In addition to learning to write HTML "from scratch", you can also use WYSIWYG HTML editing programs like Claris Home Page, HotMetal, or Macromedia Dreamweaver to create your page. These work like word processing packages. HotMetal is available on Athena; Claris HomePage can be purchased through NECX (a trial version is available). Home Page is currently the recommended HTML editor for MIT web pages. Read more about Claris Home Page here.
There also exist converter programs to turn documents created in one application into HTML. Some commonly-used converters are LaTex-to-HTML, TtH, and RTF-to-HTML.
If you have an existing document you'd like to make viewable via the WWW, your best bet is to turn it into Portable Document Format (PDF).
Portable Document Format (PDF) is platform-independent standard for viewing complex documents (those with a combination of text, tables, graphics, and mathematical notation). Adobe, the inventor of PDF, distributes a free application called Acrobat Reader which displays documents saved in PDF. Acrobat Reader can be made to launch automatically from any web browser so that you can easily view PDF documents via the WWW.
When you run Netscape or Mosaic from the Communication menu of the Athena dashboard, Acrobat Reader will launch automatically if you follow a link to a PDF document.
Free
Adobe Acrobat Readers are available directly from Adobe. MIT users may
also obtain Acrobat readers from net-dist
(Macintosh) or net-dist
(DOS)
Once you have downloaded Adobe Acrobat Reader, open your web browser's
preferences file and make sure that the helper application settings are
configured to launch Acrobat Reader. If you downloaded your copy of Netscape
or Mosaic from MIT's net-dist, it should already be configured
properly. If you need help with your preferences file, contact the
Computing Help Desk at x3-1101 (Mac) or 3x1102 (PC). Machines in the MIT
New Media Centers are already configured to launch Acrobat Reader from Netscape.
To turn a
document into PDF format, either:
-save it as Postscript and use the Acrobat Distiller on Athena
-purchase a copy of Acrobat Pro for Mac or PC and use the PDF Writer
tool, or
-use the licensed copies of Acrobat Pro in one of the campus New Media Centers.