Other HTML Publishing Options

Publishing HTML pages online is obviously the number-one reason to learn HTML and create web pages. However, there are also situations in which other forms of publishing simply aren't viable. For example, you might want to distribute CD-ROMs or DVD-ROMs at a trade show with marketing materials designed as HTML pages. You may also want to include HTML-based instructional manuals on floppy disks, memory cards, or CD-ROMs for students at a training seminar. These are just two examples of how HTML pages can be used in publishing scenarios that don't involve the Internet. The next couple of sections provide additional information about these publishing options.

Putting Web Pages on an Intranet

Although the approach you learned for publishing pages to the global Internet will often work with private corporate intranets, the internal workings of intranets vary considerably from company to company. In some cases, you may need to use an FTP program to send files to an intranet server. In others, you may be able to transfer files by using the same file management program you use on your own computer. You may also need to adjust permission settings or make special allowances for the firewall that insulates a private intranet from the public Internet.

The best advice I can give regarding publishing to an intranet is to consult with your systems administrator. He or she can help you put your web pages on the company server in a way that best ensures their accessibility and security.

Putting Web Pages on Disks and Memory Cards

Unless you were hired to create documents for a company intranet, you have probably assumed that the Internet is the best way to get your pages in front of the eyes of the world, and for the most part this is true. There are, however, three major incentives for considering distribution on some form of disk instead:

• Currently, more people have disk drives and USB ports than Internet connections.

• Disks and memory cards can deliver information to the computer screen much faster than people can download it from the Internet.

• You can distribute disks and memory cards to a select audience, regardless of whether they are connected to the Internet or any particular intranet.

In the very near future, as web-enabled televisions and high-speed networks become more commonplace, these advantages may diminish considerably. For now, publishing on disk is a viable alternative in situations in which you are dealing with your audience in person. And perhaps more important, you can deliver it to people when Internet access isn't readily available.

Coffee Break

For a detailed analysis of all the types of memory cards and what each has to offer, check out the memory card entry on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_card. There's lots good information here, including an average price per gigabyte (Amazon.com prices) of memory for each card type

Publishing on CD-ROM/DVD-ROMs and memory cards is simply a matter of copying files from your hard disk with any file management program. You just need to keep in mind that any links starting with http:// will work only if and when someone reading your pages is also connected to the Internet. The cost associated with CD-ROMs is very small, although DVD-ROMs are a little more expensive. Memory cards are considerably more expensive but you can more easily reuse them.

Watch Out!

Never use a drive letter (such as C:) in <a href> link tags on your web pages; otherwise, they won't work when you copy the files to a different disk. Refer to Hour 3 for more details on how to make links that will work both on disk and on the Internet.

Publishing on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM disks requires that you have a drive (and accompanying software) capable of creating the disks, or you can send the files to a disk mastering and duplication company. Costs for CD-ROM duplication are surprisingly low, especially when you consider how much information you can store on a CD-ROM (650MB). DVD-ROM pricing is a little more volatile, and expensive, but it will eventually be similar to that of CD-ROMs. And keep in mind that you can cram a whole lot more on a DVD-ROM, which can hold anywhere from 4.7GB (single sided, single layer) to 17.1GB (double sided, double layer).

Did you Know?

Web browser software is always necessary for reading HTML pages. However, these days almost everyone has a web browser, so you may not need to supply one with your web pages. If you do want to include a browser, you might consider Opera, which includes most of the basic features of Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer but is small enough to fit on a single 1.44MB floppy disk or small memory card and can be freely distributed in the form of a 30-day evaluation version. (You can download Opera at http://www.operasoftware.com/.)

Microsoft and Netscape are also often willing to allow their browsers to be included on CD-ROMs if you ask nicely in writing or pay them a licensing fee. Never give out copies of Microsoft software without written permission, because they aren't afraid to flex their enormous legal muscles to ensure that you obtain proper licensing.

Memory cards are certainly more expensive to give out to people than CD-ROMs or DVD-ROMs, but they are quite handy and their prices are rapidly falling. They are extremely flexible because you can read and write to them as many times as you want, and their compact size makes them very easy to carry around. Memory cards are available with various hardware interfaces, including USB, MMC (MultiMedia Card), SD (Secure Digital), and CompactFlash. The largest available memory cards are currently in the 32GB range but this number is steadily rising.