INSTALLING CONGREGATIONAL WEBPAGES
A congregation's page(s) can be installed either in a local system that supports server software or on the system maintained by the Union. Installation at Union requires that you first use the Union form to request an account on the Union server.
One aspect of creating a Web presence is having links to one's page from those of others. Once your congregation's homepage is installed, please send us its "URL", and we will add your URL in our online Directory of Congregations. As per Union Guidelines, please provide a link back to the Union homepage from your congregational homepage or a "links" page. The following HTML can be used:
We are a member of
<A href="http://urj.org">
The Union for Reform Judaism
<IMG src="http://urj.us/gifs/logo_sm.gif" align=middle>
</a>
You may also wish to consider sending the URL of your congregation's page to organizations in your community that have Web pages - e.g., local newspapers, Internet service providers, real estate offices, tourist bureaus, etc. And you may choose to use the services of Submit It! to register your homepage with one or more of the many Web directories,
Installation at the Union
Except for automatic installation of a single homepage using the Union create-a-page form for congregational pages, installation at the Union Web server requires a bit of Internet sophistication. If you find the following instructions difficult to understand, you might wish to find someone in your congregation who is "net savvy" - probably a teen-ager -- to help you the first time you try to install your pages.
Note: the Union system is case-sensitive, like most Internet servers; e.g., an upper case "W" and lower case "w" are understood to be different. This applies to your account id, your password, and to all file names; e.g., LOGO.GIF and logo.gif are two distinct file names. Normally, a link to one of them will not reach the other. However, our server is equipped with a feature which ignores case sensitivity. You are still however advised to use proper case.
Each Union congregational account at the Union has Web directory from which files are accessed by Web browsers.
Several steps are required to install files in a Union Web directory: (Instructions specific to various systems are provided below.)
- Log in to the appropriate FTP directory on our server using "FTP" - File Transfer Protocol
- Set the "binary" transfer mode if non-ASCII files such as images or compressed files are to be installed
- Change control to the Web directory into which files are to be placed
- Upload the desired files from your system to the Web directory
- If appropriate, repeat the last two steps for any other files
- Finally, exit the ftp session
A web of sub-directories can be installed under a congregation's Web directory by creating corresponding directories. It is strongly recommended that you establish and work within the same directory structure on your home system that you expect to have on our server.
To update or replace a file in your Web directory, simply install a new file on top of the old one.
Some constraints must be observed for pages installed at the Union.
- The name of each page of HTML must end in ".html" or ".htm" or ".shtml" or ".shtm" for SSI enabled sites.
- A congregation's "homepage" must have the name "index.html" or "index.htm" and be located at the top level of the congregation's web. If "index.htm" is used, then the file "index.html", installed by Union when the account was allocated, must be deleted.
Detailed instructions are provided for several systems:
Note: We ask your help to keep this information current and correct. Please send us specific suggestions for changes to these guidelines.
Virtual Software Library (VSL) provides a searchable directory for downloading software utilities (PK_ZIP, FTP, WS_FTP, etc.)
