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Overview of the TELRI web publishing tool

The TELRI tool is a web publishing system comprising a CGI script and a set of web page templates. In basic terms the script acts like a simple, flat file database engine, taking input from the users, storing it and then re-displaying it according to user preferences. What the script may lack in terms of sophistication, compared to deploying a full database system, is balanced by its' small footprint, portability (it will run on any Unix server and with slight modification on a WindowsNT platform) and ease of use.

The input of data is controlled by the design of the form based web pages and the output of data by the display web pages. The script handles all the processing of the data contained in the forms invisibly in the background. Pre-designed web pages have been coded and are available to use with the script. These html template sets have been designed to provide standard, tested methods for interacting with the script and getting information to and from the web server.

Try out web publishing and commenting at our demonstration site.

Setting up a web publishing system

The tasks involved in setting up a web publishing system can be divided into two areas: 'local tasks' such as editing the template files and 'system tasks ' such as moving the templates to their working directory on the web server. Once running, the web publishing system requires very little maintenance. The major overhead comprises simple administrative tasks such as monitoring student work and general course management issues.

TELRI are now developing a customisation script to enable course tutors and developers to set up a web publishing area for themselves. This will be the TELRI Web Publishing Course Designer tool.

What types of functionality do the script and templates provide?

The central theme driving the utilisation of the script is the ability to publish work, ideas and comments, quickly and easily onto the web without the user requiring any specialised web page production or publishing skills. In other words, to provide an intuitive, usable, and transparent system for manipulating textual work. The increased visibility of student work afforded by the system can be used to promote dialogue, collaborative working and open discussion. In essence the publishing system can be viewed as tool that enables both students and tutors to take advantage of the opportunities that are offered by working in a web-based, networked environment.

The versatility of the script is such that there are a variety of different formats in which the script's basic functionality can be exploited and tailored to a range of course requirements and designs. These "template sets" provide some basic starting points and ideas for setting up a web-publishing system.