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Host a new web site
Members of the department may need to run a new web site, typically for use as a conference web site or as a special interest group web site.
There are two ways to host a new site
- located within the departmental web site (CSWeb)
- as a virtual host
1. New web site located within the departmental web site
This is the easiest solution and is typically provided for conference web sites. It does not require the purchase of a new domain name.
An area is created under the CSWeb document tree (/web/cs/docs/...). You access the file store just as you would access any file store on the main web site. The URL consists of the Computer Science domain name together with the path to the web site http:www.cs.kent.ac.uk/path .
For example, the IFM conference in 2004 is located at /web/cs/docs/events/conf/2004/ifm. The URL is http://www.cs.kent.ac.uk/events/conf/2004/ifm/ . A shorter URL consisting of the conference name can be provided using web server redirection, e.g. http://www.cs.kent.ac.uk/ifm.
A standard set of templates with a choice of web site style colours is available which uses the standard web page publishing script bap.
2. New web site provided as a Virtual Host
It is sometimes necessary to host a special web site which needs to have a different domain name and a different look and feel from the departmental web site. To facilitate this a Virtual Host is set up on the departmental web server. This virtual host is specific to your site.
A web server can contain a number of virtual hosts and the departmental server currently supports several. A virtual host provides a degree of separation from other virtual hosts supported by a web server. It has its own file space area containing its own document tree and log files and it can have its own access restrictions and cgi-bin. Because virtual hosts are not accessed using the Computer Science domain name www.cs.kent.ac.uk they are not covered by the Computer Science housestyle and hence must use a different style which is of your choosing. However, you should take care to ensure that all web pages conform to basic web publishing guidelines, is easily navigated, HTML validates and follows the accessibility guidelines. The Computer Science department should be acknowledged and with a link to the Computer Science web site on each page.
Virtual hosts are for university work related purposes only. Members of staff should apply for a virtual host as shown below. Postgraduate students requiring a virtual host must obtain their supervisors authorisation and then apply via their supervisor.
Please note: If you want to use elements of the Computer Science domain name (www.cs.kent.ac.uk) and/or the Computer Science web style or if your web site in any way appears to be part of the Computer Science web site then authorisation from the Head of Department must be obtained. You must not request the purchase of the domain name or publicise the URL or any details about the web site until this authorisation has been obtained.
To obtain a virtual host you must
- choose an appropriate domain name and check it is still available
- email cs-webmaster requesting
the virtual host and specifying
- web site domain name
- minimum time span the domain name should be held (in years)
- main contact person - typically the person who will maintain the site
- supervisor's name if applicable
- list of people requiring publishing rights (members of this department only, logins preferred)
- a paragraph describing the purpose of the web site
cs-webmaster will forward the domain name (and the virtual host IP address 129.12.4.59 ) to the university web team who buy domain names on behalf of departments. Once they confirm its availability to cs-webmaster a virtual host area will be established on the departmental server and write access enabled for the specified group of publishers. The web site contact person will then be notified that the web site is available. Do not publicise the URL until you have received this notification.
If you have any queries, please contact cs-webmaster.