Guide to Accessing Student Web Space

Revised August 23, 2006
Peter Mosinskis, Web Services

Index

• Overview
• Before You Begin
• FTP Configuration
• Location of Student Web Pages
• Special Considerations
• Troubleshooting
• Questions/Problems

 

Overview [top]

This guide shows CSUCI students how to configure FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to enable access to their student web space at CSUCI. Support for web publishing via FTP is built-in to most web site publishing software, including Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia Dreamweaver. In addition, most FTP client software should be able to connect students to their web space via FTP.

Before You Begin [top]

Before you can logon to your web space via FTP, you MUST go to a campus computer lab and logon to a lab computer using your computer lab user account.

• For help with logging on to a computer in a campus computer lab, please visit the How to Logon to the Computer Labs web page, or contact the Help Desk (see the “Questions/Problems” section below for contact information).

During your first logon in any computer lab, you will be prompted to reset your password. Until you reset your password in one of the campus computer labs, you will not be able to access your student web site via FTP.

Once you have set your own password, you will use the SAME password for computer lab access as you will to access your web space via FTP.

FTP Configuration [top]

Most web publishing software, including Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia Dreamweaver, allows users to transfer documents to their web site via FTP; however, the location where you will enter your FTP configuration information will vary depending which software you use.

In all cases, there are 3 pieces of information you need to configure your FTP client to connect to your student web space:

1. FTP Host Name (sometimes called "FTP Host Address")
   • The FTP host name for your student web space is: studentweb.csuci.edu
     
2. FTP User Name
   • This is a your CSUCI ID + "@islands.csuci.edu"
   • For example, a student named Pat Smith with a CSUCI ID of "pat.smith123" would have an FTP user name of pat.smith123@islands.csuci.edu.
   • More information on your CSUCI ID can be found on the Account ID's and Passwords page.
     
3. FTP Password.
   • Your FTP password is your Domain Password.
   • More information on your Domain Password can be found on the Account ID's and Passwords page.

Once you enter this information in your web publishing software or your FTP client, you should be able to connect and publish files to your web page. If you receive an error when trying to connect to your web site via FTP, or when transferring files, please see the “Troubleshooting” information below.

Location of Student Web Pages [top]

All student web pages share the same basic naming convention.

The URL (i.e., web address) to the home page of your student web site is:

http://studentweb.csuci.edu/ + the student’s myCSUCI user name without the “.” (dot)

For example, a student named Pat Smith with a CSUCI ID of “pat.smith123” would have the following web site home page: http://studentweb.csuci.edu/patsmith123/

Important note about your Student Home Page

When publishing your home page to your web space, you must name your home page “index.htm”. This will ensure that when someone goes to your web site address (as in the above example), the web page called index.htm will be the first page which appears.

Special Considerations [top]

Please note that you cannot use Internet Explorer to logon to your web site via FTP. This is due to a compatibility issue between Windows and the existing student account naming convention.

Troubleshooting [top]

Most issues reported regarding accessing student web sites are related to user error, such as typos in the FTP host name, FTP user name, or FTP password (80-90%). 10-20% seem to be related to other server-based account configuration issues, FTP software issues, or inability to connect using FTP protocol due to port or firewall restrictions.

Common Errors and How to Fix Them

1. Double-check the spelling of your FTP user name. You must add "@islands.csuci.edu" to their FTP user name (which is your myCSUCI user name) in order to logon correctly. Forgetting to add this suffix is the most common error.
2. Double-check that your password is entered correctly. Again, this password is the same as the password you use to logon to the campus lab computers.
3. Double-check that the FTP host name is spelled correctly: studentweb.csuci.edu
4. You do not need to specify a directory name for FTP access. When you logon to your web site via FTP, you will be automatically re-directed to the correct folder which contains your web site contents.
5. You can also verify that your computer is able to connect to the student web site via FTP from the command line. This is useful for troubleshooting firewall or port configuration issues. For instructions on how to connect to FTP from the command line (on both Windows and Mac computers), please see: http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_16418
6. If steps 1-5 do not resolve your connectivity issue, please contact the Help Desk (see “Questions/Problems” section below).

Questions/Problems [top]

For answers to frequently asked questions, please refer to the Web Services FAQ, located at http://www.csuci.edu/it/web/faq.htm

Please report problems or questions about access to student web space to the Help Desk at helpdesk@csuci.edu, or call 805-437-8552.

Further assistance with web publishing applications may be available on the Web Services web site, located at http://www.csuci.edu/it/web/