Lab 2 - Historical person or event

Lab 2 objective

In this assignment, you will find sites and pages on the web, and create links to them.

Search for information about your historical person or event.
Find 3 to 5 web sites that provide good information about your historical person or event. Include at least 3 sites that are in the English language. Make bookmarks for these sites, and copy their addresses for use in your page.

Build your web page

Use an editor to create a web page to contain links to information about your historical person or event.
If you are working in MS Windows, you can use the Notepad editor:
Click the start button at the bottom left in Windows 10 and search for notepad.
In windows 7 use the following:

   > Start   > Programs   > Accessories   > Notepad
          

Type exactly the following, except use the name of your historical person or event where it says: your historical topic.

<html>

  <head>
    <title>
      your historical topic
    </title>
  </head>

  <body>

    <p>
      your historical topic
    </p>
  </body>

</html>
          

Save your file in your public_html directory with the name lab2.html (be sure to use lower case letters).
In notepad use:

Menu:   > File   > Save as
Save as type: select the down arrow and select:   > All files
Select the File name area, type:   lab2.html
Save in: your public_html directory
          

Look at your web page

To show your new page in your web browser at home, type the location:

file:///C:/public_html/lab2.html
          

To show your new page in your web browser at school, type the location:

file:///H:/public_html/lab2.html
          

You will select the web sites that you find most interesting.
You will write a paragraph about the information found in each site.
A link to the web site is also needed, so the reader of your web site can click on your link and see the web site you are talking about.

When you link to a web site, you can just link to the site, or you can link to a specific directory in the site, or you can link to a specific page.
The more general you are, the more likely the link will still work later. People are constantly changing their web sites. One estimate is that the average life of a web page is two weeks.
On the other hand, the more specific you are, the easier it is for someone following the link to find exactly what you want them to find.

We will build links using the anchor container:
<a>   </a>

You can link to a site, without specifying a directory or page.
The following example shows a link to a site:

  <p>
    This site provides biographies of the first ladies, including 
    Martha Dandridge Custis Washington:
    <a href="http://www.firstladies.org">National First Ladies' Library</a>
  </p>
          

The   <a   starts the anchor tag, then the   href   attribute is followed by the   =   sign, then the location of the web site in quotes, and then the   >
Next is the text   National First Ladies' Library.
Finally the </a> tag closes the container.
You can click on this link on the left, and see if the site is still there.
This site is not well organized to find information about first ladies. Look at the bottom of the page and click on the link: site map. Then click on the link: First Ladies.

You can link to a site, specifying a directory in the site.
This will show the default page for that directory.
In our voyager web server default pages are named index.html
Other sites may use different names for their default pages.
The following example shows a link to a directory:

  <p>
  Information on Martha Dandridge Custis Washington
  and Mount Vernon:
    <a href="http://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/martha-washington/">Mount Vernon</a>

  </p>
          

The   /   at the end of the location indicates it is a directory.
You can click on this link on the left, and see if the directory is still there.

You can link to a site, specifying a page in the site.
The following example shows a link to a page:

  <p>
  Information on Martha Dandridge Custis Washington
  as first lady:
    <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/first-ladies/martha-dandridge-custis-washington/">
      First lady
    </a>
  </p>
          

Notice there are several levels of directories in this example, ending with the specific page.
You can click on the link on this left, and see if the page is still there.

Complete your page

Now complete your page. Make your 3 to 5 paragraphs with a short description of what you found, and the link. Each paragraph should be similar to the example paragraphs, shown above, including a link to the site, directory, or page.
The link on the left is to my page on Martha Washington. Some of the links in my page may no longer work, because people have changed their web pages.

Put your page on the Internet and submit your completion

Return to the previous week 2 page.
Follow the instructions there to put your page up on the Internet and then submit your completion note in Canvas to get it graded.