Web Site Management Course Proposal

 Length: 2 days

     Audience:

     * Web Technical Architects, Web Administrators,
       Systems Administrators (larger sites)
     * Web Project Managers, Developers (smaller sites)

     Difficulty Level:

     * Introductory

     Prerequisites:

     * Knowledge of HTML
     * Basic computer usage

     Objectives:

     * The course will not cover Web design
     * Introduce student to key concepts associated with Web servers
     * Understand a Webmaster's (or a Web Administrator's) role and
       responsibilities
     * Learn how to define site requirements (to get a site up and running)
     * Learn how to support and maintain and a Web site
     * Learn how to improve a Web site

     Course Topics:

     * Introduction to Web Site Management (or Web Administration)

     * What are Webmasters

     * What skills do Webmasters need?
        Knowledge of LAN and Server Administration, Internet
        technologies and programming languages

     * What makes a Webmaster effective?

     * Managing your own server vs. co-location vs. outsourcing hosting

     * Choosing a system configuration
         Hardware requirements
         Selecting a Server Platform
           Cost, performance, security, scalability,
           administration needs, site development and maintenance tools,
           remote administration, availability of human resources
           NT vs. Unix
           Server software (compare and contrast, strengths and weaknesses)
	   - esp. Apache and IIS
	   Related components:  database, middleware, search engines,
	     log analysis
        Software/hardware compatibility
	Proxies
	Firewalls

     * Connecting to the Internet
         Bandwidth
         Internet connection points
         Service providers
         Connection types

     * Security
         Levels of security
	 Why security is necessary
         Technologies that can secure a Web site

     * Measuring Success
	 What does management need to know?
         What are hits?
	 Log analysis

     * Startup Tasks (not all covered in this course)
	 Server hardware setup
         Web server software installation
         Middleware installation
         Database installation 
         CGI configuration
         ASP configuration

     * Routine Tasks
         Testing and troubleshooting
         Using a staging server
         Deploying a web site
         Responding to feedback
         Updating the Web Site
	 Link checking (automated tools)
         Template libraries and style guides 
         Directory and file management
         - Organizing web pages, graphics, multimedia objects, scripts
         Supporting plug-ins, multimedia, MIME
	 Running hit counters and other log analysis
         Server performance analysis
         Maintaining the server connection
         Backing up or mirroring the site

     * Promoting your site
         Registering with Sherlock (HP's internal search tool)
         Making sure your documents have Title and META tags
           (covered in HTML courses)
         Excluding areas of your site from search (robots.txt)
         Offer information and links
         Give something away
         Check for backlinks
         Persuade Webmasters to link to your site
         Advertise your URL everywhere

     * Improving Performance and Planning Upgrades

     * Hands-on labs and demos