UB Information Technology

Testing Your Work

While it is possible for you to create all your documents and put them into UBWings correctly the first time, this rarely happens, even for experienced information providers as well as the UBWings Staff. Thus it is important that you view your work before you release it to the public. If there are errors or problems with your service, users will not be able to use it, and will probably not return, even once you correct your errors.

Accessing Your Files Using a URL

To test your documents, you will want to view them in the same way that any other user would, using a WWW browser such as Lynx or Netscape. The URL scheme is a standard, concise way of identifying almost any information resource on the Internet, and is related to the WWW. Here are some examples of URL's:
  • http://wings.buffalo.edu:80/internet/fun.html
  • gopher://info.jsc.edu:70/11/abc/
  • telnet://bison.cc.buffalo.edu/
A valid URL consists of the following pieces (some are optional):
  1. The access protocol. This is the language by which the client can request the item, and may be http:, gopher:, news:, telnet:, ftp:, etc.
  2. The host server. The machine where the document resides, consisting of two forward slashes and a valid Internet address.
  3. The access port. A "channel" on the host computer which is dedicated to communicating in a certain protocol. If omitted, assumes the default for each protocol (i.e. http=80, gopher=70, telnet=23, ftp=21).
  4. The path. This is the directory in which the object resides, in Unix syntax. Some protocols add other information into the path that doesn't exactly equate to directories (i.e. gopher prefixes the actual directory name with the file type number, doubled, such as "/11/").
  5. The filename of the item. If omitted, the server will probably display a directory of items available.
The URL for your new area will be something like:
http://wings.buffalo.edu/nursing/abc/file.html

where /nursing/abc/ would be the path to your area, without /net/wings/info/gopher, and file.html would be the filename of the document you want to look at.

If you do not include a filename (in our example, http://wings.buffalo.edu/nursing/abc/), the home page (index.html or welcome.html) will be displayed automatically. Thus, if you want to advertise your new area to your colleagues, this is the URL you would use.

What You Should Test

As you view each document you have placed in UBWings, you should watch for the following things:
  • Appearance. Does the document look the way you wanted? Because each type of browser will display HTML slightly differently, we strongly recommend that you test the appearance using at least two different browsers, preferably Netscape, Internet Explorer, and even Lynx.
  • Links. Be sure that each of the hypertext links in your document go where they should. If you link to resources outside of your area (e.g., related areas at other universities), you should periodically recheck these links, as sites tend to move or disappear sometimes.
  • Usability. It may be useful to have someone else look at your pages, to see if they can be used by people other than yourself. It is easy for each of us to understand our own information, but it may be more difficult for others.
  • Compliance. We encourage compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines such as Section 508 and the W3C's WCAG. You may also check your pages compliance to such standards using the Bobby WorldWide Portal



For questions and comments regarding this page or the Central Campus Web Hosting Service, please submit a request.