I use the Netscape PUBLISH option. This automatically
keeps all the image/equations with the document. Also, it can be done directly
from the HTML editor, which is what I open the document in for final changes.
For documents that can not be created in Word,
I have them scanned in as PDF files. The students seem to like PDF because
they open relatively quickly, and can be easily browsed.
I also post and regularly up-date the syllabus of the courses that I teach. I assign homework problems after teaching the related materials. So students have to check the homepage on regular basis.
I also post solutions to my quizzes and exams in pdf format. To do so, the solutions are first generated in postscript (ps) format using a TeX software. One can also use LaTex to create these ps documents. The TeX and the LaTex softwares allow one to create neat mathematical equations. However, if there is any illustration, TeX and LaTex require encapsulated postscript (eps) version of the illustrations when typsetting their codes.
The figures and illustrations are made using Superpaint or Canvas softwares. These are two drawing/painting applications for Mac. Any other drawing/painting softwares for mac, pc, unix or linux systems would do the job. The idea is to create a figure and save it as an eps file. Canvas is one of the best for mac platforms and adobe-photoshop is one of the better ones for PCs. One can find about Canvas at http://www.deneba.com/ . These applications have the capabilities of drawing, painting and also editing an already created image. They also allow for adding words to the figures and images with varieties of fonts and colors.
Once a figure is created, it should be saved as an eps file. Canvas and adobe-photoshop have this option already built in them. One then has to transfer this file to the same folder where the TeX or LaTex files for the solutions are and typeset the entire document. Some new versions of LaTex such as LaTex2e have capabilities of creating ps or pdf file right from the original codes. LaTex2e is commercially available in almost all bookstores. If in case the version of the TeX or LaTex being used does not create pdf format, one can create a postscript file first and use a postscript viewer to create a pdf format of that document.
For mac platforms, one can find about postscript interpreters at http://www.aladdin.com . MacGS-510 FAT is a ps interpreter available through this site. This application has the capability of creating pdf files from ps documents. In case of a PC, there are some European sites where one can find postscript viewers. On unix and linux machines, the most customary ps-viewer is Ghostview, but it does not have the capability of creating pdf documents. In these cases, if an acrobat-writer is not available, one may have to transfer the ps file to a pc or mac and make the conversion on those platforms.
Once the pdf file is created, it can be posted
as it is.
1) HTML documents, created and editing using
Netscape Composer
2) PDF files, creating by scanning pages
(homework solutions, etc.) into Adobe Exchange, then optimizing for efficient
storage
3) Images stolen from other sites, edited
using Adobe Photoshop and saved in .gif format
I use Netscape to publish these to the e3 server.
For Physics 5C I started by copying Barwick's pages, and later branched out. I include a sylllabus; a schedule (with assignments updated weekly); answers to problems not given in the back of Halliday, Resnick & Walker; lecture notes (handwritten in large font, scanned for the web page, and xeroxed for transparencies); homework solutions (scanned); quiz and exam solutions; the exam seating chart; links (especially to Barwick's page, which has the virtual demos); the course announcements that I send out regularly (link to the site where e3 stores messages sent to the class mailing list); and some graphics.
The students have made no complaints about copying lecture notes, solutions, etc., and none of them were using Clone to get this material, so I discontinued sending the material to Clone. I put a link on the page where students can download Acrobat Reader for the PDF files.
In Physical Sciences 50B (our math physics course for sophomores) I composed my lecture notes in LaTex using Scientific Word software, then wrote them to PDF files to load to the server. (Most students don't have software to read LaTex, but they can all get Acrobat Reader.) I created some graphics using the mickey mouse graphics software that is included in Windows. I also created some graphics in Mathematica and saved into bitmap files -- there are problems trying to link Mathematica output into Sciencific Word. I used the www.physics.uci.edu server for this course webpage, although next time I'll do it directly to the e3 server.
Overall, the students use and appreciate the websites,
and are coming to expect them. It makes administration of the course
easier in some respects, at the expense of time spent working on the web
pages.