Introduction to Bioinformatics

Beginner's Guide to Bioinformatics Course

Exploring the Bio-Web and Creating Your Own Course Website

Prep readings:

• Text: Chapter 1; Appendix A; Class notes
• File: course-homepage.html
  

In this assignment, we wish to:

• learn how to upload and download files to/from your ArgoNet account
• learn how to create and maintain Web pages related to your Bioinformatics course

• To begin, locate your ArgoNet account login name and password.
• Next, transfer files into your account. You accomplish this by copying the files into your account on the I: drive, using these steps:
  
  1. If you are logged in through a machine on campus, after logging in to your ArgoNet account, click on My Computer and locate the folder with a name that looks something like this:
     

     'Argofiler\Students\Web'(I:)

     The wording may be slightly different than this, but the key point is to make sure you are clicking on the folder with the word Web (not Home). Click on this folder name, then your login name, and create a directory called bioinformatics. This will be the subdirectory which will contain all the files for your course Webpage.
  2. Alternately, if you are logged in from an off-campus machine, you will access your I: drive by logging into argus.uwf.edu and selecting the "My Argonet" tab. Scroll down on that page until you see the icon for the H: and I: drives, and copy your file by dragging and dropping to a bioinformatics folder you created under the I: drive.
  
  

• Next, save the course-homepage.html file to your computer. (Click on this link and then do a File-Save As.) Note the location on your computer where you save this file.
• Now open the file in Notepad and edit it to include your name, by replacing the text marked "Insert Name Here".
• Save the file and exit Notepad.
• Next, upload the file into the bioinformatics folder you created in the steps above.
• To test your results, start up Netscape or Internet Explorer. Provide the following Web address (insert your login name where indicated):

      http://students.uwf.edu/yourLoginName/bioinformatics/course-homepage.html

• If you are successful, you should now be reviewing a Web page in your browser with your name on it. This will be the base homepage for posting your progress in the Bioinformatics course. If you get any type of error, review the list of instructions and try once again. If you still encounter problems, stay calm, and then call/e-mail to make an appointment to see me.

• Http 404 Page Not Found error
  1. Make sure you have typed the path to the file correctly.
  2. When using Internet Explorer to save the course-homepage.html file, it may default to saving it with an extension of .htm instead of the .html extension. If this happens, you can go with that name (and use it in the URL you specify) or you can change the name in Windows before you upload it.

To get credit for this assignment, you need to complete three additional steps:

1. Search the Web for two additional Web sites related to the area of bioinformatics. Using the text provided in your base page as an example, use Notepad to add links to these two pages on your base page.
2. Based on your review of the links provided, and the new resources you have found, form your own working definition of "bioinformatics" and add it to your page.
3. E-mail me (msutton@uwf.edu) when you have completed the above steps so that a link to your base page can be added to the course Website. In your e-mail message, please provide the complete Web address to access your completed page.