Frequently Asked Questions

For help on either a personal or departmental Web site please submit a ticket or e-mail the Web team at websupport@sandiego.edu.

If your site is personal in nature, you need to create your Web space via our Account Command Center Web area.

If you are looking to create a new departmental Web site, you can request your new site via our Site Request form.

For more step-by-step instructions, please see our Web Services home page.

A departmental Web site is any site that is maintained on behalf of a department at the university. This can range from the Office of the Vice President & Provost to the English site. Generally the URL (Web address) for these sites is http://www.sandiego.edu/departmentname.

A personal Web site is any site done for personal or class reasons at the university. This includes faculty sites done for class purposes, such as those posting syllabi and course materials. All USD employees with a MySanDiego account can activate their Web space by visiting the Account Command Center and following the instructions there. Generally the URL (Web address) for personal Web sites is http://home.sandiego.edu/~username.

For daily maintenance of personal pages or those on the USD Web site, we generally recommend Adobe Contribute software. It is user friendly and works well for text updates as well as other content inserting, modifying, or deleting tasks.

Adobe applications are availabe for usage in the Serra 156A Macintosh and S156B Windows computer labs.

Limited copies of Adobe software (Contribute) are available through ITS for working on a departmental Web site at the university. A departmental Web site is considered your area's or department's official Web site. Personal sites or employee pages, even those done on behalf of the department, are not eligible. Distribution is limited to two (2) copies per department for maintenance on a departmental Web site only. For all other uses, it is the responsibility of the student or employee to puchase software which can be done through our online order form. Please note that you will need a POETS code from your department in order to complete the transaction.

Limited copies of Adobe software (Contribute or Dreamweaver) are available through ITS for working on a departmental Web site at the university. A departmental Web site is considered your area's or department's official Web site. Personal sites or employee pages, even those done on behalf of the department, are not eligible. Distribution is limited to two (2) copies per department for maintenance on a departmental Web site only.

For all other uses, it is the responsibility of the student or employee to puchase software which can be done through our online order form. Please note that you will need a POETS code from your department in order to complete the transaction.

You can also use Contribute or Dreamweaver software in many of our Computing Labs on campus. Check our specialized software list to see where these applications are installed.

Quick site connection instructions are available on the Web Connection Settings page. For more detailed instructions on connecting to a Web site via many applications, check the Resources and Documentation page.

The templates provide a common starting ground both design-wise as well as technically for all maintainers. They allow you to focus on the content of your site rather than needing to learn how to become a Web designer before getting started. On the ITS end they allow us to maintain a centralized infrastructure for the Web site and allow us to to easily transition to a new design in the future.

You can create or be added to an already existing Web account (departmental sites only) by e-mailing jerry@sandiego.edu. For more information about authorized contacts on USD accounts please see this documentation.

Numerous sets of documentation are available regarding maintenance of USD Web sites, templates, banner creation, and more. Please see the Resources & Documentation section for further information.

Web development courses are available through the ITS Tutorials program.

For personal site maintenance, you'll want to attend the Intro to Dreamweaver 2-day course for learning all the basics on that application.

For departmental site maintenance, you'll need to attend either Dreamweaver for Departments or Contribute for Departments depending on the software application you have installed (or have requested) for your office workstation.

Other general courses include Dreamweaver Tips and Tricks, Dreamweaver CSS Development, and Building Web Forms.

A URL, or Uniform Resource Locator (URL), specifies a Web's address. For example, http://www.sandiego.edu/web/ is a URL. It is important to always include a URL when working with Web Services to request help or ask questions about your Web site.

Prospective students, current students, alumni, parents, friends and donors use a university's Web site for research, giving, and finding information that will help them decide the best place for their education. An updated Web presence, whether it discusses class offerings or service procedures, is essential for easy access to relevant information.

This is happening because something called the "umask" is not set properly on your personal Web site. The permissions on your files (i.e. pages, images, etc.) are set such that they are not visible on the Web. Please contact the ITS Help Desk and ask for the umask on your personal Web account (give your username) be changed from 077 to 022.