Web Hosting (community.wvu.edu) FAQ

Getting Started

  1. Who can get space on community.wvu.edu
  2. How much space do I get?
  3. Are student organizations allowed space?
  4. What do I need to get started?
  5. HELP!
  6. What are the rules?
  7. How long after I leave WVU will my page be active?

Using your community.wvu.edu web space

  1. What is my URL/Webpage Address?
  2. Can I change my URL/Webpage Address?
  3. Do I have to use this space?
  4. How do I transfer files to my Web Space?
  5. Common Problems you might encounter.
  6. Web Space Quota
  7. WVU Search Engine
  8. Web Page Usage Questions
  9. Microsoft FrontPage
  10. Active Server Pages (ASP)
  11. CGI Scripts
  12. Server side includes (SSI)
  13. PHP
  14. Default Page for Web Site

Getting Started

 

Who can get web space?

WVU (Morgantown, PSC, and Parkersburg) students, staff and faculty are eligible for web space on community.wvu.edu

How much space do I get?

Each faculty/staff account is given 200 MB of space for their web pages. Student accounts are allocated 100MB of space.

Are student organizations allowed space?

Yes, but not on this webserver. WVU's Web Services offers space (50MB) on www.wvu.edu for student organizations and special University-recognized events and projects who need web space. You will need to ill out the site registration form. After completing the site registration, student organization leaders must seek the signature and confirmation of Ron Justice, located in the Student Organization wing of the Mountainlair. After receiving confirmation and Ron Justice's signature, please return the form to Web Services, P.O. Box 6695, Morgantown, WV 26506-6695 or fax the form to Web Services at 293-7414.

What do I need to get started?

You will need to have activated your Central ID. Once your Central ID is active, you can use SFTP to connect to sftp.community.wvu.edu and upload your web content. Instructions for uploading are available here.

HELP!

If you need help beyond the scope of this document and the posted How-to's, it is available from the OIT HelpDesk at 304-293-4444 or email oithelp@mail.wvu.edu

What are the rules?

All pages must follow OIT Regulations : http://oit.wvu.edu/oit/policy/p&plist.htm Any violation may be subject to access termination or legal procedings.

How long after I leave WVU will my page be active

For faculty and staff, your web space will be active for about a day or two after you leave WVU. For students your web space will be around for about 10 days after the end of the last semester you were active.

 

Using your community.wvu.edu web space

 

What is my URL/Webpage Address?

Your URL(webpage address) will be in the form of http://community.wvu.edu/~USERNAME/ For example, if your username was jmd000 your URL would be http://community.wvu.edu/~jmd000/

Can I change my URL/Webpage Address?

No

Do I have to use this space?

You do not have to use the space provided. It is there for your academic development.

How do I transfer files to my web space?

See the documentation.

Common Problems I may encounter:

One of the most common problems you may encounter is if your account is over quota and you try to upload a file. You may receive a weird error. Other common problems are associated with expired or mistyped passwords.

Web Space Quota

Each account has their own quota set. You can check your current quota usage by going to the http://centralid.wvu.edu web page and logging in with your username and password. The quota page will be updated twice a day at 12:00 AM and 12:00 PM

WVU Search Engine

The WVU search engine will not look at any page on the community.wvu.edu server. However other search engines on the Internet will be able to "crawl" your site and index it.

Web Page Usage Questions

The web space provided to you is for the purpose of enhancing your academic development. You can not use any WVU resource for personal profit.

Microsoft FrontPage

Microsoft FrontPage extensions are NOT supported on the community.wvu.edu server. You can still design your pages in FrontPage, but you will have to use SFTP to transfer them to the server. We do not allow any non secure connections to the server. Microsoft FrontPage, and other editors such as Macromedia Dreamweaver, make use of FTP to transfer files which is insecure as it transmits usernames and passwords in clear text.

Active Server Pages (ASP)

Active Server Pages are not supported on the community.wvu.edu server. There is no plan to support them in the future.

CGI Scripts

No account on the community.wvu.edu server will have CGI access. There is no plan to support CGI in the future.

Server Side Includes (SSI)

Server side includes are not supported on community.wvu.edu. There is no plan to support them as they can become a security risk.

PHP

PHP is not supported on community.wvu.edu

Default Page for Web Site

The default file for your web site must be named either index.html or index.htm. It must also be in all lower case. If you do not have either of those files, then when you go to the website without specifing a file name, you will receive a 404 error that the site can not be found, or a 403 error that you are forbidden to look at the web site.
 

Updated October 23, 2007