Webmaster: A Webmaster is a person who either:

• Creates and manages the information content (words and pictures) and organization of a Web site
  
• Manages the computer server and technical programming aspects of a Web site
  
• Or does both.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Become a Webmaster - create and maintain your own personal or business website. Learn how to create an effective web site that will bring your viewers back through the use of graphics and interactive pages using Java, CGI scripts, and Server Side Includes. Learn how to announce your web site to the world and improve site efficiency by using the server logs to analyze how visitors are using your site. Students should be familiar with the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and web browsers.

COURSE OUTLINE:

1 - The role of the Webmaster

• Find a position developing web sites
• Sacramento CraigsList Web Jobs

2. Creating the web site

• The ABCs of Building a Web Site (from Web Developer Journal)
• Paths to the Net: Who will host your site?
  • Your own domain name vs. service provider's domain name
    
  • Online services (e.g. America Online, Prodigy, Compuserve)
    
  • Local/Nationwide Internet Service Providers (ISP's)
    
  • Your own file server
    
• How to make your site look great
  
  • Defining the purpose of your site
    
  • Developing content
    
    • Readability
      
    • Storyboarding
      
  • Clarifying goals and objectives
    
  • Refining your concept
    
  • Designing your site
    
  • Designing for bandwidth
    
• Testing and validation of your site
  
  • Testing the site
    
  • Site validation tools
    
    • Weblints
      
    • HTML Validators
      
• Announcing your site
  
  • How to get listed in the search engines
    
  • Using the HTML "META" tag to control description and key words
    Search Engine Watch "How to Use Meta Tags"
    
  • SitePoint: Practical Web Design - Top 15 META Tag Tricks
    
  • How to get increase your ranking in a search engine
    

3. Maintaining the site

• Essential tools and resources
• Analyzing site visits
  
  • Status Codes in HTTP
  • The server access log
    
  • Hits vs. visits
    
  • The server error log
  • Log analysis tools
    

4. Keep them coming back for more

• Keep traffic high with changes
  
• Designing faster sites
  
  • What Happens When You Click - HTTP: The underlying protocol of the World Wide Web
    
  • Speeding up the process
    
    • Use a faster service provider
      
    • Making the browser seem faster
      
• Designing graphics for the website
  
  • Image Design Basics
    
  • Choosing a graphics format
    
  • The Netscape Color Cube / Color Names
  • Backgrounds
    
  • Web Reference's List of Color Resources
• Using Server Side Includes (SSI's) to turn your static page into a dynamic page
  
  • What are Server Side Includes?
    
  • When SSI's are useful
    
• Making your site interactive with CGI scripts
  
  • What is CGI?
    
  • Sources for CGI scripts
  • CGI examples
    
    • Forms
      
    • Counters
      
    • Guest book
      
    • Web based bulletin board
      
  • Common CGI Mistakes
    
    • Configuration errors
      
    • Script errors
      
• Making your site interactive with Java scripts
  
  • What is Java?
    
  • Sources for Java scripts
  • Java examples. (Requires a Java enabled browser)
    
  • Shopping carts
    
• Keeping portions of your site private
  
  • An unprotected page
    
  • Server access control
    
  • Password protection

5. Miscellaneous Resources

Creating Killer Websites, David Siegel, Hayden Books.