Current students, faculty and staff have 2 options for personal sites:
1. Google Sites
Google Sites are available through your University Google account and are recommended for personal sites.
Content management support is provided through specialized group training, Help Desk support, and online documentation.
To start your Google Site, see these consult Create, name or copy a site.
2. Personal /~web/ sites
Personal /~web/ sites (commonly referred to a "tilde web sites") are available on request. The full URL for these sites will be www.d.umn.edu/~<your-username>.
The primary purpose of this Unix-based service is to support course work at UMD as needed. ITSS provides support for the Self Service tool only; users are responsible for building, securing, and maintaining their site.
Requesting a /~web/ site
Current students, faculty and staff may request a personal /~web/ site via the Personal Web Space Self Service portal.
Accessing your /~web/ site
Current staff, faculty, and students can access their personal /~web/ site using the SFTP client of your choice. ITSS supports Filezilla as a free solution. A How to Use FileZilla (FTP Tutorial) is available. Dreamweaver is a popular paid option.
Settings you will need:
- SFTP Host: www.d.umn.edu
- Host Directory: www/
- Make sure ftp client is set to port 22
- Login: your Internet (email) ID (e.g., jdoe)
- Password: your email password
In addition, if you are trying to connect to the UMD's web server when you are not on campus, you will need to use Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Once you are connected to your space on the server, you may update, download, or delete files.
Connection Errors
After the UMD main web system upgrade on Thursday May 20, 2021 customers may not be able to connect to the UMD web server.
This can be due to client path issues or host key mismatch/cached information.
- For path issues, replace /home with /uweb. Web and SFTP clients typically know the correct path to use, but they may need a tweak.
- For host key mismatch/cached information errors consult, Dreamweaver and FileZilla Fixes for Host Key Mismatch/Cached Information.
Maintaining your /~web/ site
Sites will be set to automatically expire one year from creation date unless they are renewed. Users will be sent multiple email expiration notices before their site expiration date and will be directed to visit the Personal Web Space Self Service portal to renew their site. If they are eligible to renew (i.e., a current student, faculty, or staff member), the site will be renewed for another year. If they are not eligible to renew, they will be given instructions on how to download their site information before the site is deleted.