We are group of teachers at the Kurt-Huber-Gymnasium, a grammar school, near Munich in Germany. We started to work on the Festivals project in late spring 1996. Since then, we are quite often asked for some help or advice and as we are well aware of which mistakes beginners make (because we have already made them all!) we decided to supply newcomers to our site with some information.
Of course, this is not a professional helpdesk but we try to do our best. Feel free to contact us at "festivals.help@khg.net" if you have any questions or problems with "festivals". If you do not need help but just want to contact us in Germany, or you have suggestions as to how to improve this page, or even just say hello, you can also write to us. Don't forget: Finding out the right way to do things is part of the fun.
How to find the necessary software. The best
source that we know of for (free) software - browsers, html-editors, e-mail-programmes,
everything, is "http://www.tucows.com". You can download programmes for
almost every need.
To download:
1. Go to "http://www.tucows.com/
2. Select a "mirror-site" which is close to you.
3. Download the programme to your hard disc
4. Add the "mirror-site" to your bookmarks.
The best browser. In our opinion it is a matter of taste whether you choose Netscape's "Communicator" or Microsoft's "Internet Explorer". Preferably download them both as if you make pages using the latest developments in HTML you can see what they look like on both browsers.
The best HTML-editor. This is a difficult question. Many of us still prefer working with plain text-editors (such as "Teachtext" on the Mac or the Texteditor in "Windows"). It is just a matter of taste (and lifestyle). There are quite a few excellent editors available. The people who work with editors at our school prefer Microsoft's "Frontpage '98" and "Visual Page 1.0". The latter is not available for MAC's. Symantec's new "Visual Page 1.0" seems to be also an axcellent choice. "HotDog" has got an educational programme, for which you might qualify and Microsoft is also fairly generous. Just email them and ask. If you like a simple, easy-to-use editor, "HTML Web Weaver" or "Page Spinner", both for the MAC, are good choices.
The best e-mail programme. With the new browsers complex and powerful e-mail programs came. "Outlook Express" which comes with Microsoft's "Internet Explorer" is certainly a first choice. Some us prefer "Eudora Light", a very reliable, free e-mail programme.
The best FTP-programme. You can upload files with the browsers and also with some editors. We here still prefer "ftp"-programmes. We use "CuteFTP" on the PC and "Fetch" on the MAC.
How to upload files to "Festivals" (or download).
Before uploading check the links again on the hard disk copy. Check all
links. (There is case sensitivity - a differentiation between small and
capital letters)!
It is better to use all small case letters when
naming files on a PC as some FTP programmes change the file name to small
case when you upload (Ws_ftp, for example)
On the Mac
1. Start the FTP-programme: "Fetch"
2. Open new shortcut
3. Fill in:
Name: European Festivals
Host: "please ask me at 'festivals.help@khg.net'
for the necessary information"
User ID : "please ask me at 'festivals.help@khg.net'
for the necessary information"
Password: "please ask me at 'festivals.help@khg.net'
for the necessary information"
Directory:
click on: "pub"
click on "public"
make your own directory
4. Make a new directory (click on "directories")
5. Open the directory
6. Go to "Remote" on the "menu"
7. Choose "Put Folders and Files" (or "Get Directories
and Files")
8. Choose "text" as the format for textfiles and
"raw data" for graphic
files (WATCH: "automatic" if you want to download!)
9. Check the uploaded files with your browser (this
is a "must"!)
On the PC
"FTP Explorer" is a neat programmes we can recommend.
It is also quite easy to seto up and resembles closely the "Explorer" in
"Windows 95". It works in a similar way as "Fetch".
Reinhard Forster
Kurt-Huber-Gymnasium
festivals.help@khg.net
khg@khg.net