Blackboard
There are many resources at OIT to help faculty place their course materials online. One of the most popular tools for this purpose is Blackboard, a web-based course management system that is typically used in more than half of the courses offered at Williams. It not only provides easy-to-use templates for faculty to put their course materials online easily but also provides tools that faculty can use to enhance their face-to-face classroom teaching and student-to-student interactions. These tools include class roster facebook, online discussion forum, course wiki and blog tool, electronic sign-up sheet, online assessment and gradebook. For more information, faculty should contact their department liaison.
Department Websites
Academic and administrative department web sites can be set up in two ways:
- On the unix server: if your site is on the unix server, your URL starts with www.williams.edu. You must obtain write-permission to the proper directory to add or update pages. Contact Heather Clemow of Public Affairs at x4065 for details.
- As a Wordpress site: if your site is on Wordpress, your URL looks something like this- math.williams.edu (note that it doesn't start with www). Contact Kate Krolicki at kkrolick@williams.edu for details.
If you are planning to use PHP or hire somebody to create your website for you, please contact Kate Krolicki (x4346) or Chris Warren (x4323) in OIT.
Student Clubs and Group Websites
Student clubs and groups can obtain web space on wso.williams.edu. If your organization wants to have an account, one or more persons who currently have a personal WSO account should be designated as the official contact(s) with WSO. The contact persons are responsible for the content of the organization's pages.
To get a homepage for your organization, send e-mail to wso@wso.williams.edu and give the name of your organization and the names of everyone involved who needs access to edit the homepage. You will be assigned a subdirectory of the /home/www/orgs directory. The address of your organization page will be in the form http://wso.williams.edu/orgs/orgname/, such as http://wso.williams.edu/orgs/woc/.
Also, see Policy on Wordpress Websites and Virtual Domains for Student Organizations
Personal Websites
Many free non-Williams options are available for creating personal websites including Wordpress, Tripod, and Google Sites.
Personal file storage that can be accessed via the web is available with netstorage, however, these files are not visible to the public.
Website Training
OIT offers workshops and additional assistance to individuals who wish to learn how to create web pages.
Element K: Element K is a web-based software training service available for faculty/staff to use and includes courses on using Dreamweaver, a web page editing program. More on Element K
Coding/Databases
If you are considering adding PHP or a database to your site on williams.edu, please contact Kate Krolicki (x4346) or Chris Warren (x4323) so they can help you set things up and show you how to avoid common security holes.
Hiring Somebody to Make Your Website
If you are considering hiring somebody to create a website for you (or have already done so), please contact Kate Krolicki (x4346) or Chris Warren (x4323). More About Hiring Developers
