Endterm Project: What are the steps and ways to build the Intranet at Watcharawittaya English Program School?

The first thing you need to do to set up an Intranet is to set up the server. After the server is set up, you need to buy some software to create your web site.  (Remember, an Intranet is just an internal web site.)  We recommend using Microsoft FrontPage.  Microsoft FrontPage is an excellent web design tool from Microsoft.  FrontPage will even create custom graphics for each page automatically!  FrontPage 2002 also features enhanced web design tools so multiple people can work on the site.
Once you have chosen software, you need to create an Intranet web site.  For now, just keep it simple with only a few pages.  Save the web to your hard drive on your computer.  Now, you will need to publish the web to your Intranet server.  There are several ways to do this.  
If you have a web server running on your server (which you should), and it supports FrontPage Extensions, you can publish your site by clicking the publish button in FrontPage, entering the location of the server, and clicking publish.
Most smaller companies will not have a full fledged web server set up in the office because the Intranet will have low traffic.  To publish a web to a file server, not a web server, you can simply copy the files to the server over the network using Microsoft Windows Explorer.  If you create your Intranet this way, it will be accessible in Internet Explorer by using the following path:  file://servername/drive/folder.  Folder is the name of the folder that the Intranet is located.  You should usually name it Intranet so it is easy to find.  (Depending on the version of Internet Explorer you have, you may be able to access the network file using //servername/drive/folder instead of adding file:///.  If you want, you can make a map to the drive instead of typing the drive name and the folder.
 
How do you set up server?
The files that make up the Intranet will most likely reside on a server, not on an individual's PC.  Therefore, you will need to set up the server properly to handle the Intranet. 
There are three ways the Intranet server can be set up.  The easiest is just to make a map to a network folder.  If you do this, FrontPage extensions will not function properly and the Intranet will just be accessing files from a central computer.  This is fine for smaller companies, because the server will not have much traffic.
To set this up, you can simply create a mapped drive on all of the computers that will be accessing the Intranet, and you can then simply enter: //servername/drive/index.htm to access the Intranet.  When you want to upload files to the Intranet, simply put the files into the folder that you mapped to. 
If you have a medium size company and the Intranet will be receiving a bit more traffic, you can install a server on the server computer called Microsoft Personal Web Server.  It is made for smaller networks.  To access the Intranet, you can type in http://servername/ and then follow the links to the pages like a normal Internet web site.  This is fairly easy to set up because a wizard guides you through the whole setup process.  You can search for documentation and downloads for the Personal Web Server at Microsoft's Web Site. 
For a larger network, you can set up Microsoft Internet Information Server.  This has a much more complicated setup and publishing process, so you can read about it on Microsoft's Web Site.
How to Build an Intranet?
Whether you build your intranet in-school or outsource it, reading this article will give you a better understanding of the subject. Due to space limitations, we will give you only an executive summary. You can then pursue the related readings that we have inserted here and there.
Here’s what you need to build an intranet:
· A local area network (LAN). You can‘t have an intranet without a network of computers. So the first thing you will need is a LAN in your office. We discussed how to set up a LAN in the June issue.
· A web server. To run an intranet, you need an internal website. To run a website, you need a web server. Your intranet will be hosted on a web server. There are two popular web servers today: Apache and IIS. See the sidebar “Which server?” for a comparison. If you expect heavy traffic on the intranet, we recommend dedicating one computer to be the intranet server.
· Web browsers on your PC’s. Since an intranet is also a website, your staff will need web browsers to use it. Install Internet Explorer or Netscape on your computers.

Which server?
Here’s a brief comparison of Apache and IIS web servers.

Server
 Cost
 Reliability and Performance
 Comments

Apache
 Free
 Very good. Fast and stable.
 Runs on both Windows and Unix/Linux. Not really easy to configure, but this is changing.

IIS (Internet Information Server)
 Not really free (you have to buy Windows XP or 2000)
 Prone to errors, slow, and vulnerable to viruses
 Proprietary: runs only on Windows. Easier to configure (recommended for beginners).

For more information on how to install IIS, read http://www.webwizguide.com/asp/tutorials/installing_iis_winXP_pro.asp. For the Apache installer and documentation, go to http://www.apache.org/.


Understand how websites work

And now, some capsule information and guidelines to help you build a good intranet. When you install a web server, your computer creates a folder known as the web root. This folder is the home of your intranet. In IIS, this folder is usually c:\inetpub\wwwroot. In Apache, it’s c:\Program Files\ApacheGroup\Apache\htdocs. You will save your intranet documents into this web root, in the form of web pages.

Web pages are text documents that are formatted in a special way called HTML or HyperText Markup Language. Web pages have filenames that end in .html or .htm – example: AboutUs.html, index.html or projects.htm.

To create web pages, you can use web creation tools like Macromedia Dreamweaver or FrontPage. If you’re on a tight budget, consider downloading free tools like Coffee Cup. Visit http://www.sharewarejunkies.com/winhtml.htm for a list of free web creation tools.

