OIT Personal Web Hosting F.A.Q.

How do I activate my Web space?

For information on how to activate and access your Web space, see our Personal Web Sites [2] documentation.

What tools do I need to create and maintain my Web site?

You will need an SFTP program to transfer files from your computer to the storage space as well as a Web authoring program or text editor to create your content. Members of the UMass community can download SFTP software free of charge from our Supported Software & Downloads [3] page. You can use the bundled text editor in your operating system (i.e., Microsoft Notepad or Apple TextEdit), although these are very basic. Eligible faculty and students can obtain Adobe Dreamweaver at a significant discount through the Adobe Select [4] program, or at no cost as part of Adobe Creative Suite 6 Web & Design Premium, which is available through the Adobe Campus Agreement [5].

What is my storage quota and how can I check my usage?

Each OIT Account (faculty, staff, or student) receives 100 MB of storage in the OIT Web hosting server. To check your usage, go to webadmin.oit.umass.edu/ [6] and enter your NetID (OIT Account user name) and UMail password to log in.

Can I create a Web site for my course?

To request a Web site account for your course, please go to the OIT Accounts office at LGRC A109 (you'll need to bring your UCard). You will need a separate account for each course for which you wish to create a Web site. Your course Web site will have the following URL: http://courses.umass.edu/course/ where "course" stands for the course's NetID (OIT Account user name) (e.g., EDU815, CMPSCI397, etc.).

Who can help me design &/or build my Web site?

Faculty and staff can attend one of our Faculty Workshops [7]; or, if you are the do-it-yourself type, check out our Web Development [8] tutorials.

What commands are allowed on the server?

OIT has limited the number of commands available on the webadmin.oit.umass.edu server to the following:

Do you allow Server Side Includes?

Yes. We do allow server side includes (SSI) for people.umass.edu and courses.umass.edu Web sites.

How do I password protect a file or directory on the server?

To password-protect content on your courses.umass.edu or people.umass.edu Web site you'll need to use htaccess files. To learn how to create these files, see our Password Protect a Web Directory [9] documentation.

Can I use a Web browser to see a list of the files on my webadmin directory?

No. OIT has turned off directory listing on the webadmin.oit.umass.edu server for security reasons. If there is no index.html file on your Web hosting directory, the browser will display an "Error 403 - Forbidden" message.