And you don't need to know HTML.

AOLpress is a WYSIWYG editor which helps you create your web pages and then publish them on MTSU's server. In fact, you can make future modifications to your web pages "on the server." That means AOLpress can download the page you're looking at, let you make changes, and save it in its original location. So AOLpress acts as browser, editor, and FTP client.

AOLpress is no longer actively supported or developed by AOL. The Web and Instructional Technology Specialists in Academic & Instructional Technology Services can help you with any problems or questions.

Installing and Configuring AOLpress

Once AOLPress is installed, start the program.  To use it with your frank account, you will need to complete the following steps:

1. From the menu bar select Tools > Preferences > Sites
2. Enter the following in "Site Location"
   ftp://yourusername@frank.mtsu.edu/users/yourgroup/yourusername/public_html
3. Click Add and Done.

You may open from or save directly to your frank account by selecting your account in the "Drives/Sites" box.

Opening and Saving Pages

To open a new empty page:

1. Choose File > New > New Page from the menu bar
2. You will have a blank page open and ready for use

To open an existing page:

1. Choose File > Open from the menu bar
2. Enter the name of the existing file in the "Page Location" box or "Browse" on the appropriate "Drive/Site" to find it.

To save a page:

1. Choose File > Save from the menu bar
2. Select the appropriate "Drive/Site"
3. Enter the name of the file and click "Save"

Creating Text

As you move the mouse over the page window, the cursor is I-shaped. When you click the mouse in the text, a flashing I-shaped cursor marks the point where text will be placed when you type. Once you have positioned the cursor, there are several ways to get text into your page.

• Type on the keyboard. The text appears at the cursor position.
• Copy and paste text from another document using Edit > Copy and Edit > Paste
• Import text from a web document using File > Import

You can format text by selecting your text and using the various options under the Format menu. Options include Type Style, Size, and Color as well as Heading. Paragraph formatting options include various alignment choices.

Text is often added in lists.  With AOLPress you can add bulleted, numbered, or definition lists easily.

1. Enter the text you wish to have in the list, separating each item with a return
2. Select (highlight) the text by clicking and dragging over it
3. Select Format > List > Bulleted List / Numbered List / Definition List.

Adding Images

You cannot create images with AOLpress. However, you can create images with other software programs or copy them from web pages and add them to your web pages with AOLpress.

To copy an image from a web page:

1. Use your web browser to locate a page with images
2. Point to the desired image and click on it with your right mouse button.
   (Macintosh users just hold the mouse button.)
3. Select "Save this Image as..."
4. Select the desired location of the image file on your hard drive.
5. Name the image and click "Save"
6. The image is now ready to be added to your web pages.

To add inline images to your web pages:

1. Move your cursor to the area on your web document where you wish to insert the image.
2. Select Element > Image from the menu bar
3. Enter the location and filename of the image or "Browse" for it. Typical web graphics are either GIF or JPEG.
4. Click "OK"

Adding Links

A link is a cross-reference to another file anywhere on the World Wide Web (WWW). Other files and anchors <a>...</a> are the targets of links. A link can be either an absolute link or a relative link.

Absolute links specify the full location of a file:

http://www.mtsu.edu/~oit/web/aolpress.html

You should try to use absolute links only to references files outside your own web.

Relative links omit part of the file specification and use the current location as the default:

index.html

It's usually best to use relative links within your own web site. Relative links allow you to move the entire directory tree to a new location without breaking your links.

To make a link:

1. Select the text or image you want to make into a link, either to another web site or to another of your web pages
2. Choose the Element > Link menu item to bring up the Link window
3. Type the URL in the "Link To Page" field. (Example: http://www.mtsu.edu)
4. Click "OK." The text you selected in your document is now colored and underlined
5. Clicking on your new link takes you to the page you chose.

Creating Tables

Tables (like the one below) let you align text and images into columns and rows.

1. Move your cursor to the place where you want to create the table.
2. Choose the Table > Create Table menu item.
3. Set the number of vertical Columns and horizontal Rows you want in your table. (It's easy to change these numbers later.)
4. If you want the table to have a caption, type the text in the "Caption" field.
5. The fields at the bottom of the window control the Borders and Spacing of the table.
6. Click "OK" when you are ready to create the table.

If you want to change any of these settings later, just put your cursor inside the table and choose the Table > Alter Layout menu item.

You are ready to add text and/or images to your table cells.

Viewing HTML

When using AOLPress, you don't see HTML tags—you probably don't want to. Sometimes you may need to see and edit the "HTML source."

To do this, select Tools > Show HTML.  You can view or edit in this window. To exit, click on the"X" in the upper right-hand corner of the window. Select "Apply" if you wish to save your changes, "Abort" if you don't wish to save them, or "Cancel" to stay in the HTML view mode.

Learn more about the many options in AOLPress by working their online tutorial. Select Help > Tutorial to get started.