Frequently
Asked QuestionsWeb Folders
About web folders
Some courses require students to create web pages that can be viewed on the Internet. Or, some students may wish to create a personal web site. In order to do that files need to be placed in a special Web folder in your U: drive. The web folder is special because it is a directory on a web server - when you save web pages, or html files, in this folder, they will be published "live" on the World Wide Web, accessible to anyone with an Internet connection and a web browser, turning up in Google searches, etc.
You may already have a web folder in your account!
Older alphanumeric student accounts, with usernames composed of all or part of your last name, followed by your first and/or middle initials (e.g. "smithra" or "smithra1"), were created with a web folder in the account U: drives. To see if you have a web folder, check your U: drive. If you don't know what your U: drive is, see the related topic Network Storage.
Warning: Do not rename, delete or alter the properties of the folder named "web" in your U: drive. If you do, it will no longer work.
Creating a web folder if you do NOT have a web folder in your account...
Newer numeric style student accounts that use student numbers as usernames (e.g. "555444555") do not have a web folder created by default. Please use our online tool (you must use Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher to use this online tool to enable your web folder -- the tool will NOT work with Safari or Firefox) to create a web folder in your account. You will be required to log in with your Discovery username and password.) Manually creating a new folder called 'web' in your U: drive will not work! See our step-by-step instructions for detailed guidance through the web folder creation process.
Warning: Do not rename, delete or alter the properties of the folder named "web" in your U: drive. If you do, it will no longer work.
topUsing your web folder to "publish" web pages
For help on creating web pages, see our Web Development page. To make your web pages available on the World Wide Web, you must log into your student account and save all web page related files (HTML documents, graphics, sounds, etc) into the web folder in your U: drive (if you don't know what your U: drive is, see the related topic Network Storage.) To view your published web pages in a web browser (such as Internet Explorer), type the address of your page(s) into your browser's address bar following this formula:
http://www.discovery.mala.bc.ca/web/yourusername/yourfile.htm
where "yourusername" is your Student Network Account username (e.g. smithra or 555444555) and "yourfile.htm" is the name of your html file(s).
The maximum amount of storage space you have for your web site is limited by the amount of private network space you have in your student account.
Warning: Do not rename, delete or alter the properties of the folder named "web" in your U: drive. If you do, it will no longer work.
If you have a web folder, but it doesn't work...
If you can't view your files on the Internet, or you can't access your web folder, the folder isn't working properly. The only way to fix web folder problems is to delete the web folder (and all of its contents) and recreate it. Warning: if you remove your web folder, you will lose all the files saved in it. If you want to keep your files, move them to your U: drive or other storage medium such as a recordable CD or USB drive.
You can remove your web folder by logging on to our online tool with your Discovery username and password and clicking the "Remove home page access" button (you must use Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher to use this online tool to remove your web folder -- the tool will NOT work with Safari or Firefox). See our step-by-step instructions for for detailed guidance through the web folder removal process. Use the same online tool to create a new web folder.
If removing and re-creating your web folder does solve your web folder problems, please see the Service Desk on the main floor of the Library (Building 305). Please bring your Student ID card.