By setting up a Web conferencing system, you can enable users browsing a Web site to communicate with each other. Although you can use an Internet news server to set up discussion forums on the Internet, a Web conferencing system is more suitable for hosting relatively low-volume discussion forums. As you learn in this chapter, a Web conferencing system can also be used effectively in an intranet environment.
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss various advantages of
setting up a Web conferencing system. You also learn how you can
use WebBoard to implement a Web conferencing system at your Web
site and set up discussion forums on the Internet. Visit the following
Web site for the most up-to-date information about WebBoard.
URL |
The WebBoard (Web conferencing system) information Web site: http://WebBoard.ora.com/ |
With all the Internet information systems discussed previously in this book, you might wonder why you should go to the trouble of setting up a Web conferencing system. Setting up such a system offers many advantages.
A Web conferencing system complements information distributed with a Web site. Although thousands or even millions of users can browse a Web site, they never get to interact with each other. For the most part, a Web site is just a one-way flow of information. A Web site can be used to its maximum potential if you set up a Web conferencing system and allow users browsing it to communicate.
Due to the nature of the Internet community, a Web site typically attracts a diverse audience of users. These users bring with them valuable knowledge and experiences. A Web conferencing system can be used to share this knowledge and experiences with others. It can also be used to find innovative solutions to various problems. You can use a Web conferencing system, for example, to post various problems and find innovative solutions to them. As demonstrated in this chapter, a Web conferencing system can be used to convert a Web site into a two-way medium of information distribution. Naturally, a Web conferencing system is also ideal for providing technical support because it can be used to tap into resources of users browsing a Web site.
You also can use a Web conferencing system in an intranet environment. You can create a Web page, for example, for various projects that are in progress. Rather than send e-mail to one or two individuals about various issues, you can use a Web conferencing system to share these issues with a diverse group. This approach promotes teamwork, collaboration, and makes the work environment more productive.
You might also want to create a series of Web pages for various proposals. Employees can then create Web pages for each proposal and post them on an intranet Web server for others to browse. Such a Web page can have a link to a Web discussion forum. Other employees can then read the proposal, make comments, suggest refinements, and discuss various issues related to implementing the proposal. This is an example of how various strengths of the Web can be exploited in an intranet by setting up a Web conferencing system. Web forums can also be used to brainstorm solutions to various problems. Create a set of Web pages for various problems and link them to a Web discussion forum. As you can see, you can accomplish a great deal by turning the Web, an otherwise one-way medium of information distribution, into a two-way medium of information distribution and assimilation.
Another advantage of using WebBoard is the fact that it uses the formatting capabilities of HTML to present information in a visually appealing manner. Messages posted on a Web discussion forum, for example, can contain inline movies, sound clips, Java applets, and links to other Web pages. In addition, users do not need special software to participate in HTTP-based discussion forums. WebBoard seamlessly integrates with your Web site and provides a single, familiar, and easy-to-use interface.
The following sections demonstrate how you can set up WebBoard to create a discussion forum on the Internet. Note that these sections cover only the procedures necessary to set up a discussion forum with WebBoard. Download a copy of WebBoard and experiment with it to learn how you can use some of its advanced capabilities to create an information-rich Web site.
You can install WebBoard in just a few minutes. At the time of
this writing, WebBoard requires a WinCGI-compliant Web server,
such as WebSite; however, this situation may have changed by the
time you read this chapter. Chances are, in addition to the WinCGI
version, at least an ISAPI version of WebBoard will be available
at O'Reilly's Web site. You can download the latest version of
WebBoard from the following Web site.
URL |
The WebBoard (Web conferencing system) software download page: http://software.ora.com/download/ |
After you download WebBoard, copy it to a temporary directory and execute the installation program. The installation program first presents you with a dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 31.1. In the Choose Destination Location dialog box, you enter the target directory for WebBoard. After you select a directory, click the Next button to continue.
Figure 31.1: Selecting the destination directory of WebBoard.
Caution |
For security reasons, the destination directory of WebBoard should not be a child of your Web server's document root directory. |
Using the Select CGI-WIN Directory dialog box shown in Figure 31.2, select your Web server's CGI-WIN directory. Note that the version of WebBoard used in this example supports only WinCGI-compliant Web servers. The version available by the time you read this chapter will most likely support ISAPI-compliant Web servers as well. Refer to your Web server documentation and configuration settings for the location of the CGI directory requested by the installation program.
Figure 31.2: The CGI directory selection dialog box.
After you select the CGI-WIN directory, click the Next button to continue. The Select Program Manager Group dialog box shown in Figure 31.3 then appears. Use this dialog box to select the name of WebBoard's Windows NT Start Menu folder and click OK.
Figure 31.3: Start Menu folder selection dialog box.
The installation program then inserts WebBoard icons into the Windows NT Start Menu folder selected in Figure 31.3 and terminates with a Setup Complete dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 31.4.
Figure 31.4: The Setup Comple dialog box displayed after WebBoard is successfully installed.
After you install WebBoard, the WebBoard Server application is added to the Windows NT "Startup" folder. When a user logs in to the system, the WebBoard Server is automatically started. By the time you read this chapter, WebBoard should be implemented as a Windows NT service, so this information might not apply to you. Visit O'Reilly's Web site for the most up-to-date information regarding this matter. The Windows NT Start Men u folder created by the installation program is shown in Figure 31.5.
Figure 31.5: The Windows NT Start Menu folder created by the WebBoard installation program.
The last dialog box displayed by the installation program may ask you to reboot your server to complete installing WebBoard. If such a dialog box appears, acknowledge it and reboot your server before continuing.
