words.
   • Table Attributes-This allows you to change settings for a table that has been created.
   • Cell modification
     • Alignment
       • VAlign Cell-This allows text to be lined up in the cell with the Top/Middle/Bottom.
       • Paragraph-This allows alignment of words to be on the Left/Center/Right.
   • Merging Cells-Occasionally, you do not need totally uniform row/column. By merging two or more cells, you can create a bigger cell within the normal table's rows and columns.
7. Forms-Response-Result-Forms can be created to handle information that the client enters and wants to send to the page creator, or designated recipient. Information from a form does need a "handler" to deal with the information. Typically, this is a CGI file on the web server. One I have found useful is email.cgi available from Eric Lease Morgan at http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/staff/morgan/email-cgi.html. This CGI takes the information in the form and emails it to a designated address. Forms can include the following types of fields:
   • RADIO Windows   Macintosh- Clicking on one removes the other from being selected
     CHECK Windows Macintosh- Clicking turns information "on"
     TEXT -Allows in formation to be typed in on one line with left/right scrolling
     TEXT AREA - Allows more than one line to be typed in with scrolling.

     SELECTION LIST Windows Macintosh UNIX- You use the mouse to choose from pre-entered selections.

     IMAGE Clicking on the image sends the form with the X/Y position of the mouse.

     RESET SUBMIT