Hands-On Self-Training Web Authoring Exercise

This Web document is intended to guide a new or would-be Web author at TNRCC through a hands-on self-training exercise in Web authoring. It will introduce some of the most basic tools to use and steps to take here in publishing on the T-Net.

Credit goes to Laura Clark for prototyping the lessons here in a training session for Office of Policy and Regulatory Development staff. Other Lead Internet Developers are encouraged to follow her example; her WordPerfect script for the session is available.

To avoid undue formality, the rest of this guide will address its readers as "you."

Because this is a Web document, the guide assumes that you have already done quite a bit of groundwork. To set the stage for Web authoring, you will need to interact with people including your manager, your LAN manager, the Information Resources Division, and your Office's Lead Internet Developer to

• Get an Internet connection as part of your TNRCC network environment
• Get Netscape and helper software installed on your PC and become familiar with the browser and browsing
• Get an OK for spending time learning about HTML and Web authoring
• Get approval for a project or projects where you can apply your learning and contribute to T-Net content.

You will need to coordinate with your LAN manager to have the following software installed on your PC in order to complete these lessons:

• Netscape 3 (TNRCC custom version) or Netscape 4
• ws_ftp (or a comparable file transfer program)
• WordPerfect Internet Publisher addon for WP6.1 or WordPerfect 8
• LviewPro (or another graphic image editing program)

1. Construct a Web page from an existing Web page
2. Move a Web page from your PC to our Web server
3. Convert a WordPerfect document to a Web page
4. Give a Web page the power of links and graphics
5. Make a Web page an official part of our T-Net site

For further reference, you are encouraged to do more reading at our Web site:

• Study T-Net Authoring
• Study TNRCC Public Web Site Authoring
• Study TNRCC Internet Policy
• Look at further T-Net offerings for self-training

And of course, the Web is full of Web workshops and tutorials and authoring guides. A couple you might want to check out are Library of Congress' Internet Guides, Tutorials, and Training Information and Web Development Support (from Loyola University in Chicago). There is no one way to be a Web author, no one definitive set of tools, and no one ultimate reference book on the subject—but there's lots of help available to you.

Welcome aboard!