Welcome to

The IntraNet for Design Firms

OfficeWeb was developed by a real working office (not a computer programmer) under everyday, real-world conditions.

The advantages are many;

You will find the convenience & efficiency a major time-saver. Once you use a well-organized Intranet, we're sure you'll never want to do without it!

These installation instructions assume familiarity with Windows Explorer, or similar file management "shell" programs.

Almost nothing you don't already have! That's (part of) the beauty of it! OfficeWeb runs on your computer, usually over your network. All you need is any computer with a browser such as MS Internet Explorer (free) or Netscape Navigator. And we mean almost ANY computer; an older, slower computer may be put to work instead of being relegated to a closet. That previously "old" computer could be put to use as an OfficeWeb server (or you may install OfficeWeb on the main server), or the older machine could be used as a "public" access point for OfficeWeb for those who don't have a computer at their desk. Even an old 486/50 will run OfficeWeb faster than a Pentium-based computer can pull up Internet pages through a typical 56k modem.

Note that installation of OfficeWeb in no way affects any start-up files such as the registry, win.ini, autoexec, config, etc. & is therefore very "safe" to install. Only one copy per computer network is required.

Even though OfficeWeb contains hundred's of pieces of usable information, most OfficeWeb pages are intended to be edited by you (the Webmaster) to customize it to your particular office practices. Edit, revise, add, delete, etc. as required to make it "your own", but always make a back-up copy before editing.

Generally;

Ninety-eight percent (more or less) of OfficeWeb was created using Word 97 as a basic WYSIWYG HTML editor. We only dug into the actual HTML code occasionally. You should be able to do the same. There are better HTML editors (HoTMetaL Pro, FrontPage ,& Dreamweaver, etc.), but Word97 with the HTML editor module installed (from the MSOffice CD) works just fine for basic editing. Of course, the more RAM your computer has, the better.

All modules were created using MS Word 97 running within Windows 95, & the instructions are written from that perspective.

Knowledge of HTML coding is not required to edit OfficeWeb pages. Anyone with a WYSIWYG HTML editor such as Word 97 can revise & edit the pages almost as easily as a normal word processor document, often by merely clicking on the "Edit" icon at the top of the browser. We understand MS Word 2000 will be an even better HTML editor. You may also wish to experiment with MS FrontPage or similar products listed above.

In Word 97 we recommend editing the actual HTML file, rather than a ".doc" file that you must then "Save as HTML". In other words, open the HTML (.htm extension) files directly in Word 97 (hint; you can right-click the file, then "Open with Word"). If you do not have HTML capabilities in your installation of Word 97, use "Add/Remove Programs" in the Windows Control Panel. You'll probably need to have your Office 97 CD handy.

When editing HTML in Word 97, here are a few things to experiment with;

• Insert menu (pictures, bookmarks, background sound, etc.)
• Table menu
• Format menu (font, text colors, background, etc.)
• Right-dragging then "Create Shortcut here" (sometimes this doesn't create a correct link).

When editing the OfficeWeb pages, note that the links are active while editing (that is, while in MSWord, you can click on a link & go to the linked file, which you can then also edit). This allows you to open linked files for editing without having to hunt for them using Windows Explorer.

As you will see, we tried to inject a little "fun" into the OfficeWeb pages. For a more "serious" tone, you can delete the animated graphics from the HTML document, & "turn off" the music (Insert menu in Word 97).

Surfin' OfficeWeb is practically identical to surfin' the World Wide Web (only faster!). An Internet connection is not required. You are not at the mercy of slow Internet connections, and you don't have to worry about "policing" employees' surfing the Internet.

Text links will be underlined blue or purple & the mouse pointer will change into a pointing hand. Graphical links will also cause the pointer to change into a pointing hand.

There are a few "www" & "http" links that require an Internet connection to access. The same is true of the email addresses within OfficeWeb. These links are not necessary for proper operation of OfficeWeb, but will cause a harmless error message if you click them & do not have an Internet connection.