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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: I went to your WGTE site and was so impressed with the web projects that kids are doing! I would like to know more about Build Your Own Website tools. Is this software? A service your organization provides? Is it available for teachers in our area of SW Ohio. I took a look at the PBS sites for our stations here and did not see anything comparable.
A: The Build Your Own Website service was designed and developed exclusively by WGTE Public Broadcasting in Northwest Ohio. The service is not limited to this area, however. Any educator can apply for an account. We currently have members from all across the United States. To find out more about how Build Your Own Website can be employed throughout your school, district, or state, click here to email the program manager.
Q: Can I use HTML in my web pages?
A: The Build Your Own Website design tools do allow you to use basic HTML formatting tags to enhance the presentation of your content, but the use of HTML is never required. If you wish to make your own formatting enhancements, but do not know HTML, you can use the Text Editor tool for assistance. The Text Editor is really two tools: the Text Cleaner and the HTML Editor. The Text Cleaner converts formatting into HTML which can then be pasted into your template. This allows you to add formatting directly into a form (using familiar techniques such as those found in most word processors) and then converts your content into HTML (which can then be pasted into your template.) Please note that at this time the Text Editor is only available to Window users running Internet Explorer 5 or higher.
For those who are a bit braver, you may also wish to consult the Build Your Own Website tutorials to learn more about HTML. Basic formatting in HTML is actually quite simple, and you may find the exercise quite rewarding.
For the truly adventurous, the Build Your Own Website template builders include the "Blank Template", which is not really a template at all! This is a place where you can build entire Build Your Own Website pages with HTML alone. This "template" is also a good place to copy and paste from pre-existing Web pages in order to include them in the Build Your Own Website service.
Also worth noting is a brand new Build Your Own Website tool - The Web Porter. The Web Porter allows you to select Web pages you have created with the template builders (with or without using HTML) and convert them into pure HTML files. These files are then emailed to whatever location you want. You are now able to place professional-looking Web pages on any server without having to know anything at all about HTML!
Q: I would like to put parent e-mail addresses into a list with my Web site and then have it set up so I can send a mass mailing. Can I do this with BYOW?
A: This has been one our most common requests from teachers, and the new Build Your Own Website service does all this and more. In addition to offering a mass mailer, the new My Mail Center allows you to put an "opt-in" form on your Web site, create and manage unlimited email lists, send out automatic homework notices to parents, mass email you newsletters, and more. In addition to creating a great Web site, you now can "push" your information out to the people who want it.
Q: Can I show students photos or projects on our classroom Web site? And how do I put a photo on a Web page?
A: The new and improved Upload Center is designed for the simple and powerful creation and management of your individual image library. In addition, the upload tool will now even automatically resize your images if they exceed the dimensions of your Web page. This not only improves presentation, but also saves space in your account. Once uploaded to your account, these images can be used throughout your Web site. You can even set the alignment of the images to make text flow around them to the left or right.
If you wish to post multiple pictures (perhaps from a class project), you might want to use the new My Galleries service. With a few click mouse-clicks, you are create full image galleries in one of three formats:
- Thumbnail Galleries: The service will automatically create small "thumbnails" of your pictures and place them all on a single page. Each thumbnail, when clicked, opens a new page that displays the full-sized image along with any descriptive text you may have added.
- Staggered Galleries: This format displays a limited number of images in a single page, with alternating images aligned to the left and right. Each image is also "framed" with a border and can contain descriptive text along side of it.
- Slideshows: Just as it sounds, the slideshow option displays your images in timed intervals. The viewer may also move through the images at their own pace by clicking a button.
In addition to the images you upload, your Image Manager includes the shared Clip Art & Photo Library. This library is a large collection of categorized images that are available for use anywhere on your Web site. These images work just like your personal images, but do not count against your server storage space.
Q: I would like parents to be able to get to my Web site from our school district Web site. Is this possible?
A: Yes, the new Build Your Own Website service includes an optional Portal Manager service for schools, districts, or other organizations which manage a collection of Build Your Own Website users. As its primary function, this service makes it easy to place an indexed listing of teacher Web sites on an existing school or district Web page. The many other features of the Portal Manager includes:
- Advanced usage and resource tracking.
- A "Message Center" publisher that allows districts/schools to convey important messages to its individual teachers.
- The ability to bring divergent resources together in one easy-to-use online location. These resources can then be included on individual teacher Web pages with a simple mouse-click.
- Multi-level administrative levels for effective control.
- A district/school-wide bulk emailer service (an advanced version of the individual "My Mail Center" service for individual teacher accounts.)
- An "override" function that can temporarily hide inappropriate content found on individual teacher Web site.
- An optional "plug-in" to the Synapse Learning System tool which, among many other things allows administrators to block viewer access to specified Web sites from individual teacher Web sites. (In effect, a district/school can prevent students - or other visitors - from reaching inappropriate sites if they start on a Build Your Own Website homepage.
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