Develop your web development muscles by making a simple website composed of the home page and 2 other pages. Create a navigation bar that links these 3 pages with each other and insert pictures on your page. This will help you understand the workings of a website.

For further help, see the recommended readings at the end of this article and read the July and August issues of this column. Also read the Apache and IIS documentations.

Infobit: The index.html file
The file index.html is a special file. Web servers automatically load index.html as the home page. So when you type http://digitalsolutions.ph/ in your browser, you are really being sent the index.html page of the digitalsolutions web server.


Plan your intranet

Your intranet is only good when it’s useful to your company. And it won’t be useful if you don’t ask the users what they need. So, gather representatives from your company and give them an introduction to intranets. Emphasize that the power of an intranet is in sharing knowledge. Then, ask them what they think should be shared on the intranet.

Here are some things you can put on the intranet:
· Documents, templates and sample reports or proposals that help writers speed up and improve the writing process.
· Organizational Chart with descriptions of what each department does, its members and contact info. Budgets, key result areas and other operational info may also be included.
· Lessons learned, best practices or how-to tips.
· A calendar of events that can be used to announce ongoing events, birthdays and even cultural activities and announcements.
· A bulletin board or forum to allow staff to post messages.
· A directory of staff competencies and expertise. The expertise here does not refer only to official designations. More importantly, it will be useful to know for instance that your admin assistant is also good at operating the fax machine.

There are also specific intranet issues you must address in your Intranet Plan:
· Security and access to information. Will you publish sensitive documents on the intranet? You may need to create password-protected areas on your intranet. List down all sensitive documents you have and decide on whether to share these or keep them out of the intranet.
· Quality of information, data integrity and publication policy. How reliable is the data that is available in your intranet? Who authorizes what information to publish on the intranet? If you upload documents there, do employees assume they can quote from the documents as official statements?
· Data ownership and maintenance. Who owns/maintains the data the intranet content? Will the owners be responsible for maintaining the data? What system of approval needs to be implemented? How often will you maintain content and in what manner? A good starting point is to assign one person as the intranet coordinator who will be in charge of gathering and publishing content on the intranet.
· Usability. How easy or intuitive is the site navigation? Is there a search tool that helps you find information more quickly? Is the content organized in a way that can be easily grasped? Is there a help page?
· Backup system. If your intranet is hit by a virus or accidentally corrupted, what do you do? Do you have a daily or weekly backup that you can restore in the event of a failure?

Build and maintain it

Decide on whether to outsource or do it in-house. Assign an intranet coordinator and see if he can handle all the updating, using a web creation tool.

If your company needs to update frequently or has many departments contributing to the content, you should consider installing a content management system (CMS). A CMS automates and facilitates intranet maintenance. Almost anyone with little HTML skills can use a CMS. An excellent CMS is Drupal (http://www.drupal.org/).

Promote and improve the intranet

Lastly, promote the use of your intranet. Conduct regular surveys and give recognition to people or departments who diligently update and use it. Assign an intranet task force that can meet regularly to assess and recommend improvements. If you have announcements, make them on your meetings and publish the details on your intranet. That way, the intranet becomes a habit for everyone.

Your intranet is only as good as its usefulness to your company.

What are the three basic programming control structures

1) Conditional structure:

If and Else statement is used in the programming for conditional structures. This statement uses a specific condition check. If this condition is true the code following the If statement will be executed otherwise the Else portion will be executed. The Else part of the If state is optional. The syntax of this condition structure varies language to language.


2) Iteration structure:
Iteration structure or loops are used to repeat the instructions. There are mainly three types of loops available. For Loop, While Loop, do while loop. These loops repeat the instruction until a specific condition is true.


3) Jump statements:

These statements include Break, Continue and Goto instructions. These instruction jumps from one portion of the program to another portion of the program. The function calling can also be included in this category.

What is a computer network?.

A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of computers and devices connected by communications channels that facilitates communications among users and allows users to share resources with other users. Networks may be classified according to a wide variety of characteristics.

What are the advantages of having School Intranet?

The government agency for technology in education, Becta, recently held a ‘Show & Tell’ education workshop, in which parents and teachers came together to experience the advantages that technologies, such as learning platforms, can have on the learning process. The location for the event was at Grays Infant and Nursery School, where staff and parents were keen to share their stories on how learning platforms have changed and are continuing to change their children’s learning for the better.

What is Intranet?

An intranet is a private computer network that uses Internet Protocol technologies to securely share any part of an organization's information or network operating system within that organization. The term is used in contrast to internet, a network between organizations, and instead refers to a network within an organization. Sometimes the term refers only to the organization's internal website, but may be a more extensive part of the organization's information technology infrastructure. It may host multiple private websites and constitute an important component and focal point of internal communication and collaboration.