GEOG 863
GIS Mashups for Geospatial Professionals

e-Portfolios

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Since you'll be creating web-based maps, you'll need to have space on a web server to publish them.  Some of you may have your own personal web site set up already.  If so, you can use that.  If not, you should apply for space from Penn State (referred to as PASS, short for Penn State Access Account Storage Space).  The application form can be found at:
https://www.work.psu.edu/webspace/

Once you've got your PASS space allocated, there are a few ways to connect to it.  Here are two, with the first being the one I recommend most:

Connect using SSH Secure Shell

  1. Before being able to transfer files with SFTP, you'll need to connect to the PSU network using a VPN client.  Instructions for downloading that client are found here: http://kb.its.psu.edu/article/891.  Either of the two Virtual Private Network applications should work.  After installing, you should connect through the ISP to PSU connection option.
  2. The SSH Secure Shell installation file can be downloaded from PSU here: https://downloads.its.psu.edu/download.cgi?os_type=Windows&prod=ssh
  3. After installing SSH, you should have two new applications available: SSH Secure Shell Client and SSH Secure File Transfer.  Open the File Transfer application.
  4. Click on the Quick Connect button.  In the Host Name box enter ftp.pass.psu.edu and in the User Name box enter your PSU access account ID.  Then click Connect. After entering your password, you should see a connection to your PASS space in the right-hand pane.
  5. Double-click on the www folder to access the part of your PASS space that's open to the world to see (where you'll want to post your projects).
  6. To transfer a file from your local system to your PASS space, navigate to the file in the left-hand pane, right-click on the file and select Upload.

Connect using the PASS Explorer

  1. This is a web-based means of uploading files to your web space. 
  2. The PASS Explorer can be found at https://explorer.pass.psu.edu/. 
  3. Going this route doesn't require installing any additional software and the interface is fairly self-explanatory.  The downside is that the interface is a bit clunky and tedious.

You may encounter some PSU web publishing tutorials that recommend you set up a blog. Blogs are preferable to a plain personal web page for most students because blogging software provides page authoring tools that simplify the publishing process. However, for this course you should avoid setting up a blog. You will need to be able to write your own HTML from scratch and the blogging tools will only complicate matters.