Q I don't have any web space available. Can I still be a County Coordinator?
A Yes. There are a number of servers on the web that provide small amounts of free web space. See the item entitled "Free Web Space" below.
Q How do I get my biographies on the New York Biographies page?
A You don't. Your biographies need to be kept with your county page on your server.
Q Why do I have to use text files? Won't the biographies need to be in HTML format?
A You don't have to use the text format. Some people prefer text because it's easier to create. There are pros and cons for Text or HTML, and it is up to the county coordinator to decide which will work best for them.
Q Can new biographies by typed directly into e- mail?
A Yes, however, please be aware that there are some pitfalls associated with typing biographies directly into an e-mail. Not the least of which will be improperly formatted biographies. That means someone has to do a lot more work to make the biography work on the web. The other reason is simpler; if you save each biography as a separate file, you will only have to type it once.
Q Will there be a Biographies-L mailing list and will I need to subscribe to it?
A Yes, the State coordinator needs to be able to communicate to all counties at once when situations arise. The State coordinator also maintains a list of biographies and a biographies archive.
Q I already have a large number of biographies as HTML documents. Do you expect me to convert them all to text files?
A We understand the amount of time and effort that has gone into typing all those bios, Therefore if you are building a county biographies site from a pre-existing HTML library, go ahead and use what you have. This does however significantly increase the workload of the state coordinator and/or assistant coordinator. New sites with no pre-existing HTML library should adopt the text file format.
Q Is there a standard way to name the biographies?
A Not really. As long as the file is in the correct format (DOS Text) and has the ".txt" extension, it should be just fine. If you use Windows95 to create your biography files, a good way to name them is to use the full name of the subject in lower case without any spaces or punctuation. For example: Enos T. Taylor would become enosttaylor.txt. This is not a requirement, just a good idea. If you use Windows 3.1x, you could abbreviate the name like ettaylor.txt. For Mac users, you would title the file taylor.htm or taylor.html. Once the file is uploaded to your server, you can then rename it to a more descriptive name if you wish.
Q I don't know a thing about creating web pages but I am willing to learn. Can someone help me get started?
A Absolutely! You can contact Michael Burdick for some pointers. There is also a sample page you can modify and use. See the section below entitled "HTML Sources" .
Q Does my county page have to look just the the sample page?
A Not at all. In fact, we encourage you to be creative with your web page. Make it your own creation. Keep in mind, however, that a lot of graphics on a page make it look nicer but can make it painfully slow for dial-up users when they load the pages.
Q Where can I find those neat buttons and backgrounds for my web page?
A There are many web site that have graphics collections available for download. Check the links in the "Graphics" section below. Or, if you are adventuresome, you can create them yourself. Some use Paint Shop Pro or one of a number of other software offerings and create all of their own original graphics, backgrounds, and buttons.
Q How do I get my page and biographies on my server?
A You will have to upload them using an FTP program (File Transfer Protocol).
Q How should I organize my biographies?
A There are no set rules on storing your biographies. Here are some rough guidelines though: Keep backup copies of all your biographies on your local PC just in case. You can keep your biographies in a sub directory on the server, just make sure the hyperlinks are correct. Once you have established a system for naming and storing your bios, be consistent.
Q What is an FTP and how do I use one?
A FTP means File Transfer Protocol, the process by which you transfer your own created files to another computer (the server providing you web space). Both Netscape and Internet Explorer provide an FTP through your browser for either a PC or a Mac. If you are using a Mac, go to Pure Mac: FTP where there are a host of Mac FTP suggestions.
Free Web Space:
There are a number of sources available that offer free web space where you can keep your county page. No attempt will be made here to give instructions for using these sites. Please visit each site and see what they have to offer. Some of these sites provide a suite of tools that help managing your page much easier.
Free www sites:
HTML Sources:
There are hundreds of sites on the web offering instruction on using HTML and creating web pages. Here are a few good ones:
The NCSA Beginner's Guide to HTML
Writing HTML (great for Mac users)
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