After you install WebBoard, you can use a Web browser to administer all aspects of WebBoard. Before you create discussion forums, though, you have to create an administration account. Make sure that both the WebBoard server and the Web server are functioning normally before you create this account.
If you are using the WebSite Web Server from O'Reilly Associates, two directory mappings that are required for the proper execution of WebBoard are automatically set. If you are not running the WebSite Web Server, create the following two directory mappings before proceeding any further:
WebBoard assigns administrative permissions to the first user who logs in. Therefore, it is essential that you log in and establish an administration account as soon as WebBoard is installed. Use a Web browser to look up the URL http://your.server.com/WebBoard/$Webb.exe after installing WebBoard. WebBoard then asks for a username and a password, as shown in Figure 31.6. Type in a username and a password, and click the OK button. Note that in the dialog box shown in Figure 31.6, you specify the username and password of the WebBoard administrator. Therefore, select a username and password that you are not likely to forget. Of course, you should make them hard to guess as well.
Figure 31.6: Specifying a username and password for a WebBoard administrator account.
WebBoard next displays a Web page similar to the one shown in Figure 31.7. On this Web page, you confirm the creation of a new account with the username and password supplied in the Username and Password dialog box. Select the graphic titled "I am entering as a new user" to log in as the WebBoard administrator.
Figure 31.7: The new user confirmation Web page.
On the New User Web page shown in Figure 31.8, you supply new user information for WebBoard. After you type in the requested information, click the Login as a New User button located at the bottom of the form.
Figure 31.8: The form used to obtain information about new users.
After you submit the form, WebBoard displays a Web page similar to the one shown in Figure 31.9. Click the MAIN MENU graphic on this Web page to access WebBoard's Main Menu.
Figure 31.9: WebBoard greets new users with a welcome message.
Using the WebBoard Main Menu, shown in Figure 31.10, you can access various features of WebBoard. Refer to the WebBoard documentation for information about various options shown on this Web page. Select List Conferences to create a new discussion forum. Note that you need to be logged in as the WebBoard administrator to create new discussion forums.
Figure 31.10: The WebBoard Main Menu.
You can add new forums using the Web page shown in Figure 31.11. From this form, WebBoard obtains various information about the forum being created. You can assign a short name, description, and several other settings to the new discussion forum. Finally, click the Add This Conference button located at the bottom of the form to create the forum.
Figure 31.11: Creating a new WebBoard conference.
The WebBoard forum created in Figure 31.11 is shown in Figure 31.12. On this Web page, you select various WebBoard forums to visit, and if you are the administrator, you can access the Admin Control Panel. The number of messages in each discussion forum is displayed next to the name of the discussion forum.
Figure 31.12: WebBoard conferences.
When you select a new WebBoard forum, you see a Web page similar to the one shown in Figure 31.13. By default, WebBoard forums do not contain any messages. It is a good idea to post a welcome message after creating a discussion forum to welcome users and inform them about the purpose of the discussion forum.
Figure 31.13: A forum created with the form shown in Figure 31.11.
By selecting the Post option in the Web page shown in Figure 31.13, users can post messages. Other users can then respond to messages posted, as shown in Figure 31.14. Replies to original posts are indented to make it easier to locate new discussion topics. After a message is posted, the subject title, the name of the user who posted the message, and the time and date of the message are displayed, as you can see in the figure.
Figure 31.14: Messages posted on a WebBoard discussion forum.
Using the WebBoard Server application, shown in Figure 31.15, you can monitor WebBoard accesses. The WebBoard Server application displays the name of the last user who logged in to WebBoard and the total number of posts and requests served by WebBoard. You can reset these two values by clicking them.
Figure 31.15: The WebBoard Server application.
You can obtain detailed information about WebBoard accesses from the WebBoard Activity Log. As shown in Figure 31.16, the Activity Log logs all WebBoard accesses, including user authentication attempts. You can use the Activity Log to discover possible breaches of security and determine which areas of WebBoard are more popular.
Figure 31.16: The WebBoard Activity log.
WebBoard supports many advanced features that you can use to manage discussion forums hosted with WebBoard. Take some time to experiment with WebBoard, and go over its documentation to learn how to use WebBoard to its maximum potential. Also, create a Web page similar to the one shown in Figure 31.17 and include a link on it to access WebBoard. Do not just create a link to WebBoard, because a user might get confused if he or she just sees a dialog box that asks for a username and a password. Use a Web page, similar to the one shown in the figure, to inform users that they should type in a username and a password before they can participate in discussion forums using WebBoard.
Figure 31.17: Create a Web Page with instructions for accessing WebBoard.
You can use WebBoard to set up a Web conferencing system and allow users navigating a Web site to interact. Because conference forums set up with WebBoard are accessible via a Web browser, they are easily accessible to users browsing a Web site. A Web site, which is mostly a one-way medium of information distribution, can be turned into a two-way medium of information distribution if you set up a Web conferencing system. You can also use WebBoard to allow users browsing a Web site to communicate with each other, and you can convert a Web site to a rich and diverse source of information.
Congratulations! You've just finished reading the last chapter of this book. Apart from the appendixes and the index, nothing else is left after this chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading this book and that you have learned how you can use Windows NT to publish information effectively on the Internet.
If you have any comments about this book, please let me know. If you would like to see additional information about a certain topic covered in this book in the next edition let me know that, too. I'll try my best to research it and include coverage of it in the next edition. Watch out for the next edition of this book in about an year or so!
In the meantime, visit my Web site for the most up-to-date information
about using Windows NT to publish information on the Internet.
URL |
NetInnovation.COM Windows NT resources Web site: http://WWW.NetInnovation.COM |