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Infotech status page maintenance

IT Services maintains a status web page indicating upcoming service events and the status of central IT services for the K-State campus.  The web page is located at: http://www.k-state.edu/infotech/status

The web page consists of two (2) parts - a web page and an RSS feed page.

Both files are located in the /infotech/status directory on the web server.  Access to this directory is restricted to CMB members.  SAMBA can be used to map a drive to the directory.  The web page is the index.html file and can be edited using a variety of web editing tools.  The RSS feed page is the status.rss file and should only be edited with a text editor.

INDEX.HTML

  • Editing of this file should be performed using an editor that allows displaying and editing of raw HTML code.
  • Prior to editing the file make 2 copies of the file.
  • index-old.html as a backup copy of the file, overwriting any existing file of the same name.
  • index-<your name>.html as a copy for editing and testing.
  • Open the index-<your name>.html file.
  • Set the editor to viewing and editing raw HTML code.
  • Scroll down to the message section.  It will appear below this comment:
    Comments
  • The message section continues down until you reach the templates that have been commented out.
  • Delete any outdated messages.
  • For each event in chronological order do the following:
    • Copy the appropriate template into the message area.
    • Enter the date and day of week between the <H4> tags.
    • Enter the title and time of activity between the <H5> tags.
    • Enter the contact person and an e-mail address between the first set of paragraph tags <p>.  Use a generic e-mail address when possible, such as webmaster@k-state.edu or epm@k-state.edu.
    • Enter the change description between the second set of paragraph tags <p>, usually this is the public description provided in a change request.
    • Repeat as necessary.
  • Test the draft of the new page with a web browser.
  • Copy index-<your name>.html to index.html to replace the active page.
  • Test the new index.html page with a web browser.

 

STATUS.RSS

  • This file should only be edited with a text editor.
  • Prior to editing the file make 2 copies of the file.
    • status-old.rss as a backup copy, overwrite any existing file.
    • status-<your name>.rss as a draft for editing and testing.
  • Edit status-<your name>.rss using a text editor.
  • The RSS feed message area is located below the initial page description.
    RSS message
  • The message area continues down until you reach the NEXT GUID comment section.
    Next GUID
  • Delete outdated items in the message area.
  • Copy the appropriate template for new items into the message area.
  • For each item
    • Edit the <title> section with the name of the activity.  Include the date of the event along with the day of the week.
    • Edit the <pubDate> section - use today's date. 
      • Do not enter additional text.
      • Abbreviate the day of the week and month to 3 characters.
      • The format of the date section is sensitive.
      • The time zone offset is always -0600.
        Time
    • Leave the <link> section pointed to: http://www.k-state.edu/infotech/status/index.html
    • Edit the <guid isPermalLink="false"> section
      • Leave the http:// link the same
      • Change the number at the end to the next highest number.
    • Edit the <description> with the public description of the activity.  The description goes between the <![CDATA[ and ]]> tags.
    • Repeat as needed.
  • Update the NEXT GUID value to the next highest integer.  This helps the next person who edits the file.
  • Test the draft of the new page with a web browser.
  • Copy index-<your name>.rss to status.rss to replace teh active page.
  • Test the new status.rss page with a web browser and an RSS reader.